Following the Bar Human Rights Committee’s recent statement on the case of Mohamed al-Qiq, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK Government has issued a formal response. Mohamed al-Qiq is a Palestinian journalist who undertook a 94-day hunger strike in protest at his internment without trial under Israel’s administrative detention laws. These laws permit the arrest...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) and EuroMed Rights express serious concern at the ongoing detention in Egypt of Aya Hegazy, and six other co-defendants from the Belady Foundation for Street Children, ahead of their next hearing on 23 March. Ms Hegazy and her co-defendants (including Hegazy’s husband Mohammed Hassenein) have...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) and The Bar Council of England and Wales have expressed deep concern over recent attacks against lawyers in Turkey. On 16 March, nine human rights lawyers, known for their work in representing minority groups and people accused of terrorism and crimes against the state, were...
Tahir Elçi , President of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, was a fearless human rights defender and consistently principled advocate for minorities across Turkey. A victim of torture himself, Mr Elçi was instrumental in bringing cases of torture, detention and disappearances against Turkey before the domestic courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights. On 28 November 2015, Tahir Elçi was shot dead following a press conference in Diyarbakir in which he was calling for an end to violence between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and the authorities. As freedom of speech comes under increasing attack in Turkey, this seminar will discuss what can be done to improve human rights in the country.
On Tuesday 8 March 2016, BHRC and the Law Society organised a round-table discussion with three Chinese human rights lawyers visiting the UK. They talked about the escalating repression of lawyers and human rights defenders in China, and the risks and challenges facing lawyers in defending their clients. Last year, BHRC and the Law Society...
On Saturday 27 February 2016, Kirsty Brimelow QC, BHRC Chair, spoke at the International Women’s Day Conference 2016 in Paris to 3,000 - 4,000 delegates organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The title of the conference was Pledge for Parity: Women United Against Islamic Fundamentalism.
Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq ended his 94-day hunger strike on Friday 26 February 2016, following Israel’s decision to end his detention. Mr al-Qiq had been protesting his internment without trial under Israel’s administrative detention laws, which permit the arrest and detention of Palestinians, on secret evidence, for periods of up to six months, renewable indefinitely. Mr...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) calls for the immediate release of the hunger-striking Palestinian journalist, Mohamed al-Qiq. Mr al-Qiq has been on hunger-strike for 93 days in protest at his detention without charge by the Israeli authorities and at the torture and cruel and inhuman treatment to which he says...
BHRC organised a powerful event on Wednesday 10 February in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers, when it hosted a talk by Nadia Murad, a courageous Yazidi woman and survivor of ISIS. Nadia Murad Basee Taha was visiting the UK to share her personal story and raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people. Bravely campaigning on behalf of the 3,500...
Nadia Murad Basee Taha is a courageous Yazidi woman and survivor of ISIS. She is visiting the UK to share her personal story and raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidi people. She is campaigning on behalf of the 3,500 Yazidi women and girls who are still prisoners of ISIS and has been nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for...
The Bar Human Rights Committee is the independent,
international human rights arm of the Bar of England
and Wales, dedicated to promoting justice and respect
for human rights through the rule of law.