IBA's Human Rights Institute

On 6 March 2026, 1030-1140, join Mark Stephens CBE, IBAHRI Co-Chair, at #UKMediaFreedomForum for a session on Defending #Democracy: Countering Disinformation & Navigating #AI. Attend in-person at @citystgeorges.bsky.social or online.

Register: mediafreedomforum.co.uk/registration/

IBAHRI and 60+ organisations call for continued hybrid attendance options for #UN sessions to allow for broad and diverse participation from civil society orgs, #HumanRights defenders and Small Island & Developing States who cannot attend in person.

Read the statement: tinyurl.com/2t8rffe7

Join Can Yeginsu (@canyeginsu.bsky.social), Deputy Chair of the @hlpmediafreedom.bsky.social, at the UK Media Freedom Forum on 5 March from 1400-1450. Mr Yeginsu will be speaking at Session 3 on safeguarding press freedom against #legal threats.

Register now: mediafreedomforum.co.uk/registration/

📣Register your interest in the UK Media Freedom Forum 2026: forms.gle/Sh6FxLkjNmuu...

🗓️ 5–6 March | 📍@citystgeorges.bsky.social + online

🌐 Visit mediafreedomforum.co.uk for programme + updates

@ibahri.bsky.social JFJ #UKMFF2026

#Belarus: As the #UnitedNations Human Rights Council 61st session begins, IBAHRI and partners call for the renewal and strengthening of the mandates of the #UN Special Rapporteur and the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of #HumanRights in Belarus.

Read the letter: tinyurl.com/22jzkyar

#Crimea: IBAHRI and partners have issued a joint statement strongly condemning the forcible entry and unwarranted search of two #legal offices in Simferopol and the continued systemic persecution of #lawyers in occupied Crimea.

Read and share the statement: tinyurl.com/5n8fw9jn

#Russia #Ukraine

Join us March 17 for a virtual panel on advancing international accountability to end gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

🕢 7:30am PDT | 10:30am EDT | 7pm Kabul
Speakers include Yalda Royan, Ewelina Ochab & Annie Pforzheimer with moderator Nazila Jamshidi.

Register: bit.ly/ZoomCSW70

#Türkiye: IBAHRI and 30+ orgs have issued a statement condemning the conviction and sentencing of 10 #lawyer members of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom and of 20 executives and staff of the Prisoners’ Families Solidarity Association on 28 Jan 2026.

Read and share: tinyurl.com/4knfswk3

#Türkiye: IBAHRI and 30+ orgs have issued a statement condemning the conviction and sentencing of 10 #lawyer members of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom and of 20 executives and staff of the Prisoners’ Families Solidarity Association on 28 Jan 2026.

Read and share: tinyurl.com/4knfswk3

IBAHRI calls for written submissions for inquiry into Nagorno-Karabakh cultural heritage destruction The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and a panel of UK parliamentarians are inviting written submissions to inform an inquiry into the destruction of cultural heritage o...

FINAL CALL: IBAHRI and a panel of #UK parliamentarians are inviting submissions to inform an inquiry into the destruction of cultural heritage of the #Armenian people in Nagorno-Karabakh. Deadline 28 February 2026.

More info: tinyurl.com/ydx4v4fd

#HumanRights #NagornoKarabakh

@oiad.bsky.social
@lawyersforlawyers.bsky.social

#Iran: IBAHRI & partners are gravely concerned by the systematic denial of access to #legal representation for arrested protestors & the arbitrary arrest of #lawyers for legitimate work relating to the uprising. These practices violate Iran’s #HumanRights obligations.

Read: tinyurl.com/mr4cz327

IBAHRI condemns #UK authorities' search of a barrister’s chambers & seizure of privileged defence materials linked to a #Guantanamo detainee case. Such actions fundamentally undermine #legal professional privilege, a bedrock principle of #FairTrial rights & the #RuleOfLaw

Read: tinyurl.com/yc8d6m79

@solidarityhr.bsky.social
@rwchr.bsky.social
@bbatuhankarakus.bsky.social
@philippesands.bsky.social

Monday 16 Feb, 1600–2000 GMT: a seminar on the promise, limits and future of the principle of #UniversalJurisdiction and other international #justice mechanisms. Join high-level panel discussion, including IBAHRI's Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC.

