In response to the continued suppression of protests in Ethiopia, international and regional human rights bodies as well as political figures have voiced their concerns and called for investigations into the government’s use of force. These observers question police tactics against anti-government peaceful protesters, who have been demonstrating during the last year against the expansion of the capital’s borders and
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Civil Society The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over intimidation of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan. [United Nations in the Kyrgyz Republic] Demonstrators in Colombia are demanding that the peace deal between the government and FARC is upheld. [BBC] The Ethiopian government this week denied the use of extreme force against protesters in the country.
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On October 3, 2016, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in consultation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced a new mandate for the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Andrew Gilmour, to lead UN work on ending intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders. [United Nations Information Centre] In a recent report, Ban Ki-moon emphasized the range
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After a severe financial crisis threatened to effectively shut down major operations at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) this year, the IACHR recently announced that the immediate crisis is now over. Many States and other entities have agreed to donate funds, allowing the IACHR to salvage its budget and continue operating. Because the IACHR has overcome the crisis,
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On Sunday, October 2, 2016 Colombians headed to the polls to vote on a peace agreement to end the 52-year war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas. [The Guardian: Voters] Contrary to what the polls had predicted, the peace deal referendum was rejected by a 0.4 percent margin. [The Guardian: Voters] The deal was the result of
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Civil Society After demonstrators in Poland protested a new law to ban abortion early this week, a parliamentary committee recommended parliament vote against the bill. [Guardian] Anti-government protests continued in Ethiopia this week after tear gas and shots from the police instigated a stampede at a religious festival last weekend, trampling between 55 and over 100 people. [Al Jazeera] The authorities
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On 27 September 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC), in its first-ever case regarding the war crime of attacking protected objects, found Ahmad Al-Mahdi guilty as a co-perpetrator of the destruction of 10 religious and historic sites in Timbuktu, Mali and sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment. See ICC, Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, ICC-01/12-01/15, Judgment and Sentence,
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has referred four cases over the last two months to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) involving Mexico, Chile, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Two of the cases, against Mexico and Nicaragua, involve sexual violence against women and girls. The case against Chile concerns the need to obtain informed consent prior to medical proceedings
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During the month of October 2016, numerous universal and regional human rights bodies will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations, visit countries, and hold hearings on individual complaints. Five UN treaty bodies meeting this month will engage in dialogues with States regarding their implementation of treaty obligations related to civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights;
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Read our September 2016 newsletter for the latest human rights news, details of our recent training, new additions to the Online Resource Hub, and more.
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