SOLIDARITY, NEWS AND STATEMENTS ABOUT AFGHANISTAN
We gathered in this page all the links referring to declarations of solidarity, news and documents concerning the situation in Afghanistan
Besides the IAJ’s work to support Afghan judges, another relevant contribution came from the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
The first item is a recent statement on the situation for lawyers and judges from Afghanistan, jointly issued by the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan:
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/ijudiciary/statements/2023-01-17/202301-stm-sr-ijl-sr-afghanistan-day-endangered-lawyer.pdf.
The Rapporteurs also published an opinion piece calling on the international communityto do more to address the situation:
https://www.justsecurity.org/84893/afghan-lawyers-on-rule-of-laws-frontlines-need-urgent-international-support/.
The opinion piece recognizes the extremely important work done by entities such as IAJ to provide evacuation and support services, and calls on States to provide safe passage and protection to actors involved with the legal system who are at risk of reprisals.
In these last days the IAJ has been informed about the presence of a very serious situation concerning Afghan judges who are refugees in Romania.
Please find hereinafter the link to the letter of the Romanian Association of Judges (member of the IAJ ) and the support letter from the President of the IAJ, Mr Igreja Jose Matos.
The letters have been sent to the Romanian Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hereianfter the link to the letters:
The President of the Afghanistan Association of Judges ( AJA) addressed a letter concerning the terrible situation now occurring in the country to the President of the IAJ, Mr José Igreja Matos.
The International Association of Judges (IAJ) shares its great concern about the lives of at-risk judges and their families in Afghanistan and convenes on the need for the international community to help and assist our Afghan colleagues. We ask you to kindly disseminate this letter as widely as possible.
Hereinafter the link to the document:
The Bloch Judicial Institute featured an article about the situation of women Judges in Afghanistan, which saw a contribution of Ms. Allyson Duncan, President of the ANAO group.
Another article on the Judiciary and the Rule of Law as been published:
The President of the ANAO group, Ms. Allyson Duncan, wrote an article on the IAJ’s initiatives regarding the situation in Afghanistan.
On December 21st, the Presidents of the 4 European Associations of Judges (Association of European Administrative Judges, AEAJ; the European Association of Judges, EAJ; Judges for Judges and Magistrates Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés, MEDEL) drafted a letter concerning the precarious situation – with specific risk of death – of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and human rights activists in Afghanistan.
The letter was sent to the German Federal Minister of Justice.
On Saturday, November 13th (the International Day of Kindness), judges from the Polish Judges Association “IUSTITIA” and prosecutors from Prosecutors’ Association Lex Super Omnia started their unique action: the Polish National Hybrid Run of Support for Afghan Lawyers. During the campaign – lasting until November 28th (a day commemorating the acquisition of voting rights by women in Poland) – judges, prosecutors and active citizens take part in organized or individual races to support Afghan lawyers and their families already in Poland. To take part in the race, you must register and pay the registration fee. Half of the fee goes to the fund for assistance to Afghan lawyers specially created for this purpose by the Association of Polish Judges IUSTITIA. In return, the participants of the race receive a T-shirt specially designed for this event, a commemorative medal and a starting number. As part of the campaign, the participant is obliged to cover a minimum of 3 kilometers of the route during a joint run organized in many places in Poland or in individual time. Participants are allowed to choose whether they want to run, march, nordic-walking or just walk the distance. At the time of the opening of the campaign, 400 participants had already been registered, many of whom took part in the opening runs organized in Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław, Gdynia, Koszalin, Olsztyn, Przemyśl and Ożarów. Running events are organized in the following days also in other cities (here below a map of events already planned). On November 28, 2021, the grand finale of the action is planned. The money collected in this way is intended for housing and in-kind assistance for Afghan lawyers.
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Hereinafter the link to a letter submitted by the UN Special Rapporteur, Mr Diego Garcia-Sayan, to Madame Ursula von Der Leyen.
The letter addresses the situation of women judges, lawyers, and prosecutors in Afghanistan.
Hereinafter a link to his most recent tweet :
https://twitter.com/UNIndepJudges/status/1443295531778727938?s=20
The International Association of Judges has issued today an official and public Call for International Support on Afghanistan.
You can read the document here:
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The President of the ANAO group, Ms Duncan, also issued a statement on Afghanistan.
The two main “syndicats de magistrats français” (Syndacat de la Magistrature and USM) addressed a letter to the French President of the Republic to support the Afghan judges :
Two other statements regarding the situation of the judiciary in Afghanistan have been relaesed by the Australian Judicial Officers Association and by the International Association of Women Judges:
Statement (Australian Judicial Officers Association)
Statement (International association of Women Judges)
The Global Judicial Integrity Network issued a Statement , while the Executive Board of the ENCJ endorsed the recent call for international support in Afghanistan by the International Association of Judges (IAJ).
Link to the news on the ENCJ website :https://www.encj.eu/node/600
Today, 21 of September, Hon. Tony Pagone, President of the IAJ, adressed a letter to all the IAJ members requesting support for women judges in Afghanistan following a call of the IAWJ.
