Category: Women’s rights

ExPEERience Talk #11 – Decriminalising poverty, status and activism: a global emergency, an international campaign

Posted on by simonm
  • When? 5 October – 12 pm (GMT+1, Tunis) ; 1pm (GMT+2, Brussels)
  • Language: French
  • Free online event – Mandatory registration
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This 11th ExPEERience Talk will be devoted to the Campaign for the Decriminalisation of Poverty, Status and Activism. Several of its members will present its history and how it operates. They will discuss the challenges encountered and the opportunities presented by the networking of a multiplicity of actors to tackle a global and systemic issue of such magnitude.

In many countries, criminal procedure, penal codes and policing policies continue to reflect a colonial legacy. Offences dating from the colonial era, such as vagrancy, begging or disorderly conduct, are commonly used against people already in a vulnerable or marginalised situationt (homeless people, people with disabilities, drug users, LGBTIQ+ people, sex workers, migrants, etc.), with the sole aim of criminalising what they represent in society rather than the offences they have committed. Many countries are also witnessing a narrowing of civic space and the use of criminal law to repress activism and stifle dissent. These phenomena are deeply rooted in the legislation, institutions and practices of States around the world.

During this ExPEERience Talk, speakers from several of the campaign’s member organisations will illustrate the very real consequences of these repressive laws and practices for civil society and the general public. They will also talk about the various actions undertaken as part of the campaign: joint research, litigation and lobbying actions before national and international institutions.

To date, the campaign is supported by some fifty civil society organisations from many countries. Its ambition is to create the conditions for a global change in criminal and social laws, policies and practices by adopting a transnational and multisectoral strategy.

Speakers

  • Khayem Chemli – Head of advocacy at ASF – Euromed region (moderator)
  • Soheila Comninos – Senior program manager at Open Society Foundations
  • Arnaud Dandoy – Research & Learning Manager at ASF – Euromed region
  • Asmaa Fakhoury – Country director Morocco
  • Maria José Aldanas – Policy Officer at FEANTSA
Read the article ‘The campaign to decriminalise poverty, activism and status’

ASF’s annual report is available!

Posted on by simonm
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The Avocats Sans Frontières team is delighted to present its latest annual report.

We have come a long way since ASF was founded in 1992 by a group of Belgian lawyers. Over these 30 years, hundreds of people have contributed to making the organisation what it is today: a militant organisation active in a dozen countries, working to promote access to justice and the rule of law based on human rights, in close collaboration with local actors.

These thirty years of action, the local roots we have developed and the links we have forged with human rights defenders from the four corners of the world give us a great deal of strength and confidence as we look to the future and continue to deploy impactful action in the service of populations in vulnerable situations (women, children, the LGBTQI+ community, ethnic minorities, people in detention, people in migration, etc.).

But the challenges are many. All over the world, civil society organisations and human rights defenders are faced with worrying developments and trends: the rise of authoritarianism, the shrinking of civic space, growing public distrust of institutions, heightened social tensions, etc.

Defenders of human rights and access to justice have to work in contexts that are increasingly hostile to them. The very notions of human rights and the rule of law are being called into question. Activists, lawyers and journalists working to defend the fundamental rights of populations in vulnerable situations are increasingly systematically targeted by repressive policies.

Every page of this report bears witness to the vigour of the flame that drives those who are committed to upholding human rights at the very heart of our societies, at the risk and peril of their own freedom. This report is a tribute to each and every one of them.

ExPEERience Talk #10 – Corporate accountability and human rights: the case of the textile industry in Tunisia

Posted on by simonm
  • When? 22 June 2023 – 1pm (GMT+1 – Tunis) ; 2pm (GMT+2 – Brussels)
  • Language of the presentation: French
  • On Big Blue Button
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At the 10th ExPEERience Talk, Nadia Ben Halim (consultant) and Zeineb Mrouki (Programme coordinator at ASF Tunisie) will present a study on corporate responsibility with regard to human rights in the textile sector in the governorate of Monastir in Tunisia.

