Permanent Peoples' Tribunal

Last updated

The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) is an international human rights organization founded in Bologna, Italy, on June 24, 1979, at the initiative of Senator Lelio Basso. [1] It was established during the final session of the Russell Tribunal with the aim of condemning Latin American dictatorships. The court is composed of a president, four vice-presidents, a secretary-general and 66 international members. Since its establishment, the Tribunal conducted 46 sessions.

Contents

History

The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) [2] began in Bologna in 1979, continuing the work of the Russell Tribunal II on Latin American dictatorships (1974–1976). It was founded by Lelio Basso to denounce the crimes committed by military regimes in the region. [3] The PPT aims to encourage action in judicial courts based on intergovernmental treaties, such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. [4]

The PPT's work is based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples, [5] [6] proclaimed in Algiers in 1976, and on the main international instruments protecting human rights. The historical and geographical context of the Declaration, known as the Charter of Algiers, links its general principles with liberation struggles, which Resolution 1514 (XV) of the United Nations [7] of 14 December 1960 had already placed under the protection of international law, as the right to self-determination remained unfulfilled, and it was not related to the process of decolonization.

Structure

The court is composed of a president (currently Philippe Texier of France), four vice-presidents, a secretary general (currently Gianni Tognoni of Italy), a coordination officer (currently Simona Fraudatario of Italy) , and 58 members from 26 countries, [8] from different disciplines such as law, economy, sociology, arts, and literature.[ citation needed ]

Table of countries by number of members [9]
Number of membersCountries
1Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Thailand, United Kingdom
2Ecuador, Germany, The Netherlands, Tunisia
3Colombia, India
4Spain
5France
6Argentina, United States
8Italy

Sessions

As of 2016, the Tribunal has held 46 sessions [10] on numerous cases of human rights violations. The judgments of the TPP rely on sources of existing international law. [11]

List of sessions

  1. Western Sahara (Brussels, 10–11 November 1979) [12]
  2. Argentina (Genève, 3–4 May 1980) [13]
  3. Eritrea (Milano, 24–26 May 1980) [14]
  4. The Philippines and the Bangsamoro people (Anvers, 30 October – 3 November 1980) [15]
  5. El Salvador (Mexico, 9–12 February 1981) [16]
  6. Afghanistan I (Stockholm, 1–3 May 1981) [17]
  7. Afghanistan Il (Paris, 16–20 December 1982) [18]
  8. Timor Orientale (Lisbon, 19–21 July 1981) [19]
  9. Zaire (Rotterdam, 18–20 September 1982) [20]
  10. Guatemala (Madrid, 27–31 January 1983) [21]
  11. Armenian Genocide (Paris, 13–16 April 1984) [22]
  12. The interventions of the United States in Nicaragua (Brussels, 5–8 October 1984) [23]
  13. The policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank I (Berlin, 26–29 September 1988) [24]
  14. The policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank II (Madrid, 1–3 October 1994)
  15. Porto-Rico (Barcelona, 27–29 January 1989) [25]
  16. Brazilian Amazon (Paris, 12–16 October 1990) [26]
  17. Impunity for crimes against humanity in Latin America (Bogotá, 22–25 April 1991) [27]
  18. The conquest of and international law (Padua-Venice, 5–8 October 1992) [28]
  19. Tibet (Strasburg, 16–20 November 1992) [29]
  20. Industrial risks and human rights I (Bhopal, 19–23 October 1992) [30]
  21. Industrial risks and human rights II (London, 28 November – 2 December 1994) [31]
  22. Asylum right in Europe (Berlin, 8–12 December 1994) [32]
  23. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia I (Bern, 17–20 February 1995) [33]
  24. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia II (Barcelona, 7–11 December 1995) [34]
  25. Violations of the fundamental rights of children and minors (Trento, 27–29 March; Macerata, 30 March; Napoli 1–4 April 1995) [35]
  26. Chernobyl: environment, health and human rights (Vienna, 12–15 April 1996) [36]
  27. The rights of workers and consumers in the garment industry (Brussels, 30 April-5 May 1998) [37]
  28. Violations of the fundamental rights of children and adolescents in Brazil (São Paulo, 17–19 March 1999)
  29. Elf-Aquitaine (Paris, 19–21 May 1999) [38]
  30. Global multinationals and "human distorted" (Warwick, 22–23 March 2000) [39]
  31. International Law and the new wars (Roma, 14–16 December 2002) [40]
  32. Human rights violations in Algeria, 1992–2004 (Paris, 5–8 November 2004) [41]
  33. The European Union and transnational corporations in Latin America: policies, instruments and actors complicity in the violation of peoples' rights (Madrid, 14–17 May 2010)[ citation needed ]
  34. The Philippines II (The Hague, 21–25 March 2007) [42]
  35. Transnational corporations and the rights of peoples in Colombia (Colombia, 2006–2008) [43]
  36. Sri Lanka and the Tamil People I (Dublin, 14–16 January 2010) [44]
  37. Session on agrochemical transnational corporations (Bangalore, 3–6 December 2011) [45]
  38. Free trade, violence, impunity and people's rights in Mexico (Mexico, 2011–2014) [46]
  39. Sri Lanka and the Tamil People II (Bremen, 7–10 December 2013) [47]
  40. Session on the Canadian mining transnational corporations (on-going) [48]
  41. Fundamental rights, local community participation and infrastructure projects (Torino-Almese, 5–8 November 2015) [49]
  42. Living wage for Asian garment workers as fundamental human right (Sri Lanka 2011; Cambodia 2012; India 2012; Indonesia 2014; Sri Lanka 2015) [50]
  43. Myanmar's crimes against the Rohingya and Kachin Peoples I (London, 2017) [51]
  44. Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights of Migrant and Refugee Peoples (Launched Barcelona 2017, on-going Session) [52]
  45. Session on the violation of human rights of migrants and refugee people (2017–2018) [53]
  46. Session on Alleged violations of international law and international humanitarian law by the Turkish Republic and its officials against the Kurdish people and their organizations (Paris 2018) [54]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights</span> Fundamental rights belonging to all humans

Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning they belong to every individual simply by virtue of being human, regardless of characteristics like nationality, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status. They encompass a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, such as the right to life, freedom of expression, protection against enslavement, and right to education.

Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, regardless of where the crime was committed and irrespective of the accused's nationality or residence. Rooted in the belief that certain offenses are so heinous that they threaten the international community as a whole, universal jurisdiction holds that such acts are beyond the scope of any single nation's laws. Instead, these crimes are considered to violate norms owed to the global community and fundamental principles of international law, making them prosecutable in any court that invokes this principle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimes against humanity</span> Concept in international law

Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as foreign nationals. Together with war crimes, genocide, and the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity are one of the core crimes of international criminal law and, like other crimes against international law, have no temporal or jurisdictional limitations on prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of war</span> International regulations of warfare

The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war and the conduct of hostilities. Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of law.

International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Tribunal</span> Peoples tribunal formed in 1966 by Bertrand Russell

The Russell Tribunal, also known as the International War Crimes Tribunal, Russell–Sartre Tribunal, or Stockholm Tribunal, was a private people's tribunal organised in 1966 by Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, and hosted by French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre, along with Lelio Basso, Simone de Beauvoir, Vladimir Dedijer, Ralph Schoenman, Isaac Deutscher, Günther Anders and several others. The tribunal investigated and evaluated American foreign policy and military intervention in Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Human Rights Council</span> United Nations body tasked with the promotion of human rights

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of the Council are at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland.

Francis Anthony Boyle is an American human rights lawyer and professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He has served as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina and has supported the rights of Palestinians and indigenous peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International criminal law</span> Public international law

International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core crimes under international law are genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadi Sadr</span> Iranian lawyer and womens rights activist

Shadi Sadr is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide.

Impunity is the ability to act with exemption from punishments, losses, or other negative consequences. In the international law of human rights, impunity is failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice and redress. Impunity is especially common in countries which lack the tradition of rule of law, or suffer from pervasive corruption, or contain entrenched systems of patronage, or where the judiciary is weak or members of the security forces are protected by special jurisdictions or immunities. Impunity is sometimes considered a form of denialism of historical crimes.

War crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war are war crimes and crimes against humanity which the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been accused of committing during the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. The war crimes include attacks on civilians and civilian buildings by both sides; executions of combatants and prisoners by both sides; enforced disappearances by the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary groups backed by them; sexual violence by the Sri Lankan military; the systematic denial of food, medicine, and clean water by the government to civilians trapped in the war zone; child recruitment, hostage taking, use of military equipment in the proximity of civilians and use of forced labor by the Tamil Tigers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights</span> Non-profit human rights organization

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights(ECCHR) is an independent, nonprofit non-governmental organization with the aim of enforcing human rights through legal means. Using litigation, it tries to hold state and non-state actors responsible human rights violations. It was founded in 2007 by the German civil rights attorney Wolfgang Kaleck together with a group of human rights lawyers, in order to help protect the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other declarations of human rights and national constitutions, by juridical means. ECCHR engages in litigation, using European, international, and national law to help protect human rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)</span> Domestic war crimes tribunal

The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.

International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) is a People's Tribunal formed by Indian human rights activists for the purpose of probing human right violations in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and bridging the gap between people living in Kashmir and rest of India. It was first convened in 2008 by Parvez Imroz, Angana P. Chatterji, Gautam Navlakha and Zaheer-Ud-Din. Chatterji served as convener until December 2012.

The term international framework of sexual violence refers to the collection of international legal instruments – such as treaties, conventions, protocols, case law, declarations, resolutions and recommendations – developed in the 20th and 21st century to address the problem of sexual violence. The framework seeks to establish and recognise the right all human beings to not experience sexual violence, to prevent sexual violence from being committed wherever possible, to punish perpetrators of sexual violence, and to provide care for victims of sexual violence. The standards set by this framework are intended to be adopted and implemented by governments around the world in order to protect their citizens against sexual violence.

<i>Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea</i> 2014 United Nations report

The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the landmark document resulting from the investigations on human rights in North Korea commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013 and concluded in 2014.

The Gošić kllings refers to the mass murder of elderly Serb civilians from the village of Gošić in Šibenik-Knin County by members of the Croatian Army (HV) on 27 August 1995, approximately three weeks after Operation Storm.

The 1973 United Nations International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was the first binding international treaty which declared the crime of apartheid and racial segregation under international law. It was adopted by the General Assembly on 30 November 1973 and came into force on 18 July 1976. It passed by 91 votes in favor, four against and 26 abstentions. 110 countries are currently parties to the convention, with 26 signatories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trials of the Derg members</span> 1994–2008 legal proceeding in Ethiopia

On 12 December 2006, the Federal Supreme Court found guilty 77 top Derg officials accused by the government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) over the Red Terror (1976–1978). The head of the Derg, Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled to Zimbabwe, and other 22 Derg members were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment on 11 January 2007.

