Programme News
21 February 2014
(News)
Attorney at Lawyers for Human Rights, Osmond Mngomezulu, says counsellors who have established themselves and have years of experience charge high amounts of money to represent their clients in court.
Mngomezulu says clients are told which advocate has won cases and based on that, they decide whether they are going to employ that advocate to represent them. He was speaking on SAfm...
19 February 2014
(News)
It has become taboo in much of the world to discriminate against people because of their religion, skin colour or sex. Despite recent setbacks, the same goes for sexual orientation. Gradually we are realising that these are arbitrary distinctions, at least when it comes to law and policy.
Yet one type of discrimination remains rife and accepted across the planet, albeit almost as arbitrary as...
5 February 2014
(News)
The hopes of thousands of asylum seekers in the Western Cape have been dashed by Director General of Home Affairs Mkuseli Apleni.
In a memorandum dated 31 January 2014, the DG states the department will not reopen the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office (CTRRO), which was the second busiest in the country, nor will it process any applications made after 30 June 2012 at the Cape Town Temporary...
26 January 2014
(News)
A mental health and HIV project aimed at assisting traumatised refugees and asylum-seekers has yielded such good results that it has been extended for another year.
The project was launched by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation Torture (CSVR) last year to provide holistic support to...
24 January 2014
(News)
The unrest that flared up in Soweto and other areas this week showed a lack of compassion for foreign nationals trying to make a living in South Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said on Saturday.
“The LHR is shocked and disappointed by the blatant disregard for human life in these attacks and calls for a swift and efficient end to the violence,” said LHR attorney Patricia...
24 January 2014
(News)
The unrest that flared up in Soweto and other areas this week showed a lack of compassion for foreign nationals trying to make a living in South Africa, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said on Saturday.
“The LHR is shocked and disappointed by the blatant disregard for human life in these attacks and calls for a swift and efficient end to the violence,” said LHR attorney Patricia...
11 December 2013
(News)
A mental health and HIV pilot project has been launched by the UNHCR in partnership with Lawyers for Human Rights and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Torture to provide a holistic support to refugees and asylum-seekers with mental health illnesses.
The project, aiming to address the needs of people with mental health problems and improve the mental well-being of refugees in Gauteng, will...
11 December 2013
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) have been granted leave to appeal the dismissal of the case that challenged the unlawful closure of refugee and asylum-seeker traders’ informal businesses by the police. The challenge comes in the light of the right to work and trade as refugees and asylum-seekers in South Africa.
In July this year, LHR argued an application in the North Gauteng High...
7 December 2013
(News)
Nelson Mandela’s qualities as a leader who truly served his people and remained humble are the most important lessons to be learnt from his life, law firm Routledge Modise’s chairman, Lavery Modise, said on Friday.
"He brought out the best of what is expected in a leader. I cannot think of a better example. It will be a hard act to follow, but we should all try to emulate him,...
6 December 2013
(Press release)
It is difficult to come to terms with the news that the world’s most revered statesman and human rights activist is gone. As is so often said, he now belongs to the ages.
Although an old man, he seemed immortal. But Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a man, a man whose dedication to the struggle against Apartheid and injustice, and opposition to oppression moulded him into a beacon and a...