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 gen, ral and 66 international members. Since its establishment, the Tribunal conducted held 46 sessions.

Contents

History

The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal [2] began in Bologna in 1979 as a direct continuation of the experience of the Russell Tribunal II with Latin American dictatorships (1974–1976). It was promoted by Lelio Basso to denounce the crimes committed by the military regimes in the region. [3] The PPT is a means to push judicial courts based on intergovernmental treaties, such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. [4]

The work of the TPP is based on the principles expressed in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples [5] [6] proclaimed in Algiers in 1976 and the main international instruments protecting human rights. The historical and geographical context of the Declaration, known as the Charter of Algiers, links the general principles of the Declaration for the liberation struggles—which Resolution 1514 (XV) of the United Nations [7] of 14 December 1960 had already put under the protection of international law—with the understanding that the right to self-determination could not be proclaimed as fulfilled and that it did not involve 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 coordinations officer (currently Simona Fraudatario of Italy) , and 58 members from 26 countries, from different disciplines such as law, economy, sociology, arts, and literature.

Table of countries by number of members [8]
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 [9] on numerous cases of human rights violations. The judgments of the TPP rely on sources of existing international law. [10]

List of sessions

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

See also

Related Research Articles

Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused's nationality, country of residence, or any other relation to the prosecuting entity. Crimes prosecuted under universal jurisdiction are considered crimes against all, too serious to tolerate jurisdictional arbitrage. The concept of universal jurisdiction is therefore closely linked to the idea that some international norms are erga omnes, or owed to the entire world community, as well as to the concept of jus cogens – that certain international law obligations are binding on all states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimes against humanity</span> Serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians

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.

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 are 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">Sri Lankan Civil War</span> 1983–2009 conflict

The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Velupillai Prabhakaran-led Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.

<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.

<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">Nigel Rodley</span> British lawyer and professor

Sir Nigel Simon Rodley KBE was an international lawyer and professor.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legality of Holocaust denial</span> Overview of anti-antisemitic legislation

Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany perpetrated the Holocaust: a large-scale genocidal campaign in which approximately six million European Jews were systematically murdered throughout German-occupied Europe. Since World War II, several countries have criminalised Holocaust denial—the assertion by antisemites that the genocide was a myth, fabrication or exaggeration. Currently, 17 European countries, along with Israel and Canada, have laws in place that cover Holocaust denial as a punishable offence. Many countries also have broader laws that criminalise genocide denial, including that of the Holocaust. Among the countries that have banned Holocaust denial, Russia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania have also banned Nazi symbols. Any expression of genocide justification is also a criminal offence in several countries, as is any attempt to portray Nazism in a positive light.

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.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was a commission of inquiry appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 after the 26-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka to function as a Truth and reconciliation commission. The commission was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement made operational on 27 February 2002, the lessons that should be learnt from those events and the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities. After an 18-month inquiry, the commission submitted its report to the President on 15 November 2011. The report was made public on 16 December 2011, after being tabled in the parliament.

The Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka was a 2011 report produced by a panel of experts appointed by United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The report is referred to by some as the Darusman Report, after the name of the chairman of the panel.

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.

The Tamil genocide resolution of 2015 was passed by the Northern Provincial Council on 10 February 2015 seeking an UN inquiry to investigate the genocide of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka by successive Sri Lankan Governments, and direct appropriate measures at the International Criminal Court outlining the Tamil people had no faith in the domestic commission.

Tejshree Thapa was a Nepalese human rights lawyer. She was recognized for her role in investigating and documenting human rights violations, including widespread sexual violence and other atrocities committed during the Yugoslav Wars, the Sri Lanka Civil War, and the Nepal Civil War.

Varatharajah Thurairajah is an Eelam Tamil physician and human rights activist. He was noted as one of the official witnesses for the United Nations investigations on war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka. He is a first-hand witness of the events in the "No Fire Zone" in Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu; and has revealed information to the world about the planned genocide of Tamils in 2009. He is currently engaged in activities related to creating awareness about the issue.