The textile industry is now worth 3,000 billion dollars and is one of the world’s most important economic sectors. In Tunisia, clothing production accounts for a quarter of the country’s industrial output in terms of gross domestic product, making it a central sector of the Tunisian economy. However, for years, human rights organisations and official reports have documented systemic violations of workers’ rights (undignified working conditions, informal and illegal work, etc.). Among the companies guilty of flagrant violations of workers’ rights are many subcontractors of multinational companies. These systematically fail to meet their obligations and apply the duty of care throughout the supply chain, as required by international standards.

The study, based on documentary research, field surveys and, in particular, consultations with women workers in the textile sector in the governorate of Monastir, reveals systematic violations of workers’ rights, including the lack of social security cover, unfair dismissals, failure to account for overtime, and discrimination specifically targeting women. Recommendations are made to combat the impunity of companies in the face of the legal violations they commit.

This study is part of the PREVENT – Pour une Responsabilité et une Vigilance des Entreprises project, carried out in collaboration by Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) and I Watch. In particular, this project has led to the establishment of a mechanism to provide access to information and legal assistance to those most exposed to violations by industrial companies, particularly in the textile sector.

The study will be published on the ASF website at the end of June. You can already read the policy brief on the ASF website: “Les travailleueur‧euse‧s du textile tunisien en quête de dignité et de justice face à des pratiques abusives et discriminatoires”.

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Policy Brief: Tunisian textile workers in search of dignity and justice in the face of abusive and discriminatory practices

Download the policy brief

ExPEERience Talk #9 – Using digital to support victims and promote justice: the Back-up project of We are NOT Weapons of War

Posted on by simonm
  • When? Thursday, 4 May 2023 – 1pm (Brussels)
  • Language of the presentation: French
  • Online (Big Blue Button)
Register for the ExPEERience Talk

For this 9th ExPEERience Talk, we are delighted to welcome Céline Bardet, founder of the organisation We are NOT Weapons of War (WWOW) whose mandate is to fight sexual violence in conflicts, in particular against rape as a weapon of war. She will talk about the importance, in the face of these issues, of support – particularly legal – for victims, but also of awareness-raising and advocacy on a global scale.

During this Talk, Céline Bardet will present the development process of the Back Up project, launched by WWOW in 2018. This project aims to address the three major challenges posed by war rape: the inability for victims to access appropriate services; the lack of coordination of the professionals involved; and the lack of reliable data on the extent of sexual violence in conflicts. It is a digital tool, accessible on mobile phones, encrypted and secure, which allows victims to report and transmit evidence, and professionals involved to better coordinate. After an initial pilot phase, Back Up is now being deployed in several countries, including Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This Talk will be an opportunity to present the genesis of the project, as well as the development and functioning of the tool. What was the process used to make it a tool that best meets the real needs of victims and that can be easily used by everyone, even in the most fragile contexts? How can we ensure the security of the data collected andthe security of the victims? What is the process for the appropriation of the tool, in wartime contexts, by local partners and victims? Céline Bardet will discuss the development methodology and the scope of this digital project, which serves not only the victims but also the collection of evidence and data and, ultimately, advocacy against sexual violence in conflicts.

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Witchcraft representations and judicial treatment of the offence of Charlatanism and Witchcraft Practices in the Central African Republic

Posted on by Nina Cornet Fontaine
Pénalisation des Pratiques de charlatanisme et sorcellerie en République centrafricaine

Witchcraft, an omnipresent element of centrafrican culture and society

In the Central African Republic (CAR), witchcraft is omnipresent: it dominates and shapes the daily life of the population, especially in rural areas. Witchcraft representations, which are an integral part of Central African customs and practices, provide an explanatory framework for all life events: death, illness, accidents, professional or academic failures, etc. The successive crises that have shaken the country since 2013 have reinforced the use of witchcraft as an explanation for the diverse misfortunes the popluation has experienced. An increased involvment of religious bodies in the ‘fight’ against witchcraft has also been noted during that perido.

