UpRights is dedicated to enabling transparent, rule of law-based systems, including promoting evidence-based business and human rights solutions and developing transitional justice frameworks for conflict-affected or unstable regions.
In the context of business and human rights, we work with stakeholders to promote human rights due diligence, including in conflict-affected environments by engaging in the development and implementation of frameworks that encourage responsible corporate conduct.
In the field of transitional justice, our efforts are based on the belief that transparent, rule of law-based systems are essential for fostering sustainable and just societies. This requires working with all parties to enable effective legal mechanisms, ensure public trust and promote dialogue.
On 11 December 2023, Human Rights Activists (HRA) in Iran and UpRights filed a submission before the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFMI). The submission contends that crimes against humanity, and in particular persecution on political and gender grounds, have taken place in the Islamic Republic of Iran since at least 16 September 2022.
Analysing information collected and verified by HRA and two partner organizations, the submission demonstrates that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crackdown by the Iranian authorities on the peaceful protests that followed the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini, and other violations related to the protests since September 2022, constitute a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population. Against the background of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, the submission highlights specific examples of the violence employed by the Iranian government including instances of arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, and murder. It demonstrates that those examples qualify as underlying acts of crimes against humanity and severe deprivations of fundamental rights.
The submission outlines how agents of the Iranian government intended to discriminate against women and girls especially on the basis of gender, with these groups singled out for persecutory treatment including physical and psychological abuse, the use of derogatory language and acts of sexual violence including rape. The submission recognises in this respect that individuals have also been targeted on political grounds. It stresses, however, the intersectional nature of the violations to which women, girls and LGBTQI+ individuals have been specifically subjected by the Iranian authorities for their perceived non-compliance with established gender norms and discriminatory laws and policies.
The submission concludes with recommendations by HRA to the FFMI and the international community to establish accountability for the violations outlined in the submission.
UpRights thanks HRA for the opportunity to contribute to this important issue and in particular analysis of the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds. While the entirety of the submission has not been made public at this time, an executive summary of the facts is available here.
On November 21st and 22nd, 2023, UpRights’ Co-Directors Valerie Gabard and Asa Solway, along with Senior Legal Advisor David Kinnecome, participated in a series of events organized to facilitate knowledge exchange among legal experts and enhance the capacity of Ukrainian judges in the realm of international criminal law.
On November 21st, Valérie and Asa engaged in a thought-provoking session promoted by the T.M.C Asser Instituut focusing on judgement drafting in international crimes cases. The discussion began with their relevant experience at international criminal tribunals and then moved to a specific discussion of Article 438 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code and the issues related to the applicability of international criminal law in light of its blanket provision concerning war crimes.
The presentation integrated insights from the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes in Ukraine, a resource crafted by Ukrainian judges, UpRights, and Global Rights Compliance in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Supreme Court, the National School of Judges of Ukraine and with the support of USAID and the Matra Project to aid judges in the interpretation and application of relevant domestic offenses.
On November 22nd, in a separate workshop, David Kinnecome, UpRights’ Senior Legal Advisor, joined Valérie and Asa for a workshop on comparative law organized by the USAID Justice for All Activity as part of the Inter-University Programme on International Criminal Law and Procedure for Ukrainian Law Schools (IUP-UA).
The workshop provided a platform for Ukrainian law faculties to engage in in-depth discussions on issues related to international criminal law as applied in Ukraine. The trio’s presentation covered a spectrum of topics, including the role of international law in adjudicating war crimes cases under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and they also explored aspects of in-absentia trials and the admission and assessment of digital evidence, drawing where relevant from the practice of international tribunals.
UpRights is pleased to support the organisations’ commitment to promoting knowledge-sharing in international justice. Read more about these visits here, about the IUP-UA Project here and read the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes.
UpRights’ Co-Director Asa Solway had the opportunity to teach a course on self-determination in international law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
“Self-Determination of Peoples in International Law” aims to familiarise students with the legal foundations of self-determination in international law, considering its relevance in the United Nations Charter, the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, decolonization and modern dynamics of both national and international self-determination movements.
