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	Human rights defenders given long jail terms by Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders   June 2021   The UN’s independent expert on human rights defenders said today she feared activists in China were being arbitrarily sentenced to long terms in prison or house arrest, and tortured, as well as being denied access to medical treatment, their lawyers and families.   Condemning human rights defenders, in particular to long terms in prison for their peaceful human rights work, abusing them in custody and failing to provide them with adequate medical care is something that cannot continue,” said Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.   I have received countless reports indicating that the mistreatment of human rights defenders in Chinese custody remains endemic and may amount to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, despite the plethora of documentation and recommendations from UN mechanisms over the years, including from the Committee Against Torture.”   She said some defenders, such as Gao Zhisheng, have been forcibly disappeared, while some others, such as Guo Hongwei, have died in prison.   Lawlor said she was aware of at least 13 human rights defenders who have been sentenced on spurious charges, such as ‘picking quarrels’ or ‘provoking trouble’, to 10 years or more in jail for peacefully defending the rights of others.   Among them are Qin Yongmin, who during his life has been sentenced to 35 years in prison in connection to his human rights work, including the promotion of engagement with the UN, and Ilham Tohti, a moderate scholar, who is serving a life sentence. Tohti was arbitrarily arrested, allegedly tortured, and sentenced to life after a closed-door trial. He was not allowed any family visits and no information has been provided by Chinese authorities since.   Human rights defender Chen Xiis currently serving a prison sentence of 10 years. It is reported that he has been subjected to ill-treatment and possibly torture. He has developed chronic enteritis which causes dehydration and fever. Each winter he has contracted severe frostbite on his hands, ears and abdominal area. In his lifetime, Chen Xi has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.   Lawyer Yu Wensheng, who was arrested in April 2018 and sentenced to four years in prison after a secret trial, is being denied adequate medical care in jail and is suffering from a number of serious medical conditions.   Huang Qiis serving a 12-year jail sentence in connection with his human rights work. He suffers from high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic kidney condition and hydrocephalus. Reportedly, Huang has not had adequate access to health care in prison, and his health condition is deteriorating.   Woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu has been detained under laws with vague provisions open to arbitrary interpretation that carry long jail terms. Her current whereabouts in detention are unclear, Lawlor said.   Issuing arbitrary prison sentences, in particular long term prison sentences, to defenders in connection to their human rights work is an unacceptable attempt to silence them and their efforts, and to intimidate and deter others from engaging in this legitimate work,” Lawlor said. “Many have been denied access to lawyers of their choosing and to their families. In some instances, the same lawyers and their relatives are also targeted.   I call on the Chinese authorities to immediately release these human rights defenders from detention, and ensure that they can continue their meaningful and necessary human rights work without fear of retribution of any kind, including against their relatives.”   The expert is in contact with the Chinese authorities on the matter.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-human-rights-defenders   Dec. 2020   Iran: Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh must be freed. (OHCHR)   UN human rights experts today condemned the return to prison of woman human rights defender and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and called for her immediate release.   “We are dismayed that the authorities willingly chose to again place Nasrin Sotoudeh at heightened risk by ordering her return to prison at this time, despite her COVID-19 positive test and contrary to the opinion of medical professionals,” the experts said.   “By ordering her return to prison, the authorities have taken an action that may have life-threatening consequences for her and further extended her arbitrary imprisonment, in violation of their obligations under international human rights law.”   On 2 December, the Prosecutor’s Office ordered Nasrin Sotoudeh to return to Qarchak prison the same day, after she had been temporarily released on 7 November. Following Sotoudeh’s positive test for COVID-19, her initial five-day temporary release was extended by two weeks. On 30 November, doctors recommended a resting period of an additional two weeks due to her COVID-19 infection.   “We repeat our call to the authorities to release Nasrin Sotoudeh as a matter of urgency and to allow her to receive the health care and rest she requires. We deeply regret that despite calls by the UN and the international community, Iranian authorities continue to criminalise Nasrin Sotoudeh for her work in defence of human rights.”   On 13 November, independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council had welcomed Sotoudeh’s temporary release, and urged the authorities to quash her convictions and ensure her release while reviewing her case.   Ms. Sotouteh, an internationally recognised human rights lawyer, is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted on seven charges in March 2019. Her convictions relate to the exercise of her profession as a lawyer, including defending women human rights defenders. UN experts have on numerous occasions raised serious concerns that her current detention is arbitrary and called for her release.   Sep. 2020   UN independent experts expressed alarm at human rights lawyer and woman human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh’s return to Evin Prison in Iran this week despite her deteriorating health condition, and called for her immediate release.   “It is unfathomable that the Iranian authorities would return Ms. Sotoudeh to prison where she is at heightened risk to COVID-19, as well as with her serious heart condition,” the experts said.   “We urge the authorities to immediately reverse this decision, accept her requests to recuperate at home before undergoing a heart procedure, and allow her to freely choose her own medical treatment,” they added.   As well as raising their deep concerns for her health, the experts stressed that Ms. Sotoudeh’s current detention is again allegedly arbitrary.   In 2011, after previously being imprisoned, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found she had been arbitrarily deprived of her liberty and called for her immediate release.   Ms. Sotoudeh’s current imprisonment comes after she was sentenced in March 2019 to a combined prison sentence of over 30 years and 148 lashes on seven charges. Iranian law requires that she serve 12 years, the harshest of her seven sentences.   “Ms. Sotoudeh is a recognised human rights lawyer who fearlessly defends the rights of Iranians despite constant State harassment for over a decade,” the experts said. “She continues to raise her voice to defend human rights despite being imprisoned and in poor health.”   “The evidence suggests Ms. Sotoudeh’s imprisonment, both now and in the past, is State retaliation for her tireless work defending human rights. She is one of many Iranian human rights lawyers who are currently imprisoned for defending fundamental freedoms. Her convictions and sentences, as well as those of all other lawyers arbitrarily detained in Iran, should immediately be quashed and her case reviewed consistent with fair trial standards,” the experts added.   On 23 September 2020, the Iranian authorities returned Ms. Sotoudeh to Evin Prison from Taleghani Hospital, where she was admitted on 19 September for a serious heart condition.   While in hospital, she was under the surveillance of State security officials, who reportedly obstructed her treatment, blocked family contact and mistreated her. She is also in a weakened condition after refusing food for over 40 days in protest against poor hygiene measures in Iran’s prisons during COVID-19 and the authorities’ refusal to temporarily release detained human rights defenders, lawyers, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience under official COVID-19 directives.   The experts echoed Ms. Sotoudeh’s call for the Iranian authorities to grant temporary release to human rights defenders, lawyers, dual and foreign nationals, prisoners of conscience, political prisoners and all other individuals detained without sufficient legal basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.   http://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/media/the-right-livelihood-foundation-condemns-the-appalling-decision-to-send-nasrin-sotoudeh-back-to-prison/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/07/iran-temporarily-frees-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh http://www.protecting-defenders.org/en/news/iranian-whrd-should-be-freed-immediately http://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/nasrin-sotoudeh/ http://www.protecting-defenders.org/en/news/annual-report-reprisals-interaction-un-human-rights-mechanisms-released Visit the related web page
	Failure to tackle domestic violence a violation of women’s rights by UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination   Harmonization of criminal laws needed to stop rape – UN expert   States must bring their national laws in line with human rights standards if they are to effectively prevent and combat impunity for rape, Dubravka Simonovic, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, said today.   “States must address widespread impunity for perpetrators of rape and lack of justice for victims, and must harmonize their criminal laws with international human rights, criminal and humanitarian law,” she said in presenting to the Human Rights Council a report that reviewed laws in 105 countries.   Rape is recognized under international law as a human rights violation and a manifestation of gender-based violence against women and girls that could amount to torture, and States have obligations to enact legislation criminalizing it and to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted, she said.   “While all States reviewed in my report criminalize rape, the vast majority of them do it in a way that is not harmonized with human rights standards and international law,” she added.   Simonovic said her wide-ranging review of legislation highlighted the areas that must be addressed: gaps in how rape is defined, who is protected, how long a victim has to report a crime, lack of criminalization for marital rape, and lack of gender-sensitive and victims-oriented prosecution, and protections for victims.   “These gaps in legislation all have a negative impact on victims’ access to justice, and lead to high rates of impunity for perpetrators,” she said.   “Rape is frequently not reported, and even if reported, it is seldom prosecuted,” she said. “Even if there is a prosecution, it is rarely handled in a gender sensitive manner and often leads to re-victimization while producing few convictions. The result is normalization of rape, a culture of rape or silence on rape, stigmatization of victims and impunity for perpetrators.”   A key issue is how raped is defined, Dubravka Simonovic said. “It should always be based on lack of consent by the victim. The use of violence or force shows lack of consent, but it is not a constitutive element of the crime of rape. Lack of consent by the victim should be at the center of all definitions of rape.”   She added: “No should always mean no, while education should promote the understanding of affirmative consent – only yes means yes.”   She also expressed concern that some countries do not consider rape within a marriage illegal. “All States that maintain exemptions for marital rape, contrary to international standards, need to repeal those provisions urgently,” she said.   “Rape is a traumatic experience,” Šimonović added. “Victims should be allowed sufficient time to come forward with their complaints, particularly in the case of child victims, who should have the right to report rape when they reach adulthood.”   She called for measures to make judicial proceedings less traumatizing for victims, to protect them, and to prevent a victim’s sexual history to be used to discredit them during a trial.   Dubravka Simonovic also presented a Model Rape Law that she said could support States in their efforts to harmonize their legislation with international standards.   “This Model Law is a tool to facilitate this process. Governments, lawmakers, civil society and other actors should take advantage of it to enact legislation that truly protects all victims and allows for perpetrators to be held accountable,” she told the Council.   “Initiatives like the Chilean protest song, ‘A rapist in your path’, raised awareness of the prevalence of rape. Now it’s time for Governments to enact legislation that can truly combat it.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-violence-against-women   Sep. 2021   Mexico: Failings in investigations of feminicides in the State of Mexico violate women’s rights to life, physical safety and access to justice - Amnesty International   Investigations by the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office into feminicides preceded by disappearances are seriously flawed due to the inaction and negligence of the authorities leading to evidence being lost, all lines of inquiry not being investigated, and a gender perspective not being applied correctly. These shortcomings hamper the judicial process and increase the likelihood that cases will remain unpunished, said Amnesty International in a new report.   Justice on trial: Failures in criminal investigations of feminicides preceded by disappearance in the State of Mexico documents how these failings are consistent with those found in other investigations highlighted by civil society organizations and by rights holders, as well as with cases such as the feminicides committed in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, more than 20 years ago. This indicates that feminicidal violence and the failures in investigating and preventing them are part of a broader reality in the country.   “State-level authorities must prevent, investigate and punish feminicides with due diligence. As part of the Mexican state, they are obliged to comply with the international treaties to which Mexico is a state party, including the Belem do Para Convention, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and the judgments issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in respect of Mexico, which establish a set of norms, standards and principles to guarantee women’s rights”, said Edith Olivares-Ferreto, Executive Director of Amnesty International Mexico.   “Each feminicide has an appalling impact on the victims’ families, who, in their search for access to the truth, justice and reparation for the harm done, also suffer re-victimization by the authorities. For this reason, Amnesty International continues to insist that the issue of violence against women must be a high priority on the agenda of the federal and local governments.”   In 2020 alone, 3,723 killings of women were registered in Mexico, of which 940 were investigated as feminicides in the country’s 32 states. Not one state was free of feminicides.   In the report, Amnesty International documents four emblematic cases of feminicide preceded by disappearance, specifically detailing the failings in the criminal investigations into each killing.   The cases documented were those of Nadia Muciño Márquez, who was killed in 2004; Daniela Sánchez Curiel, who disappeared in 2015 and whose whereabouts remain unknown and whose family assumes she was a victim of feminicide; Diana Velazquez Florencio, who disappeared and was killed in 2017; and Julia Sosa Conde, who disappeared and was killed in late 2018.   The report shows that state authorities fail to examine the crime scene properly; store the evidence collected securely; or carry out forensic tests or processes, resulting in loss of data, objects or substances and testimonies.   The authorities do not always pursue all lines of inquiry and their failure to act results in the victims’ relatives – generally women – taking on leading the investigations and using their own resources to do so.   In some instances, the authorities threaten and harass families so that they do not bring the case to the attention of their superiors. The authorities do not always apply a gender perspective throughout the criminal process, in contravention of protocols on investigating killings of women.   The report also shows that the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office officials do not have the necessary conditions to enable them to carry out investigations: their workload is excessive and they lack the material resources to carry out some procedures.   In addition, personnel have to pay for some of the materials needed to carry out investigations themselves and their offices do not have anywhere to store evidence securely, which increases the risk of contamination and destruction. They also require further specialized training to carry out investigations appropriately.   The failings documented in the investigations result in violations of women’s human rights to life and physical safety and their families’ rights to judicial protection and access to justice. In order to protect the rights of victims, Amnesty International makes the following recommendations.   To the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office: Ensure that the Central Attorney General’s Office on Crimes Linked to Gender-Based Violence has the human and financial resources necessary to carry out its function efficiently and with decent working conditions and design and deliver training on how to investigate disappearances and killings of women from a gender perspective.   To the Congress of the State of Mexico: Ensure that the State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office, especially the Central Attorney General’s Office on Crimes Linked to Gender-Based Violence, has the human and financial resources to carry out its functions properly.   To the State of Mexico Human Rights Commission: Investigate the problem of failures in criminal investigations of crimes of violence against women, especially feminicides and disappearances, and issue recommendations that address the issues highlighted in this report.   To the federal authorities: Publicly acknowledge the scale of the problem of feminicides and disappearances in Mexico, as well as the failings in the investigations into these crimes.   In parallel with the publication of the report, Amnesty International has launched the #HastaSerEscuchadas (Until They Are Heard) campaign which aims to ensure that the authorities publicly acknowledge the failings in the investigations of feminicides, comply with the movement’s recommendations and initiate a process to provide reparations for the harms caused by these failings.   “At Amnesty International we will continue to raise our voices together with those of victims’ families and support them in their search for truth, justice and reparation for the harm suffered, until they are heard”, said Edith Olivares-Ferreto.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/09/mexico-failings-investigations-feminicides-state-mexico-violate-womens-rights-life-physical-safety-access-justice/ http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/11/nigeria-failure-to-tackle-rape-crisis-emboldens-perpetrators-and-silences-survivors/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/16/bangladesh-protests-erupt-over-rape-verdict   July 2021   UN women’s rights committee urges Turkey to reconsider withdrawal from Istanbul Convention as decision takes effect.   Turkey’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which takes effect today, is deeply regrettable and should be reversed, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) said on Thursday.   The Istanbul Convention, officially known as Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, is a regional human rights instrument that aims to protect women against all forms of violence and hold perpetrators accountable.   “The adoption of this (withdrawal) decision in the midst of the COVID- 19 pandemic has the potential to deepen the protection gap for women and girls during a time when gender-based violence against women is on the rise,” CEDAW said in a statement.   “Such an unprecedented act cannot, and does not, have a valid ground and justification,” the Committee continued.   The Istanbul Convention was opened for signature in May 2011 in Istanbul. To date, 35 member states of the Council of Europe have ratified or acceded to the treaty. Turkey notified the European Council its withdrawal from the convention in March this year.   “By disengaging from its international commitments to fight domestic and other forms of gender-based violence against women, Turkey undermines the recognition of peremptory norms of international law such as the prohibition of torture, femicide, and other grievous forms of gender-based violence,” CEDAW said.   The Committee voiced serious concern that the protection from violence for women and girls in Turkey risked being undermined further as a result of the country’s withdrawal from the Convention.   CEDAW urged Turkey to reconsider its decision as a matter of highest priority and by all possible means. At the same time, it invited Turkey to strengthen its dialogue and cooperation with the Committee.   http://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/newsroom   May 2021   Failure to tackle domestic violence a violation of women’s rights, highlights UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination   South Africa’s low levels of prosecution and conviction in domestic violence cases and the frequent failures by the police to serve and enforce protection orders, exposed survivors to repeated abuses and resulted in the violation of women’s fundamental rights, the UN women’s rights committee has found.   In a report published today, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) said available evidence indicated that the scale of domestic violence, including femicide, is alarmingly high in South Africa.   Many women and girls in South Africa, especially in rural areas, are victims of harmful practices, including child marriage, abduction for marriage (“ukuthwala”) and polygamy or polygamous unions that often give rise to domestic violence.   Those who reported their abuser often did not get the protection they needed, CEDAW found. According to official figures, out of 143, 824 requests for protection orders in 2018-2019, only 22,211 were granted – and in many of these cases, the protection order just instructed the abuser to sleep in another room in the same house.   The Committee highlighted the substantial suffering inflicted on women and girls frequently exposed to domestic violence, including sexual violence from a very young age. “Many victims described physical violence including rape, battery with objects, kicks and inflicted burns by their partners, who often abused alcohol or drugs, had low self-esteem or had sadistic tendencies,” the Committee said.   “Some survivors used drugs to cope with the violence or had attempted to commit suicide. Even after leaving an abusive relationship, many continued to suffer from depression, trauma and anxiety,” the Committee added. The report also noted that in many cases, women had been killed by their partners.   The Committee noted the absence of State-run shelters for women and their children. South Africa “cannot absolve itself from its obligation to ensure protection and assistance to victims of domestic violence by delegating the provision of such services to NGO-run shelters without adequately funding them,” CEDAW said.   The Committee concluded that South Africa failed to comply with its obligation to effectively investigate, prosecute and punish cases of domestic violence, and provide systematic and effective capacity building for the judiciary and law enforcement bodies, thereby violating the right of South African women to live free from domestic violence.   The Committee has made 34 recommendations for action. These include effective law enforcement, policies ensuring adequate access to justice, protection and victim support services, and measures dismantling patriarchal attitudes and discriminatory stereotypes that legitimize domestic violence.   Committee members visited South Africa in September 2019 to conduct a confidential inquiry into allegations by civil society organizations that women in South Africa were subjected to extreme levels of domestic violence. The Committee stressed that it had received the full co-operation of the Government of South Africa.   In this regard, it remains ready to continue to work with the government, traditional and community leaders, and other stakeholders in the implementation of its recommendations.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx http://mg.co.za/news/2021-06-22-facts-and-figures-global-domestic-violence-numbers/ http://dartcenter.org/resources/denied-justice http://www.sparknews.com/towards-equality/ Visit the related web page
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