International Human Rights Law

Despite human rights being one of the major pillars of the United Nations and a common claim on the international agenda, we are witnessing a wave of dictators, populists and other more discreet human rights abusers making headlines for various crimes, from extrajudicial killing to torture.

What appears to be widespread impunity for human rights abusers, combined with the growing volume of human rights and humanitarian law violations, are causes for alarm.

This should bring increasing stress on the need to develop a stronger international legal order.

The world is facing many social and political challenges, which are causing uncertainty, unrest, and conflict.

Atrocities committed during times of war and human rights infringements during times of low-level conflict have caused catastrophic anguish and pain to many civilians’ and continue to threaten their lives and freedom.

At Stoke White, we believe that where evidence points to those who are guilty of these crimes, they must be held accountable.

As a specialist human rights firm, we are committed to upholding the rights of the many who have suffered rights violations across the world, and we take action to convince international courts to prosecute those evidence testifies are responsible for international war crimes.

Our Human Rights Law team has a wealth of experience presenting to both national and international courts, including ground-breaking cases working with NGOs and advocacy groups, often against regimes about which we have gathered evidence to testify to war crimes.

Stoke White’s Work on International Human Rights Law

We have a long history of defending human rights and of bringing to justice those who abuse or disregard them, both in the UK and overseas. We represent our clients with the full belief that they are entitled to live with freedom and dignity as afforded by the UN Declaration on Human Rights.

We make applications to the Human Rights Council under articles regarding the prevention of torture, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women’s rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.

Our services to clients in this area include:

• advice and litigation
• applications to the United Nations Human Rights Council and African Union, and the International War Crimes Tribunal
• production of evidence-based legal reports
• working with UN Special Rapporteurs
• Collaboration with other parties for the furtherance of human rights law

Case Study

Further to a Complaint to the ICC on behalf of 1525 victims of human rights abuse as a result of coercive acts and crimes committed by the Syrian armed forces, the team at Stoke White has drafted a Complaint to the Human Rights Council and the UN Special Rapporteurs.

The aim of this complaint was to bring to the attention of the UN Special Rapporteur and the Human Rights Council the violations of the right of Syrians not to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty and to be free from torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Complaint emphasised the suffering of the Syrian women in particular those subjected to sexual violence and torture, who had been held incommunicado in official or secret government run prisons. The firm continues to work to seek justice for these women.