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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Leandro Despouy

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Leandro Despouy UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/11/41/Add.1 19 May 2009 Original: ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH ONLY HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Eleventh session Agenda item 3 PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy Addendum SITUATION IN SPECIFIC COUNTRIES TERRITORIES* * The present document is being circulated in the languages of submission only as it greatly exceeds the page limitations currently imposed by the relevant General Assembly resolutions. GE.09-13291 (E) 280509 A/HRC/11/41/Add.1 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 - 2 5 I. STATISTICAL DATA ........................................................................ 3 - 18 5 II. SUMMARY OF CASES TRANSMITTED AND REPLIES RECEIVED ................................................................ 19 - 379 13 Afghanistan .......................................................................................... 19 - 21 13 Algeria .................................................................................................. 22 - 29 14 Azerbaijan ............................................................................................ 30 - 32 18 Bahrain ................................................................................................. 33 - 42 21 Bangladesh ........................................................................................... 43 - 44 28 Belarus .................................................................................................. 45 - 53 29 Brazil .................................................................................................... 54 - 55 36 Bulgaria ................................................................................................ 56 - 58 37 Cameroon ............................................................................................. 59 - 66 38 China (People’s Republic of) ............................................................... 67 - 90 44 Colombia .............................................................................................. 91 - 96 54 Democratic Republic of the Congo ...................................................... 97 - 102 57 Egypt .................................................................................................... 103 - 108 60 Equatorial Guinea ................................................................................. 109 - 110 62 Ethiopia ................................................................................................ 111 - 113 63 France ................................................................................................... 114 - 118 65 Guatemala ............................................................................................. 119 - 126 67 Guyana ................................................................................................. 127 - 129 74 India ...................................................................................................... 130 - 134 75 A/HRC/11/41/Add.1 page 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page Indonesia .............................................................................................. 135 - 136 77 Iran (Islamic Republic of) .................................................................... 137 - 161 78 Israel ..................................................................................................... 162 - 167 93 Japan ..................................................................................................... 168 - 170 96 Kazakhstan ........................................................................................... 171 - 173 97 Kenya ................................................................................................... 174 - 175 99 Kyrgyzstan ........................................................................................... 176 - 180 99 Lebanon ................................................................................................ 181 - 184 104 Malaysia ............................................................................................... 185 - 189 107 Maldives ............................................................................................... 190 112 Mauritania ............................................................................................ 191 - 192 113 Mexico ................................................................................................. 193 - 202 114 Morocco ............................................................................................... 203 - 206 120 Myanmar .............................................................................................. 207 - 218 122 Nigeria .................................................................................................. 219 - 220 130 Pakistan ................................................................................................ 221 - 227 131 Paraguay ............................................................................................... 228 - 229 133 Philippines ............................................................................................ 230 - 232 134 Russian Federation ............................................................................... 233 - 244 136 Saudi Arabia ......................................................................................... 245 - 262 144 Serbia ................................................................................................... 263 - 278 152 Sri Lanka .............................................................................................. 279 - 287 156 Sudan .................................................................................................... 288 - 297 162 Syrian Arab Republic ........................................................................... 298 - 307 170 A/HRC/11/41/Add.1 page 4 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page Tunisia .................................................................................................. 308 - 321 174 Turkey .................................................................................................. 322 - 324 184 Uganda ................................................................................................. 325 - 326 185 United Arab Emirates ........................................................................... 327 - 330 187 United States of America ..................................................................... 331 - 352 188 Uzbekistan ............................................................................................ 353 - 366 196 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) ..................................................... 367 - 369 204 Yemen .................................................................................................. 370 - 373 208 Zimbabwe ............................................................................................. 374 - 379 209 A/HRC/11/41/Add.1 page 5 Introduction 1. The present report supplements the main report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/11/41). It reflects specific situations alleged to be affecting the independence of judges or lawyers or violating the right to a fair trial in 52 countries. Further, it includes replies received from the Government of the country concerned in response to specific allegations together with the Special Rapporteur’s comments and observations. Readers will thus find in it: (a) Summaries of the urgent appeals and allegation letters transmitted by the Special Rapporteur to governmental authorities between 16 March 2008 and 15 March 2009, and of press releases issued during the same reporting period. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize that the communications presented in the report exclusively reflect allegations he received and subsequently acted upon. Where information was insufficient and could not be supplemented, or where the information received was outside the mandate, the Special Rapporteur was not in a position to act. Hence such allegations were not included in the report. (b) Summaries of the replies received from several States concerned between 1 May 2008 and 10 May 2009. In certain instances, the Government reply was obtained late and referred to allegations that were presented in the previous reports (A/HRC/8/4/Add.1 and A/HRC/4/25/Add.1). In those cases, the Special Rapporteur has included the respective allegation in the section of communications sent, in order to facilitate the reader’s comprehension. On the other hand, it may be noted that certain responses to urgent appeals or allegation letters sent during the reporting period, and for which the Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Governments, could not be included in the report owing to the fact that they were either not translated in time or received after 10 May 2009. To the Special Rapporteur’s regret, they will therefore be reflected only in next year’s report. Finally, due to restrictions on the length of the report, the Special Rapporteur has been obliged to summarize the details of all correspondence sent and received. As a result, requests from Governments to publish their replies in their totality could regrettably
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