Throughout the course, students engaged in discussions and debates on a range of pertinent issues, including decolonization, secession minority rights, state sovereignty, and claims to natural resources.
The course provides a platform for students to explore contemporary approaches to the concept of the right to self-determination in light of modern advocacy movements, as well as ongoing debates surrounding the applicability, scope, and original intent of this right as envisioned in the drafting of the United Nations Charter.
UpRights is thrilled to announce a significant achievement in our ongoing partnership with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). In order to support more sustainable and ethical business practices in the textile industry, UpRights assisted GOTS in the creation of the GOTS Due Diligence Handbook for Certified Entities. This document will strengthen GOTS’ existing frameworks to ensure Certified Entities incorporate effective due diligence into their operations while bringing GOTS closer to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) frameworks.
GOTS’ Due Diligence Handbook for Certified Entities complements the most recent Standard and Implementation Manual, released in March 2023 with support from UpRights. The Standard and Implementation Manual’s criteria pertaining to the environment, chemical input, social and human rights, and governance, are now supplemented with a comprehensive due diligence management process.
GOTS’ criteria and due diligence are now also brought closer to the OECD’s comprehensive international framework for due diligence for responsible supply chains in the garment and footwear sector. This is part of a rigorous alignment assessment process, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and which began in July 2023 and is expected to go into 2024.
The result will assist and empower all GOTS Certified Entities to conduct effective due diligence, tailored to the unique circumstances of each entity. This is set out in a practical, six-step process to proactively address risk of harm and adverse impacts to human rights and the environment. It is a roadmap to identify; prevent; track; communicate; and remedy those adverse impacts within Certified Entities’ operations and supply chains. With cooperation among Certified Entities and working with the entire supply chain, from raw fibre harvesting, through responsible manufacturing, up to labelling to provide credible assurance to end consumers.
UpRights looks forward to continuing its cooperation with GOTS through the development of further instruments and training for GOTS Approved Certification Bodies and Auditors. Most of all we look forward to witnessing the positive impact of these efforts as companies strive to uphold human rights and environmental responsibility.
In 2023, UpRights and The Hague Academy for Local Governance developed a Training of Trainers on transitional justice, as well as an interactive online training, for Ukrainian civil servants. In recognition of the International Day of Peace on September 21st, UpRights’ co-director, Asa Solway, discussed with the Hague Academy the importance of transitional justice processes in Ukraine including in light of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Asa observed that the training is intended to serve as a toolkit designed to help societies confront the aftermath of large-scale past conflicts, repressions, violations, or abuses. In this regard, transitional justice is composed of different processes designed to address challenges that arise during and following conflict and periods of serious human rights abuses to ensure justice and accountability, strengthen the rule of law and promote reconciliation through a victim-centered approach.
Asa observed that the situation in Ukraine faces a plurality of conflict-related challenges that, viewed through these lenses, can be addressed through transitional justice processes including by giving voice to those most affected. He further noted that although peace requires long-term commitment, communities will have the best chance to begin to rebuild while focusing on those most vulnerable if an organised approach is taken that rooted in the rule of law.
Read the full interview here and read the Benchbook on the Adjudication of International Crimes
UpRights prepared an independent expert report assessing the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) process of the Mozambique Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Project operated by TotalEnergies. This report, commissioned by Justiça Ambiental!, Friends of the Earth Europe, Friends of the Earth, Milieudefensie was published today.
While clear signs indicate that TotalEnergies is considering officially restarting the development of the LNG project it operates in the Northern Province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique, the independent review conducted by UpRights highlights gaps and omissions in the HRDD assessment conducted in 2020 and in the subsequent Action Plan. The report also points to the significant disconnect between the project’s public commitment in its human rights policy to respect human rights and its actual implementation in the Project’s operations and the human right situation on the ground. While some of the limitations encountered in conducting the process may be related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it does not obliviate the shortcomings identified in the report.
