A joint letter signed by the Bar Human Rights Committee has been sent today to President Xi Jinping, expressing ongoing concern over China’s treatment of lawyers. The letter, coordinated by the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group and co-signed by bar associations, law academics and practicing lawyers from around the world, also marks the first anniversary of the...

The Bar Council and Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales have today sent a joint letter to the Kenyan High Commissioner to the UK, urging him to take action to protect legal practitioners following the murder of Kenyan lawyer Willie Kimani. Kimani was kidnapped, tortured and killed in June, alongside his colleague Josphat...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has issued a formal statement expressing grave concern over the arrest of judges and prosecutors, torture allegations and reported considerations of the death penalty in Turkey, following the recent failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In their statement, BHRC condemns the arrests as an attempt to...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has today issued a statement calling on the Indian government to repeal or amend a law targeting foreign NGOs, and reverse their decision to suspend the registration of a leading Indian human rights group. The Lawyers Collective, founded by prominent human rights lawyers Indira Jaising and Anand...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has today issued a statement expressing serious concern over ongoing threats and attacks directed at Palestinian human rights defenders. BHRC highlights a pattern of death threats, harassment and violence aimed at curtailing the work of Palestinian human rights defenders and activists. This includes death threats issued...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has today called for the government of Bangladesh to halt the ongoing prosecution of Motiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party facing imminent execution. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh yesterday rejected Nizami’s final petition for a review of his case, and the...

The Bar Human Rights Committee have today issued a joint letter with the Law Society and other human rights groups, calling for the release of two Turkish lawyers unlawfully and arbitrarily detained simply for doing their jobs. The letter was submitted today to five special rapporteurs of the United Nations, including the UN Special Rapporteur...