Human Rights Committee: Australia Violated Guantanamo Transferee’s Right to Liberty

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found Australia in violation of the right to liberty protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) due to its continued detention of Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks following his transfer to Australia, despite evidence that the American military proceedings against him had been unfair. See UN Human Rights Committee, Hicks v. Australia,

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As Blackwater Security Guards Are Convicted for Nisour Square Killings, UN Working Group Pushes for Enhanced Regulation of Private Security Companies

On October 22, jurors in a United States federal district court found four former Blackwater security guards guilty of first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter for the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis on September 16, 2007. The killings occurred while a team of security guards – code-named Raven 23 – employed by the private security company escorted a U.S. State Department

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6 Key Takeaways on Protecting Women’s Rights through International Law and Advocacy

More than 75 people gathered last Thursday for Protecting Women’s Rights: International Law & Advocacy, a full-day conference for advocates and lawyers organized by the International Justice Resource Center (IJRC). The training, held at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, featured some of the most distinguished human rights and women’s rights practitioners in the world speaking on a variety

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U.S. Government Limits Legal Access by Guantanamo Detainees

The U.S. Government has sought to curtail the scope of the Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush and claim authority to decide when Guantanamo detainees may or may not be granted access to legal counsel. As reported by SCOTUS Blog: The Obama Administration conceded to a federal judge early Tuesday that it is cutting back on the legal rights

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Guantanamo, Ten Years On: A Look Back

Today marks the tenth year anniversary of the United States government’s use of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to hold individuals suspected of supporting or being associated with al Qaeda or other groups – some, but not all, of which were designated terrorist groups by the U.S. government. See Mark Denbeaux et al., Report on the Guantanamo Detainees:

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Blackwater Successor Settles Two Wrongful Death Cases by Civilians and Contractors Killed in Iraq

Family members of Iraqi civilians killed by Blackwater security contractors in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in 2007 have agreed to a settlement offered by Academi, Blackwater’s successor (also recently known as Xe Services).  [Washington Post] On September 16, 2007, Blackwater employees guarding U.S. diplomats opened fire into a crowd, killing seventeen Iraqi civilians in what was alleged by prosecutors to be

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Two Suits Against Corporations for Violations of International Law Proceed in U.S. Federal Court

Eleven Falun Gong practitioners have filed suit against computer networking company Cisco Systems for allegedly facilitating human rights abuses by the Chinese government against Falun Gong members,  by developing and providing Internet surveillance technology known as Golden Shield or Policenet. [Wall Street Pit]   The suit, filed by the Human Rights Law Foundation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern

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Ninth Circuit Holds that Prolonged Detention of Immigrants Pursuing Motions to Reopen Must Be Reviewed by Immigration Judge

On March 7, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Diouf v. Napolitano that an immigrant facing long-term detention pending resolution of their motions to reopen immigration proceedings is “entitled to release on bond unless the government establishes that he  is a flight risk of a danger to the community.”  In so holding, the appellate court

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