Category Archives: cultural rights

September 2018: Human Rights Council, UN Treaty Bodies, and Regional Human Rights Bodies in Session

Posted on September 3, 2018 by IJRC

Palais des Nations by night, Geneva. Tuesday 5 November 2013. Credit: Violaine Martin via Flickr

In the month of September, several universal and regional bodies will be in session to assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, and the review of individual complaints. Five United Nations treaty bodies will meet in September to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to the rights of persons with disabilities; the rights of migrant workers; children’s rights; and economic, social, and cultural rights. The UN Human Rights Council will be in session to review communications as well as thematic and country-specific reports. Seven UN special procedures will conduct country visits focusing on States’ international financial obligations, the rights of persons with albinism, the right to food, the independence of judges and lawyers, adequate housing, cultural rights, and LGBTI issues, respectively. Additionally, the UN working group focused on forced disappearances will be in session.

Regionally, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), and the European Committee of Social Rights (ESCR) will all be in session. Finally, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear one case related to the prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens and the right to an effective remedy.

The UN treaty body sessions, the public hearings of the European Court, and the public hearings of the IACtHR, may be watched via UN Web TV, the European Court’s website, and the Inter-American Commission’s website or Vimeo, respectively. To view human rights bodies’ past and future activities, visit the IJRC Hearings & Sessions Calendar.

April 2018: United Nations and Regional Human Rights Bodies in Session

Posted on April 2, 2018 by IJRC

Judges at the IACtHR
Credit: CorteIDH

In the month of April, several universal and regional bodies will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through interactive dialogues, the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, and the review of individual complaints. Four United Nations treaty bodies will meet throughout April to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to civil and political rights, economic and cultural rights, torture, racial discrimination, and migrant workers. One treaty body will meet as a pre-sessional working group to discuss economic, social, and cultural rights. Further, civil society can register this month to participate in the sessions of two treaty bodies that will meet in May on children’s rights and enforced disappearances, respectively. Eleven UN special procedures experts will conduct country visits focusing on minority issues, freedom of religion or belief, extreme poverty, torture and inhuman treatment, safe drinking water and sanitation, violence against women, the use of mercenaries, international solidarity, older persons, human rights defenders, and racial discrimination. Three working groups will hold sessions on the use of mercenaries, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detention.

Regionally, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) will all be in session. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will hear two cases related to the right to liberty and security and the prohibition of cruel or inhuman treatment.

The UN treaty body sessions and the public hearings of the European Court and Inter-American Court may be watched via UN Web TV, the European Court’s website, and the Inter-American Commission’s website or Vimeo, respectively. To view human rights bodies’ past and future activities, visit the IJRC Hearings & Sessions Calendar.

Inter-American Commission Selects Soledad García Muñoz as Inaugural ESCER Special Rapporteur

Posted on July 11, 2017 by IJRC

The Inter-American Commission’s recent 163rd Extraordinary Sessions in Lima, Peru
Credit: CIDH

On July 5, 2017, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) selected Soledad García Muñoz to be the first Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER). [IACHR Press Release: Muñoz (in Spanish)] The mandate of the newly established Rapporteurship is to promote, protect, and defend economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights in the Americas by addressing issues such as poverty; pollution; and access to health care, education, potable water, and nutrition. [IACHR Press Release: Finalists] García Muñoz, of Argentina, was selected from a list of four finalists during the IACHR’s 163^rd Extraordinary Period of Sessions. [IACHR Press Release: Finalists; IACHR Press Release: Muñoz] García Muñoz is a lawyer who has worked globally to protect human rights, including with various United Nations agencies, the Organization of American States (OAS), the International Organization for Migration, and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, among others. [IACHR Press Release: Muñoz] She served as President of Amnesty International’s Section on Argentina and has substantial experience litigating before universal and regional human rights mechanisms. [IACHR Press Release: Muñoz] As Special Rapporteur, García Muñoz plans to work in coordination with other IACHR divisions to open a dialogue. [IACHR Press Release: Muñoz] She will take office on August 15, 2017 and serve a three-year term, which is renewable once. [IACHR Press Release: Muñoz] Read more

