Posted on

FAIR TRIAL DAY: MEXICO

Focus Country of 2023: Mexico
Call for Nominations for the Ebru Timtik Award
14 June 2023, Mexico City/Mexico

In 2021, a group of lawyers and lawyers’ organisations came together to establish an annual International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) to be observed every year on 14 June. This initiative is supported by more than 100 legal associations across the world, all of which are committed to the vital importance of the right to a fair trial and the serious challenges to due process rights worldwide. They established a Steering Group for the organization of IFTD.
The Steering Group agreed that in each subsequent year, one country –where fair trial rights are being systemically violated– would be chosen as the focus country, and an event would be organized to mark IFTD, as well as a series of activities around the event to draw attention to the situation in that country. The events include holding a conference on systemic fair trial issues and making a public statement with concrete recommendations on how to tackle these. The decision to establish an IFTD was also accompanied by the establishment of the Ebru Timtik Award. Ebru Timtik is a lawyer from Turkey who lost her life on 27 August 2020 as a result of a 238-day hunger strike she undertook to protest against the systemic violations of fair trial rights which people in Turkey are facing. Every year, on the occasion of the IFTD, the Ebru Timtik Award is made by an independent jury to an individual or individuals and/or an organisation who have or which has made a significant contribution to the defence and promotion of the right to a fair trial in the focus country.
The first IFTD focus country chosen was Turkey, in 2021. A virtual conference was held on 14 June 2021, to mark the occasion. The first Ebru Timtik Award was granted posthumously to Ebru Timtik herself. The second conference, which focused on the systemic fair trial issues in Egypt, took place in Palermo/Italy on 17-18 June 2022. Mohamed El-Baqer and Haitham Mohammadein, two Egyptian human rights lawyers who were in detention at the time, received the Ebru Timtik Award.


2023 International Fair Trial Day Focus Country: Mexico
The Steering Group has expanded since 2021 to include a number of other prominent organisations taking part in the work, all as listed below. Several nominations were received for this year’s IFTD focus country. Following due consideration of the proposals, Mexico has been chosen as the focus country of 2023. This decision is based on the following: 
Reports on the situation in Mexico illustrate that many parts of the judicial system in the country suffer from systemic corruption, lack of effective protection of due process rights, ineffective and delayed investigations and trials, discrimination, and improper government influence. Accordingly, there are concerns that the judiciary of some courts and regions fail to provide an effective and timely remedy for those who are wrongly accused of violent crimes or who are victims of crimes or human rights abuses. This becomes more striking against the backdrop of an extremely high violent crime rate and impunity. Evidence of corruption within the judiciary and investigative authorities, among other state institutions, remains a fundamental concern. Reports emphasize that the involvement of the state security forces and prosecutors in criminal activities and ‘serious and widespread human rights violations, including torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings with near total impunity’ is an acute problem. 
While Mexico is overall defined as a partially free country in the Freedom House Freedom in the World Report (with a 60/100 ranking), rule of law-related factors in the assessment downgrade Mexico’s ranking. Accordingly, the ‘due process rights protection’ ranking of the country is only ¼, while the ‘judicial independence’ ranking is 2/4. The Global Rule of Law Index of the World Justice Project places Mexico at the rank of 115 out of 140 countries worldwide. Mexico’s ‘criminal justice’ ranking in the Index is 128/140, while the ‘civil justice’ ranking is 131/140. The country is among the worst 10 countries when it comes to ‘corruption,’ ranking 134/140. 
Enforced disappearances and summary executions remain one of the most important human rights issues in the country, with the state institutions consistently failing to find an effective solution. In 2021 alone, at least 7,698 missing or disappeared person cases were reported, bringing the total number since 1964 to more than 100,000 people. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances visited Mexico in 2021 and shared its findings in 2022. These findings drew attention to the urgency and seriousness of the issue and urged the Mexican authorities to, among others, increase their efforts to combat enforced disappearances, take genuine steps to eradicate structural impunity, and facilitate coordination between different state institutions.
Mexico is rated as one of the most dangerous countries for human rights defenders working on organized crimes, corruption, and crimes by state agents. They are targeted, face attacks, and, in some cases, are killed, abducted, and tortured for their legitimate human rights activities by members of organized groups or state agents. 15 journalists were killed between January and September 2022, and between January – June 2022, 12 human rights defenders were killed in Mexico. Despite the seriousness of these crimes, the cases often remain unresolved with impunity shielding those who are responsible.
Arbitrary, prolonged, and unlawful pretrial detention, in many cases without any charges, is a further systemic issue in the Mexican justice system. Ordering pretrial detention is an obligation for the judicial authorities for those charged with several crimes without any regard to the evidence or circumstances of the case file. The widely criticized arraigo detention that allows prosecutors to obtain detention authorization for up to 40 days without a charge is a further problematic practice used to undermine the due process rights of the accused. These broad powers are extensively used by the judicial and prosecutorial authorities and as a result of their frequent application, prisons are overcrowded and prisoners face systematic human rights abuses and dire prison conditions.  
In an October 2021 filing of an application to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights underlined some of these systemic issues, particularly those related to the use of detention, torture, and ill-treatment within Mexico’s criminal justice system, and recommended that Mexico:  