The main area of concern relates to the disregard in the HRDD process of the armed conflict in Mozambique. The HRDD assessment conducted in 2020 and the following Action Plan of TotalEnergies fail to properly prioritize and consider the armed conflict and to conduct heightened HRDD with a conflict-sensitive approach. No justification can be found for such a disregard given that the LNG project has been operating in a conflict-affected area since 2017 and that TotalEnergies became the operator of the project in September 2019. As a result, the human rights due diligence process fails to:
Accurately assess the potential human rights impact of the Project on the security situation of the communities vis-à-vis the insurgents and the Mozambique security forces.
Consider international humanitarian and international criminal law as relevant legal frameworks despite their undeniable relevance to the context of the Project’s operation.
Assess the real risk of being considered complicit in international humanitarian law violations or war crimes allegedly committed by the Mozambican armed forces.
Comprehensively address the issue of gender and conflict as part of any heightened human rights due diligence.
This review was conducted on the basis of documents made publicly available by TotalEnergies. The public scrutiny of the implementation of HRDD by the LNG Project was limited by the unavailability of several important documents as well as the inadequate level of detail and lack of explanation of certain key considerations in the documents available.
Read the Assessment of TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG Project Human Rights Due Diligence
On July 12, 2023, UpRights Co-Director Valérie Gabard led the 11h lecture of the Summer School on International Criminal Justice organised by the University of Amsterdam. The Summer School examines the juridical and empirical sides of mass atrocities, striving to give its attendees a better understanding of the nature of international crimes, of their perpetrators and of the role of the international community in pursuing international justice.
UpRights provided students with a lecture on the role of civil society to fill the accountability gap for international crimes. Notably, while international tribunals played an undeniable role in holding perpetrators accountable, international actors like civil society and victim representatives have progressively attempted to mend the limitations of the current international legal order.
To illustrate the creative ways in which civil society organizations at the national and international level are trying to assist to fill this accountability gap, Valérie Gabard discussed the important role of civil society organizations in documenting international crimes and preserving evidence, highlighting in particular the best practices to ensure the efficacy of the documentation and the importance of employing creative legal thinking to assist victims in their quest for justice.
UpRights is pleased to announce it has developed an online transitional justice course for civil servants and local administrators in Ukraine in coordination with the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service and the Hague Academy for Local Governance. The course introduces the fundamentals of transitional justice and its role in helping society cope with the past, ensure accountability, serve justice and promote reconciliation.
Through four distinct modules, participants gain practical knowledge concerning four primary objectives of transitional justice: accountability, reparations, strengthening the rule of law and fostering trust and promoting truth seeking and reconciliation. Specific transitional justice mechanisms which help to realise these objectives are covered in detail while concrete challenges affecting conflict-affected communities in Ukraine are considered through interactive scenarios. The course emphasises the importance of empowering local government to collaborate with national actors and provide accessible, victim-centred services to address conflict and post-conflict challenges.
Building upon the online transitional justice course, the Hague Academy for Local Governance and UpRights co-director Asa Solway and legal advisor Sofia Poulopoulou conducted a training of trainers on transitional justice for civil servants in Ukraine. During the training, representatives of the Ukrainian civil service, members of the judiciary and academics discussed relevant tools to conduct the training on transitional justice.
UpRights’ senior legal advisor David Kinnecome co-authored with James Patrick Sexton, junior researcher at T.M.C. Asser Instituut, an analysis for the blog of the European Journal of International Law “Enforcing Sanctions Violations to Fund the Reconstruction of Ukraine”.
The article analyses the recent efforts by the European Union and the United States to pursue the enforcement of sanctions, notably concerning the violations committed in the context of the RussiaUkraineWar.
In particular, the article contends that the enforcement of sanctions violations could gather the necessary funds to pursue both compensation for victims of the conflict and the implementation of reconstructive efforts, concluding that although these approaches may not fully cover the financial needs of compensation and reconstruction, they would still offer additional legitimate sources of funding.
Read the post here