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KHRP publishes the manual ‘Taking Cases to the European Court of Human Rights’ |
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KHRP is pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of the manual ‘Taking Cases to the European Court of Human Rights’.
The manual provides a comprehensive and practical guide to litigation in Strasbourg, setting out the development of the Court since its inception and the changes that have been made in order to enhance the Court’s efficiency. In this regard, it covers the introduction of pilot-judgment procedures and the new admissibility criteria, as well as explaining further potential changes initiated by the Interlaken Conference in February 2010. The manual also includes commentaries on the practice and procedure of the Court, key texts such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court’s application form and a table of legal aid rates.
‘Taking Cases to the European Court of Human Rights’ is one of a series of three manuals published by KHRP providing practical guidance on using international human rights mechanisms.
KHRP will also shortly publish an updated edition of the manual ‘Taking Human Rights Complaints to UN Mechanisms’ which includes guidelines for submitting a report to a convention-based committee, how to use the individual complaint procedure and how to submit a petition to initiate investigation in response to allegations of human rights violations. The third manual in the series ‘Taking Human Rights Complaints to the OSCE, European Parliament and Council of Europe’ was published in January 2010.
The manual can be freely downloaded from KHRP website.
KHRP Managing Director Rachel Bernu said “By sharing knowledge about the UN mechanisms and European Court of Human Rights law, practice and procedure, KHRP manuals assists human rights defenders to adopt effective approaches in addressing specific violations of human rights and widespread patterns of abuse caused by systemic issues.” |
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Syria Comes Up Short - Again – At The UPR |
Today the Human Rights Council of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded the 12th session of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The UPR Working Group on Syria – one of the countries reviewed during the 12th Session – recognised a number of positive achievements in its draft report, including Syria’s much lauded decision to reinstate citizenship rights to the many of its citizens of Kurdish origin. However, the Working Group also reinforced the serious human rights concerns, highlighted by the KHRP which can now too often be seen and heard of in the reports coming out of Syria. These include extra-judicial killing; the use of torture and ill-treatment by State agents; gender violence, such as honour killings; and the widespread practice of arbitrary and incommunicado detention and death in custody. Whilst such practices happen across Syria, the number and level of such abuses has always been higher in the Kurdish region of the country, as part of the state’s policy and practice to suppress its Kurdish population.
KHRP is pleased that many of the recommendations made by the Working Group were reflected in the concerns KHRP submitted to the UPR, including conclusions and recommendations to immediately release all those arbitrary arrested and to make incommunicado detention illegal, as well as to ensure that all detainees are afforded all fundamental safeguards from the outset of their detention, such as the right to have prompt access to a lawyer and to notify a relative. The Working Group also recognized that current legislative mechanisms continue to facilitate and entrench abuse and cultural repression against women, as it recommended that Syria adopt and enforce laws against domestic violence and remove mitigating factors from the punishment of honour crimes against women. Additional recommendations include the adoption of measures to end all direct and indirect restrictions on freedom of expression, as well as to cease human rights violations against civilians in relation to their peaceful exercise of freedom and assembly.
Unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, Syria took the position that many of these recommendations have already been implemented. Syria also refused to support a number of recommendations, including the recommendation that it guarantee the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of persons belonging to its Kurdish minority or the rights of women. The government continues to deny its discrimination against these groups. KHRP hopes that Syria will recognize the reality of continuing discrimination against its Kurdish population and implement the necessary measures to curb such discrimination.
‘KHRP strongly urges all concerned actors to encourage the Syrian administration to accept the UPR’s recommendations. This necessitates that the Syrian government recognize the existence and breadth of gross continuing human rights violations, undertake thorough and expedient investigations into allegations of such violations, and take steps towards ameliorating and eliminating those violations found, including the violations inflicted on women and ethnic minorities, said KHRP Chief Executive Kerim Yildiz. ‘Moreover, a far greater effort is needed on behalf of the Syrian authorities, as well as the international community, to develop a coordinated strategy to educate citizens and officials alike of their respective rights and obligations, as well as clearly define and support the mechanisms required for the prevention and redress of systemic violations.’