‘Adapt the country’s legal system to permanently eliminate the concept of arraigo, including the constitutional and legal norms that uphold this practice. While this is being implemented, ensure that all judicial operators who are called upon to apply the concept of arraigo cease to do so by invoking conventionality control, in light of the corresponding inter-American standards.

Provide appropriate training for officials working at the Office of the Deputy Attorney General of Tlalnepantla concerning the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment during investigations of all crimes, including those that relate to organized crime, and implement a simple, easily accessible system for reporting any such acts.’
Similarly, in a September 2022 statement, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called on Mexico to urgently abolish mandatory pre-trial detention provided under the Constitution. According to the Committee, ‘[o]ne of the most serious consequences of mandatory pre-trial detention has been that many Mexicans spend more than a decade deprived of their liberty, awaiting trial, without sentence and in conditions of serious risk to their lives and personal integrity. It also contributes to prison overcrowding.’
In a judgment published in January 2023, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights also condemned the pre-procedural arraigo as well as the pretrial detention regulated in the 1999 Federal Code of Criminal Procedure, contrary to the American Convention on Human Rights. The Court ordered Mexico to: a) annul (dejar sin efecto) the provisions related to pre-procedural arraigo in its domestic law; and b) adapt its internal legal system on pretrial detention.
Against this dire background, the Organising Committee of the IFTD agreed that focusing on Mexico in 2023 will help draw more attention to the systemic fair trial violations in the country. It will provide support to many human rights defenders, including lawyers and journalists, and judges who are still being targeted for their legitimate activities, who are arbitrarily prosecuted, detained, and who face trials severely lacking in due process and failing to respect fair trial principles. 
The IFTD conference will be held on 14 June 2023 in Mexico and will be co-hosted by Mexico-based organisations. Further details of the agenda and the speakers who will participate in the conference will follow over the next few months. For now, we invite you to hold the date.


Call for nominations for the Ebru Timtik Award
The Organising Committee of the IFTD would like to also invite you to nominate one or more individual(s) or an organisation for the Ebru Timtik Award from amongst those who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice in upholding fundamental values related to the right to a fair trial in Mexico. The individual(s) or organisation nominated for the award must be or have been active in defending and or promoting the right to a fair trial in Mexico through either his/her/their/its recent outstanding piece of work in relation to this fundamental right or his/her/their/its distinguished long-term involvement in fair trial issues.

The deadline for nominations is 2 May 2023.

To nominate, please send your nominations to nominationsetaward@gmail.com in English and kindly include: (1) the candidate’s detailed bio, (2) a letter signed by the nominating organisation/group of individuals explaining the reasons why they/it consider(s) that the candidate should be granted the Award, and (3) one recommendation/supporting letter from an unrelated, external organisation, if the application is submitted by a group of individuals.
For the details of the award criteria and process please see the attached “Selection criteria for the grant of the Ebru Timtik Fair Trial Award”. After the deadline, a jury composed of independent individuals who are experienced with the right to a fair trial, including one or more from the focus country, will review and assess the nominations and determine the award recipient(s).

Download the full document

Posted on

Journée de l’avocat en danger 2016 – Mobilisons-nous en faveur des avocats de Honduras !

Depuis le coup d’état de 2009, les violations graves des droits de l’homme, commises à grande échelle, ont fortement affecté la population du Honduras. L’absence de réaction de l’Etat à la hauteur de la gravité de la situation est largement dénoncée par les organes des Nations-Unies et la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’homme.

Les avocats ne sont pas épargnés par cette situation. La pratique du droit est en soi génératrice de risque dans un contexte de perte totale de confiance de la population envers l’institution judiciaire et ses différents acteurs.

Le nombre d’avocats enregistrés auprès du barreau national du Honduras s’élève à 18.000.

La Commission nationale des droits de l’homme (CONADEH) a enregistré entre 2010 et mars 2015, 89 cas de mort violente de professionnels du droit (avocats, juges et membres du parquet).

Dans la grande majorité, ces meurtres ont été commis à l’arme à feu et dans au moins 82% des cas, le ou les auteurs de ces crimes restent impunis.

