BHRC calls on Russian authorities to uphold religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has issued a formal statement expressing serious concern over the Russian Supreme Court’s recent ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses. On 20 April 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court upheld an application by Russia’s Ministry of Justice to declare the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center an extremist organisation and to ban its...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has welcomed today’s news that Egyptian-American charity founder Aya Hegazy has been released from prison after being acquitted of the charges against her, following almost three years of detention in Cairo. Ms. Hegazy is the co-founder of the Belady Foundation for street children, along with her...

BHRC responds to latest delay in Aya Hegazy case

After 1156 days on pre-trial detention, Aya Hegazy will have to wait a further 3 weeks to learn her fate, along with her co-defendants in the Belady Foundation trial in Cairo. The judge had previously indicated that he was ready to deliver his verdict on 23 March 2017. Instead, and without giving any reasons, he...

BHRC partners with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival

The Bar Human Rights Committee has partnered with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival for a series of screenings of documentary films The Settlers and They Call Us Monsters, taking place at the Barbican and Picturehouse Central in March 2017. The Settlers The Settlers cracks open the world of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank:...

The Bar Human Rights Committee has welcomed the UK Government’s recent decision to reconsider asylum applications from lone child refugees with family links to Britain, following substantial public outcry from BHRC and many others. A written Ministerial statement by Robert Goodwill MP on 8 February 2017 revealed that the Government’s schemes to accept unaccompanied child refugees...

BHRC legal observers call on Turkey to ensure fair trial rights of Taraf journalists

The Bar Human Rights Committee has published a statement of concern calling on the Turkish authorities to protect the fair trial rights of five journalists from the newspaper Taraf. Former Taraf editor Ahmet Altan, deputy editor Yasemin Çongar and journalists Mehmet Baransu. Yıldıray Oğur and Tuncay Opçin currently face unparticularised charges relating to terrorism and security....