ILAC Mission to Libya
From November 16-23, 2011, ILAC conducted its initial mission to Libya. William Meyer, Chair of ILAC, and Agneta Johansson, ILAC’s Deputy Director, accompanied representatives of the Arab Organization for Human Rights on a combined fact-finding and training mission to Libya in the immediate aftermath of the hostilities. Working with the AOHR and representatives of ILAC member Palestinian Center for Human Rights, ILAC traveled throughout northwestern and central Libya to meet with representatives of the judiciary, prosecution, Bar and civil society, as well as the interim leaders of various revolutionary councils. The joint team visited various sites in Tripoli, Misrata, Zawiya, Al-Khoms and Sirte to investigate and interview witnesses concerning current conditions, and a variety of alleged incidents involving Khadafy forces, rebel forces and NATO. At the request of the AOHR, ILAC also participated in intensive training provided by the AOHR for more than 60 Libyan lawyers, judges, prosecutors and members of civil society in human rights law and principles.
Based upon the findings of this mission, ILAC will work with its members, as well as other international organizations and NGOs, to assist Libyan jurists in developing responses to the urgent challenges faced in building the rule of law in a new, free Libya.
The AOHR’s detailed report on its findings, will be available in December 2011.
2011 Stockholm Human Rights Award goes to George Soros and Aryeh Neier
The 2011 Stockholm Human Rights Award was given to George Soros and Aryeh Neier.
George Soros has been a prominent international supporter of democratic ideals and causes for more than 30 years. His philanthropic organization, the Open Society Foundations, supports democracy and human rights in over 70 countries. Born in Budapest in 1930, George Soros is Chairman of Soros Fund Management, LLC.
Aryeh Neier is president of the Open Society Foundations. Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations in 1993, he served for 12 years as executive director of Human Rights Watch, of which he was a founder in 1978. Before that, he worked 15 years at the American Civil Liberties Union, including eight years as national executive director. He served as an adjunct professor of law at New York University for more than a dozen years.
The Stockholm Human Rights Award is a joint initiative by the International Bar Association (IBA), the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) and the Swedish Bar Association. It is awarded annually to an individual or an institution for outstanding contributions to the rule of law and the promotion and protection of human rights.
Earlier laureates have included the South African judge Richard Goldstone and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
ILAC engaged in a high level conference:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in a Politically Divided World
Africa Legal Aid (AFLA) in cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat and International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) held a high level conference to engage stakeholders, including African State Parties to the ICC, the African Union and sub-regional bodies, and human rights and justice sectors in Africa in Dialogue on the evolving regime of international criminal justice and the work of the ICC. The conference was held on 21-22 October, to coincide with Africa Day of Human Rights on 21 October. Gaborone, Botswana has been chosen as the venue for this conference because of Botswana’s principled stance on international criminal justice and the work of the ICC.
ILAC Mission to South Sudan
A small ILAC delegation visited Juba in April for initial talks and agreed with the Ministry of Justice to come back with an assessment mission after the independence (9 July).
Therefore, an ILAC assessment mission will be visiting South Sudan later this year.
The ILAC member organisations provided ILAC with over 20 very qualified nominees for the mission, out of which five were chosen by the Executive Committee.
The team members are:
Mr. Robert Alsdorf, Judge (ret.), Attorney at Law, USA.
Mr. Rodger Chongwe, ILACs Africa Representative, former Minister of Justice from Zambia, now a practicing lawyer in Lusaka. Mr. Chongwe will be the team leader.
Justice Kabineh Ja'neh, Supreme Court of Liberia.
Ms Chipo Nyambuya, Lawyer, at present in the corporate legal sector in the US. Long experience as a legal specialist in UNDP and other international development programs - particularly in Africa.
Mr. Kalevi Tervanen, Judge and Lawyer from Finland. At present Partner and Head of Middle East and Africa Team in a Finnish law firm. Long experience in justice related projects, specially in the Middle East.
