1. OVERVIEW
Interights is an international human rights organisation,
established to provide leadership and support in the legal protection of human
rights worldwide. Since 1982, it has promoted the effective use of human rights
law to protect rights and freedoms worldwide, in cooperation with lawyers,
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and judges. This report provides
information on Interights' activities over one year from April 1999 to March
2000 covering regional and thematic programmes, dissemination of information on
human rights law, and organisational developments. An appendix details some of
the casework undertaken by Interights, whether as advocate or adviser, during
this period.
In Africa, much of our work focussed on the effective use and
implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both before
the African Commission and in national courts. Activities included a major
conference and subsequent activities on the right to fair trial under the
African Charter, advice on appropriate response to emergency situations and the
start of a consultation on economic, social and cultural rights. Working
wherever possible with sub-regional networks, programmes are designed to
strengthen capacity and resources for public interest litigation in East and
West Africa, linking activities in countries with differing legal traditions and
working languages.
The use of the European Convention on Human Rights at
domestic and regional level remained the focus of our programme in Central and
Eastern Europe. Support for legal defence programmes in several countries was
part of a strategy to increase advice and representation for victims of human
rights violations. Similarly training programmes were designed for busy
practising lawyers, especially those associated with legal defence programmes,
in practice and procedure before the European Court of Human Rights, to increase
the numbers of lawyers willing and able to represent clients with human rights
complaints. Simultaneously, two regional projects to address the lack of legal
aid across the region were launched.
Our South Asian programme undertook a major new initiative
focussing on the incidence of �honour crimes�, mapping strategies and
convening a roundtable bringing together people from a range of countries where
this practice takes place. Planning for a series of sub-regional judicial
colloquia on the domestic application of human rights norms, following
recommendations made by judges in a colloquium organised in Bangalore, India in
1998, also began, focussing on access to justice and on economic, social and
cultural rights.
In the Commonwealth Caribbean, the withdrawal of several
states from international mechanisms remained an issue of great concern. One
petition we supported before the UN Human Rights Committee challenged
reservations made by Trinidad and Tobago, through which it attempted to exclude
all those sentenced to death from the Committee's protection.
Freedom of expression, equal treatment without
discrimination, liberty and security of the person and economic, social and
cultural rights remained the main thematic focuses of Interights' work and an
organisation-wide initiative was taken to ensure that a gender perspective
informed each programme.
Substantial progress was made this year on the development of
a Commonwealth Human Rights Law Database, now in its final stages of
preparation. Interights� Bulletin and the Commonwealth Human Rights
Law Digest continued to provide essential information to lawyers, judges and
NGOs around the world on developments in law and practice relating to
international human rights. These provide summaries of judgments from
international, regional and national courts around the world.
2. Regional Programmes
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