L’absence de mise en place de programmes spécifiques de protection pour les acteurs de justice par les autorités a été régulièrement dénoncée par la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’homme. Tous réclament de l’Etat autant la mise en place des mesures nécessaires à la protection de leur intégrité physique et morale.

Trop souvent l’avocat est rendu responsable des disfonctionnements de la justice ou même simplement du fait que le juge a tranché en faveur de la partie adverse. Dans un pays où la violence est omniprésente,  la frustration ressentie par les justiciables se règle trop souvent par des attaques, souvent fatales, à l’encontre des avocats ou magistrats.

Un avocat au Honduras doit être formé à la sécurité, pouvoir être sélectif dans les dossiers qu’il accepte et exclure tout dossier potentiellement générateur de danger en raison de la personnalité des parties ou des enjeux présents.

Une telle situation n’est pas conforme à la mission de l’avocat et est dénoncée par tous comme ayant des conséquences graves sur la capacité des professionnels du droit à exercer leurs fonctions de façon indépendante et impartiale.

Posted on

ADVOCACY IN HONDURAS: A COMPLEX ROAD

Lawyer Jose Luis Valladares Guifarro

Spanish version

 

I come from a small and wonderful country numbed by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Honduras is an ancient land, the cradle of one of the most prominent before the discovery of America astronomical centers : the Mayan city of Copan and likewise one of the most important so far in the XXI Century findings : the White City or Town Monkey God, recently enhanced by the National Geographic.

 

In Honduras miraculous events occur and therefore inexplicable, like the rain of fish; which they are collected in fields and streets by the inhabitants of a village inland.But such beauty of unspoiled landscapes with flora, fauna and habitats polychrome culture, aromas and flavors, complemented by the work of industrious and noble people in camps and cities; has been overshadowed in recent years, violence against professional association of lawyers.The exercise of the profession of law has become a risky job because the volatility of the social scene in Honduras was wroth with two particular professions: journalism and advocacy.

 

Lecture, in minutes, about the reality of the lawyer in Honduras is not an easy task, because we must examine several edges that have become real threats to the professional journal future of who we take care of defending the heritage, honor and good behalf of our constituents.We are, first, subjected to a permanent change required adaptability same as professionals and humans. Of subjects receiving the change, we become agents of change for a thirsty society of justice, unhappy with impunity and willing to have honest professionals, having only steeped in his eyes the reflection of the Goddess Themis to act with honesty and ethics.It’s not an easy road the practice of law because although we fault, end up being because of our passion and deep commitment we made to bring them to fruition.In Honduras, as in dozens of nations of the world we live in difficult times punctuated by the anguish of personal insecurity, the untimely arrival of new criminal agents, rapid social decomposition and a bewildering storm, which seeks to eliminate the values ​​that we have always believe and with which we have always lived.There are 12 variables that influence the spread of violence and insecurity and hitting directly or indirectly, not only the legal system but also the practice of the profession of law in Honduras: 1. Poverty and marginalization that has been part of the national reality for years.2. Domestic and family violence 3. Proliferation of youth gangs 4. Organized crime 5. Growing number of national arms trafficking and indiscriminate use of alcohol 6. Insufficient presence of authority 7. Corruption, impunity and imparting justice delayed8. Impairment of the culture of legality 9. Internationalization of crime 10. Social, economic, political, environmental and cultural 10. Security complex mix of factors with Threats 11. Volatility policy by the fragility of democratic institutions 12. Drug trafficking and money laundering

Amid this changing environment that has come to cover pain to society, to stall the public, private and foreign investment; is the figure of the lawyer, who with his wisdom and insight struggle to bring light of justice and redemption to an environment, often hostile, which is difficult to work without fear but at the same time, it encourages direct its work to build a more just country, with a better distribution of wealth and equal opportunities for all and especially in governing the rule of law.Practice the profession of law in Honduras; it has become in the last 6 years a risky activity that has created a climate of death and uncertainty among lawyers and their families.While the mission of the magistrate of the law is to ensure that you will respect the rights of everyone, and ensure that there is prompt justice for those who deserve; recent years have been tragic for the family of the Honduran Bar 97 lawyers who have been assassinated the period from 2010 to October 2015.Citing both the Bar Association of Honduras as a report published by the National Commissioner of Human Rights in Honduras (CONADEH), the following data show the high risk of the exercise of the profession of law in the country:

 

