The Djugu 2 trial came to an end on 1 April 2021. It concluded with 21 defendants being sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity by murder, arson, destruction, pillaging and persecution, and 11 defendants being acquitted. The 219 civil parties were also granted most of their claims for reparations, both individual and collective, including rehabilitation measures, thus breaking with the practice of awarding only damages.

Avocats Sans Frontières is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The Journal des Tribunaux sat for an interview with Patrick Henry, the newly elected ASF’s president, to address the organisation’s history and its special relationship with Belgian lawyers and bar associations.

Discover the work done by the association Art Acquis with prisoners in Tunisia. With its Perspectives project, supported by ASF and ATL MST SIDA Bureau National, the organisation uses art as therapy. Through the activities offered, it seeks to help prisoners express themselves better about their experience, to occupy themselves constructively during their incarceration and to promote their reintegration into society.

ASF co-organizes an interdisciplinary conference with the Anthropology Department at MIT, and the European Network against Racism fom the 22nd to the 26th of March 2021. Over the course of five half-days, scholars, activists, and policy makers from Africa, Europe and North America will address issues related to Europe’s colonial heritage and the global demands for justice in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. Participation is free but registration is required.

Within the “Projet Alternative”, implemented by Avocats Sans Frontières and ATL MST SIDA, Horizon d’Enfance sets up cultural activities at the Gabès prison, training courses for prison staff and qualifying training courses (plumbing, plastering, culinary arts and pastry making) for prisoners. The latter also benefit from training in entrepreneurship, support in setting up micro-projects and psychological follow-up to prepare for release. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the rehabilitation and reintegration of the inmates of the Gabès prison.

ASF joins the Open Society Foundation, APCOF, PALU, and ACJR in a campaign to promote the decriminalisation and declassification of minor offences. Particularly affecting people in vulnerable situations, these laws and their application are both arbitrary and discriminatory. “Vagrancy”, “disorderly behaviour” or “idleness” remain valid grounds for arresting and imprisoning individuals, contributing to the endemic overcrowding of prisons throughout the world.

As authorities initially downplayed the gravity of the Covid-19 health crisis, a sense of astonishment prevailed throughout the world at the unprecedented nature and scale of the measures that were later taken. More than half of the world’s population has found itself locked down, with varying economic, social, physical and mental consequences on individuals depending on personal and political context.

Why do so few victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) receive reparations even as the number of convictions for international crimes continues to rise? A policy brief produced by TRIAL International and its partners gives details of excessively lengthy and complicated procedures. The document, endorsed by around twenty civil society players and international partners, denounces a “facade of justice” that fails to meet the requirements of international law.

Avocats Sans Frontières publishes a study on the indirectly discriminatory impact of Belgian emergency policies on certain categories of the population, particularly vulnerable ones. The analysis, carried out as part of the project ‘Covid-19 Monitoring and Rule of Law’, relies on observation activities, as well as a set of interviews conducted by ASF in June and July 2020.

On September 15, 2020, 6 requests were filed at the High Courts in Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi (Kasai Oriental), Lubumbashi (Haut Katanga), and Kindu (Maniema). Written in the name of citizens and civil society organisations, they ask the competent judges to recognize instances of arbitrary dentention as well as the disastrous state of prisons in the country, particularly due to prison overcrowding. This action also seeks recognition of the State’s liability for the damages suffered by the plaintiffs.