In the Central African Penal Code, Articles 149 and 150 condemn ‘charlatanism or witchcraft practices likely to disturb public order or harm people or property’, including practices that cause ‘serious injury or permanent disability’ or ‘death’. Accusations of witchcraft, based on these two vague and imprecise articles, are very common and frequently lead to an outburst of violence by popular vindictiveness against the accused person: exclusion, lynching, or even, in the worst case, brutal execution. These allegations are used to get rid of people who have become undesirable in the community and disproportionately affect the vulnerable and isolated, especially elderly women.

The judicial treatment of the offence of charlatanism and witchcraft practices

The legal vagueness surrounding charlatanism and witchcraft practices (CWP) is acknowledged by most actors in the Central African judiciary and is a breeding ground for arbitrary decision-making. Judges tend to rely on their own convictions and beliefs when dealing with witchcraft cases. Moreover, faced with the difficulty of providing material proof of an act of witchcraft, most judicial actors consider the confession of the accused person as the ultimate evidence, regardless of the motives of the accused in making the confession, which is often used for purposes of social appeasement and/or personal protection. Furthermore, social pressure from the community and the so-called protection of public order, which is invoked as a higher principle, have a strong influence on the judges’ decision-making and even divert the course of justice in order to satisfy the majority of the population.

Furthermore, judicial intervention is not in capacity to ensure the protection and reintegration of those accused of CWP. By prosecuting a person for CWP, the court attests to the reality of her or his witchcraft and the convicted person will remain vulnerable to further convictions and even further violence (even after release from prison). Justice also has the effect of formalising the omnipresence of the witchcraft risk, contributing to the effervescence of such types of discourse. In the event of an acquittal, the population, mostly distrustful of the judiciary, may seek justice for themselves, indirectly encouraged by the apparent passivity of judicial institutions in dealing with the violence inflicted on accused persons.

Action by ASF and its partners

Since 2021, thanks to the support of the European Union, ASF and its partners (Centre for the Promotion of Children’s Rights (CPDE), Organisation of Young Leaders for Development (OJLD), Maison de l’enfant et de la femme pygmée (MEFP) and Défis et Objectifs Centrafrique (DOC)) have been intervening at the heart of the state and community justice systems by promoting access to justice and the defence of women accused of CWP. The observations presented above are drawn from the study ‘Witchcraft representations and judicial treatment of the offence of Charlatanism and Witchcraft Practices in CAR’. This study was commissioned by Avocats Sans Frontières as part of the project ‘Contributing to the sustainable respect of the right to a fair trial and human rights for women accused of witchcraft in CAR’, in order to further inform the organisation’s action and future interventions in this area.

The penalisation of charlatanism and witchcraft practices: An obstacle to the realisation of the rights of women and minors in the Central African Republic

Posted on by Nina Cornet Fontaine

This article has been taken from the Annual Report 2021 of Avocats Sans Frontières.

In the Central African Republic (CAR), the practice of charlatanism and witchcraft is considered a crime under the penal code. The prosecution of suspected “sorcery” practitioners frequently leads to serious human rights violations and systematically impacts women and children. At the Bimbo women’s prison, half of the women in prison are condemned for alleged witchcraft offences. The repression suffered by those accused of witchraft can originate in formal justice but also in popular vindictiveness. People suspected of witchcraft are regularly subjected to humiliation and corporal punishment, sometimes resulting in death.

Such violence is rooted in structural inequalities and patterns of patriarchal domination against women and certain categories of people in vulnerable situations. This type of violence is therefore a consequence of social and cultural norms that hinder the realisation of womens’ and minors’ rights.

ASF’s objective is not to fight against these beliefs that are rooted in Central African society, but to fight against the “witch hunt”. ASF’s action in this regard is mainly based on three axes.

(i) With ASF’s support, civil society organisations run awareness and information sessions on these practices, their propensity to affect certain categories of the population and the disastrous consequences they can have on the lives of these individuals.

(ii) ASF works to provide holistic assistance to people accused of charlatanism and witchcraft. In collaboration with civil society organisations, actors in the criminal justice system, community leaders and NGOs, ASF ensures that people accused of charlatanism and witchcraft are identified as early as possible so that they can benefit from legal assistance from the moment they are taken into custody and during their possible pre-trial detention. It is also essential to assist these people as soon as possible to limit the consequences of such an accusation on their reputation, and therefore on their chances of integrating into the community or providing for themselves and their families.