In 2013 29 incidents of violence against lawyers were specified  ü There were 27 victims of which 21 died and six were seriously injuredü Among the 27 victims , they were able to account not only for lawyers who were practicing in his office or private office ; but 1 trial judge , one public prosecutor , 2 former judges , one former candidate for alderman and one alderman from two different political parties, one legal adviser to a company that had a land dispute , one candidate for mayor and 1 intern law degree . In 2014ü This year violently killed 11 lawyers . All firearm . 2015Until October, they killed 10 lawyers From 2010 to October 2015Ø 97 lawyers performed in 10 of the 18 departmentsØ 70% of these violent deaths have been carried out in two departments: Francisco Morazán and Cortés. Most of these cases have not been resolved, some remain under investigation and others, seem to have been forgotten in the drawers of some court or entity clarification of crimes.My purpose in presenting the figures above, is that you have an idea of ​​the delicate and complex situation that is facing the union in the Republic of Honduras. It is a reality we can not ignore and, more importantly, it requires rethinking the role of the lawyer in Honduras, the stigma of being the object of the crime and the lack of guarantees to freely exercise their profession.Before the latent danger everyday along which the legal professional, he can not sit idly by as they should continue the exercise of his career. Without any doubt, this means being more cautious, take urgent safety measures and dismiss some cases carry the risks they entail.It is extremely worrying that last point, because the lawyers took to justice the problems of our customers; however, in the country they are giving aggravating factors and imminent danger, requiring reject the representation of certain cases for the consequences that may bring. Many lawyers and lawyers have lost their lives just because of taking over a case in which they have been involved one or more of the twelve variables outlined a few minutes ago.All the effort and illustration have developed legal professionals for years, they are hampered by the sickly virulence towards them. The most recent crime happened a little over a month, she was carried out by a university young professional, who pushed for ideological reasons and an apparent mental disturbance, killed with unbelievable cruelty in a mall in Tegucigalpa in broad daylight, a lawyer wearing an emblematic case of citizen accused of corruption.The lawyer was not to blame for the alleged crimes attributed to his client. All he performed was the work of representation before the courts; however, the political and ideological criminal –adversaries your represented– assumed that taking the life of the lawyer, avenged its opposite. Despite these turbulent waters through which we sail and to that dark and menacing scene, Honduran lawyers are determined to remain brave sentinels of the truth, and we carry the banner of the Goddess Justice.The creation, implementation and administration of the law, requires wise men and women in the field, with common sense and inexhaustible citizen vocation. The law has come to turn more than a profession, but a vocation … is without doubt a meeting point for the reconciliation of different interests, to help be granted to everyone no less than it belongs, and to hold that vision capability that empowers societies to develop in peace and freedom.The above are generous resolutions to which we aspire lawyers; however, in Honduras we’re almost ready to stop dreaming about these ideals as an adverse environment and full of infamy, it has become the harbinger of a black cloud that threatens the daily work career of laws, and not It allows us to see clearly the future of the profession and of our lives. Because the latent threat to sun to moon students of the Laws, the Honduras Bar Association is developing and proceed to implement a Safety Prevention Project in this Affiliate College and thus improve governance in the country.There are many challenges that accompany the lawyer of the new millennium; But do not forget that before a professional Laws, is a human being who must always be ready to offer its selfless assistance to their counterparts, to try to have a better world where man is not only in harmony with himself, but also the environment and social and economic realities that surround him. We ask of you colleagues from Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania, from the depths of our hearts and from the threads of our souls, solidarity and worldwide support for the twenty thousand and fifty-seven lawyers and lawyers from Honduras, feel they are not alone and that although the hands of criminals and criminal minds want to extinguish the light of justice that dwells in all; There colleagues beyond borders and beyond the oceans, who accompany these painful moments that pass through. We need your support and your company colleagues the world! In Honduras we do not want to live with petrifying fear that grips us; gentleman wish to exercise this office without obstacles preventing us earn a living with dignity.We hope that our professional situation will change, we will again enjoy the freedom we exercised this profession years ago. We have faith that we will walk towards the courts, courts, with the assurance that our profession will be respected by those who despise the triumph of justice.It is our certainty that new and better times are coming to improve our quality of life. And also we are convinced that very shortly with our participation and support of you colleagues in various latitudes of the planet, violence against the guild of lawyers in Honduras, will be a thing of the past of which only retain images pain of so many lawyers killed in the line of duty, and perpetual prayers for their souls enjoy eternal rest.

Posted on

Lawyers in Honduras

In Honduras, the practice of law has become a high-risk profession for those who practice it. They risk assassination, abductions and threats to their families.

Since the 2009 coup d’état there have been human rights violations that have gravely affected the Honduran population, their effects and repercussions have continued, persisted, and made the situation of the country very complex. The Judiciary in Honduras is currently going through a critical situation because of problems related to judicial independence, which have been notorious in recent years, both before and after the coup of June 2009.

On the 22nd of January, Lawyers all across Europe will demonstrate in their robes in front of the Embassy of Honduras to denounce this situation and urge the Honduran government to take action to protect its citizens

Read the Press statement