Recent Human Rights Decisions Address Disability Discrimination, Non-Refoulement, and Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences

During the fall of 2014, at each of their respective sessions, the  Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), and the Committee Against Torture (CAT) adopted key decisions on topics including the definition of disability; enforced disappearances; freedom of religion; freedom of expression; juvenile life imprisonment;

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Human Rights Committee Reviews 7 States’ Records on Civil and Political Rights

This week, the Human Rights Committee will commence its 114th session in Geneva, Switzerland. The session will take place from June 29 to July 24, during which time the Committee will review the State reports of Canada, France, Macedonia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. The Committee will also review reports submitted by civil society organizations and national human

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ECtHR: Failure to Protect March Participants from Homophobic Attacks Violated Rights

On May 12, 2015, in Identoba and Others v. Georgia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that Georgian authorities failed to protect participants in a 2012 peaceful march marking the International Day Against Homophobia from homophobic attacks, even after agreeing to provide police protection. The Court further held that authorities failed to properly investigate the incident and, particularly, the homophobic

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Mandela Rules Adopted: Landmark Revisions Made to UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

On May 22, 2015, the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) gathered in Vienna and adopted the Mandela Rules, which are revisions to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR), the leading international principles on the treatment of prisoners, which had not been updated since they were drafted in 1955. The Mandela Rules honor

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CERD Rules that Korea’s Mandatory HIV/AIDS Testing for Foreign Employees Violates the Convention

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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