The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) re-publishes today, 5th June, an Open Letter addressed to the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, the Indian Home Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, and the President of the Indian National Congress party, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, expressing concern at the recent rejection...

The BHRC launches today 30th April 2013 an observation report on a pre-trial hearing in the case of 46 Turkish lawyers charged with terrorist offences. The hearing took place on the 28th March at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court. The hearing observation was conducted on behalf of BHRC by Melanie Gingell, barrister at Tooks Chambers and member of the BHRC. See the report here.

The BHRC and Solicitors’ International Human Rights Group (“SIHRG”) send today a letter to official authorities with reference to the current decision to annul the criminal proceedings in which General Efrain Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, are being tried on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity In Guatemala. To see the letter in English click...

The BHRC voices serious concern at the murder of lawyer Diego Luis Garcia Gonzales on 21st March 2013 in the western province of Valle de Cauca, Colombia.   This is the sixth lawyer murdered this year.  The increasingly hostile environment for lawyers in the area combined with the callous circumstances surrounding Diego Luis Garcia Gonzales’ shooting have lead to denunciations from...

The BHRC makes public a Summary of Proceedings of the event “Spotlight on the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal” that took place on Monday 18 March 2013 at the Houses of Parliament, Lords’ Committee Room 4. Please note that this is not a verbatim transcript of the proceedings, but a summarised note. The meeting was hosted by Lord Avebury and...

The BHRC launches today a legal briefing titled “Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages in Pakistan”. The briefing is authored by barrister and BHRC Executive Commitee member, Zimran Samuel, following a visit to Pakistan on behalf of the BHRC from 2nd  – 14th February 2013. Samuel undertook the visit in order to increase the discourse amongst lawmakers, NGO’s, academics,...

Ms Sharma is the founder of Advocacy Forum in Kathmandu, an organisation set up to provide legal assistance to the victims of human rights violations in Nepal. The threats have arisen after Ms Sharma made a complaint to the Police in the United Kingdom in respect of Colonel Lama – a Nepalese Army Colonel accused of war...