African Court Issues First Ruling on Violations Against Indigenous Peoples

Posted on June 7, 2017 by IJRC

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Credit: AfCHPR

In its first judgment on the treatment and rights of indigenous people, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) held that Kenya violated the Ogiek peoples’ rights to land, religion, culture, development, and non-discrimination. See AfCHPR, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Kenya, App. no. 006/2012, Judgment of 26 May 2017. Specifically, the African Court held that the State violated the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights because Kenya expelled the Ogiek from their ancestral land against their will, without prior consultation or compensation. See id. The Ogiek are forest-dwelling people that live in the Mau Forest, one of Kenya’s largest water catchment areas. They argued that eviction would prevent them from using and maintaining ownership of their ancestral land on which they rely on for their social, economic, and cultural existence. [ACHPR Press Release] This is the second ruling from the African System against Kenya regarding its treatment of indigenous people. In 2010, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) found that the Endorois peoples’ eviction from their land in the 1970’s was in violation of their rights to property, health, culture, natural resources, and religion. [Reuters; HRW] However, this recent judgment, though, is the first from the African Court to rule on indigenous peoples’ rights. [ACHPR Press Release] Further, this is one of only three cases that the African Commission has referred to the Court, and the only one that has been referred on the basis of grave, mass human rights violations. [ESCR] Read more

News Clips- June 2, 2017

Posted on June 2, 2017 by IJRC

UN General Assembly elects Miroslav Lajčák as the president of the 72nd Session
Credit: UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Civil Society

On Wednesday, a court in Bahrain ordered the dissolution of the last major opposition group in the country. [Washington Post]
This week, it was reported that labor activists investigating alleged abuses at a Chinese factory producing Ivanka Trump shoes were detained or missing. [Guardian]
On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians protested Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza to support the prisoners’ hunger strike that began in April. [Times of Israel]

Violence & Humanitarian Crises

On Thursday, the United Nations peacekeeping camp in Mali was attacked. [Washington Post]
On Tuesday, a car bomb claimed by ISIS killed 13 people in Baghdad, Iraq. [Washington Post]
On Friday, monitoring groups reported that airstrikes in Mayadin, Syria resulted in dozens of civilian deaths. [Washington Post]

Migrants, Asylum Seekers, & Refugees

On Thursday, 44 migrants died of thirst in Niger after a vehicle on its way to Libya broke down. [Al Jazeera]
On Friday, the International Organization for Migration estimated that an average of 10,000 migrants fleeing West Mosul arrive in transit zones daily. [UN News Centre]

Activities of International Bodies

On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly elected Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia’s Foreign Minister, as its next president. [Washington Post]
On Tuesday, the United Nations Human Rights Council authorized a three-member team to investigate alleged human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. [Al Jazeera]
On Friday, the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, announced a trust fund to implement community assistance in Kosovo. [UN News Centre]
On Friday, the African Court on Human and People’s Rights ruled that Kenya violated the Ogiek indigenous people’s rights to land, religion, culture, development, and non-discrimination. [Reuters]

