Fully Funded Civic Space Ligitation Surgery 2019 is now available for application.

The Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) and Robert F Kennedy Human Rights are calling for applications from lawyers and civil society organizations based in East Africa to participate in a forthcoming litigation surgery on the protection of civic space. The litigation surgery will take place in Arusha, Tanzania between 1-2 May 2019. All applicants need to submit a current or potential case involving the protection of civic space for discussion as well as workshopping.

Benefits from the Program

Robert F Kennedy Human Rights will cover the costs of airfare, visas, transportation, accommodations, and a reasonable per diem for expenses not otherwise covered for up to 8 selected participants.

Eligibility

• The litigation surgery is open to lawyers and civil society representatives from East Africa. Furthermore, the participants need to have a demonstrated commitment to addressing threats to civic space in their home country.
• Besides, the participants must be involved in, or considering, litigating a case or cases that address the suppression of civic space involving a violation of the rights to freedoms of expression, assembly, and/or association. With their application, they must submit a case that they are litigating or intend to litigate before an African human rights body that could be discussed and workshopped during the litigation surgery.
• The following non-exhaustive list of themes are a guide for the types of cases
  1. Suppression of peaceful protests
  2. Burdensome regulatory restrictions on civil society organizations
  3. Suppression of the media and access to information
  4. Abuse of laws or policies in the context of countering terrorism
  5. Impunity for threats, violence, and arbitrary detention

• While all civic space cases get considerations, encouragement is for the cases that touch on intersectionality of issues and/or address untested or developing areas of regional human rights jurisprudence

Applying

In order to apply you need to complete the online application form.