A CEELI WEBINAR SESSION
Belarus is calling: Improving The Skills Of Investigating And Prosecuting Torture For Civic Activists
This three-part series was launched in the autumn of 2020 to provide training and support to improve the skills of civic society activists in investigating and prosecuting torture. The Series provides human rights defenders in Belarus with the tools to call for personal liability for those involved in torture, inhuman, and degrading treatment of peaceful protesters in Belarus. The webinars cover essential topics, including legal mechanisms to impose individual sanctions on human rights abusers, universal jurisdiction to litigate extraterritorial torture cases, and finally, how to use open-source information to investigate human rights abuses and to document them. All sessions were offered in English with Belarusian translation.
These sessions are password protected. To gain access to these webinars and associated materials, please contact Halya Senyk at Halyna.Senyk@CEELI.eu
Episode One
Session One: Documenting Torture
In the inaugural session, CEELI speaks with Melissa Hooper from Human Rights First about United States instruments for individual sanctions, focusing on the global Magnitsky Act, Belarus Democracy Act, and Executive Order. The special focus is on collecting evidence and preparing the submissions. The webinar also includes the template for Submission.
Judge Lazar Nanev
President of the Basic Court in Kavadarci, North Macedonia
JUDGE SHOTA BICHIA
Zugdidi District Court, Georgia
Judge Victoria Sanduta
Chisinau Court, Republic of Moldova
Andrej Bozhinovski, Llm
Legal Adviser at the Macedonian Judges Association, North Macedonia
Episode Two
Session Two: Universal Jurisdiction for torture cases
The second webinar in this three- part series discusses universal jurisdiction application with specific examples in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. This session focuses on the challenges and tensions in applying universal jurisdiction and recommendations on choosing a jurisdiction and how to frame a complaint. In this meeting, CEELI speaks with Simon Papuashvili from the International Partnership for Human Rights.
ANDREA HUBER
Deputy Chief, Rule of Law Unit, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
PROF. RACHEL MURRAY
Director, Human Rights Implementation Centre School of Law, University of Bristol – ODIHR consultant
Episode THREE
Session Three: Collecting, verifying and organizing open-source evidence on ongoing human rights abuses
The third and final webinar provides an in-detail overview of tools to work with open-source information as a proof of human rights violation. This webinar is prepared and delivered by Bellingcat.
Zugdidi District Court, Georgia
Zugdidi District Court, Georgia
MAGISTRATE SANTIAGO ALTAMIRANO ESCALANTE
Yucatan, Mexico
MR. STEPHEN MASON
Barrister, United Kingdom