Statement on raid of Palestinian NGOs

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The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers unequivocally condemns the latest assault on Palestinian civil society by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) directed by Benny Gantz, Defence Minister for the Israeli Government.

On 18 August 2022, six prominent Palestinian NGOs based in the West Bank – Al-Haq, Addameer, Bisan Center, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), the Union of Agricultural Works Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) – had their offices raided by the IDF, with files and equipment being seized in the process and their doors welded shut. At the entrance of each office, military orders were left declaring that the organisations were illegal. This follows the six NGOs being proscribed as ‘terrorist organisations’ last October, a move which has been condemned by the European Union, Amnesty and Oxfam amongst other international civil society organisations and NGOs. In April, the United Nations condemned the move, saying the designations were ‘not accompanied by any public and credible evidence’.

In a press conference following the raid, Al-Haq’s director, Shawan Jabarin said that the NGOs will ‘continue our work defending justice and international law.’ It is clear that the Israeli clampdown on Palestinian civil society is an attempt to repress organisations that document human rights abuses and use the framework of international law in order to hold the Israeli state to account. Michael Sfard, lawyer for some of the designated groups, said that the attacks were motivated ‘out of a desire to frustrate the International Criminal Court proceedings’ which Israel has continued to not cooperate with. The last 12 months has seen increased pressure on the six NGOs, including intimidation against staff, judicial harassment and travel bans.

The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers condemns these attacks against human rights defenders and civil society organisations at the hands of the Israeli Government. The Haldane Society stands in solidarity with our colleagues across Historic Palestine who face intimidation and threats to their lives for documenting human rights abuses and providing crucial legal support to those who face the brunt of Israeli state violence.

- Haldane calls for Israel to rescind the decision to designate the six NGOs as ‘terrorist organisations’ and to cancel the military orders, in order to allow Palestinian human rights defenders to continue doing the vital work they do;

- Haldane calls on other international civil society organisations to counter these sustained attacks on Palestinian civil society by refusing to recognise these malicious designations, and to continue funding their crucial work;

- Haldane continues to insist that all European states are under an obligation to do everything in their power to bring to an end the illegality and oppression of Israel’s continued occupation since 1967, which is the root cause of the current violence;

- Haldane urges all European states to give the maximum support to the ICC and its new Prosecutor in carrying out their investigation without hindrance, in particular Israel, which has effectively declared war on the ICC.

In person event: Abolishing the police/Abolishing the law

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Join David Renton (barrister from Garden Court Chambers / author of 'Against the Law: Why Justice Requires Fewer Laws and a smaller state.') and Aviah Sarah Day and Shanice Octavia McBean (from Sisters Uncut and co-authors of 'Abolition Revolution') in discussion.

On Thurs 8 September at 6.30pm at Birkbeck, University of London

Register for a ticket here - seats are limited!

ELDH Statement – Restore rights and values at Europe’s borders

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Statement from our affiliate organisation, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (‘ELDH’):

ELDH condemns the cynical killings and beatings of migrants by both Moroccan and Spanish Border Forces at Melilla on 24 June 2022. They are being used as political pawns. We urge a humanitarian response from the African Union, the EU and its Member States to require both Morocco and Spain to respond in a humane manner in line with their international legal obligations.

The enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in Northern Morocco were retained as Spanish Territory when Morocco gained independence in 1956. They are therefore the first European externalised borders and have long been the scene of unlawful killings of migrants attempting to cross into Europe.

The killing of at least 37 people (Moroccan Human Rights Group AMDH estimate) by Moroccan security forces and the injury of over 100 others trying to cross from Morocco to Spain on 24 June is the largest and most brutal. Migrants are used as pawns in negotiations over the independence of Western Sahara as prior to Spain’s endorsement of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara in May. Morocco had “turned a blind eye” to migrants crossing into Spanish territory (10,000 in May 2021 and nearly 500 in early June 2022). Western Sahara’s pro-independence Polisario Front wants a UN supervised referendum on self-determination.

Thousands of vulnerable migrants remain stranded in Morocco. This is a continuing humanitarian crisis which causes immense suffering.

