Foreword by Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu; Part I. Background: 1. Overview of the working group; 2. Deliberations of the working group; Part II. Individual Case Procedure: 3. Process for taking a case to the working group; Part III. Case Jurisprudence: 4. Category I: no legal basis for detention; 5. Category II: violation of fundamental rights and freedoms; 6. Category III: violation of rights of due process; 7. Category IV: violation of rights of asylum seekers; 8. Category V: discrimination on protected grounds; 9. Detention not arbitrary; Part IV. Additional Case Studies: 10. Mohamed Nasheed v. The Maldives; 11. 'Balyoz' or Sledgehammer Cases v. Turkey; 12. Aung San Suu Kyi v. Myanmar; 13. Mukhtar Ablyazov v. France; 14. Yang Jianli v. China; Table of authorities; Appendices: required legal materials; Index.
This book is a practical guide to freeing political prisoners and provides a comprehensive review of this UN body's 1,200 jurisprudence cases.
Jared Genser is Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, a public interest law firm, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He is the founder of Freedom Now, an independent non-governmental organization, and has been referred to by the New York Times as 'The Extractor' for his work freeing political prisoners around the world. Genser is the recipient of the American Bar Association's International Human Rights Award.
'This meticulously researched volume is the first book to review
the extensive jurisprudence and reporting of the UN Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention since its creation in 1991. Authored by
Jared Genser, one of the leading human rights lawyers in the world
and someone who I had the pleasure of working with on many of his
most challenging cases during my time as High Commissioner, the
book is written to be highly accessible even for those without
legal background. Importantly, Genser weaves into the narrative his
experiences having successfully taken dozens of cases to the
Working Group over his career, explaining how he has combined its
opinions with focused political and public relations advocacy to
secure the release of his clients from prison. This rare
combination of serious scholarship with real world application is
as powerful as it is inspiring, making this book a must read for
anyone wanting to secure the release of political prisoners today.'
Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
(2014–2018)
'Jared Genser is the leading attorney in the world on arbitrary
detention in international law and established this reputation
during the years I was a Member and Chair-Rapporteur of the UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. His book makes an important
contribution to understanding international law on arbitrary
detention and offers a wealth of materials and clear and convincing
analysis of the law and the major challenges that arbitrary
detention poses to the international community today …' Mads
Andenas Q.C., Universitetet i Oslo and University of London, and
former Member and Chair-Rapporteur, UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention and Director, British Institute of International and
Comparative Law
'The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a groundbreaking
work of legal scholarship. The book is the first to describe and
analyze the activities of this little-known but very important
tribunal at the United Nations, which has the power to issue legal
decisions that a person or group is being held in violation of
international law. It is also a long overdue how to guide for
lawyers, human rights defenders, and civil society activists about
how to secure these important legal judgments … The book is more
than an academic treatise because its author, Jared Genser, whose
important work I have followed over the years, rests his analysis
in his rich and proven experience as one of the most effective
international human rights lawyers in the world at freeing
political prisoners.' Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
(1997)
'I've been arrested more than twenty times, repeatedly tortured,
and have served more than three years in prison under various
authoritarian rulers of The Maldives… After being convicted of
manufactured terrorism charges, I hired this book's author, Jared
Genser, to serve as my pro bono counsel … In October 2015, [the
Working Group] issued Opinion No. 33/2015, a scathing twenty-page
judgment that rejected the Government's arguments on every point
and demanded my immediate release … I was greeted by my other
counsel Amal Clooney and Jared when I arrived in London in January
2016 … In April 2019, I was elected to our Parliament, the People's
Majlis, and in May 2019, I was elected and sworn in to be its new
Speaker … The greatest fear of any political prisoner is that they
will be forgotten. This exceptional and meticulous work of
scholarship will be an invaluable tool for advocates to make sure
that doesn't happen.' The Honorable Mohamed Nasheed, Speaker of the
People's Majlis, The Maldives and former President of The
Maldives
'We have seen substantial progress reducing the phenomenon of
arbitrary detention in the Americas but there still remains too
many countries in our region with serious challenges to the rule of
law and where especially repressive governments stubbornly persist
in imprisoning their opponents against the tide of history. While
the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights have taken
up many of these cases, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
has also highlighted some of the worst. This impressive book,
authored by Jared Genser, who over the years has represented
prominent political prisoners in countries like Bolivia, Colombia,
Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, shines an important spotlight on a
major gap between the commitments of states in the American
Convention on Human Rights to end the practice of arbitrary arrest
and imprisonment and their implementation in practice.' The
Honorable Luis Almagro, Secretary General, Organization of American
States
'Kudos to Jared Genser for bringing to life the inner workings and
substantial accomplishments of one of the key UN human rights
bodies - the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention … Genser not only
presents an analysis of the legal significance of its jurisprudence
over the past twenty-seven years, but then reveals to his reader
what it really means to submit a case for a decision, to fight for
the unjustly imprisoned, and to succeed in securing their freedom …
It's easy to criticize 'the UN' and its member states for its
inconsistent defense of human right in its politicized forums; but
the real achievements of the UN human rights system lie in the
norms it has adopted and the independent mechanisms like the
Working Group that fight independently to uphold these standards in
real world situations, for real people. Genser opens our eyes to
what's needed to make a good case - and how to fight for individual
freedom, successfully.' Felice D. Gaer, Director, Jacob Blaustein
Institute for Human Rights and Vice-Chairperson, UN Committee
against Torture
'Having spent over a decade in solitary confinement as a political
prisoner, I have come to appreciate with great intensity the subtle
aspects of freedom - to read, to walk about and sleep - are actions
that can easily be taken for granted … This is why, when a
sympathetic prison guard whispered to me with hushed excitement
'the UN just called for your release!', I felt a renewed sense of
hope … I learned that a short time later my international lawyer
Jared Genser, the book's author, had just made public Opinion No.
22/2015. The Working Group found I was being held in violation of
international law and it urged my immediate release … the United
Nations struck an irrecoverable blow to the former prime minister's
efforts to try to justify my detention … Jared Genser is a pioneer
in the area of human rights law and a courageous and indefatigable
representative of political prisoners around the world. This book
represents his singular expertise in this area …' Dato' Seri Anwar
Ibrahim, President of the People's Justice Party and Member of
Parliament, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
(1993–1998)
'There are those for whom words have meaning and those who issue
hollow promises. This is as true of people as it is of states … It
is precisely to ensure that these words were not empty that France,
with Robert Badinter and Louis Joinet, has played a leading role in
the establishment of an original mechanism to ensure concretely the
proper application of the intentions proclaimed by these nations …
It is in this spirit that Jared Genser has produced this
exceptional work, so rigorous in both legal and methodological
terms. This book will surely become an indispensable tool for all
those who believe that human rights are nothing if they are not
concretely applied to individual situations … Thanks to the author
for allowing us to better defend those persecuted around the world
by so usefully assisting their advocates, without whom the
universality of fundamental rights would be a vain hope.' The
Honorable François Zimeray, Ambassador of France for Human Rights
(2008–2013) Lawyer
'As someone engaged in the defense of political prisoners over the
years, I regard The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention as a tour de force and seminal scholarly work, which
makes an enormous contribution to understanding the phenomenon of
arbitrary detention in our world today. In particular, it is also a
comprehensive and practical guide for freeing the arbitrarily
detained, infused with the author's experiences as an international
lawyer in this complex, interdisciplinary, and specialist field,
where his exceptional work is widely known and respected for its
unique and effective contributions.' The Honorable Irwin Cotler,
P.C., O.C., Chairman, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (2003–2006)
'Up until the Working Group adopted Opinion No. 2/2003 on my case,
I had been detained with total impunity and incommunicado by China
for more than fourteen months. Within a day of this decision being
made public, I was finally given access to my local lawyer and my
hope was restored, learning the world had not forgotten my plight.
Despite still having faced a potential death sentence on spurious
charges of endangering national security, this invaluable opinion
from the United Nations combined with the relentless advocacy of
this book's author Jared Genser resulted in my early release,
enabling me to dedicate the balance of my life pursuing freedom,
democracy, and human rights for the Chinese people.' Yang Jianli,
President, Initiatives for China
'Genser (Georgetown Univ. Law Center) has broad legal experience,
and he presents this important book as a 'practitioner's manual' of
the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The author has amassed
a remarkable amount of information about this little-known body.'
D. P. Forsythe, Choice
'… Genser performs a great service for practitioners here in his
close reading and enumeration of findings of the 2010 UN Joint
Study on Global Practices in Relation to Secret Detention in the
Context of Countering Terrorism - with its critically important
discussion of those 'circumstance (that) can elevate prolonged
incommunicado detention into an act of torture or other
mistreatment'.' Brian Phillips, Journal of Human Rights Practice
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