(iii) ASF noted that the Central African legal arsenal was inadequate to deal with this social phenomenon. The offence does not have a clear definition and a wide range of evidence and clues can be used to prove the offence in court, despite the fact that it is not defined in the penal code. ASF is conducting research to gain a better understanding of the socio-cultural treatment of witchcraft and to eventually develop an advocacy strategy for a more human rights-based approach to these offences.

Indonesia: 5 years supporting access to justice

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In 2017, ASF launched its activities in Indonesia with two local partners. Together, we worked to increase access to both formal and informal justice mechanisms for marginalized and groups in vulnerable situations through improved community-level, evidence based service delivery. A special focus was put on training and supporting paralegals to help them assist local populations in their justice needs.

In countries with very few lawyers per capita, paralegals are practitioners who do not possess a law degree but have a basic knowledge and understanding of the law and deliver legal advice to the population. ASF has worked with paralegals in several of its countries of intervention as they can be fundamental actors in helping local populations access justice.

A baseline perception study on paralegals and the role they can play in strengthening access to justice was produced at the start of the project. Its findings were used to create training modules. These modules were then used by several local organizations to reinforce paralegals’ capacities. They address a large scope of subjects, with different thematic and geographical coverage, which made them flexible and useful for a great variety of organizations. Our partners have found it to be instrumental in supporting the enactment of the legal aid local regulation in Bali in 2019.

In the frame of the project, three digital platforms were launched to support civil society organisations.

A Case Management System was created and is now used by several organisations to manage the cases they are working on in a database. It has been developed in open source so that any legal aid organization can use it freely. 

The Paralegal Information System was created to help paralegals request and receive legal support from lawyers in order to asssit them in the cases they work on.

And finally, an application called E-resource, was created to allow legal aid service providers to access books and other resources.

To support advocacy efforts, a community of practice was created with multiple stakeholders working on legal aid issues. It allowed members to debate on future necessary legilslative reforms to promote. Those 5 years in Indonesia enabled us and our partners to draw important conclusions regarding access to justice in the region. First, it is undeniable that paralegals play an essential role in assisting local population in their justice needs. Their status needs to be further recognized by local and national authorities. Secondly, the production of flexible training modules with the possibilitly to choose the materials is easier to replicate and should be prefered to a fixed curriculum. Finally, even though the use of digital platforms to strengthen capacities of civil society organizations has been promising, it proved to be very expensive and lengthy to implement. It must be tailored for each organization, which can take months of discussions. The availability of IT officer and maintenance through funding source must be found to ensure the service sustainability.

International Women’s day: Gender and witchcraft in the Central African Republic, fighting discrimination against women and children

Posted on by medialab

In the Central African Republic, the prosecution of people suspected of witchcraft and charlatanism, which frequently leads to serious human rights violations, systematically impacts women and children. This must be examined from a gender-based violence perspective.

Anti-sorcery violence has been specifically highlighted in several international reports monitoring human rights violations, which point to the fact that the Central African State is failing in its duty to protect citizens, in particular girls and women accused of witchcraft and charlatanism who are succeptible to be subjected to violence, sometimes leading to death, by armed groups or groups of individuals.

In this respect, experience shows that such violence is rooted in structural inequalities and patterns of patriarchal domination against women and certain categories of vulnerable people. This type of violence is therefore a consequence of social and cultural norms that impede the realisation of the rights of women and minors.

Actions

With its Central African partners, and thanks to joint funding from the European Union and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ASF is committed to promoting respect for procedural guarantees and access to justice for women and minors (particularly those accused of witchcraft and charlatanism), by taking sustainable action to reduce gender inequalities.