Highly vulnerable groups are weaponised in this struggle. They include many Victims of Trafficking fleeing war and persecution in sub Saharan Africa.

ELDH therefore proposes the following responses:

Access to seeking asylum at the border

Access to Spain should be allowed both in law and in practice in accordance with EU and international law, irrespective of the manner of arrival. Spanish and Moroccan Border Officers should refrain from the use of excessive force. Measures aimed at preventing people from accessing EU territory such as forceful pushbacks, beatings and killings must be prohibited.

We call on the European Union and other relevant international and regional actors to ensure:

Human rights based border governance

Safe migration pathways

Individual assessment of asylum claims

Protection from collective expulsions, arbitrary arrest and detention

EU response

The EU, its commission and member states must respond to the border crisis in accordance with their international obligations, not bow to pressure from Spain. There should be no derogation from the current political and legal framework which can ensure a humane transition for those currently suffering on the externalised European borders at Melilla and Ceuta.

Spanish and Moroccan Enquiry

Spain and Morocco should give a swift and public condemnation of the recent events, outlining steps to carry out an effective and independent investigation into the circumstances of the deaths and injuries, identifying those responsible and ensuring accountability.

UN Special Rapporteur on Refugees

The Special Rapporteur should carry out an independent enquiry into the events in Melilla of 24th June 2022.

Migrants detained in Melilla and Ceuta

International standards of accommodation should be maintained for those currently detained.

International Access

The border should be accessible to international media and monitored by independent actors to ensure that EU and international law is respected. Acts of violence by state enforcers and others should be condemned and investigated.

Haldane and LSWU statement on ongoing collective action by barristers in the Crown Court

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The Haldane Society and Legal Sector Workers United welcome the overwhelming vote by the Criminal Bar Association to take action if the government does not commit to a substantial increase of additional funding for the Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme.

With 94% voting in favour of taking collective action by not accepting returns under the AGFS scheme, it is important that representative bodies remain committed to the mandate of the members, until a serious and immediate increase in remuneration is conceded by the Ministry of Justice.

The action commenced on Monday 11 April 2022 and is in its second week at the date of writing.

A case is “returned” when an advocate is unable to cover it owing to unavoidable other commitments. Owing to the necessity of double or reserve listing cases in the Crown Court, advocates are often forced to return cases. “No returns” would mean that other advocates decline to cover those cases. This will have a substantial impact on the functioning of the Crown Court.

The recent government proposal of an additional £135 million a year into the Criminal Legal Aid sector is too little, too late. We feel that many of the cuts to legal aid in all practice areas could have been avoided had there been a strong collective position taken by legal workers in previous years.

We therefore encourage the Criminal Bar Association to liaise with all relevant bodies to discuss joint industrial actions. Unionisation and collective action are the best way of fighting for better working conditions. Many of our members are in unions such as United Voices of the World (Legal Sector Workers United branch), UCU and Unite the Union. We encourage all workers in the legal sector who have not already joined a union to do so. Collectively we are powerful.



Statement of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

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We in the Haldane Society are socialists who are lawyers and internationalists, closely associated with the trade union movement. We have a proud history from before WWII of anti-colonial struggle, support for National Liberation Movements and against Apartheid, and solidarity with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Closer to home, we fight for the right of the people of the Island of Ireland to Self-Determination, and for a United Ireland, against British imperialism. 

We therefore condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014 and intensifying since February 24, 2022. This armed attack has no justification in international law. It is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter’s prohibition of the use of force (Article 2(4), and of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, prohibited by the UN Charter. It has already caused the deaths of many people - soldiers and civilians, and more than a million refugees, women and children, have fled Ukraine.

Currently the UK Government accepts that it has only issued visas to 50 people fleeing the invasion.  That is deplorable. We call on the UK Government to open up safe and accessible routes to the UK for all those fleeing the war in Ukraine, whatever their nationality, and whatever their connections with the UK, and in particular that provision is made at Calais and in the states neighbouring Ukraine to provide the necessary assistance.

We welcome the decision of the ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, to proceed with opening an investigation into any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 .

