It joined or helped draft statements and co-sponsored a side event
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) has announced that it led the drafting of three oral video statements and actively participated in other ways during the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s 59th session from June 16 to July 11.
In a news release, LRWC shared that it joined other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in four more joint oral statements.
LRWC said it worked on joint statements alongside the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), the Law Society of England and Wales, and Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L).
LRWC noted that the session included no general debates, which limited NGO participation and the number of statements.
LRWC said it joined a pre-session advocacy letter led by Defend Defenders and co-sponsored a side event spearheaded by the International Commission of Jurists and the IBAHRI.
LRWC’s activities
In its news release, LRWC provided more details about its participation in the recent session.
First, LRWC delivered a statement expressing concern regarding the US governments’ concerted attack against the rule of law and threats against human rights defenders, lawyers, judges, and civil society groups advocating for human rights. The IBAHRI and the ISHR joined this statement.
Second, LRWC delivered a joint statement seeking to commemorate the 10th anniversary of China’s July 9, 2015 (709) crackdown on legal professionals and hold the country accountable for its repression of human rights lawyers.
The statement noted that:
- Ding Jiaxi was serving a 12-year prison sentence for joining a private gathering with fellow lawyers
- Gao Zhisheng, another lawyer, had been missing since August 2017
- Human rights advocates – including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers – continued to undergo persecution
- Dissenters faced transnational repression
LRWC worked with ISHR to develop, draft, and co-sponsor this statement, which numerous other NGOs without consultative status endorsed.
Third, LRWC joined the IBAHRI and the International Commission of Jurists in a statement focusing on the situation in Belarus.
This statement denounced civil society’s repression, systematic reprisals against lawyers acting for political opposition figures or defending human rights or the rule of law, the judiciary’s subordination to the executive branch, and the erosion of the legal profession’s institutional independence.
Fourth, LRWC made a statement condemning the impunity of Myanmar’s military, its ill treatment and extrajudicial killings, and the drafting of laws breaching international law, enforced by courts subsumed by the junta.
The statement noted that the authorities have arrested at least 53 lawyers since a military coup in 2021, unlawfully detained more than 22,000 people, and deprived them of access to independent courts or sufficient legal representation.
Fifth, LRWC joined a statement by IBAHRI, the Law Council of Australia, and the International Commission of Jurists, which also touched upon Myanmar’s situation.
The statement deplored the systematic atrocity crimes that have occurred since the 2021 coup, including arbitrary arrests, detention and unfair trials of perceived military regime opponents, and the torture, sexual violence, and forced labour faced by detainees, who have also been deprived of medical care to elicit “confessions.”
Sixth, LRWC joined a statement by Lawyers for Lawyers and the IBAHRI on the increasing reprisals against and criminalization of environmental human rights defenders. A recent L4L report claimed that environmental lawyers faced work interference, physical attacks, arbitrary prosecutions, surveillance, and stigmatization.
Seventh, LRWC joined Lawyers for Lawyers, the IBAHRI, Front Line Defenders, and the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe in a statement on the systematic persecution of lawyers in occupied Crimea.
This statement lamented the harassment, threats, prosecution, and obstruction of lawyers advising Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians, and civil society actors in politically sensitive cases. The statement stressed that disciplinary bodies disbarred such lawyers or interfered with their work, while bar associations under the occupying authorities no longer acted independently.
Eighth, LRWC joined a pre-session joint letter dated May 2. This letter, addressed to UN Human Rights Council member states, sought to garner support for a resolution reactivating the mandate of the special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea.
The letter referred to Eritrea’s widespread violations, including arbitrary detentions, breaches of the rights to a fair trial and access to justice, total closure of civic space, transnational repression of dissenters abroad, and alleged crimes against humanity. Defend Defenders sponsored the letter.
Lastly, LRWC co-sponsored a side event on threats against the International Criminal Court and independent judiciaries worldwide.
The International Commission of Jurists organized this event, which received the support of the permanent missions of Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Sweden.
The panel featured a keynote address by Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