Despite 10th Anniversary of Indigenous Rights Declaration, Challenges Remain

Posted on May 9, 2017 by IJRC

General Assembly event celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

While celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the recently concluded sixteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), participants also discussed the particular issues that continue to affect indigenous populations around the globe, including land dispossession and violence. During the recent session, regional and universal intergovernmental bodies, such as the International Labor Organization and the European Union, as well as human rights experts presented reports and statements on the status of the rights of indigenous peoples to the UNPFII – an entity established in 2000 to provide recommendations on indigenous issues to UN agencies. Although the declaration promotes land rights, access to education, and fair working conditions, the continued need to protect these rights were common themes raised during the forum, including in the Secretariat of the forum’s report on implementation of the declaration. In particular, both at the UNPFII and in other recent statements, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli Corpuz, identified ongoing violence, arrests, land dispossession, denial of self-determination, a lack of consultation, and inadequate education and social services as just some of the continuing obstacles plaguing indigenous communities. [UN News Centre; OHCHR Press Release: United States; OHCHR Press Release: Australia] See also OHCHR, Statement of Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. As demonstrated in other recent reports, statements, and unfolding situations, recent incidents and trends around the globe – including in Australia, the United States, and Brazil, among others – reflect the concerns raised during the forum, particularly concerning violence against indigenous peoples and forced dispossession of land. [IJRC: Asia; IJRC: IACHR; Reuters; Guardian; All Africa] Read more

European Human Rights Body Reviews Four Countries, Finds Discriminatory Practices

Posted on March 7, 2017 by IJRC

The Council of Europe
Credit: Filip Maljković via Wikimedia Commons

In recently published country reports on Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Luxembourg, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) found several areas in which migrants, Roma communities, LGBTI persons, and other minorities are susceptible to discrimination and unequal treatment. [COE Press Release: ECRI] In each report, the ECRI – an independent human rights body of the Council of Europe that monitors racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, intolerance, and discrimination – acknowledged positive developments and areas in need of improvement, including improving laws on hate speech, establishing specialized national bodies that work to eliminate xenophobia and racism, providing equal access to education and employment, and eliminating xenophobic and racist language or images in the political discourse. For instance, the ECRI found a disparity in access to education for migrants or ethnic minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, and Luxembourg; found that hate speech was regularly used in the political discourse in Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina; and found that Andorra and Iceland both lack a national body with a mandate to combat discrimination and xenophobia. The reports, though, noted in some instances developments in criminalizing racism and discrimination; support for education and employment of minorities; and, in the case of Luxembourg, low levels of hate speech in the public discourse. The Commission published its findings in public reports and made recommendations to each country on legal and structural changes that could improve xenophobia, discrimination, and racism. [COE Press Release: Andorra; COE Press Release: Bosnia and Herzegovina; COE Press Release: Iceland; COE Press Release: Luxembourg] Read more

ILO Finds Asian Countries Inconsistently Protect Indigenous Peoples’ Rights

Posted on March 6, 2017 by IJRC

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has identified trends in national policy in Asia that deny indigenous peoples certain rights, such as to property and to consultation, in a recent human rights-based review of the region’s domestic laws. See ILO, The right of indigenous peoples in Asia, Human rights-based overview of national legal and policy frameworks against the backdrop of country strategies for development and poverty reduction (2017). While an indigenous peoples’ movement has emerged in the region – where a majority of the world’s indigenous peoples live – the report found that national and regional institutions often fail to recognize their rights. See id. at 1, 9-10. Specifically, the report found inconsistent recognition of the status of indigenous peoples; inconsistent consultation between governments and indigenous communities; land and natural resource insecurity; and unequal access of indigenous populations to education, employment, and social services. See id. at pgs. 3, 9, 20, 21 27-28, 30, 40, 54-55. The States examined for the report – Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam – should, the report recommended, ensure increased coordination between indigenous communities and other domestic, regional, and international stakeholders. See id. at 59-61. This report complements a previous ILO report on the situation of indigenous peoples in the labor force in Asia and the Pacific in 2015. See ILO, Indigenous Peoples in the World of Work in Asia and the Pacific: A Status Report (2015).

March 2017: United Nations and Regional Human Rights Bodies in Session

Posted on February 27, 2017 by IJRC

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights headquarters at the Palais Wilson
Credit: Romano1246 via Wikimedia Commons

In the month of March 2017, various universal and regional bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, review of individual complaints, and deliberation over thematic reports. Five United Nations treaty bodies will meet to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to economic, social, and cultural rights; discrimination against women; enforced disappearances; civil and political rights; and the rights of persons with disabilities. The Human Right Council will continue its 34^th session. During the session, it will consider reports from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, and the UN Secretary General and hold dialogues with UN special procedure mandate holders on a variety of topics, including freedom of religion, migrants, and the environment, among others. Four UN special procedure mandate holders will conduct country visits.

