Lawyers for Human Rights is an independent human rights organisation with a thirty-year track record of human rights activism and public interest litigation in South Africa. LHR uses the law as a positive instrument for change and to deepen the democratisation of the South African society. To this end, it provides free legal services to vulnerable, marginalised and indigent individuals and communities, both non-national and South African, who are victims of unlawful infringements of their Constitutional rights.

Latest news and press releases

Special Permits for Zimbabweans on hold (IRIN) 24 June 2009
The special permit for Zimbabwean migrants, announced by the South African government, is being put on hold pending a review of the decision by cabinet. The outgoing home affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced in April 2009 that Zimbabwean migrants would be eligible for a special permit allowing them to stay legally in South Africa for six months. read more...
CoRMSA 2009 report on Protecting Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrants in South Africa 22 June 2009
Excerpt: "Violence against non‐nationals has been a long‐standing and increasingly prominent feature of post‐Apartheid South Africa. The May 2008 attacks reflected fundamental tensions and dysfunctions in contemporary South African society and politics. More than a year on, the factors that led to the violence have not been addressed. There is little reason to believe that violence against non‐nationals and other ‘outsiders’ will not happen again. For full report see www.cormsa.org.za read more...
LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS ON HOME AFFAIRS TO HALT THE DETENTION AND DEPORTATION OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS 19 June 2009 (press release)
WORLD REFUGEE DAY   Despite South Africa's international and domestic obligations to provide protection to refugees and asylum seekers, the Department of Home Affairs uses detention as the primary tool for immigration enforcement, including detaining and deporting asylum seekers to countries where they face persecution. read more...
FMSP Report on Human Smuggling across the South Africa/Zimbabwe Border 15 June 2009
Widespread xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa in May 2008 generated new debates around the issue of border control. This new report by the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand refines this discussion by examining the inner workings and practices of the smuggling industry on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border. read more...
LHR ASKS COURT TO ORDER HOME AFFAIRS TO GO FETCH UNLAWFULLY DEPORTED ASYLUM SEEKER FROM DRC 11 June 2009 (press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) will ask the South Gauteng High Court today (Friday) for the return of a Congolese asylum seeker who was unlawfully deported by the Department of Home Affairs from South Africa last month. LHR had previously brought an urgent application on his behalf to the court for his release from the Lindela Detention Facility only to be informed at court that he had been deported two days before.  In our view, this is a clear violation of his right to access the courts in terms of the Constitution as well as the international law principle prohibiting the deportation of a read more...
Eviction case may sow seeds of reform (Business Day) 11 June 2009
THE decision by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to try to evict emerging farmer Veronica Moos again is probably a blessing in disguise.Moos herself, of course, is devastated. After winning a court order to be restored to her farm, she set about securing production credit with the backing of the Gauteng branch of farmers' union AgriSA, and is being assigned a mentor to provide her with technical and marketing guidance. read more...
CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS FOR RELEASE OF SWAZI HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER 9 June 2009 (press release)
Mr Thulani Maseko, a Swazi human rights lawyer and alumnus of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, was arrested on Wednesday 3 June and was on 4 June charged with subversive activities under section 5 of the Sedition and Subversive Activities Act (the Act). If convicted, he risks 20 years imprisonment. Mr Maseko was arrested in connection with a statement he made on Workers' Day in which he is alleged to have portrayed as freedom fighters two men who died last year in what the government claims to have been a botched terrorist attack. read more...
LHR / CoRMSA submission to the African Commission Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, IDPs and Migrants 9 June 2009
Submission by the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) to the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, IDPs and Migrants at the 45th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. read more...
Statement by African NGOs and legal profession on the implications of the African Union's recent decisions on universal jurisdiction and the work of the International Criminal Court in Africa 9 June 2009 (press release)
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‘Inhumane' mine under fire (The Times) 4 June 2009
AS THE grieving families of the 63 illegal miners killed in an underground fire gathered at a mortuary in Welkom to identify their loved ones yesterday, a human rights organisation slammed the "inhumane" attitude towards the dead. read more...
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