L4L NGO meeting with UN High Commissioner on Human Rights
On 2 October 2012, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, visited the Netherlands. She attended the opening of the new Human Rights Institute, and afterwards she discussed the current status of human rights in the Netherlands with several Dutch NGOs. Present at this conversation was also Adrie van de Streek, L4L’s […]
Iran Abdolfattah Soltani awarded with IBA Human Rights Award
On the annual conference of the International Bar Association (IBA), the IBA Human Rights Award 2012 was awarded to Abdolfattah Soltani. Soltani is the co-founder of the Defender of Human Rights Centre(DHRC) and acted on behalf of, among others, journalist Akbar Ganji (Ganji exposed the involvement of government officials in the murders of intellectuals and […]
Honduras Antonio Trejo Cabrera killed
During the night of 22 September 2012 Antonio Trejo Cabrera was murdered. He was attending a wedding that day. When he went outside to answer a phone call, six shots were fired at him. Antonio Trejo was a lawyer who regularly represented poor farmers in the region of Bajo Aguán, who have been expropriated by […]
Colombia Caravana 2012: Lawyers for lawyers visits threatened lawyers
Like in 2010, Lawyers for Lawyers participated also this year in the Caravana Internacional de Juristas (Caravana). From the 26th of August 2012 until the 1st of September 2012, Jos Boertjens and Alice Krispijn visited Colombia together with a group consisting of 40 lawyers and judges. The Caravana is organized from London in cooperation with local Colombian […]
Moldova Criminal charges against human rights lawyer Anna Aladova
Anna Aladova, human rights lawyer from Moldova, was notified on 15 August 2012 that her case has been received by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, which must now determine which is the competent judicial authority to consider the criminal charges against her. Aladova works for the Regional Bureau of the […]
Vietnam Joint statement on behalf of Le Quoc Quan
On 30 August 2012, L4L issued a joint statement with Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LWRC) and Amnesty International Netherlands (Amnesty) on behalf of Le Quoc Quan. Mr. Le Quoc Quan is a prominent lawyer and human rights defender. Although he can no longer formally exercise his work as a lawyer following his disbarment, he continues […]
Turkey L4L sends observers to Istanbul to monitor ‘Lawyers trial’
In Turkey on 16 July, the trial against 46 lawyers, three employees of law firms and a journalist who are suspected of having ties with the Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) started. The Turkish authorities regard the KCK as the local branch of the banned Kurdish labour party PKK. The majority of the suspected […]
Iran Houtan Kian still in prison under harsh conditions
The former lawyer of Javid Houtan Kian has reported to have received a letter from Houtan Kian, in which he again elaborated upon the very heavy circumstances under which is detained in the prison of Tabriz, Iran. In his letter, which was reportedly smuggled out of prison in June, he describes how he has suffered […]
Turkey Joint letter for Turkish lawyers
In a joint letter to Gabriela Knaul, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, L4L, together with 15 other human rights organizations, urged Ms. Knaul to undertake action in the framework of her mandate for the 46 lawyers that will stand trial this week. On November 22, 2011, a broad campaign of […]
Lebanon Disciplinary decision to disbar Muhamad Mugraby never had any force and effect
On 25 June 2012, the Court of Appeal of Beirut ruled that the disciplinary decision to disbar Muhamad Mugraby from Lebanon never had any force and effect and that he never lost the right to practice law. Muhamad Mugraby, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist, fought the disciplinary decision to disbar him for nearly 10 years. […]
L4L Ukrainian lawyer in the Netherlands at the invitation of L4L
From 20 until 23 June 2012 the Ukrainian lawyer Valentyna Telychenko paid a visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of L4L. Telychenko represents the most important political opponents of President Viktor Jakoenovitsj: former Prime Minister Julia Timoshenko, former Minister of the Interior Joeri Loetsenko and former deputy Minister of Defence Valeriy Ivashchenko. During an inspiring meeting with […]
Vietnam Lawyer Le Quoc Quan repeatedly harassed
Le Quoc Quan is a well-known Vietnamese lawyer and human rights defender. He has been harassed constantly since 2007 by the Vietnamese authorities because of his human rights activities. In 2007 Le Quoc Quan returned to Vietnam, after a five-month study in the US on a Reagan-Fascell Democracy scholarship, funded by NED. After his study […]
Mexico L4L speaks to Alba Cruz and Silvia Vázquez
Mexico IACtHR orders protection Vidulfo Rosales Sierra
On 4 May 2012 Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, lawyer at Tlachinollan and beneficiary of provisional measures ordered by the IACtHR, received written threats at the office of Tlachinollan in Chilpancingo. These threats had a clear relation to his work as a lawyer investigating the circumstances of death of two students who were killed in a demonstration […]
Venezuela José Amalio Graterol arrested
Lawyers for Lawyers condemns the arrest of Mr. José Amalio Graterol, counsel to (together with his colleague and Ms. Thelma Fernández) María Lourdes Afiuni. María Lourdes Afiuni is the Venezuelan judge suspended from the bench, incarcerated for 14 months, and under house arrest since February 2011 after releasing on bail a man who had been […]
L4L Young Bar Association Benefit Dinner raises fantastic sum for L4L!
On 7 June 2012 the first Amsterdam Bar Benefit Dinner was held. During this dinner, organized by the Amsterdam Young Bar Association, auctioneer Sophie Bremer auctioned off various items, the proceeds of which went to the Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation. The auction and the dinner jointly raised a record sum that L4L is absolutely thrilled […]
