The below letter, directed at Latin American human rights organizations, was published on April 18, 2013 by Venezuelan human rights coalition Foro Por la Vida and signed by a group of well-known Venezuelan advocates. It should be noted, the National Electoral Council has since granted a full recount over the next 30 days, although the scheduled swearing-in of President Nicolas Maduro nonetheless
Read moreCategory: democracy & political rights
Mali Conflict: Concerns Persist for Protection of Human Rights, Displaced Populations, Minority Groups
The West African nation of Mali, previously hailed as a democratic model for other regional governments, has become engulfed in a human rights and political crisis that is now the target of international attention and military intervention. Government and foreign forces are attempting to reclaim territory from separatist rebel groups, while the International Criminal Court and UN and African human rights
Read moreStruggle for Economic and Social Justice in the United States Continues on MLK Day
President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of economic and social equality in his second inaugural address today, the day on which the country also commemorates civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr. In the United States today, a record number of people are living in poverty. [NCLEJ] Economic and social inequality in the United States remains remarkably high, particularly relative to countries of
Read moreSyrian Opposition Coalition Formed as Human Rights Situation Continues to Deteriorate
On Sunday, November 11, Syrian opposition groups signed a draft agreement to form the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary Opposition Forces. [BBC] Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus who is considered a moderate and unifying force, was chosen to lead the new coalition. The Gulf Arab States have recognized the coalition as the sole legitimate
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UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Reports on Individual Access to Justice
On November 5, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, presented her annual report to the U.N. General Assembly. The Special Rapporteur highlights the obstacles faced by individuals living in extreme poverty when they attempt to access courts and other remedies. Linking access to justice to numerous other human rights, her report concludes that States
Read moreUN Human Rights Council to Gain 18 New Members in Criticized Election Process
On November 12, the UN General Assembly will hold elections to fill eighteen soon-to-be vacant membership positions on the UN Human Rights Council. As in the past, this election is controversial both for the lack of competition on most regional slates, thereby depriving the General Assembly of the ability to choose from among multiple States to fill the open slots, and
Read moreECHR Grand Chamber Hearing in Catan v. Moldova & Russia: Linguistic Discrimination
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights is hearing arguments today (video here) in Catan and Others v. Republic of Moldova and Russia (nos. 43370/04, 43370/04, 8252/05 and 18454/06). The Court’s press release describes the applicants as “Moldovan nationals who live in the ‘Moldovan Republic of Transdnistria’ (‘MRT’), a non-recognised separatist entity which split from the Republic of Moldova in September
Read moreNew Special Rapporteurs on Truth, Justice and Reconciliation & Promotion of Democratic International Order
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution (A/HRC/18/L.22) creating a new Special Rapporteurship on Truth, Justice and Reparation. [OHCHR] The three-year mandate holder will be charged with “gathering relevant information on national situations relating to the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence in addressing gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law,
Read moreNews Clips – October 11, 2011
In the wake of the killing of Al-Qaida militant and U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in late September by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, many have questioned the Obama Administration’s legal justification for killing U.S. citizens and others outside combat zones, as discussed by IJRC Board member Jamil Dakwar in “State Sanctioned Killings”, published in the ezine Jadaliyya last Friday.
Read moreReleased Egyptian Political Prisoner Urges African Commission to Ensure Accountability for and Non-Repetition of Mubarak Era Abuses
The Open Society Justice Initiative and Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights have announced a development in their complaint on behalf of Egyptian political prisoner Mohammed Abderrahim El-Sharkawi. [OSJI] The two organizations recently filed written arguments on admissibility before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which received the complaint in late 2010. [OSJI] El-Sharkawi reportedly spent nearly 16 years in
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