On May 1, 2015, in L.G. v. Republic of Korea, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) ruled that mandatory HIV/AIDS and drug testing for foreign English teachers violated articles 2, 5, and 6 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). [UN News Center Press Release]. See Committee on the Elimination
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On May 7, 2015, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its 2014 Annual Report, evaluating the state of freedom of expression in the Americas, to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS). [IACHR Press Release] See also Executive Summary of
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On April 22, 2015, the Central African Republic’s transitional parliament voted to adopt a law to create a Special Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity that have been committed in the Central African Republic since 2003. In order for the Special Criminal Court to now be established, its acting president, Catherine Samba-Panza, must enact
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Last week, on May 12, 2015, in Gogitidze and Others v. Georgia, the European Court of Human Rights held that the confiscation of property from a former public official did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The applicants claimed that Georgia had violated their right to property under the First Protocol to the European Convention, and their right
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The Human Rights Council is close to concluding its 22nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group which began on May 4 and will conclude on May 15, 2015 to examine 14 States’ human rights records. [OHCHR Press Release] During these Working Group discussions, UN Member States are reviewing the human rights practices of Belarus, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia,
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The Inter-American Court of Human Rights will have the opportunity to determine for the first time whether State regulations designed to uphold discipline within a military institution may punish sexual acts between persons of the same sex without violating the principle of equality and non-discrimination. In December 2014, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights filed an application to submit the
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During its 72nd regular session in Geneva, which was held from April 20th through 29th, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [hereinafter Working Group] adopted the final text of its draft “Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of Their Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before a Court.” [OHCHR: Working Group] See
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On March 31, 2015 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) released its judgment in Helsinki Committee of Armenia v. Armenia, concerning the State’s denial of a non-governmental human rights organization’s (NGO) application to hold an event dedicated to mourning the death of a murder investigation witness at the police station. See ECtHR, Helsinki Committee of Armenia v. Armenia, no.
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The Committee against Torture (CAT) is currently holding its 54th session in Geneva which began on April 20 and will continue through May 15. According to the agenda, CAT is considering the State reports of Colombia, the Republic of Congo, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on their implementation of the Convention against
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This week, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will commence its 86th session in Geneva, Switzerland. The session will take place from April 27 to May 15, during which time CERD will review the State reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, and Sudan. The Committee will also review reports submitted by civil society
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