UpRights

The UN Human Rights Committee requests Malta to urgently Act - CivilMRCC Migrants and Refugees in Distress in the Mediterranean Sea On 4 March 2025, in an unprecedented decision, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (or the Committee) requested Malta to urgently ...

🔎#Read our contribution here: civilmrcc.eu/legal-fragme...
🔎#Read the full issue of Echoes here: civilmrcc-eu.b-cdn.net/wp-content/u...

❗UpRights’ @valeriegabard.bsky.social and StraLi’s Serena Zanirato underscored how the decision represents an important precedent and offers a new legal path for civil society organisations advocating for asylum seekers’ rights’ protection

📄 Our contribution notably discusses the landmark decision by the United Nations HRC to request Malta to coordinate a SAR operation for individuals in distress at sea.

📌 UpRights and StraLi are pleased to share the publication of the latest issue of Echoes – Platform of Hope, by the Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (Civil MRCC).

Key Takeaways from the Launch Workshop of the Report Key Takeaways from the Launch Workshop of the Report “The Congolese Justice System and Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind"

📘 Read more about it here: www.uprights.org/2025/04/17/b...

🔎 The report underscores that meaningful #accountability in the DRC will only emerge from pragmatic configurations responsive to the country’s complex legal, political, and institutional landscape.

📑 The report was launched during a high-level workshop co-chaired by TRIAL International and the Congolese Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature.

⌛ Last week, #UpRights and @trialinternational.bsky.social have released “The Congolese Justice System and Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects,” a report on the fight against #impunity for international crimes in the #DRC.

📚 Read more about it here: iranpdp.org/report-offer...

⬇️ Download the report here: iranpdp.org/wp-content/u...

🗣️ For the online launch of the Guide, UpRights’ Co-Director Valerie Gabard joined HRA’s Skylar Thompson, Natalia Kubesch of REDRESS, and the Secretariat of the United Nations FFM on Iran to present a strategic overview of these accountability pathways.

💡 The Guide maps out:

- National jurisdiction over crimes committed abroad;
- The complex yet critical potential of universal jurisdiction;
- Limitations and possibilities at the ICC and ICJ;
- The role of Magnitsky-style sanctions and broader transitional justice mechanisms.

⚖️ This resource, developed with the legal support of UpRights, aims to provide a comprehensive, strategic and practical victim-centered overview of accessible legal avenues for holding Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members accountable, and challenging impunity

🗓️ Yesterday, April 9, 2025, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) released its ‘Practitioner’s Guide to Addressing Alleged Serious Human Rights Violations and International Crimes Committed by the IRGC in Iran and Abroad’.

📄 Read the full report: www.uprights.org/wp-content/u...

📷 Cover image by Bashar Taleb, taken on 7 October 2023 in Gaza City.

🗺️ Despite these #setbacks, the UJAR outlines clear #pathways: strengthening domestic legal frameworks, increasing #training and #resources, and reinforcing cooperation between prosecuting authorities and civil society.

📊 Nonetheless, in 2024, the failure to open #investigations into alleged international crimes committed in #Gaza was widely perceived as a threat to the legitimacy of international criminal justice, while other investigations have yet to yield tangible results.

🔎 Researched and written #UpRights, the #UJAR compiles #developments in 95 extraterritorial and #universal-jurisdiction cases pursued in 16 countries, confirming that the upward trend in the use of universal jurisdiction to ensure #accountability for international crimes continued in 2024.

🎯 Today, @trialinternational.bsky.social, @civitasmaxima.bsky.social,
@cja-news.bsky.social, @ecchr.bsky.social, @fidh-official.bsky.social, and @redress.org, published the 11th edition of the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review (UJAR).

#Read more here: www.uprights.org/2025/04/08/u...

💡 The conference reaffirmed that for transitional justice to succeed, it must be #tailored to the specific context faced in Ukraine and led by national actors.

⚖️ As highlighted by the panels, meaningful #justice requires a #cross-sectoral approach—one that also addresses not only #criminal-accountability but also #reparations, #documentation, victim support, #memorialisation, institutional #reform and the interplay between national and local government.

📑 Topics ranged from the basic question of the #extent, and #timeframe, in which transitional justice should apply, the experience of local governments operating in #de-occupied communities, to the immense work underway to document atrocities and support #victims.

🗣️ The conferece strived to provide #forum for public #officials, #local-government representatives, international #partners and civil society organisations to actively discuss the opportunities #transitional-justice may provide to address current and future challenges in #Ukraine.

🤝 The event was organized with the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service, the High School of Public Governance, @thehagueacademy.bsky.social, and supported by the @netherlandsmfa.bsky.social .

The Role of Transitional Justice in Ukraine On March 27, 2025, UpRights co-hosted the conference “The Role of Transitional Justice in Ukraine: National and Local Dimensions” in Kyiv.

🗓️ On 27 March 2025, #UpRights co-hosted the conference “The Role of Transitional Justice in Ukraine: National and Local Dimensions” in Kyiv.

Read more here: www.uprights.org/2025/04/07/t...

The future of justice in the DRC depends on urgent national and international action. The continued fight against impunity requires a strong commitment from Congolese authorities and lasting international support adapted to the evolving political and security landscape.

The report recommends:
🔹 Abolishing the death penalty
🔹 Guaranteeing judicial independence
🔹 Ensuring reparations for victims
🔹 A more active strategy for complementarity on the part of the ICC
🔹 An enhanced international support mechanism to strengthen accountability efforts

Despite challenges, remarkable progress has been made. Over the past two decades, Congolese courts have rendered 130+ judgments on international crimes—a record rarely matched by national jurisdictions in such conditions— legal reasoning has improved, and high-ranking officials have faced justice.

In the framework of the 'Global Initiative Against Impunity : Make Justice Work' and with the support of the Congolese Conseil supérieur de la magistrature, we have released a report on the fight against impunity for international crimes in Democratic Republic of the Congo

📖 #Read our #PressRelease here: www.uprights.org/2025/03/05/u...

📝 The Committee’s decision on March 4, 2025, underscores Malta’s obligations under international law. #UpRights’ co-Director @valeriegabard.bsky.social reminded us that “the decision recalls once again that Malta must adhere to its duty to coordinate rescues in its search and rescue zone.”