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.

Les avocats Ebru Timtik et Aytaç Unsal, condamnés à respectivement 14 ans et 11 années de prison, ont décidé de faire une grève de la faim illimitée pour dénoncer le procès injuste dont plusieurs dizaines d’avocats turcs font l’objet. Ils demandent à pouvoir bénéficier d’un procès équitable. Ce jeudi 27 août 2020, nous avons appris avec une peine immense le décès de Ebru Timtik, en grève de la faim depuis 238 jours. Aytaç Unsal est toujours en grève de la faim aujourd’hui et sa libération pour raisons de santé a déjà été rejetée. Nous demandons la libération immédiate de Aytaç Unsal, afin qu’il ne subisse pas le même sort qu’Ebru Timtik. Nous demandons également le respect, sans délai, du droit à un procès équitable, garanti par l’article 6 de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme à laquelle la Turquie est partie.

Indonesia has been particularly impacted by Covid-19. According to official data, Indonesia ranks second within South East Asia in terms of positive cases ; fifth in terms of mortality rate. 20,5% of Covid-19 cases were located in the capital city, Jakarta. This blogpost focuses on the legal response adopted in the first phase of the pandemic, i.e. until Mid-June 2020, when regions started to ease “large-scale social restrictions” previously adopted to respond to the pandemic.

On July 24th 2020, the Truth and Dignity Commission’s (IVD) final report has finally been published in a special issue of the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic. This report concludes the Commission’s work, which included the hearings of nearly 62.000 victims, the transfer of 204 cases to specialized criminal chambers in charge of prosecuting the perpetrators of human rights’ violations and economic crimes.

The issue of prejudices born out of colonisation, which has long been relegated to the background of public discourse, has recently gained momentum in Europe; particularly in Belgium.

A proposal for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is currently being debated by Belgian parliamentarians. Belgium thus has a historic opportunity to confront its colonial past, to address the underlying roots of the contemporary injustices faced by its Afro-descendant population and to establish new relationships with the formerly colonised societies.

As the Covid-19 pandemic entered a peak phase in China and was becoming more and more threatening in Europe, Tunisia very quickly deployed a preventative response, conscious of its health system’s weakness to contain such a crisis. The first measures were thus put in place on 26 January, with the installation of thermal cameras and, as of early March, the development of isolation practices for symptomatic people and 14-day self-confinement for asymptomatic people from at-risk areas.

Oeganda, gesterkt door zijn recente ervaring met het aanpakken van het ebolavirus, heeft een masterplan ontwikkeld om de verspreiding van COVID-19 tegen te gaan. Preventieve maatregelen werden vanaf 18 maart genomen, zelfs voordat het eerste geval van besmetting geregistreerd werd in het land. Terwijl het eerste geval geregistreerd werd op 22 maart, was het gezondheidspersoneel al in staat van paraatheid en waren preventieve maatregelen zoals het regelmatig wassen van de handen, al door de autoriteiten gepromoot.

Joint statement adressed to the member states of the African Union and to human rights international organisations in Africa.

ASF has helped create and revitalise networks of observers in the DRC. They are independent, they exist and are managed autonomously by their members. ASF and these networks work together to empower populations impacted by the activities of extractive companies. Today, we invite you to meet its members. They talk about the reasons behind their activism and their daily struggle to defend their communities and their rights.