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.....
On 6th March, Plan UK, BHRC and Doughty Street Chambers held a special screening of the ground breaking film India’s Daughter, which tells the story of the brutal gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in Delhi in 2012, exposing the attitudes to women which allowed it to happen. The film powerfully explores the wider social...
On 24th March, UN International Day for the Right to Truth, Kirsty Brimelow QC, BHRC Chair, took part in a CHRI debate on Sri Lanka on the question Will the delay of the OISL report help the victims? Other panellists included human rights barrister, Shivani Jegarajah, and award-winning film-maker, Callum Macrae. A podcast of the debate...
Five human rights or ‘rights protecting’ weiquan lawyers from China spoke at a roundtable event hosted by the Bar Human Rights Committee and the Law Society on Thursday 5th March. One of the lawyers talked about the infamous Jiansanjiang incident which took place in Heilongjiang Province, northern China in March 2013. This case provoked worldwide...
On Monday 2nd March the Bar Human Rights Committee and the UK Bahá’í Community held a joint seminar to examine Iran’s failure to act in response to its 2010 Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Speakers Payam Akhavan, Professor of International Law, and Iranian human rights lawyer, Shadi Sadr, explored the challenges for the Government of Iran...
On the eve of International Human Rights Day, Kirsty Brimelow QC, BHRC Chair, spoke on the subject of universal jurisdiction at an event entitled: ‘Human Rights: Available in a court near you or in selected venues only?’ hosted by Bindmans LLP. The other speakers included: Geoffrey Bindman QC (hon), Saimo Chahal QC (hon), Ben Emmerson QC and Carla Ferstman,...
Representatives of BHRC were invited by UNICEF to attend a high level meeting and day of celebration on 20th November at the United Nations in New York to mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. BHRC was invited due to the child protection training project it has carried out in Nigeria...
On 25th November 2014, BHRC and Peace Brigades International (PBI) held a round-table on the topic of resource extraction and human rights with guest speaker Donald Hernandez, a criminal and environmental lawyer from Honduras. Donald provides legal representation and capacity building to indigenous and environmental rights groups affected by the impact of the extractive industry....
The Bar Human Rights Committee hosted an engaging and thought-provoking seminar at this year’s Annual Bar Council Conference on 8th November, entitled ‘Human Rights and Reconciliation: mediation on the world stage’. Chaired by Kirsty Brimelow QC, the panel of high-level speakers included: Professor Philippe Sands QC of University College London and Matrix Chambers Mark Muller...
During the second week of October 2014, the BHRC turned its attention to Zimbabwe by holding two inspiring events featuring renowned Zimbabwean human rights lawyers. The first event was a visit from David Coltart, a human rights lawyer from Zimbabwe who has represented many people facing politically motivated prosecutions throughout the years of Robert Mugabe’s rule. In the...
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.