March 2020 – Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales

NewsMarch 25, 2020

BHRC welcomes statement from UN High Commissioner calling for urgent action to protect the health and safety of people in detention amid Covid-19 pandemic

BHRC welcomes and supports the statement issued today by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet, calling on governments to “take urgent action to protect the health and safety of people in detention and other closed facilities” as part of efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms Bachelet also called on governments to...

NewsMarch 24, 2020

A message from our Chair to BHRC members and partners regarding the Covid-19 pandemic

In these unprecedented times, the health and safety of our staff, members and partners remains our primary concern. It is with a heavy heart that BHRC has taken the difficult decision to suspend all trial monitoring, training and events until the end of June 2020 at the earliest, and subject to monthly review. As a...

News Publications Statements and LettersMarch 24, 2020

Joint Statement: COVID-19: Urgent measures must be taken by MENA governments to protect the prison population

BHRC has joined the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), MENA Rights Group, and 37 organisations from around the world, to issue a statement calling on governments in the Middle East and North Africa to take a number of urgent measures to protect their prison populations, and in doing so, their populations as...

News Statements and LettersMarch 19, 2020

Bar Council and BHRC write to the Polish authorities over worsening rule of law crisis

The Bar Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee have written to the Polish President and Prime Minister, and Marshals of the Senate and Sejm, on the worsening rule of law crisis in the country. In particular they address their serious concerns as to the motion filed by the National Prosecution Office to the Disciplinary Chamber of the...

News Statements and LettersMarch 16, 2020

Joint Statement: Arbitrary Suspension of Tanzanian Lawyer and Former President of the Tanganyika Law Society, Ms Fatma Karume

The undersigned bar associations and organizations, concerned with the rule of law and the independence of the legal profession, register their concern over the continued suspension of Ms Fatma Karume, a former president of the Tanganyika Law Society and a current senior partner at the law firm, IMMMA Advocates in Tanzania. On September 20, 2019,...

News ProjectsMarch 9, 2020

BHRC and the National FGM Centre launch training video on interviewing child witnesses

The Bar Human Rights Committee and the National FGM Centre have today launched a training video on interviewing child witnesses at the National FGM Centre’s conference on harmful practices and the quest towards gender equality to mark International Women’s Day 2020. The video outlines best practices for interviewing a child who has suffered physical and...

Events NewsMarch 4, 2020

BHRC partners with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2020 – Our Mothers (Nuestras Madres)

UPDATE: It has been announced that sadly the #HRWFF London has been cancelled due to Covid-19. Please read the statement here. The Bar Human Rights Committee has partnered with the Human Rights Watch Film Festival for the film “Our Mothers” (Nuestras Madres), which is being screened at the Barbican in London at 3.45pm on Saturday 14 March...

Events NewsMarch 2, 2020

Event: The “Chilling Effect” of Pre-Trial Detention on Human Rights Defenders in Egypt, Wednesday 11 March 2020, 6pm

Wednesday 11 March 2020, 6pmGarden Court Chambers57-60 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, London EuroMed Rights is pleased to invite you to the launch of a new report: “The Chilling Effect”: a study on the use of pre-trial detention as a tool of repression against human rights defenders in Egypt. The report was commissioned by EuroMed Rights...