Today, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law what the New York Times is characterizing as the country’s toughest immigration law. Although immigration falls within the federal legislature’s province, Arizona has acted in the face of what it sees as the failure of Washington to address the issues raised by a large, undocumented immigrant population. While states cannot assume the
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CICIG Head Seeks Broader, Extended Mandate before UN
Carlos Castresana, head of the United Nations-backed commission created to help strengthen law enforcement and judicial efforts to investigate and prosecute clandestine security groups in Guatemala, was in New York today for a discussion with UN and Guatemalan representatives on the problem of impunity in Guatemala and the future of the Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG). CICIG’s mandate
Read moreUN Expert Welcomes U.K. 'Vulture Fund' Ban
The United Nations independent expert on foreign debt and human rights issued a statement today, welcoming the British parliament’s passage of a new law earlier this month which will have the effect of banning ‘vulture funds’ created to profit off the foreign debt of developing countries by essentially buying the debt for a highly reduced price (often when the debt
Read moreACHR Commissioner Promotes Media Coverage of Human Rights Issues in Local Languages
While a delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is carrying out an on-site visit in Angola, Sioyata Maiga, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, urged media outlets in the Member States of the African Union to discuss human rights issues in the local languages of their respective countries, in order to contribute to
Read moreNew IACHR Report on Captive Indigenous Communities in Bolivia
Today, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a new publication, entitled Captive Communities: Situation of the Guaraní Indigenous People and Contemporary Forms of Slavery in the Bolivian Chaco, which focuses on the plight of Guaraní communities subjected to debt bondage and forced labor on private estates in the Chaco region of Bolivia. The findings are based in part on
Read moreICJ Finds Uruguay Breached Procedural, but Not Substantive, Obligations in Pulp Mill Case Brought by Argentina
The International Court of Justice announced its judgment in the Case Concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay), in which it held that Uruguay had breached its obligations under the Statute of the River Uruguay to cooperate with Argentina and the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay, as required prior to the authorization of development projects that
Read moreIACHR Presents 2009 Annual Report
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Thursday presented its 2009 Annual Report to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States. See the press release, IACHR President Felipe Gonzalez’ speech before the Committee, and a video of the presentation and discussion. The most controversial part of the report is its Chapter 4 which describes,
Read moreArgentine Officer Sentenced to 15 Years for Dirty War Abuses
Former army intelligence officer Horacio Barcos was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Tribunal Oral Federal in Santa Fe, Argentina on Monday in the culmination of his prosecution for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Dirty War, presided over by Jorge Rafael Videla‘s military dictatorship. Barcos was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the crimes of illegal
Read moreNew Human Rights Watch Reports on Possible War Crimes in Gaza War and Segregation of HIV-Positive Inmates in U.S.
Among other recent reports published by Human Rights Watch, now available on its website are a report the Gaza War and conditions of detention for HIV-positive prisoners in the United States. The first, entitled Turning a Blind Eye: Impunity for Laws-of-War Violations during the Gaza War, details the allegedly inadequate investigations on the part of the relevant authorities of violations
Read moreJudge Orders Release of Guantanamo Detainee Mohamedou Slahi
Today, the ACLU made available on its website D.C. District Court Judge James Robertson’s order granting Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (here). The decision, handed down on March 22, was under seal pending release of an unclassified version. Judge Robertson’s decision comes over eight years after Slahi’s initial detention in Senegal in November
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