UN human rights expert Alena Douhan today called on the United States to remove unilateral sanctions which may inhibit rebuilding of Syria’s civilian infrastructure destroyed by the conflict. “The sanctions violate the human rights of the Syrian people, whose country has been destroyed by almost 10 years of ongoing conflict,” said Douhan, UN special rapporteur […]

C’est un dur métier d’être défenseur.e des droits ou avocat.e à Diyarbakir. Pour celles et ceux qui ne la connaissent pas, Diyarbakir est une ville mésopotamienne dont le quartier antique avait été intégré dans l’inventaire du patrimoine culturel mondial avant d’être rasé et carrément bombardé en 2015 par les chars de l’armée et les escadrons […]

UN human rights experts* said they were alarmed by reports that Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has reportedly been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution despite widely held findings his trial was grossly unfair and he was tortured.  “We are horrified by the reports that Mr. Djalali is soon to be executed by the […]

In late January 2017, just weeks after Donald Trump was sworn in as commander-in-chief, U.S. troops carried out a raid in the southwestern Yemeni village of al-Ghayil that marked the start of his presidency with bloodshed. The raid, led by dozens of U.S. special forces troops backed by helicopters, allegedly intended to hit Al Qaeda operatives believed to […]

The calls for freedom for imprisoned Palestinian hunger striker Maher al-Akhras are growing as he enters his 92nd day of hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. An international day of action and symbolic global hunger strikes is being organized for 28 October, and United Nations Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk called for the immediate […]

Syrians continue to be killed, suffer severe hardships and grave rights violations, despite a relative reduction in largescale hostilities since the 5 March ceasefire, according to the latest findings of the UN Syrian Commission of Inquiry. The Commission of Inquiry’s 25-page report released today documents continuing violations and abuses by nearly every conflict actor controlling territory in […]

Switzerland’s draft anti-terrorism legislation violates international human rights standards by expanding the definition of terrorism, and would set a dangerous precedent for the suppression of political dissent worldwide, UN human rights experts* warned today. They expressed regret at the refusal of the Swiss authorities to change contentious sections of the draft law, now before parliament, […]

A UN human rights expert has urged Iraq to redouble its efforts to assist and protect internally displaced persons, and support them in achieving lasting solutions, with particular care for the most vulnerable. “I commend the Government of Iraq for the measures it has taken to address internal displacement that have been instrumental in promoting […]

UN human rights experts today urged governments to honour victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide by building peaceful, inclusive and just societies to prevent a repetition of such an atrocity. “Genocides are not spontaneous,” the 17 experts said. “They are the culmination of unchallenged and unchecked intolerance, discrimination and violence.” On the 25th anniversary of the […]

Friday’s conviction of four human rights defenders of terrorism charges in Istanbul continues a pattern of prosecutions designed to restrict human rights defenders and silence critical voices. These baseless convictions are consistent with the recent warning of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, of a politicised Turkish judiciary criminalising legitimate and peaceful […]

Le projet de modification de loi sur l’exécution des peines et des mesures a été présenté à la Présidence de l’Assemblée nationale turque (AN) en date du 18 mars 2020.  En préambule, les auteurs de ce projet faisaient référence à la pandémie actuelle, COVID-19, et attiraient l’attention du législateur sur les conséquences désastreuses que pourraient […]

Three opposition MPs in Turkey had their parliamentary immunity revoked and were arrested on Thursday in a re-opening of the Government’s campaign against the democratic mandate. The announcement in parliament prompted shock, anger and protests among People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies. This latest disregard for the expression of the will […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed our lives and enjoyment of rights. The now-familiar curfews and other restrictions are, in principle, permissible under human rights law (see here and here). Nonetheless, there are many unresolved questions (see here and here) and, for some, the pandemic-emergency is an opportunity to weaken democratic institutions and set permanent […]

« What happened was a terrible tragedy, but it wasn’t intentional » « …to suppress the mountain people and to obliterate disobedient. » How many times have we listened these sayings taken from the cliche-box of the genocide denial?  So were they used also to talk apologetically about the Circassian genocide. The indigenous peoples of Circassia; Circassians, mainly Adyghe, […]

On 4 May 1937, the Council of Ministers of Turkey, in close collaboration with the General Staff of Turkish Army decided secretly on a forceful attack against the alavi Kurdish population of Dersim, to kill all kurds who resisted to the forced assimilation policies and to deport the civilian surviving population according to the 1934 […]

“Those who opposed (the project) were accused of being political. Even if you’re an environmentalist, a patriot, or animal lover, they labelled you as something else when you said ‘Stop!’ to the project. Now, we’re watching history slowly disappear” (see here) From the Bamiyan statues (see here) to the cities of Palmyra (see here) and […]

April 24th marks the 105th anniversary of Metz Yeghern -the Great Evil – when more than one million men, women, and children were exterminated by the ottoman nationalist government in Mesopotamia.  Armenian Genocide in 1905 was a prelude to a series of  other mass-atrocity crimes such as deportations, ethnic cleansing, mass murders, forced migrations and […]

United Nations experts have expressed shock and dismay at Iran’s execution of a second child offender in four days amid concerns that further executions may soon take place. The executions of Majid Esmailzadeh on 18 April 2020 and Shayan Saeedpour on 21 April 2020 once again put Iran in breach of the absolute prohibition of […]

The Mesopotamia Observatory of Justice, MOJUST,  remembers solemnly the mass massacre perpetrated on March 16, 1988 in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq by former dictator Saddam Hussein’s forces.  Facing the artillery and air strikes, Kurdish forces had withdrawn to the surrounding zone, leaving behind 5’000 women, children and the elderly who were killed […]

MoJust condemns the callous re-arrest of businessman, philanthropist and human rights defender Osman Kavala on charges related to the attempted coup d’état of 15 July 2016. This action demonstrates a blatant disregard for justice and human rights in the Turkish State’s ongoing campaign against critical voices. On 10 December 2019 the European Court of Human […]

Today the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the ongoing detention of Osman Kavala, human rights defender, philanthropist and a defendant in the ‘Gezi Park Case’, violates his right to liberty and security of the person (see here). In a landmark finding, the European Court further declared that his detention pursued an ulterior purpose, […]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will from now on be able to prosecute the intentional starvation of civilians in civil wars as a war crime. The ICC Assembly of States Parties took a unanimous decision to this effect earlier today. It strengthens the protection of victims of war. The majority of the over 800 million […]

Mojust welcomes the conviction of Dutch-born Oussama Achraf Akhlafa in the first Da’esh/ISIS war crimes prosecution in the Netherlands. On Tuesday, the court convicted Mr Akhlafa of membership of a terrorist organisation, violating the personal dignity of victims of war in Syria and preparing terrorist attacks, and sentenced him to 7 years and 6 months […]

On 20 November 2018, the European Court of Human Rights released its judgment on the pre-trial detention of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (Halkların Demokratik Partisi / Partiya Demokratȋk a Gelan, HDP) (see here). The Court’s finding of a violation of Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (restrictions […]

Today the Mesopotamia Observatory of Justice submitted a communication to the United Nations expressing our serious concern about continuing attacks on lawyers in Turkey. We urge the UN Special Rapporteurs on Independence of Judges and Lawyers, on Human Rights Defenders, on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and on the Promotion […]