We reject the Russian government's argument that it is entitled under Article 51 to exercise collective self-defence in favour of the “People's Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk”, only recognised by Russia and South Ossetia. Moreover, the Russian President's order to place nuclear forces on special alert poses a serious threat to international peace and security.

Together with our comrades in England in Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, and the English and Ukrainian Trade Unions, we insist on Ukraine’s right to self-determination, and note that in the USSR, Ukraine had the status of a Union Republic with the right to secede, was as the Ukrainian SSR a founder member of the United Nations in 1945 with a seat on the General Assembly, and achieved full sovereignty with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

We therefore reject and deplore President Putin’s assertion that Ukraine is a fictitious country with no right to exist, and that Lenin is to be blamed for its creation, with his principled insistence on the right of nations to self-determination.

We oppose imperialism in all its forms and note that Russia’s historical oppression and denigration of Ukraine has much in common with England’s bloody rule for centuries in Ireland.

We demand:

  • The immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine

  • Reparation for the damage done to Ukraine

  • Full support for and cooperation with the ICC investigation 

  • Practical solidarity with Ukrainians and especially the Ukrainian trade unions

EU border with Belarus

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The Haldane Society has endorsed the European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights’ motion on refugee & human rights at the EU-Belarus border, as set out below.

“The human tragedy at the EU border with Belarus is another example of the EU's failed refugee policy. The criminal treatment of refugees in Croatia recently revealed by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), the countless drowned refugees in the Mediterranean and recently in the English Channel, the refugee prevention agreements with Turkey, Libya and Morocco provide further examples.

There is an impression that the EU wants to use this refugee drama on the EU Border with Belarus as a welcome distraction from its own inhumane refugee policy. Approximately 8000 refugees are stranded in the forests on the EU border with Belarus. They are subjected to inhumane conditions there. For at least 12 of them, this has already ended in death.

While we condemn the irresponsible conduct of the Belarus leadership in using migrants, we urge a humane response from the EU and its Member States which is in line with EU and international legal rights and obligations.

Highly vulnerable groups have been weaponised in this struggle. They include pregnant women, young children, elderly and sick people wo have fled war and persecution from Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq, who in the absence of safe migration routes have ended up as pawns on a European border in freezing conditions.

ELDH therefore demands the following responses:

1.     Access to seeking asylum at the borders

Access to asylum in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia should immediately be restored, both in law and in practice in accordance with EU and international law, irrespective of the manner of arrival. All measures aimed at preventing people from accessing EU territory, (such as forceful pushbacks using water cannons and tear gas, prohibiting and limiting access to mechanisms for lodging of asylum claims from those who make it across the border into Europe) should cease.

 

2.     Withdrawal of non-compliant domestic legislation

The rush of refugees at the EU border with Belarus does not give the EU the right to endorse the temporary suspension of the application of the ECHR and international refugee law for the countries bordering Belarus.

ELDH calls on the European Commission to reverse its decision to endorse changes by Lithuania, Poland and Latvia to their domestic asylum legislation to render it incompatible with EU asylum Treaties, the Charter for Fundamental Rights and international law.  Whilst some of these changes are described as temporary, and have geographic restrictions, such derogation from human rights principles risks institutionalising unlawful practice.

For the 8000 migrants who have managed to cross the border to Lithuania, Poland or Latvia, ELDH calls on the EU to ensure that shelter, food and clothing are provided and not to endorse:

·       automatic detention on arrival

·       restriction of the right to claim asylum

·       reduction in the standard of reception conditions

·       restrictions on the right to seek legal advice

·       removal to their country of origin or a third country after a person has applied for asylum without any examination as to whether that person’s human rights will be breached on return.

This contradicts the international legal principle of non refoulement

international law, infringement and disciplinary action should be taken.

 

3.     Counteract repression of civil society, media and legal practitioners

 

Human rights activists providing humanitarian and legal assistance both on the border and in their own countries should not be criminalised.  The border should be accessible to international media and monitored by independent actors to ensure that EU and international law is respected.  Acts of violence by state enforcers and others should be condemned and investigated”.