BHRC has released its fact-finding report, “Breakdown: the dismantling of the Calais “Jungle” and of the promises to its unaccompanied children”. BHRC Chair Kirsty Brimelow QC said: “The unaccompanied children of Calais have faced horror, both in their home countries and in France, in “the Jungle” camp. Nearly a year later, the horror continues as children...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has submitted an official petition for clemency to the Bahraini Government on behalf of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa, two men facing imminent execution in Bahrain. Mr Ramadhan and Mr Moosa were convicted of carrying out a 2014 bombing in Bahrain; both men insist that...
BHRC, with the Bar Council and Law Society, have signed an open letter to the President of Tanzania condemning the violence against lawyers in Tanzania. The letter comes in the wake of the shooting of Tundu Antiphas Mughwai Lissu, the President of the Tanganyika Law Society, just weeks after being arrested by Tanzanian officials under questionable circumstances....
London, 1st September 2017 BHRC today welcomes the release from detention in Yaounde of 54 Cameroonians from the South West and North West Anglophone regions. The individuals were on trial for alleged crimes associated with terrorist actions against the State, to which BHRC and other organisations have raised concerns. All charges have been dropped against...
BHRC has released a statement of concern for Tundo Lissu, the president of the Tanganyika Law Society. Tundu Lissu was arrested on 20th July 2017 at the Julius Nyerere International airport in Dar es Salaam, when he was on his way to Kigali, Rwanda to represent the TLS at the East African Civil Society Governing...
A joint letter signed by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the Bar Council of England and Wales has been sent to the President of Zimbabwe calling for him to veto a Bill proposing changes to judicial appointments that would threaten the independence of the judiciary and undermine the rule of...
Today is the third anniversary of the massacre at Mount Sinjar where ISIS fighters murdered thousands of Yazidi men and enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls. Despite the fact that the UN and the European Parliament have accepted that crimes committed against the Yazidis constitute genocide, there has not been a single prosecution of...
21 July 2017 (updated 24 July 2017) BHRC has sent a letter to the President of Poland and released a Statement of Concern to the British Ambassador in Poland, raising serious concern over proposed changes to the Polish judiciary. The changes would give the Polish government substantial influence over the appointment of judges, eroding the independence of...
BHRC has sent an open letter to the Minister of Justice in Turkey calling for the release Amnesty Turkey director Idel Eser and the “Istanbul 10”. On 5 July, 10 human rights defenders, including the director of Amnesty Turkey Idel Eser, were arrested and accused of ‘committing crimes as part of a terrorist organisation without...
The Bar Human Rights Committee’s 2014-15 Biennial Report has been published today. This report provides a detailed overview of BHRC’s recent work, including the development of anti-FGM protection orders in the UK, research into torture and sexual violence in Sri Lanka, statements and letters of concern over ongoing human rights abuses, and human rights and law...
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.