The letter of President Pagone
The call of the International Association of Women Judges:
Estimado/as miembros de la IAWJ: ¡Les hemos escuchado! La situación en Afganistán es terrible y mucho/as de ustedes se han comunicado con la Junta Internacional, la Junta de Síndicos Administrativos y la Oficina Ejecutiva de la IAWJ sobre las formas en que pueden apoyar a las mujeres y niñas de Afganistán en general y a nuestras miembros y sus familias en particular. ¿Como pueden ayudar? Soporte financiero Las donaciones se pueden hacer mediante cheque (la dirección postal de la IAWJ se encuentra a continuación); mediante transferencia bancaria; o a través de la página de donaciones en el sitio web de la IAWJ. Al hacer una donación, asegúrense de indicar al Comité de Ayuda para Mujeres Juezas de Afganistán en el memorando de su donación. Si tienen preguntas sobre la donación o sobre la información de la transferencia bancaria, por favor comuníquense con la Directora Ejecutiva, Christie Jones, en executivedirector@iawj.org. International Association of Women Judges Apoyo en red y experiencia Cartas de apoyo A principios de esta semana, cada una de nuestras asociaciones miembros recibió un correo electrónico en el que se les pedía que escribieran cartas condenando la situación en Afganistán y apoyando a nuestras miembros. Alentamos a cada asociación a escribir estas cartas y compartirlas con los funcionarios gubernamentales y los medios de comunicación correspondientes en su país. Por favor asegúrense también de compartir estas cartas con la IAWJ directamente en office@iawj.org mientras las recopilamos. |
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Cher.e.s membres de l’IAWJ,
Nous vous avons entendu.e.s ! La situation en Afghanistan est désastreuse et beaucoup d’entre vous ont contacté le conseil d’administration international et le bureau exécutif de l’IAWJ sur les moyens de soutenir les femmes et les filles d’Afghanistan en général et nos membres et leurs familles en particulier.
Comment pouvez-vous aider?
Aide financière
Nous créons une campagne de financement pour soutenir nos efforts. Nous utiliserons les fonds pour fournir une aide directe à nos membres afghanes qui en ont désespérément besoin et nous travaillerons sur des moyens sûrs et équitables d’utiliser les fonds. Nous utiliserons également les fonds pour soutenir le travail du Comité d’aide aux femmes juges afghanes de l’AIFJ, présidé par la présidente de l’IAWJ, la juge Susan Glazebrook. Pour le travail du Comité, nous avons besoin d’un soutien financier pour la traduction, l’interprétation, le soutien logistique et administratif nécessaire pour fournir une aide directe à nos membres et à leurs familles en Afghanistan. Nos interprètes et notre personnel de l’IAWJ ont offert leur temps et leur expertise pour répondre à ce besoin urgent et nous aimerions les compenser par des fonds sans restriction. Si nous collectons des fonds excédentaires, nous les utiliserons pour soutenir les femmes juges du monde entier qui se trouvent dans le besoin.
Les dons peuvent être faits par chèque (l’adresse postale de l’IAWJ est ci-dessous); par virement bancaire ; ou via la page ‘Dons‘ sur le site web de l’IAWJ. Lorsque vous faites un don, assurez-vous d’indiquer le Comité d’aide aux femmes juges afghanes dans la note de votre don. Si vous avez des questions sur les dons ou pour les informations sur les virements bancaires, veuillez contacter la directrice exécutive, Christie Jones, à executivedirector@iawj.org.
Association internationale des femmes juges
2000 M Street, NW
Suite 750 C
Washington, DC 20036
Soutien du réseau et de l’expertise
Le Comité d’aide aux femmes juges afghanes est en train de rassembler une liste de ressources et de contacts qui pourraient aider à assurer la sécurité de nos membres afghanes. Nous accueillons les noms et les e-mails de tous les contacts que vous pourriez avoir qui pourraient être utiles ainsi que toute information sur le processus d’immigration ou d’asile pour votre pays que vous êtes en mesure de partager. Nous connaissons également plusieurs membres qui souhaiteraient offrir un logement aux femmes juges et à leurs familles susceptibles de se réinstaller. Si vous avez des ressources à partager et un logement à offrir, veuillez contacter la secrétaire / trésorière du conseil d’administration de l’IAWJ, Robyn Tupman, à judge.tupman@courts.nsw.gov.au.
Lettres de soutien
Plus tôt cette semaine, chacune de nos associations membres a reçu un courriel leur demandant d’écrire des lettres condamnant la situation en Afghanistan et soutenant nos membres. Nous encourageons chaque association à écrire ces lettres et à les partager avec les responsables gouvernementaux et les médias appropriés dans votre pays. Assurez-vous également de partager ces lettres avec l’IAWJ directement à office@iawj.org alors que nous les collectons.
The International Association of Women Judges drafted a statement about the dangerous situation being faced by women judges in Afghanistan. This is the leading edge of an attack on women in prominent roles, human rights and, ultimately, the integrity of courts and the rule of law and an extreme form of gender-based hostility against women judges .
Moreover, threats to individual judges are not isolated issues and can be part of a broader offensive to undermine the independence of the judicial function more generally.
The IAJ expresses its solidarity to the families of those colleagues brutally assassinated, as well as to the judiciary of Afghanistan.
Hereinafter the link to the different versions:
– English
–Dari
International Association of Judges
Union Internationale des Magistrats
Palazzo di Giustizia
Piazza Cavour – 00193 – Roma, Italy
tel. +39 06 6883 2213 – fax. +39 06 687 1195