Mr. Bill Meyer, Lawyer, US and ILAC Chair and Ms. Agneta Johansson, Lawyer and Deputy Director, ILAC will also participate in the mission. Mr. Meyer will be the Raporteur of the mission.
ILAC Visits Tunisia 10-12 March
At the invitation of the Tunis Bar, a delegation from ILAC visited Tunisia 10-12 March to prepare for a possible programme of assistance to the Tunisian judicial system. The delegation consisted of Christian Åhlund from the ILAC Head Office, the President of Union Internationale des Avocats, Pascal Maurer, and Paul Simonett, who is the Middle East and North Africa Representative of the American Bar Association. Both UIA and ABA are members of ILAC.
The delegation was received by the Interim President of Tunisia, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice. Meetings also took place with the President of the Bar, several other members of the Bar, the association of judges and with civil society. The delegation was impressed with the obvious determination of our counterparts to ensure a swift and effective transistion to a democratic society and an independent judiciary. Discussions are now under way with our Tunisian counterparts about a training program for judges as well as a more in-depth needs assessment mission.
Important ILAC Break-through in Haiti
The centerpiece of ILAC´s activities in Haiti has for a couple of years been a nation-wide legal aid programme, the SYNAL (Systeme Nationale d´Assistance Legale), which is financed and administered by ILAC, with logistical support by the UN mission in Haiti, which also seconds key staff to the ILAC Haiti office.
At the end of 2010, SYNAL employed some 200 Haitian lawyers in 12 offices around the country. Most of the work consists of legal aid in criminal cases. During the two years that the SYNAL has been operative, we have handled some 8 000 cases, and managed to get almost 4 000 individuals out of jail.
An important contribution to the SYNAL programme is being made by the New York-based ILAC member ISLP (International Senior Lawyers Project), which provides pro-bono mentor attorneys on a continuing basis to the SYNAL offices.
Thus far, the entire ILAC programme in Haiti has been funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). But the Sida money for SYNAL will run out at the end of February 2011. Consequently, the continued funding for SYNAL has been a growing concern for some time. So it is with great relief that ILAC can now announce that UNASUR (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas – the politicial and economic cooperation project, which brings together 12 South American countries) has in December 2010 agreed to ensure the continued funding of SYNAL, beginning 1 March 2011. The money from UNASUR will enable SYNAL not only to continue the operation of the existing 12 offices, but also to expand the number to 20, to cover all of Haiti´s jurisdictions, with 3 offices in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The cooperation between UNASUR and ILAC constitutes an important break-through as it is the first time that ILAC will receive funding from a donor in Latin America. This development is the result of the outstanding work of ILAC´s Haiti Programme Director Francisco Diaz and his team in Haiti, and of Francisco´s reputation and network in the Latin American region.
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ILAC Trains Court Reporters in Pilot Project
ILAC has sponsored the training of four Liberians as court reporters for the Liberian courts of records. The current process of making verbatim record in these courts is both slow and inaccurate. With funding from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ILAC has been assisting in organising this pilot project initiated by the Judicial Institute in Monrovia.
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ILAC and IBAHRI calls for radical reform of
Kenya’s justice system, in major report
The report documents a pressing need for judicial reform. Public confidence in the judicial system has virtually collapsed. A lack of independence in the judiciary, corruption, delays in court processes, and the costs associated with using the court system, have all served to perpetuate a widely held belief among ordinary Kenyans that formal justice is only available to an elite few.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), in conjunction with ILAC issued the report on the 15th of February 2010. It is entitled Restoring integrity: An assessment of the needs of the justice system in the Republic of Kenya.
Click here to download the report
As a follow-up to the report, ILAC and IBAHRI held a debate on Kenya´s draft constitution and its potential impact on reducing future electoral conflict on Monday 19 April at the Bar Council for England and Wales in London. The debate, entitled On the edge: Kenya´s struggle for democratic reform, focussed on the recently passed new draft constitution, the subject of a referendum prior to 2 July 2010 as part of Kenya´s efforts to reform.
