Human Rights Watch

“ However, we will not be too hard on Human Rights Watch for struggling to open a stable door after the horse is already inside, since we should but sympathize with them after recent embarrassing revelations. ”

“ A long-term commitment is needed to strengthen State institutions of the justice system, including the police, the courts, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and prisons, in addition to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman. Human rights policies should be formulated in consultation with civil society organizations, which implies the added challenge of breaking the cycles of mistrust that have made dialogue difficult. ”

“ It is essential that measures be taken as a matter of urgency to ensure that the perpetrators be investigated and punished and that further such acts be prevented. Unless the internal purification of police elements involved in serious offences and violations — a permanent commitment set forth in the Comprehensive Agreement — is completed, full enjoyment of human rights in the country will continue to be seriously hampered. ”

“ The lack of any provisions for compensating the victims of human rights violations through the judicial system makes it even more important to fulfil the commitment given by the Government to assist victims through the adoption of civil and socio-economic measures and programmes and to grant due priority to those most in need on account of their economic and social situations. ”

“ Protection of human rights in the system of administration of justice and through NGOs 150. Protection in the system of administration of justice covers both the victims and the accused perpetrators of crimes. Verification has brought to light serious deficiencies. Overcoming them is the aim of activities to provide support to institution-building in four areas: the Counsel for Human Rights, the Public Defender's Office, the penitentiary system and NGOs working in this area. ”

“ Owing to the grave situation of criminal violence, whose extent and effects on human rights have been verified by the Mission, judges are driven by social expectations to punish rather than to provide guarantees. Under the rule of law, in addition to carrying out his duty to punish, the judge must guarantee that the citizens' rights are protected from any abuse of power. ”

“ The Government must fulfil its commitment to protect individuals and organizations that promote respect for human rights and to ensure that judicial officials and others involved in criminal proceedings are able to act free of pressure, as well as its commitment to investigate, punish and take action to put a stop to all such practices. ”

“ Thus, the Panel has focused extensively on the modalities, standards and comparative experiences regarding accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including for distinct violations against groups with particular vulnerabilities, such as women and children. ”

“ My understanding of the purpose of this list however is that it serves to draw attention to cases that are, obviously or possibly, violations of human rights. Four government officials killed along with members of the armed forces in the course of performing security duties cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as cases requiring the attention of the Human Rights Commission, unless of course the Law and Society Trust believes that all violent deaths or crimes imply a violation of Human Rights. ”

“ The Mission continues to observe with concern the lack of coordination between the entities involved in the judicial process, whose responsibility it is to fulfil the State's duty to protect human rights. The absence of a criminal justice policy which integrates the bodies responsible for its implementation leads to tensions and public disagreements among institutions which were intended to function harmoniously. ”

“ The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the police must do their utmost to combat crime; the cooperation of the entire State apparatus and the population is also needed, but only within the strict framework of the law. It is disturbing therefore to note the emergence or expansion of illegal groups of various kinds, particularly at the local level, which use illegal, clandestine methods and commit serious violations of human rights. ”

“ The new Human Rights and Justice section will be responsible for verifying compliance with all the commitments made under the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights with regard to the administration of justice, such as guaranteeing that judges and prosecutors will be free from pressures of any kind, that due process will be enforced and that the duty to investigate and punish crimes and human rights violations will be fulfilled. ”

“ The Mission, which from its very earliest reports identified impunity as the main obstacle to the effective enjoyment of human rights, notes with profound concern that it is an entrenched phenomenon. No real progress has been made in the prosecution of the majority of the most serious and representative cases of human rights violations. ”

“ In order to strengthen and expand the mechanisms to ensure effective exercise of human rights, it is particularly important to deal with the legal provisions, such as the reform of the Elections and Political Parties Act, the characterization of discrimination and sexual harassment as offences, the law which regulates the civil service, the law on arms and munitions, the one pertaining to private security companies, those which regulate the State intelligence agencies and the one establishing the National Women’s Institute. ”

