due process & judicial protection – Page 15 – International Justice Resource Center

UN Human Rights Committee Issues Concluding Observations on State Reports of Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and the United States

April 3, 2014 IJRC civil society, democracy & political rights, discrimination, due process & judicial protection, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, international human rights, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, reparations, reproductive and sexual rights, right to life, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, transitional justice, UN treaty bodies, women's rights

The UN Human Rights Committee held its 110th session from March 10 to 28 to consider the State reports of Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and the United States of America. Following the session, the Committee released its concluding observations, detailing key concerns and recommendations for these States’ improved implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

In Landmark Ruling, Haitian Court Opens Investigation into Jean-Claude Duvalier for Crimes against Humanity

February 25, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international criminal law, liberty & security of person

On February 20, 2014, a historic Haitian appellate court ruling opened the door to the possible prosecution of former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”) for crimes against humanity. Survivors of the Duvalier regime’s abuses and human rights activists see the decision as an important victory in their quest for justice and accountability. [UN Radio; Reuters]

IACtHR to Hear Cases Involving Extrajudicial Killings in Peru, Guatemala, and Venezuela during 102nd Regular Session

February 4, 2014 IJRC children, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, interim measures, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, security & rule of law

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights will hear expert and witness testimony in three pending cases concerning extrajudicial executions, convene two private hearings on States’ compliance with prior decisions, and deliberate on the merits of two cases concerning alleged criminal due process violations during its ongoing 102nd Regular Session, being held from January 27 through February 7 at its headquarters

ECtHR Finds Granting Civil Immunity for Torture to Foreign State Officials Does Not Violate European Convention on Human Rights

January 21, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, European System, international human rights, torture

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a judgment last week upholding a British court’s grant of immunity to Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials who allegedly tortured British citizens. See ECtHR, Jones and Others v. United Kingdom, nos. 34356/06 and 40528/06, ECHR 2014, Judgment of 14 January 2014. The UK House of Lords had blocked the plaintiffs’ civil suits

Nepal Supreme Court Prohibits Amnesty for Serious Human Rights Violations Committed during Armed Conflict

January 8, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, right to life

Last week, Nepal’s highest court released a decision prohibiting grants of amnesty for serious human rights violations committed during the nation’s 10-year internal conflict. The Supreme Court found that grants of amnesties, limitations on criminal prosecutions, and the 35-day time limit on filing cases do not conform to the standards established by the Nepalese Constitution and international law. [OHCHR] If

African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Holds Public Hearings in Cases against Burkina Faso and Tanzania

December 9, 2013 IJRC African System, crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, property, right to life, thought, expression & association

During its 31st Ordinary Session, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) held public hearings in two pending cases, one involving the unsolved assassination of a prominent journalist in Burkina Faso and the other concerning alleged criminal due process violations and arbitrary detention in Tanzania. On November 28-29, the AfCHPR heard arguments on the merits in Beneficiaries of the Late

Pinochet-Era Torture Victim Awarded Reparation by Inter-American Court of Human Rights for Chile’s Inadequate Investigation

November 18, 2013 IJRC conditions of detention, due process & judicial protection, Inter-American System, international human rights, torture

In its first judgment in favor of a living survivor of Pinochet era abuses, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has found Chile in violation of its obligations to investigate and remedy the arbitrary detention and torture of Mr. Leopoldo Garcia Lucero, who was left permanently disabled by the treatment he suffered in the 1970s. See I/A Court H.R.,

Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Sentences Two to Death for 1971 Killings of Pro-Independence Intellectuals

November 5, 2013 IJRC due process & judicial protection, international criminal law, international human rights

On November 3, 2013, the controversial International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh released a verdict sentencing two expatriates to death by hanging for “aiding, abetting, instructing, ordering, encouraging, and providing moral support to” the murderers of 18 prominent pro-independence intellectuals during Bagladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. New York Times The two defendants are among several individuals convicted in

California Prisoners Continue Hunger Strike to Protest Long-Term Isolation, as Human Rights Bodies Urge Reform

July 24, 2013 IJRC conditions of detention, due process & judicial protection, international human rights

In a press release published on July 18, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its concern regarding the causes behind an organized hunger strike taking place in prisons throughout California. The hunger strike, which began July 8, was organized to protest solitary confinement usage and conditions throughout the state’s prisons. 4,527 inmates are currently being held in solitary

UN Working Group Finds Guantanamo Detainee’s Continued Detention to be Arbitrary, Recommends Release

July 17, 2013 IJRC due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, UN Special Procedures

Ranjana Natarajan contributes this guest post on a recent notable decision by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding a complaint presented by Guantanamo Bay detainee Obaidullah, who was represented before the Working Group by the University of Texas School of Law‘s National Security Clinic and Human Rights Clinic.