The right to a fair trial has long been recognised by the international community as a fundamental human right. Without a fair trial every individual risks becoming the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Either as an innocent suspect wrongly convicted, or as a victim unable to secure justice for a wrong perpetrated against them. Ebru Timtik was one...
Released on Feb 23, 2021
The International Bar Association (IBA) welcomes the election of Karim Khan QC as the next Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and six judges, as well as the new president, vice presidents and members of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) – the Court's management oversight and legislative body, composed of...
Released on Feb 22, 2021
In an open letter to His Excellency Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and other institutions call on him to take urgent, immediate action to release human rights professor Dr Reza Eslami and other political prisoners arbitrarily imprisoned.
Released on Feb 18, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemns the recent spate of executions carried out by the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, according to reports, numbered at least 48 during December 2020 and January 2021. A further two executions are reported to have taken place on 13 February 2021.
Released on Feb 17, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemns the continued unlawful detentions of Belarusian human rights activists Leanid Sudalenka and Tatsiana Lasitsa, and calls for their release. Mr Sudalenka, a lawyer and head of the Gomel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, and Ms Lasitsa, a volunteer at Viasna...
Released on Feb 16, 2021
Contested Histories in Public Spaces: Principles, Processes, Best Practices presents ten in-depth case studies that examine the complex political, social, cultural, and legal dimensions of these contestations.
Released on Feb 11, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls for an impartial investigation into plans to create political prisoner camps in Belarus, following the surfacing of an audio recording purported to be of the Belarusian Deputy Interior Minister, Mikalai Karpiankou, informing his subordinates of the proposal. The recording, thought...
Released on Feb 10, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls on Israel’s authorities to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, in a non-discriminatory manner, as per Israel’s obligation under international law. On 31 January, Israel contributed 5,000 vaccines to frontline Palestinian...
Released on Feb 9, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the arrests of more than 6,000 protestors across Russia, the violence inflicted by the country’s security forces on peaceful demonstrators who were demanding the release of the detained, and subsequently jailed, opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the use of law to...
Released on Feb 5, 2021
At the end of a complicated trial that had seen several ‘firsts’, on 4 February 2021, Trial Chamber IX of the International Criminal Court (ICC) handed down a guilty verdict for Dominic Ongwen, former child soldier and commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. In a 1077-page judgment, Mr Ongwen was convicted on 61...
Released on Feb 4, 2021
The International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemn the unlawful seizure of power by Myanmar’s military forces on 1 February 2021, the detention of Myanmar’s democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures of the ruling party, and the...
Released on Feb 2, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to recognise the essential role of the courts in applying the Genocide Convention, and reasserts its support for the genocide amendment to the UK’s Trade Bill, in light of its rejection by 319 votes to 308 in the House of Commons in…
Released on Jan 29, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls for due process to be followed in the trial of the exiled Rwandan dissident Paul Rusesabagina, who has been in police custody in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, since 31 August 2020. Mr Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, told the court…
Released on Jan 27, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the assassination of two judges from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court on 17 January 2021, calling the criminal act an affront to the rule of law. IBAHRI Co-Chair and former Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996 – 2006), the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, commented...
Released on Jan 26, 2021
On behalf of the International Bar Association (IBA), I congratulate Joseph R Biden Jr on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States and look forward to the restoration of a multilateral model of international affairs. As the global voice of the legal profession, the IBA works to ensure global stability and peace through the administration...
Released on Jan 22, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemns the arrest of Alexey Navalny, prominent anti-corruption activist and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation State. The IBAHRI also condemns the infringement of Mr Navalny’s right to a lawyer, as reported by his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.
Released on Jan 20, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) calls on the United States President-elect Joe Biden to commute all federal death sentences and to uphold his campaign commitment to abolish the death penalty in the US, once he assumes the office of President. The IBAHRI strongly condemns the recent federal executions in the US, including that of...
Released on Jan 18, 2021
The International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemn the use of the National Security Law in Hong Kong to detain pro-democracy activists and questions the legal premise of the accusations levelled against those detained. IBA President Sternford Moyo commented: ‘The detention of supporters of democracy...
Released on Jan 15, 2021
Sternford Moyo, Chairman and Senior Partner of law firm Scanlen and Holderness, is the new President of the International Bar Association (IBA). Hailing from Zimbabwe, Mr Moyo is the first IBA President of African descent in the history of the 74-year-old organisation. He succeeds Brazil’s Horacio Bernardes Neto with a two-year tenure through to 31 December 2022.
Released on Jan 12, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the forced cremations, in violation of traditional Islamic funeral practices, of Muslim individuals who have died in Sri Lanka from Covid-19.In Islam, cremation is viewed as a sin and as the desecration of human remains. However, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) specific guidelines…
Released on Jan 8, 2021
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemns the execution of Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian dissident journalist and editor of the website and Telegram channel AmadNews. Mr Zam was arbitrarily arrested in October 2020 and sentenced to death for ‘spreading corruption on earth’. The sentence was confirmed on 8 December and he was hanged on 12 December 2020.
Released on Dec 23, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the Estonian parliament’s proposal to hold a referendum, on 18 April 2021, on the definition of marriage.
Released on Dec 23, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) expresses grave concern over the passing of controversial constitutional reforms in Samoa that will undermine the rule of law, weaken judicial independence and adversely affect human rights in the country. On 15 December 2020, three interconnected bills – the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020...
Released on Dec 23, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns new legislation passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 15 December 2020, under the premise of working to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Released on Dec 22, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) strongly condemns the recent executions of federal death row inmates in the United States of America, including those of Brandon Bernard and Alfred Bourgeois who were executed on 10 and 11 December, respectively.
Released on Dec 21, 2020
Following the 2019 release of the landmark report, Us Too? Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession, the International Bar Association (IBA) Legal Policy & Research Unit (LPRU) continues to prioritise and drive positive change within legal workplaces across the globe, with the publication of a thought-provoking discussion paper on ‘Trust Tech’ – technology that enhances and propagates trust in professional settings.
Released on Dec 9, 2020
We, the undersigned 26 Bar Associations, Law Societies, and organisations supporting the legal profession of over 14 countries, stand in solidarity with our Iranian colleague Nasrin Sotoudeh and other lawyers in Iran who are being persecuted by their Government for carrying out their profession diligently and in accordance with the law.
Released on Dec 7, 2020
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on 27 November 2020.
Mr Fakhrizadeh, described by some individuals as the individual spearheading Iran’s alleged covert nuclear weapons programme, was assassinated while travelling in his car in the Abe-Sard region of Damavand Count, 40 kilometres outside of Tehran
Released on Dec 3, 2020
Today, in an open letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Hosseini Khamene, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR), the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
Released on Dec 2, 2020
The International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) express disappointment and concern at the decision of the Holy See – the universal government of the Catholic Church – not to allow the conferring of blessings on same-sex unions. The IBA and IBAHRI urge reconsideration and the reopening of dialogue to eliminate discrimination...
Released on Dec 1, 2020