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KHRP Guest Speaker at European Parliament |
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KHRP is delivering a seminar today at the European Parliament in Brussels, regarding human rights and mother-tongue education in the Kurdish regions. The seminar is part of a series chaired by Jean Lambert MEP, Vice-President of the Greens/European Free Alliance Group of MEPs and KHRP’s Advisor on Environmental Rights.
The series seeks to promote awareness and discussion of human rights issues in the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. KHRP aims to bring key members of the European Parliament together to discuss areas of concern such as human rights, the environment, and regional security in the Kurdish Regions as well as their implications for the EU.
Linguistic rights in education imply both the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction and the inclusion of mother tongue learning in school curricula. There are severe violations of such rights, particularly in Turkey, Syria and Iran where the States fail to recognise and protect minority groups and instead consider the use of native languages and dialects a threat to the State’s unity and indivisibility. This speech is intended to stress the importance of linguistic rights in education in the Kurdish regions and give an account of the limitations and restrictions imposed by national Governments, which affect the conditions of children and hamper the work of teachers and all the people committed to education, and impact upon the enjoyment of other human rights.
Speaking at the seminar today is Rajesh Raj of the KHRP Board of Directors and Legal Team.
KHRP Managing Director Rachel Bernu said “Linguistic rights in education are not even considered in the Kurdish regions, depriving children of an essential medium of communication, cultural identity and means of participation in community life. States prohibiting mother tongue education often resort to arguments based on vague and ambiguous legal provisions, prioritising the preservation of the State’s unity above respect for minority rights.”
In July 2011, KHRP published a Briefing Paper on Mother-Tongue Education in the Kurdish Regions, which is available here: http://khrp.org/khrp-news/human-rights-documents/briefing-papers/cat_view/40-briefing-papers-and-speeches.html
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Rachel Bernu / Susie Talbot
Kurdish Human Rights Project
11 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1DH
Tel: 020 7405 3835
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www.khrp.org
The Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) is a UK registered charity committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons living within the Kurdish regions. Its innovative and strategic approach to international human rights practice, combined with a long-term and consistent presence in the region, enables it to secure redress for survivors of human rights violations and prevent abuse in the future.
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KHRP Collects Prestigious Gruber Prize for Justice. |
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The U.S.-based Gruber Foundation's International Justice Prize was awarded to the Kurdish Human Rights Project on Thursday, 6th October 2011. Chief Executive Kerim Yildiz and Managing Director Rachel Bernu attended the award ceremony of the eleventh and final Gruber Justice Prize, which took place in Philadelphia’s National Constitutional Centre. KHRP was among five laureates this year who share a $500,000 award, in recognition of their work in advancing the cause of justice delivered through the legal system.
In particular, KHRP was recognised for its use of a variety legal instruments in protecting human rights and seeking redress for violations, including bringing cases on behalf of hundreds of applicants at the European Court of Human Rights and its on the ground field missions. The prize award notes the importance of KHRP’s consistent presence over the last 19 years as well as the notable reforms and successes on a wide range of issues, from preventing conflict over water in Turkey, Iraq and Syria to receiving a landmark judgment in the European Court toward the abolition of capital punishment.
During his acceptance speech, Kerim Yildiz, KHRP’s Chief Executive described the background to the organization: ‘We established an NGO named the Kurdish Human Rights Project in England with British lawyers and other human rights advocates in partnership with regionally based non-profit organisations and bar associations to give international recognition to not only the Kurds but also to shine a spotlight on the region in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the injustice that anyone who lived in those regions faced. In short, by addressing the so-called Kurdish problem head-on, justice would be far more achievable for all who lived in those regions… KHRP has grown from an idea based on the basic principle that everyone deserves justice’.
He acknowledged that ‘the recognition from Gruber for our body of work is an important driving force that will help to ensure that as we consider these questions, we do so with great care and with awareness that pushes us to continue to be at the forefront of respect for human rights regionally and internationally’.
The website of the Gruber Foundation’s International Justice Prize can be found here.
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