Event information

24 June 2021, 13:30-15:00

Downloads

Flyer >

Defending Human Rights Lawyers in Authoritarian Times

Event

The Geneva Human Rights Platform logo evo bleu      HRI Logo      logo avocats      MEA LOGO PORTRAIT LARGE PNG  

In the past 10 years, a worrisome trend towards authoritarianism has grown in certain democracies, while well-established authoritarian regimes have been emboldened to clamp down further on their societies. ‘Strong man’ governments typically employ the rule of law and its trappings – courts, police, and security apparatus – to exert control. Rather than be seen as valuable pillars of the rule of law, hundreds of lawyers inside these regimes are routinely harassed, intimidated, jailed or even killed for their defense of human rights cases and causes. Authoritarian regimes are also increasingly hard to influence from the outside, they may be impassive to international outcry and indifferent to diplomatic pressure.

In a context of growing authoritarianism, this online event – co-organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and the Ordre des Avocats Genève – will discuss:

  • What strategies and tactics can effectively defend and support human rights lawyers?
  • How can Geneva play a role to protect lawyers from intimidation in their home countries?

WELCOME REMARKS

  • Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director, Geneva Human Rights Platform

MODERATOR

  • Sandrine Giroud, Chair of the Human Rights Committee, ODAGE

SPEAKERS

  • Xu Yan, wife of lawyer Yu Wensheng, Martin Ennals Award Laureate 2021, China
  • Ayşe Acinkli, Lawyers Association for Freedom, Turkey
  • Tatsiana Khomich, Human Rights activist, sister of Belarussian political prisoner Maria Kalesnikava
  • Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Director, International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Member of the House of Lords, UK
  • Diego García-Sayán, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
  • Phil Lynch, Director, International Service for Human Rights

VIDEO

Defending Human Rights Lawyers in Authoritarian Times

This event, co-organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders and the Ordre des Avocats Genève, discussed the strategies and tactics to effectively defend and support #humanrights lawyers who defend human rights cases and causes in their countries.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

LLM students: group photo at Yerevan's market News

Exploring IHL and Human Rights: Our LLM Students' Journey to Armenia

13 October 2023

In July, students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights embarked on a week-long study trip to Armenia.

Read more

Flag alley at the UN in Geneva News

New Paper Delves into Reporting Practices under International Treaties

13 November 2023

This new working paper by our Geneva Human Rights Platform provides an overview of more than 30 reporting practices, their specificities and good practices in this ever-growing field.

Read more

A session of the UN Human Right Committee Event

Transparency in nominations and elections to UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies: Towards a New Vetting System?

13 December 2023, 17:00-18:15

This discussion will look into election processes for UN TBs, the impact of Feminist Foreign Policy on this process, what can we learn from fellow international mechanisms, as well as the inclusion of a vetting process.

Read more

Syria,  Aleppo, great Umayyad mosque. Destructions. Short Course

The Interplay between International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

29 February - 15 March 2024

This online short course focuses on the specific issues that arise in times of armed conflict regarding the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights. It addresses key issues like the applicability of human rights in times of armed conflict; the possibilities of restricting human rights under systems of limitations and derogations; and the extraterritorial application of human rights law.

Read more

George Floyd protest in Washington D.C. Project

Promoting and Protecting the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and Civic Space Worldwide

Started in June 2020

This project aims at providing support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé by addressing emerging issues affecting civic space and eveloping tools and materials allowing various stakeholders to promote and defend civic space.

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

Read more

Cover page of the Research Brief Publication

The Evolving Neurotechnology Landscape: Examining the Role and Importance of Human Rights in Regulation

published on December 2023

Erica Harper

Read more