References

  1. ↑ "Introduction - Fondazione Basso – Sezione Internazionale". Internazionaleleliobasso.it. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  2. ↑ "Permanent Peoples' Tribunal - Official Website".
  3. ↑ "Fondazione Basso - Italy".
  4. ↑ see Daniele Archibugi and Alice Pease, Crime and Global Justice: The Dynamics of International Punishment, Polity, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples". www.algerie-tpp.org/. 1976-07-04. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  6. ↑ "Algiers Charter".
  7. ↑ "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples". www.un.org/. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  8. ↑ "Composizione del Tribunale Permanente dei Popoli".
  9. ↑ "Composition of the Court". permanentpeoplestribunal.org/. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  10. ↑ Permanent Peoples' Tribunal. "Sessions and Jurisprudence PPT". permanentpeoplestribunal.org/. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  11. ↑ (www.tribunalepermanentedeipopoli.fondazionebasso.it)
  12. ↑ "01. Western Sahara (Brussels, 10-11 November 1979)". November 10, 1979.
  13. ↑ "02. Argentina (Genève, 3-4 May 1980)". May 4, 1980.
  14. ↑ "03. Eritrea (Milan, 24-26 May 1980)". May 26, 1980.
  15. ↑ "04. The Philippines and Bangsa Moro people (Anversa, 30 October-3 November 1980)". October 30, 1980.
  16. ↑ "05. El Salvador (Mexico City, 9-12 February 1981)". February 12, 1981.
  17. ↑ "06 Afghanistan I (Stockholm, 1-3 May 1981)". May 3, 1981.
  18. ↑ "09. Afghanistan II (Paris, 16-20 December 1982)". December 20, 1982.
  19. ↑ "07. Timor East (Lisbon, 19-21 June 1981)". July 21, 1981.
  20. ↑ "08. Zaire (Rotterdam, 18-20 September 1982)". September 20, 1982.
  21. ↑ "10. Guatemala (Madrid, 27-31 January 1983)". January 31, 1983.
  22. ↑ "11. Armenian Genocide (Paris, 13-16 April 1984)". April 16, 1984.
  23. ↑ "12. The interventions of the United States in Nicaragua (Brussels, 5-8 October 1984)". October 8, 1984.
  24. ↑ "13. The policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank II (West Berlin, 26-29 September 1988)". September 29, 1988.
  25. ↑ "14. Puerto Rico (Barcelona, 27-29 January 1989)". January 29, 1989.
  26. ↑ "15. Brazilian Amazon (Paris, 12- 16 October 1990)". October 16, 1990.
  27. ↑ "16. The Impunity for crimes against humanity in Latin America (Bogotà, 22-25 April 1991)". April 25, 1991.
  28. ↑ "17. The conquest of Latin America and the International Law (Padua-Venice, 5-8 October 1992)". October 8, 1992.
  29. ↑ "19. Tibet (Strasburg, 16-20 November 1992)". November 20, 1992.
  30. ↑ "18. Industrial hazards and human rights, Bhopal I (Bhopal, 19-23 October 1992)". October 23, 1992.
  31. ↑ "21. Industrial hazards and human rights, Bhopal II (London, 28 November - 2 December 1994)". December 2, 1994.
  32. ↑ "22. Right of asylum in Europe (Berlin, 8-12 December 1994)". December 12, 1994.
  33. ↑ "23. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia I (Bern, 17-20 February 1995)". February 20, 1995.
  34. ↑ "25. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia II (Barcelona, 7-11 December 1995) - Fondazionebasso". permanentpeoplestribunal.org. 11 December 1995.
  35. ↑ "24. Violations of the fundamental rights of children and minors (Trento, 27-29 March; Macerata, 30 March; Napoles, 1-4 April 1995)". April 4, 1995.
  36. ↑ "26. Chernobyl: environment, health and human rights (Vienna, 12-15 April 1996)". April 15, 1996.
  37. ↑ "27. The rights of workers and consumers in the garment industry (Brussels, 30 April-5 May 1998)". May 5, 1998.
  38. ↑ "29. Elf Aquitaine (Paris, 19-21 May 1999)". May 21, 1999.
  39. ↑ "30. Multinationals and "Human Wrongs" (Warwick, 22-23 March 2000)". March 23, 2000.
  40. ↑ "31. International Law and new wars (Rome, 14-16 December 2002)". December 16, 2002.
  41. ↑ "32. Human Rights violations in Algeria, 1992-2004 (Parigi, 5-8 novembre 2004)". November 5, 2004.
  42. ↑ "35. The Philippines, Second Session (The Hague, 21-25 March 2007)". March 25, 2007.
  43. ↑ "33. Transnational corporations and pooples' rights in Colombia (Colombia, 2006-2008)". January 1, 2006.
  44. ↑ "36. Sri Lanka and Tamil people I Session (Dublin, 14-16 January 2010)". January 16, 2010.
  45. ↑ "37. Session on Agrochemical transnational corporations (Bengaluru, 3-6 December 2011)". December 6, 2011.
  46. ↑ "38. Free trade, violence, impunity and peoples' rights in Mexico (Mexico, 2011-2014)". December 15, 2011.
  47. ↑ "39. Sri Lanka and Tamil people, Second Session (Bremen, 7-10 December 2013) - Fondazionebasso". permanentpeoplestribunal.org. 7 December 2013.
  48. ↑ "40. Canadian mining enterprises (2014-2016)". May 30, 2014.
  49. ↑ "41. Fundamental rights, local community participation and megaprojects. From the Lyon-Turin high-speed rail to the global reality (Turin-Almese, 5-8 November 2015)". November 8, 2015.
  50. ↑ "42. Living wage for garment workers in Asia (Asia, 2009-2015)". December 1, 2015.
  51. ↑ "People's Tribunal on Myanmar". tribunalonmyanmar.org. Archived from the original on 2017-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  52. ↑ "Home". PPT on Human Rights of Migrant and Refugee Peoples.
  53. ↑ "45. Session on the violation of human rights of migrants and refugee people (2017-2019)". January 31, 2018.
  54. ↑ "46. Session on Alleged violations of international law and international humanitarian law by the Turkish Republic and its officials against the Kurdish people and their organizations (Paris, 15-16 March 2018)". June 4, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.