Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights enters into force today, introducing a number of changes to decrease the Court’s backlog, strengthen enforcement in order to reduce repetitive applications, concentrate its efforts on cases where applicants have suffered a “significant disadvantage”, and allow the European Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene as a third party [ECHR] Amnesty International
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OHCHR Establishes Guinea Office
The United Nations announced today that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will open an office in the Guinean capital of Conakry in order to “assist the Government in reporting on compliance with international human rights treaties. It will also advise on establishing a National Human Rights Institution and on judicial reforms, help combat impunity for human rights
Read moreHonduras Inaugurates Truth Commission to Investigate Coup
Yesterday, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo inaugurated the previously-announced Truth Commission to investigate the events surrounding last June’s military coup which removed from power President Manuel Zelaya, who is currently exiled in the Dominican Republic. (Read Honduran government press releases here and here.) The establishment of such a commission was a condition of Zelaya’s exit from the national stage and a
Read moreHuman Rights Council Concludes 13th Session
The U.N. Human Rights Council concluded its 13th regular session last week, having considered a great variety of reports from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special procedures, and the Working Group on Universal Period Review (reports on Eritrea, the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Norway, Albania, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Portugal, Bhutan, Dominica, Democratic People’s Republic
Read moreDeaths and Harassment of Honduran Activists Lamented
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today condemned the acts of violence and harassment in recent months against individuals involved in the resistance to the coup d’etat which took place in Honduras last June. Such acts included the deaths of three individuals and the torture and arbitrary detention of others. See the Commission’s statement here, and its report on human
Read moreThe Week's News
Human Rights Conditions * President Bachelet declares state of catastrophe following powerful earthquake in Chile. [Washington Post] * Interim government organized following Niger coup. [BBC] * Ceasefire signed in Sudan. [Guardian] * Waterboarding defended by former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. [New York Times] * Russia pushed for details on investigation of Chechen human rights defender’s murder in July
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