Latest news with #UnitedNationsWorkingGrouponArbitraryDetention
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
UN panel says Egyptian dissident illegally detained, urges release
A UN panel of independent human rights investigators said that prominent Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah is illegally detained by Egyptian authorities and urged the government to release him immediately, his family said on Wednesday. Abdel-Fattah, a key figure in Egypt's 2011 anti-government uprising, was expected to be released from prison after his sentence ended in September, but he remains in custody in Egypt. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) said that Abdel-Fattah is arbitrarily detained and that Egyptian authorities have an obligation to release him immediately under international law, according to a legal opinion shared with his lawyers. The panel, which consists of five independent rights experts, "concluded that Alaa's continued imprisonment is arbitrary and illegal." "The UN Working Group has delivered a clear and unequivocal decision: Alaa Abdel-Fattah's detention is arbitrary and in breach of international law. Egypt is now obligated to release Alaa immediately," his lawyer, Can Yeğinsu, said in a statement. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomed the panel's decision and urged Egypt to respect it without further delay. Abdel-Fattah has been on hunger strike for nearly three months. His mother, Laila Soueif, has also been on hunger strike since September 29, the date his prison sentence was due to end. In 2013, Abdel-Fattah was arrested while protesting and jailed for five years. Months after his release, he was arrested again and sentenced to another five years in prison on charges of spreading fake news, an accusation his family dismisses as politically motivated. Egypt's rights record under incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has drawn international criticism amid a crackdown on dissidents.
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Korea Herald
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
[Contribution] Missionary's son moved UN. Now North Korea must release South Korean detainees
By Won Jae-chun, professor of International Law and Director of International Law, Handong Global University Behind every international decision lies a story of struggle, faith and solidarity. The recent opinion by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), declaring the imprisonment of South Korean missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil as arbitrary detention, is not just a legal milestone — it is a testament to the power of collaboration between victims, government, civil society and the international community. Families' cry that stirred the world At the heart of this campaign stands Choi Jin-young, son of Missionary Choi Chun-gil. Driven by a quiet yet relentless determination, the younger Choi traveled across continents to personally present his father's case to key international stakeholders. His meeting with EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Olof Skoog, was more than diplomatic— it was deeply personal. Through his words, the suffering of families long silenced came alive in the halls of Brussels and Geneva. This was not a solo effort. The wife of Kim Kook-kie and the son of Kim Jung-wook each wrote heartfelt letters to their loved ones and delivered them to international representatives. These deeply moving testimonies, paired with the legal precision of NGO documentation and academic support, formed a compelling case that ultimately led to WGAD's official opinion. Unified effort for justice South Korea's Ministry of Unification played a pivotal role in supporting and coordinating efforts through its dedicated taskforce on abductions. In its March 14 statement, the Ministry welcomed the WGAD's findings, reaffirming that the North's detention of the three missionaries 'is a clear violation of international law' and urged 'immediate and unconditional release' of its citizens. The government reiterated its commitment to working with allies including the US, UK and key international religious and humanitarian groups. This multilateral effort was echoed by global civil society. In Germany, Gerda Ehrlich, who grew up in East Germany under communist rule, led weekly vigils and prayer gatherings outside the North Korean Embassy in Berlin. Her lived experience gave moral clarity to the fight — she recognized in North Korea's totalitarian tactics the very repression her generation once endured. Her advocacy reminded Europe that freedom of belief, conscience and dignity must be defended globally. Academics and legal scholars lent expertise to ground the campaign in international law. Their work ensured that the submission to the UN Working Group met procedural rigor while highlighting the broader human rights crisis facing North Korean detainees. The media played a crucial role by amplifying the victims' stories and providing sustained coverage of the campaign. Their reporting transformed an issue once confined to diplomatic backchannels into a matter of global public concern. UN has spoken — now world must act The WGAD opinion was clear: the three men were arrested without legal basis, tortured into confessions, denied legal representation and sentenced in sham trials. Their continued imprisonment violates multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The UN demands their immediate release, compensation, independent investigation and accountability for the violations. It is now time for countries that maintain diplomatic relations with North Korea — like Sweden — to go further. We call on them to exercise their unique positions to seek consular access, monitor the conditions of the detainees and push for the implementation of WGAD's recommendations. Beyond this case lies a wider injustice. Over 100,000 South Koreans remain unaccounted for since the Korean War — wartime abductees, unreturned POWs, postwar fishers and ethnic Koreans repatriated from Japan. Many of them, and their families, continue to suffer silently under discrimination or separation. The WGAD's bold opinion must serve as a precedent to address all cases of abduction and arbitrary detention. The voices of the families — united in love, grief and courage — reached the conscience of the United Nations. Now it is the world's turn to respond. This cannot end with a statement. It must end with a reunion. Let global solidarity continue until the doors of arbitrary detention are opened, and these families are made whole again. Let justice not end with an opinion. Let it lead to action! ---- Won Jae-chun serves as a member of the 12-member, one-year term North Korean Human Rights Promotion Committee from March 2025 to March 2026, an advisory body to Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho. The views expressed in this article are his own. -- Ed.