Contact: info@hrsolidarity.org

#HumanRights

IBAHRI & partners from International Fair Trial Day have launched the 2025 International Fair Trial Day & Ebru Timtik Award report, focusing on the deepening crisis for the #RuleOfLaw & #FairTrial rights in #Tunisia.

Read & share the report: www.ibanet.org/document?id=...
#HumanRights #AhmedSouab

2/2 Related material: The 2025 International Fair Trial Day & Ebru Timtik Award report, focused on the deepening crisis for the rule of law and fair trial rights in Tunisia. tinyurl.com/ydzfrka6

#Tunisia: IBAHRI and partners have issued a statement strongly condemning the arbitrary arrest and conviction of #AhmedSouab – #lawyer, #HumanRights defender and Ebru Timtik Award Winner 2025.

Read and share:
English – tinyurl.com/bkp5azh9
French – tinyurl.com/3vvcjfw7

operate in accordance with China’s international legal obligations. Failure to do so risks confirming that these violations are not aberrations, but the accepted operation of the system itself.’

#HongKong #China #NationalSecurityLaw 4/4

political disagreement, but of legal compliance. At this stage, responsibility for correcting these errors can no longer rest with the Hong Kong SAR authorities alone. As the sovereign power, Beijing must act to address and remedy these procedural failures and ensure that Hong Kong’s courts...3/4

of legal process in Hong Kong. The proceedings against him have been marked by serious violations of due process and fair trial guarantees, repeatedly identified by UN Special Rapporteurs, international legal bodies and independent civil society organisations. These are not matters of...2/4

Following the unprecedented 20-year prison sentence handed down to #JimmyLai in #HongKong under the controversial #NationalSecurityLaw, IBAHRI Co-Chair Mark Stephens CBE said: 'Jimmy Lai’s case should concern the international community because it exposes profound and well documented failures...

IBAHRI condemns the sentencing of Jimmy Lai as an insult to international law

#IBAHRI condemns the sentencing of #JimmyLai, a 78-year-old British-Hong Kong #journalist and pro-#democracy campaigner, to 20 years in prison. The conviction and sentencing signal #HongKong’s abandonment of #InternationalLaw, says the #HumanRights organisation.

Read & share: tinyurl.com/55ehdbvr

WEBINAR: 13 Feb 2026, 1500–1600 GMT, join IBAHRI's Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC for a webinar, Ending child marriage: #legal obligations and global responses. Speakers from orgs including @girlsnotbrides.bsky.social and @unicef.org.

Register: tinyurl.com/yw7k3kmy

#ChildMarriage #GenderEquality

is more than a career path, it is an invitation to stand between those in power and those in need of justice. Every page you study today becomes a tool that you will use tomorrow to defend dignity, to challenge injustice, and to move society forward.’ 3/3

‘As a law student, you’re not just learning the rules of society — you’re preparing to reshape them where justice demands better ones. The law is never static, and neither is society; your voice, your courage, and your future practise can help transform both. Your legal education... 2/3

IBAHRI's Francesca Restifo recently spoke to students at @mybcu.bsky.social about her career path to working with the #UnitedNations & on #HumanRights issues. Highlighting the power of #law students to challenge injustice and create positive change, she remarked:

On 6 Feb, IBAHRI's Francesca Restifo spoke at a careers session at @mybcu.bsky.social focused on the #UnitedNations & #HumanRights issues. Ms Restifo shared her experiences with students, who had the opportunity to ask questions about her career path & current threats to the global rule-based order.

Ahead of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW70) taking place in #NewYork in March, #IBAHRI and Lawyers For Lawyers have published recommendations on the role of #lawyers in strengthening access to justice for women and girls.

Read: www.ibanet.org/document?id=...

IBAHRI has expressed grave concern over escalating #HumanRights violations by public authorities in the #US, including violent attacks on protestors and the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good & Alex Pretti in January 2026 by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE).
Read: tinyurl.com/mp7nmv34