Joint Civil Society Petition to the International Association of Prosecutors

TheHague, 5 September 2017

Dear members of the IAP Executive Committee and the Senate,

dear members of the IAP,

In the run-up to the annual conference and general meeting of theInternational Association of Prosecutors (IAP) in Beijing, China, the undersignedcivil society organisations urge the IAP to live up to its vision and bolsterits efforts to preserve the integrity of the profession.

Increasingly, in many regions of the world, in clear breach ofprofessional integrity and fair trial standards, public prosecutors use theirpowers to suppress critical voices.

In China, over the last two years, dozens of prominent lawyers, labourrights advocates and activists have been targeted by the prosecution service[1].Many remain behind bars, convicted or in prolonged detention for legal andpeaceful activities protected by international human rights standards, includingthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Azerbaijan is in the midst of amajor crackdown on civil rights defenders, bloggers and journalists, imposinghefty sentences on fabricated charges in trials that make a mockery of justice[2].In Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey many prosecutors play an active role in the repressionof human rights defenders, and in committing, covering up or condoning othergrave human rights abuses[3].

Patterns of abusive practices by prosecutors in these and othercountries ought to be of grave concern to the professional associations theybelong to, such as the IAP. Upholding the rule of law and human rights is a keyaspect of the profession of a prosecutor, as is certified by the IAP’s Standards of Professional Responsibility andStatement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors, that explicitlyrefer to the importance of observing and protecting the right to a fair trialand other human rights at all stages of work[4].

Maintaining the credibility of theprofession should be a key concern for the IAP. This requires explicit steps bythe IAP to introduce a meaningful human rights policy. Such steps will help to counterdevaluation of ethical standards in the profession, revamp public trust injustice professionals and protect the organisation and its members fromdamaging reputational impact and allegations of whitewashing or complicity inhuman rights abuses.

For the second year ina row, civil society appeals to the IAP to honour its human rights responsibilitiesby introducing a tangible human rights policy. In particular:

We urge the IAP Executive Committee and the Senate to:

- introducehuman rights due diligence and compliance procedures for new and current members,including scope for complaint mechanisms with respect to institutional andindividual members, making information public about its institutional membersand creating openings for stakeholder engagement from the side of civil societyand victims of human rights abuses[5].

We call on individual members of the IAP to:

- raisethe problem of a lack of human rights compliance mechanisms at the IAP and thoroughly discuss the human rights implications beforemaking decisions about hosting IAP meetings;

- identifyrelevant human rights concerns before travelling to IAP conferences andmeetings and raise these issues with their counterparts from countries wherepolitically-motivated prosecution and human rights abuses by prosecutionauthorities are reported by intergovernmental organisations and internationallyrenowned human rights groups.

Supporting organisations:

AmnestyInternational

AfricaNetwork for Environment and Economic Justice, Benin

Anti-CorruptionTrust of Southern Africa, Kwekwe

Article19, London

AsianForum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

AsiaJustice and Rights, Jakarta

AsiaIndigenous Peoples Pact, Chiang Mai

AsianHuman Rights Commission, Hong Kong SAR

AsiaMonitor Resource Centre, Hong Kong SAR

Associationfor Legal Intervention, Warsaw

AssociationHumanrights.ch, Bern

AssociationMalienne des Droits de l'Homme, Bamako

Associationof Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement, Kyiv

AssociazioneAntigone, Rome

BarysZvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House in exile, Vilnius

BelarusianHelsinki Committee, Minsk

Bir-DuinoKyrgyzstan, Bishkek

BulgarianHelsinki Committee, Sofia

CanadianHuman Rights International Organisation, Toronto

Center forCivil Liberties, Kyiv

Centrefor Development and Democratization of Institutions, Tirana

Centrefor the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Moscow

ChinaHuman Rights Lawyers Concern Group, Hong Kong SAR

CivilRights Defenders, Stockholm

CivilSociety Institute, Yerevan

CitizenWatch, St. Petersburg

CollectiveHuman Rights Defenders “Laura Acosta” International Organization COHURIDELA,Toronto

Comunidadde Derechos Humanos, La Paz

CoordinadoraNacional de Derechos Humanos, Lima

DestinationJustice, Phnom Penh

East andHorn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, Kampala

EqualityMyanmar, Yangon

Facultyof Law - University of Indonesia, Depok

FairTrials, London

Federationof Equal Journalists, Almaty

FormerVietnamese Prisoners of Conscience, Hanoi

FreePress Unlimited, Amsterdam

FrontLine Defenders, Dublin

FoundationADRA Poland, Wroclaw

German-RussianExchange, Berlin

GramBharati Samiti, Jaipur

HelsinkiCitizens' Assembly Vanadzor, Yerevan

HelsinkiAssociation of Armenia, Yerevan

HelsinkiFoundation for Human Rights, Warsaw

HumanRights Center Azerbaijan, Baku

HumanRights Center Georgia, Tbilisi

HumanRights Club, Baku

HumanRights Embassy, Chisinau

HumanRights House Foundation, Oslo

HumanRights Information Center, Kyiv

HumanRights Matter, Berlin

HumanRights Monitoring Institute, Vilnius

HumanRights Now, Tokyo

HumanRights Without Frontiers International, Brussels

HungarianCivil Liberties Union, Budapest

IDP WomenAssociation "Consent", Tbilisi

IMPARSIAL,the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, Jakarta

Index onCensorship, London

IndonesianLegal Roundtable, Jakarta

Institutefor Criminal Justice Reform, Jakarta

Institutefor Democracy and Mediation, Tirana

Institutefor Development of Freedom of Information, Tbilisi

InternationalFederation for Human Rights (FIDH)

