In October 2008, the Council of Ministers took a decision to withdraw 349 criminal cases against numerous political party cadres, including two senior members of the Cabinet. The case withdrawals were said to be necessary to promote the peace process and fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a provision of which calls for the withdrawal of cases brought against individuals “due to political reasons”. As opposed to political charges, however, the most frequent offences alleged in the cases are murder and attempted murder, numerous incidents reported well after the signing of the CPA in 2006, along with other serious crimes such as rape and mutilation. According to the Ministry of Law, the Council of Ministers has subsequently recommended the withdrawal of at least 41 additional cases, as successive governments have come under pressure from political parties, armed groups and indigenous and ethnic groups demanding that criminal cases against their supporters be
dropped. More than a third of the most recent 41 cases also deal with allegations of murder or attempted murder. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has consistently requested that the Government justify its rationale for all of those proposed withdrawals. Observing that numerous cases withdrawn by the Government are clearly criminal in nature, and have nothing to do with politics, the NHRC has also maintained that the Government needs to consult the Commission prior to withdrawing cases involving human rights violations,
especially cases on which NHRC has already conducted investigations and recommended actions.
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Publisher:
UNOHRC, NHRC/UNDP
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(2011
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Type / Script:
Progress Report
in English
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Keywords:
CRIME, RIGHTS REVOKED, ETHNIC GROUPS, DOMESTIC CRIMES, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, RIGHT TO LIVE, TORTURE, RECONCILITION, MUTILATION, CONFIDENTIALITY, CASE WITHDRAWLS, ARBITARY, JUDICIAL, LEGISLATIVE, JUSTICE MECHANISM, INHUMAN TREATMENT, DEVELOPING JURISPRUDENCE, INTERIM CONSTITUTION, ACCOUNTABILITY AND IMPUNITY, CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, INVESTIGATION, DISCRIMINATION, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
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Thematic Group:
UNRCHCO (UNRCO)
:
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Office (UN Resident Coordinator Office)
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Thesaurus:
14.02.02
- Human Rights
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Reference Link:
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