French motion of the National Council of the Bar protest

USPA NEWS - The assassination of Willie Kimani, a young Kenyan lawyer courageously working for the defense of human rights in general and victims of police violence in particular and whose body, found Thursday, June 30, was formally identified on Friday 1 July 2016. This created a shock and deep sadness.

The assassination of Willie Kimani, a young Kenyan lawyer courageously working for the defense of human rights in general and victims of police violence in particular and whose body, found Thursday, June 30, was formally identified on Friday 1 July 2016. This created a shock and deep sadness among the French National Council of the Bars THE FRENCH NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE BARS REACTED WITH SADNESS TO THE ASSASSINATION OF YOUNG LAWYER WILLIE KIMANI-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Bar Council, meeting in General Meeting on 1 and 2 July 2016 WELCOMES the courage and the memory of this young lawyer, disappeared while he was defending a client in a case involving a senior police officer; ALARM is that many abundantly relayed in the international press elements suggest that Willie Kimani, his client and his driver were murdered while they were under the control of members of the Kenyan police; TESTIFY its solidarity with the Law Society of Kenya and endorsed that statement of its President, Isaac Okero "This is a dark day for the rule of law in Kenya. Our worst fears are confirmed. Lawyers and citizens are in danger of being eliminated by death squads of police. "; the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the United Nations in Havana in 1990 that lay the essential guarantees of the exercise of the legal profession and set out in Principle 17 that "Where the security of lawyers is threatened in the exercise of their functions, they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities "; CONCERNED multiplication testimonies relating violent behavior by the security forces against the Kenyan population in general and lawyers defenders of human rights in particular; CALLS on the Kenyan authorities to ensure that the investigations underway to determine the responsibilities of the police in the violence committed recently at events unfold impartially and in compliance with the procedural guarantees established by the Kenyan law; RECALLS its commitment to the defense, which is particularly manifested by the creation of the International Observatory for Lawyers in danger, and confirms its commitment to work alongside bars and lawyers around the world to promote and defend the essential principles of the profession, guarantors of the rule of law. Source : The National Bar Council