Events | 24.01.2020

Photo Exhibition Faces of Courage

UIA actively contributed to the creation of the photo exhibition, “Faces of Courage,” which was inaugurated at the Palais de Justice of Nantes on January 24, on the occasion of the Day of the Endangered Lawyer. President Jerome Roth represented UIA at the inauguration ceremony.

The exhibition was prepared and organised at the initiative of the International Committee of the Nantes Bar Association, chaired by Mr. Henri Carpentier, a UIA member, with UIA’s support, and that of the Conseil National des Barreaux (France). The exhibition depicts portraits of lawyers from all over the world, who face or have faced violence, intimidation or reprisals for defending human rights and/or other human rights defenders. Photographs are accompanied by an explanation of each lawyer’s profile and a reference is made to an applicable provision of an international or regional treaty, convention or declaration.

The 13 profiles presented are (in alphabetical order) Waleed Abu Al-Khair (Saudi Arabia), , Mohammed al-Roken (United Arab Emirates), Irina Biryukova (Russia), Alice Knom (Cameroon), Selçuk Kozağaçlı (Turquie), Mahienour El-Massry (Egypt), Joseph Parsambei (Tanzania), Daniel Prado (Colombia), Wang Quanzhang (China), Benjamin Ramos (The Philippines) Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iran), Saif ul Malook (Pakistan), and Derk Wiersum (Netherlands).

Each one of these profiles illustrates varying types of persecution, including threats and, in most cases, broader difficult contexts for both the practice of the legal profession and the defence of the Rule of Law and human rights. The exhibition aims at raising awareness among the legal community and society at large about the role lawyers play in defending rights and promoting Rule of Law in their own countries and beyond, as well as about the risks lawyers can encounter while defending rights or representing clients in sensitive cases.

The exhibition received very positive feedback from both attendees and the lawyers whose portraits were shown and/or their families, friends and support committees.

The exhibition is intended as a travelling exposition and will be soon proposed to UIA collective members who would be interested in organising similar events in their own countries.

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