On 3 July, BHRC hosted a seminar to discuss the challenges faced in the current climate of peace talks in Colombia for reconciliation between the state and its victims. In 1997, the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in the North-West region of Urabá, Colombia, declared itself neutral to the five-decade armed conflict, a...
On Friday 3rd July, BHRC held a seminar to discuss the peace process in Colombia and to focus in particular on the situation of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community. The community located in the North-West region of Urabá, declared itself neutral to the five-decade armed conflict in 1997, a civilian protection strategy based on...
In 1997, the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in the North-West region of Urabá, Colombia, declared itself neutral to the five-decade armed conflict, a civilian protection strategy based on international humanitarian law. Since then, the community has suffered many killings and reprisals....
On Monday 29th June, BHRC and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law held a joint seminar on the topic of human rights in the Middle East. Speaking on the panel were Dr. Vida Hamd, Policy Officer for Political and Humanitarian Affairs at the Dutch Embassy in Beirut; Schona Jolly, BHRC Executive Committee member...
This seminar will explore existing and emerging forces across the Middle East four years after the start of the 'Arab Spring'. The panellists will examine the current human rights situation across the Arab world. In particular, the speakers will consider new trends in women’s activism and political participation in post-uprising Arab countries and the challenges being faced by human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists as an essential aspect of the rule of law....
On Monday 22nd June, BHRC hosted a film-screening of the recent documentary ‘Burden of Peace’ which tells the story of Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz, the first woman to lead the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala. The film intimately follows Claudia’s struggle against corruption and impunity in her country, focussing on her courageous move to arrest...
The documentary ‘Burden of Peace' tells the story of Claudia Paz y Paz, the first woman to lead the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala.The country that has been ravaged for years by a devastating civil war is today one of the most violent in the world. Claudia starts a frontal attack against corruption, drug gangs and impunity and does what everyone had hitherto held to be impossible: she arrests former dictator Efraín Rios Montt on charges of genocide.....
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) expresses serious concern about the continuing prosecution of Ms Azza Soliman, women’s rights lawyer and co-founder of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance. The case against Ms Soliman stems from the fatal shooting in January 2015 – allegedly by the Egyptian police – of Ms Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, a prominent Egyptian activist.
Following the news that the case of Dr. Amin Mekki Medani was declared nolle prosequi in Sudan in April, ending his detention and trial, BHRC has received a letter of thanks. Dr. Medani thanks the BHRC for its public statement on the case which contributed to the international pressure that helped bring about the termination...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) expresses grave concern about the death sentence pronounced against the deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, along with over 100 additional defendants in circumstances that raise critical doubt over the impartiality and fairness of the Egyptian judicial system. In particular, the BHRC is deeply concerned by the continued disregard for the right to life apparent in these mass capital sentences.
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.