InternationalPartnership for Human Rights, Brussels

InternationalService for Human Rights, Geneva

InternationalYouth Human Rights Movement

JerusalemInstitute of Justice, Jerusalem

JordanTransparency Center, Amman

JustiçaGlobal, Rio de Janeiro

Justiceand Peace Netherlands, The Hague

KazakhstanInternational Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Almaty

KharkivRegional Foundation Public Alternative, Kharkiv

KosovoCenter for Transparency, Accountability and Anti-Corruption - KUND 16,Prishtina

KosovaRehabilitation Center for Torture Victims, Prishtina

Lawyersfor Lawyers, Amsterdam

Lawyersfor Liberty, Kuala Lumpur

League ofHuman Rights, Brno

MacedonianHelsinki Committee, Skopje

MasyarakatPemantau Peradilan Indonesia (Mappi FH-UI), Depok

MoscowHelsinki Group, Moscow

NationalCoalition of Human Rights Defenders, Kampala

NetherlandsHelsinki Committee, The Hague

NetherlandsInstitute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht University, Utrecht

NGO"Aru ana", Aktobe

NorwegianHelsinki Committee, Oslo

PakistanRural Workers Social Welfare Organization (PRWSWO), Bahawalpur

Pensamientoy Acción Social (PAS), Bogotá

PenInternational, London

People’sSolidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), Seoul

PhilippineHuman Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Manila

Promo-LEXAssociation, Chisinau

ProtectionInternational, Brussels

ProtectionDesk Colombia, alianza (OPI-PAS), Bogotá

Protectionof Rights Without Borders, Yerevan

PublicAssociation Dignity, Astana

PublicAssociation "Our Right", Kokshetau

PublicFund "Ar.Ruh.Hak", Almaty

PublicFund "Ulagatty Zhanaya", Almaty

PublicVerdict Foundation, Moscow

RegionalCenter for Strategic Studies, Baku/ Tbilisi

Socio-EconomicRights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Lagos

StefanBatory Foundation, Warsaw

SuaraRakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Petaling Jaya

SwissHelsinki Association, Lenzburg

TransparencyInternational Anti-corruption Center, Yerevan

TransparencyInternational Austrian chapter, Vienna

TransparencyInternational Česká republika, Prague

TransparencyInternational Deutschland, Berlin

TransparencyInternational EU Office, Brussels

TransparencyInternational France, Paris

TransparencyInternational Greece, Athens

TransparencyInternational Greenland, Nuuk

TransparencyInternational Hungary, Budapest

TransparencyInternational Ireland, Dublin

TransparencyInternational Italia, Milan

TransparencyInternational Moldova, Chisinau

TransparencyInternational Nederland, Amsterdam

TransparencyInternational Norway, Oslo

TransparencyInternational Portugal, Lisbon

TransparencyInternational Romania, Bucharest

TransparencyInternational Secretariat, Berlin

TransparencyInternational Slovenia, Ljubljana

TransparencyInternational España, Madrid

TransparencyInternational Sweden, Stockholm

TransparencyInternational Switzerland, Bern

TransparencyInternational UK, London

UNITEDfor Intercultural Action the European network against nationalism, racism,fascism and in support of migrants, refugees and minorities, Budapest

UnitedNations Convention against Corruption Civil Society Coalition

VillaDecius Association, Krakow

Vietnam'sDefend the Defenders, Hanoi

VietnameseWomen for Human Rights, Saigon

WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT)

ZimbabweLawyers for Human Rights, Harare

[1] As documented by anumber of internationally renowned human rights organisations, including HumanRights Watch and the ICJ. See, for example, theHRW World Report 2017, China and Tibet, available at: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/china-and-tibet; China: call for action at UN on lawyers andother human rights defenders, available at: https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/UN-HRC34-China-JointLetter-Advocacy-2017.pdf

[2] TheFunctioning of the Judicial System in Azerbaijan and its Impact on the FairTrial of Human Rights Defenders, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights andNetherlands Helsinki Committee 2016, available at: http://www.defendersorviolators.info/judiciary-in-azerbaijan.

[3] See, for example: Human Rights and the Professional Responsibility ofJudges and Prosecutors in the Work of CCJE and CCPE. Observations to theCCJE-CCPE Joint Report on “Challenges for Judicial Independence andImpartiality in the Member States of the Council of Europe”,Netherlands Helsinki Committee and Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights 2017,available at: https://www.nhc.nl/assets/uploads/2017/06/20170331-Observations-to-CCJE-CCPE-Report.pdf