Three areas of intervention work together to achieve this objective:

  • Legal empowerment, which considers people as full actors in the realisation of their rights and integrates different mechanisms
  • Legal representation and remedies based on the law and respectful of the rights of women and children
  • Engagement of institutional actors in the adoption of reforms and practices that are consistent with women’s rights, including on issues of witchcraft and charlatanism. This axis is complementary to the previous ones in order to bring influence and advocacy actions based on the realities on the ground.

These actions contribute to making the specific needs of gender-based violence (GBV) victims and potentially affected groups visible and to amplifying the voice of those affected in order to encourage the adoption and implementation of reforms that sustainably address gender inequalities and human rights violations of those prosecuted for witchcraft and charlatanism.

Legal clinics to support access to justice during pandemic

Posted on by medialab

Throughout the world, the pandemic has pushed people further away from access to justice. In Morocco, ASF has been relying for several years on legal clinics, set up in universities, to promote access to justice, particularly for people in vulnerable situations. Under the supervision of teachers and legal professionals, students provide legal services to the population.

During the pandemic, these structures enabled ASF and its partners to maintain the link with justice seekers, and in particular with one of their main target groups: women victims of violence. One of the perverse effects of the measures imposed to contain the spread of the virus was the consequent increase in reports of domestic violence. The limitation of movement and the closure of certain administrative services deprived victims of domestic violence of the usual care systems.

In response, the legal clinic continued to provide legal advice and guidance via telephone consultations and the What’s app. By taking into account the habits of the beneficiaries, ASF was able to maintain contact with the women victims of violence in order to accompany them during the pandemic.

The Covid-19 crisis also presented a challenge to the organisation of legal clinics. Access to prisons and protection centres, but also access to the legal clinics’ facilities was limited. To address those issues, four lawyers provided a service via different digital platforms (Zoom and Whatsapp) to receive calls from justice seekers and respond to their needs for legal advice and guidance.

The online coaching and capacity-building sessions for students were a real success. Despite some initial difficulties in adapting, the students, supported by lawyers, were able to receive complaints and provide guidance to the victims.

The legal clinics also organised mock trials via zoom, in order to prepare students for the digitalisation of the judicial penal chain (and in particular for remote trials). This activity allowed ASF to anticipate the future challenges linked to those transformations.

Promoting access to justice through community-based mediation programs

Posted on by medialab

In Uganda, access to justice is limited by the financial resources of local populations but also by the geographical distance to the courts of law. Most of the justice law and order services remain in the urban areas and central region with only 18.2% of the population in rural areas able to access a Magistrate court within a distance of 5km (compared to 56% in urban areas). This geographical distance creates a physical barrier that may result in victims or justice seekers relinquishing their rights.

Women face additional challenges as gender discrimination and patriarchal norms often discourage them to solve their disputes in State Courts. As it is considered inappropriate for women to talk about family matters in a public forum.

For all those reasons, many people use the informal justice system in order to resolve conflicts. And community-based mediators have a big role to play in order to assist local populations in their demands for justice, especially women who still face structural challenges on basis of gender and struggle to benefit from safe spaces to express their grievances.

ASF, through the DGD and LEWUTI mediation projects, provided mediation services to 633 people in 2020 in the Karamoja, Albertine and the Acholi Sub regions. Mediations conducted by ASF trained practitioners have been well received. Under the LEWUTI project for example, 94% of beneficiaries expressed satisfaction about the services.

The project design has been a key factor in its success. ASF community-based mediation program, funded by ENABLE and DGD, provides a basis for a consistent and human rights-based approach to mediation. It empowers trusted individuals within the community by enhancing their skills in dispute resolution. The mediators work within their communities and provide free mediation services to the community.

Additionally, they are each attached to a coach and a mentor to continuously provide guidance in the areas of law, and referral services they may make use of. The continuous mentorship and coaching has improved the quality of mediations as well as referrals undertaken by the mediators. It has additionally enabled them to gain trust within the community and with local leaders and elders who constantly refer cases to the ASF trained mediators.

The services provided by the community-based mediators came in very handy at the height of Covid-19 pandemic, especially because of the restrictions that resulted from the crisis. The mediators constituted critical first line legal support providers during the global pandemic, which created more inequalities in access to justice especially in the rural areas.