Voice of America
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Publisher Zamora reimprisoned in Guatemala in move lawyer calls ‘inhumane'
A Guatemalan judge ordered prominent journalist Jose Ruben Zamora back to prison this week in a move that the leader of his legal team called 'inhumane.' Zamora on Monday returned to Mariscal Zavala prison in Guatemala City on the orders of Judge Erick Garcia, whose decision came after another court revoked house arrest from the elPeriodico founder. The publisher is awaiting another trial in a money-laundering case that press freedom groups say is politically motivated. 'We're very troubled by what's happening in Jose Ruben Zamora's case, because what we're seeing here is a total breakdown of rule of law in Guatemala,' Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who is leading Zamora's international legal team, told VOA. 'He obviously shouldn't have spent a single day in prison. This latest revocation of his house arrest terms is legally problematic, grossly unfair and inhumane,' Gallagher added. Zamora, 67, attended the hearing on Monday. Near the end of his appearance, he called the ruling 'arbitrary.' During the hearing, the judge said he and his staff had been threatened by unnamed individuals, but he did not elaborate. 'They left him cornered with no way out,' Zamora said in court. Zamora founded elPeriodico in 1996. The newspaper was known for its investigations into corruption across multiple governments in Guatemala. But in 2022, authorities arrested Zamora and later froze the newspaper's assets. The publication was forced to shutter in 2023. A court later sentenced Zamora to six years in prison on money-laundering charges. An appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial for 2025. Zamora's legal team has rejected all the accusations. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has also determined that Zamora's detention is arbitrary and called for his release. The publisher spent more than 800 days in prison before a court in October granted him house arrest while he awaited his new trial. Another court in November revoked Zamora's house arrest, but his lawyers were able to postpone the order for a few months. Artur Romeu, director of the Latin America bureau of Reporters Without Borders, called the decision to reimprison Zamora a 'blatant case of judicial weaponization.' Guatemala's Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA's email requesting comment. During Zamora's previous time in prison, the publisher was subjected to conditions that Gallagher characterized as 'inhumane and degrading' and 'a violation of international standards.' Zamora's health was better while under house arrest, Gallagher said, but now his legal team is concerned about the environment he returned to. 'Being returned to those conditions is horrifying and unacceptable,' Gallagher said. Nine press freedom and rights groups this week called for Zamora's immediate release. 'We urge Guatemalan authorities to guarantee his right to a fair and impartial trial, free from undue interference and pressure,' they said in a joint statement. Zamora's case underscores a global trend in which politically motivated legal proceedings and trials against journalists are drawn out over a long time, according to Gallagher. Gallagher's other clients include jailed pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong; Nobel laureate Maria Ressa from the Philippines; and the family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in Malta in 2017. 'What we're seeing in Jose Ruben Zamora's case in Guatemala, or Jimmy Lai's case in Hong Kong, are these very prolonged proceedings which actually keep the person in prison and try to hold the international response at bay for as long as possible,' Gallagher said. 'That's a real problem.'