“ Encourages the Government to implement the recommendations contained in the reports of the Mission on human rights, in particular those related to the systematic impunity for crimes and human rights violations and the alarming increase in incidents directed at individuals working on human rights and judicial issues ”

“ Changes such as these will not be achieved without political will on the part of the national leadership. In its reports, the Mission stressed the need to adopt measures to combat the use of threats or the fear of reprisals against individuals and officials who play key roles in criminal proceedings and the fight against impunity. It therefore welcomed the Act for the Protection of Persons Involved in the Conduct of Judicial Proceedings and Persons Linked to the Administration of Criminal Justice. ”

“ Verification is being carried out amid difficult circumstances that limit the enjoyment of human rights, such as criminal violence, lynchings and “social cleansing” operations. In addition to the climate of threats and intimidation, there have recently been actual attacks that curtail the action of members of the judiciary, journalists and human rights defenders. ”

“ As I said at the Human Rights Council, ‘we have no objection to being urged to follow international humanitarian law, which we strive to uphold, with a much better record in this respect than some of our more sanctimonious critics when confronted with terror or the mere suspicion of it’. ”

“ The crisis in the judicial system and the violations of due process have reached a critical point, and most of the alleged human rights violations have taken place in a climate of intimidation, which directly affects the ability of government institutions to deal with the perpetrators. ”

“ While these initiatives demonstrate the Government's firm decision to fight impunity, they have also drawn attention to the gravity of the problem and the magnitude of the effort required to correct long-standing deficiencies in institutions entrusted with preventing, investigating, prosecuting and punishing crime and human rights abuses. ”

“ Thus the urgent need for the next Government to build upon the achievements of the dedicated and courageous police officers, judges, prosecutors and human rights defenders who have helped to lay the foundations for reform. They have demonstrated — in the Mack and Gerardi cases, in the convictions of corrupt police officers, in arrests of State officials implicated in corruption — that State institutions can indeed function to end impunity and achieve justice for human rights violations with political will, organization and adequate resources. ”

“ The system is based on the criterion of rationalizing the use of State penal power by offering such options as: (a) punishing crime that has a high social cost and reducing the severity of punishment for less serious crimes; (b) avoiding discrimination against the more vulnerable sectors, such as women and indigenous people; (c) scrupulously respecting constitutional guarantees such as the principles of legality and guilt; and (d) guaranteeing the rational and egalitarian implementation of the law. ”

“ The activities of illegal groups or isolated acts by individual government officials are not the only explanation for the human rights situation, nor are structural shortcomings the only determining factor. Rather, the situation is fostered and reinforced by deliberate acts and omissions on the part of government officials, for which the authorities must take responsibility. ”

“ The State has two obligations regarding violations of and crimes against human rights. The first is to prevent, investigate and punish such acts, for which, according to the Comprehensive Agreement, the competent national institutions must function autonomously and effectively. However, these functions must also be carried out in accordance with the Constitution and with international norms regarding human rights; this is a second obligation which concerns legal guarantees as a whole, known as "due process of law". ”

“ Ensuring that people of African descent, like all other persons, enjoy all the guarantees of a fair trial and equality before the law as enshrined in relevant international human rights instruments, and specifically the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to assistance of counsel and to an interpreter, the right to an independent and impartial tribunal, guarantees of justice, and all the rights to which prisoners are entitled ”

“ As awareness of human rights increased, as their definition expanded and as new, often authoritarian polities, resorted to torture and repression - human rights advocates and non-governmental organizations proliferated. It has become a business in its own right: lawyers, consultants, psychologists, therapists, law enforcement agencies, scholars and pundits tirelessly peddle books, seminars, conferences, therapy sessions for victims, court appearances and other services.
Human rights activists target mainly countries and multinationals. ”

“ The responsibility of the judiciary stems from the fact that the judges do not safeguard the right to due process of persons who have been unlawfully or arbitrarily arrested since they usually simply confirm these deprivations of liberty based on the police report, without looking into whether there has been any violation of the right to individual liberty or to integrity of person. ”