Regionally, the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, will hold sessions or hearings this month. The European Court of Human Rights will hold Grand Chamber hearings in two cases – one concerning the pre-trial detention of a former Prime Minister of Georgia and one concerning the right to a fair trial in the context of disciplinary hearings for three judges in Portugal.

UN treaty body sessions may be watched via UN Web TV . To view human rights bodies’ past and future activities, visit the IJRC Hearings & Sessions Calendar. Read more

News Clips- January 13, 2017

Posted on January 13, 2017 by IJRC

The UN Security Council January 11, 2017 meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Civil Society

On Thursday, Human Rights Watch launched its World Report 2017, a 687-page report that chronicles the situation of human rights and identifies impediments to human rights protections, such as the rise of demagogues. [Human Rights Watch]
In Israel, Palestinian citizens launched a nationwide strike in response to government demolitions of Palestinian homes on Tuesday. [Al Jazeera]
This week, indigenous rights activists in the United States protested the Trans-Pecos pipeline, which will transport fracked natural gas to Mexico, citing damage to the environment and sacred sites. [Guardian]

Politics

This week in the United States, the Obama administration approved a rule modifying privacy protections to enable the National Security Agency to share surveillance information with other intelligence agencies. [New York Times]
On Thursday, American troops entered Poland to deliver on a promise to provide protection to the region, a move that may be impacted by the next administration’s relationship with Russia. [Washington Post]
In the Philippines this week, President Duterte implemented legislation providing access to reproductive health services to impoverished women. [Washington Post]
On Wednesday, Germany approved a plan to increase its contribution to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali by eight helicopters and 350 soldiers, bringing the total number of soldiers to 1,000. [Reuters]
In Nicaragua, President Ortega was sworn in for his third five-year term with his wife becoming the new vice president. [Al Jazeera]

Migrants & Displaced Persons

This week, Germany expressed an intent to return to the European Union’s “Dublin rules,” which require refugees to file asylum in the first country they enter, after halting the practice in 2015. [Al Jazeera]
This week the United Kingdom expressed an intent to relocate lone child refugees that are facing life-threatening risks due to below freezing temperatures in camps throughout Europe. [Guardian]

Armed Conflict, Violence, & Humanitarian Crises

On Thursday, the government of South Sudan announced that it would no longer accept the 4,000 UN peacekeepers that the country had agreed to last November on the grounds that the government is capable of protecting its citizens. [Al Jazeera]
On Tuesday, more than 30 people were killed in attacks claimed by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan against an intelligence agency. [Washington Post]
On Monday, the United Nations stated that tens of thousands of people have been uprooted from central Democratic Republic of Congo in the last few months due to ongoing conflict between the government and a militia group. [Reuters]
According to data collected by the Guardian’s project The Counted, racial inequities continue to pervade police killings in the United States with young black males nine times as likely to be killed. [Guardian]
Last Friday, Russia initiated a move to reduce its military presence in Syria as a part of the ceasefire deal with the Syrian government and opposition groups. [Reuters]

Activities of National and International Judicial Bodies

On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights found in its Chamber judgment that a mandatory co-ed swim course and a fine for not attending it did not violate the right to religious freedom of the parents of two Muslim girls seeking an exemption from the program. [Human Rights Europe]
On Monday the Lahore High Court in Pakistan ordered the government and the National Database and Registration Authority to count and include transgender populations in the 2017 census, which could affect an estimated 500,000 people in the country. [Reuters]
On Monday, Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad, began his appeal to refute his conviction for the war crimes and crimes against humanity of summary execution, torture, and rape handed down by a special court in May of last year. [Guardian]

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