Major General Prasanna de Silva, WWV, RWP, RSP is a retired Sri Lankan army officer. He served as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army 56 Division, the Special Forces Regiment and the Commando Regiment. Currently, he is unable to leave Sri Lanka since he would face arrest and legal proceedings overseas due to his criminal liability in international crimes, including violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

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. "Composition of the Court". permanentpeoplestribunal.org/. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  9. Permanent Peoples' Tribunal. "Sessions and Jurisprudence PPT". permanentpeoplestribunal.org/. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  10. (www.tribunalepermanentedeipopoli.fondazionebasso.it)
  11. "01. Western Sahara (Brussels, 10-11 November 1979)". November 10, 1979.
  12. "02. Argentina (Genève, 3-4 May 1980)". May 4, 1980.
  13. "03. Eritrea (Milan, 24-26 May 1980)". May 26, 1980.
  14. "04. The Philippines and Bangsa Moro people (Anversa, 30 October-3 November 1980)". October 30, 1980.
  15. "05. El Salvador (Mexico City, 9-12 February 1981)". February 12, 1981.
  16. "06 Afghanistan I (Stockholm, 1-3 May 1981)". May 3, 1981.
  17. "09. Afghanistan II (Paris, 16-20 December 1982)". December 20, 1982.
  18. "07. Timor East (Lisbon, 19-21 June 1981)". July 21, 1981.
  19. "08. Zaire (Rotterdam, 18-20 September 1982)". September 20, 1982.
  20. "10. Guatemala (Madrid, 27-31 January 1983)". January 31, 1983.
  21. "11. Armenian Genocide (Paris, 13-16 April 1984)". April 16, 1984.
  22. "12. The interventions of the United States in Nicaragua (Brussels, 5-8 October 1984)". October 8, 1984.
  23. "13. The policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank II (West Berlin, 26-29 September 1988)". September 29, 1988.
  24. "14. Puerto Rico (Barcelona, 27-29 January 1989)". January 29, 1989.
  25. "15. Brazilian Amazon (Paris, 12- 16 October 1990)". October 16, 1990.
  26. "16. The Impunity for crimes against humanity in Latin America (Bogotà, 22-25 April 1991)". April 25, 1991.
  27. "17. The conquest of Latin America and the International Law (Padua-Venice, 5-8 October 1992)". October 8, 1992.
  28. "19. Tibet (Strasburg, 16-20 November 1992)". November 20, 1992.
  29. "18. Industrial hazards and human rights, Bhopal I (Bhopal, 19-23 October 1992)". October 23, 1992.
  30. "21. Industrial hazards and human rights, Bhopal II (London, 28 November - 2 December 1994)". December 2, 1994.
  31. "22. Right of asylum in Europe (Berlin, 8-12 December 1994)". December 12, 1994.
  32. "23. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia I (Bern, 17-20 February 1995)". February 20, 1995.
  33. "25. Crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia II (Barcelona, 7-11 December 1995) - Fondazionebasso". permanentpeoplestribunal.org. 11 December 1995.
  34. "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.
  35. "26. Chernobyl: environment, health and human rights (Vienna, 12-15 April 1996)". April 15, 1996.
  36. "27. The rights of workers and consumers in the garment industry (Brussels, 30 April-5 May 1998)". May 5, 1998.
  37. "29. Elf Aquitaine (Paris, 19-21 May 1999)". May 21, 1999.
  38. "30. Multinationals and "Human Wrongs" (Warwick, 22-23 March 2000)". March 23, 2000.
  39. "31. International Law and new wars (Rome, 14-16 December 2002)". December 16, 2002.
  40. "32. Human Rights violations in Algeria, 1992-2004 (Parigi, 5-8 novembre 2004)". November 5, 2004.
  41. "35. The Philippines, Second Session (The Hague, 21-25 March 2007)". March 25, 2007.
  42. "33. Transnational corporations and pooples' rights in Colombia (Colombia, 2006-2008)". January 1, 2006.
  43. "36. Sri Lanka and Tamil people I Session (Dublin, 14-16 January 2010)". January 16, 2010.
  44. "37. Session on Agrochemical transnational corporations (Bengaluru, 3-6 December 2011)". December 6, 2011.
  45. "38. Free trade, violence, impunity and peoples' rights in Mexico (Mexico, 2011-2014)". December 15, 2011.
  46. "39. Sri Lanka and Tamil people, Second Session (Bremen, 7-10 December 2013) - Fondazionebasso". permanentpeoplestribunal.org. 7 December 2013.
  47. "40. Canadian mining enterprises (2014-2016)". May 30, 2014.
  48. "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.
  49. "42. Living wage for garment workers in Asia (Asia, 2009-2015)". December 1, 2015.
  50. "People's Tribunal on Myanmar". tribunalonmyanmar.org. Archived from the original on 2017-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  51. "Home". PPT on Human Rights of Migrant and Refugee Peoples.
  52. "45. Session on the violation of human rights of migrants and refugee people (2017-2019)". January 31, 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, 15-16 March 2018)". June 4, 2018.