Human rights | 08.12.2014

2nd World Forum on Human Rights - Marrakech Appeal to the Lawyers of the World

On Saturday November 29, 2014, the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA - International Association of Lawyers), represented by Its President, Miguel Loinaz, and Martin Pradel, Co-director of Human Rights and Protection of Lawyers Department, and together with the Paris Bar Association and the Marrakech Bar Association, launched a call for an increased mobilization of lawyers, to defend their colleagues who are threatened or not allowed to practice their profession freely and independently. 

The next International Assembly of Lawyers for Human Rights will be held during the 2015 UIA Congress in Valencia, Spain. 

Please watch the video (in French) clicking on the image below.
 


Appeal to the Lawyers of the World, Declaration in Marrakech, November 19, 2014
 
While the legal profession has always worked for, and been integral to, the protection of freedom and fundamental human rights, new challenges threaten human rights,  and in the case of human rights arising from the right to live in a clean environment, the very existence of humanity. 

Lawyers around the world assert and demand a decisive and integral role, in collaboration with other stakeholders, in the struggle for justice, the rule of law, and fundamental rights.

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Along these lines, the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court, were adopted, and the lawyers of the world decided to join together to formalize the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of Defense, signed in Paris on June 26, 1987, as supplemented by the Convention of the World's Lawyers, on 6th December, 2008.

Each day, everywhere in the world, lawyers are threatened and hindered in their mission of defense. The Bars themselves are sometimes challenged by threats to neutralize them. 

Meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, November 29, 2014, on the occasion of the 2nd World Forum on Human Rights, lawyers from around the world gathered to appeal to lawyers everywhere to encourage them to intensify their actions to become more organized and mobilize international opinion, where defense is concerned.  

With this declaration, we invite lawyers of the world to join together at the next world Assembly of Lawyers, which will be one of the highlights of the UIA Congress in Valencia, Spain at the end of October 2015.
 
The protection of freedom, of all fundamental rights, requires independent lawyers with the freedom to defend. To achieve this objective, lawyers need to reinforce their connections with each other, to ensure mutual protection against those who are threatened.

The Rule of law, and the freedom of the men and women of the world depend upon it.   
 

 

 

 
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