In Canada, the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group – a group of First Nations communities in British Columbia – has requested precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, seeking to stop the sale of their historic land to the provincial and Canadian governments by a logging corporation. [Canada.com; Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group] The request alleges that the Canadian government has failed
Read moreCategory: environmental rights
U.S. and Brazil Reaffirm Commitment to Combating Discrimination
According to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of State earlier this month, President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff “reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation on the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality” during Obama’s recent visit to Brazil. The Joint Action Plan, launched in 2008, commits both governments to sharing
Read moreU.S. Court Rules Corporations Cannot be Held Civilly Liable for Torture and Other Violations of International Law under ATCA
Last Friday’s Second Circuit ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, if upheld, could be the death knell for litigation seeking to hold corporations accountable for torture and other violations of customary international law under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The plaintiffs, Nigerian nationals, brought suit against Royal Dutch and Shell Petroleum for aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in
Read moreNews Clips – September 20, 2010
In a heartbreaking blow to Afghan hopes for peace, several U.S. soldiers are under investigation for murdering at least three Afghan civilians last year as part of a rogue “kill team” that was allegedly formed when a staff sergeant who had served in Iraq in 2004 joined the platoon stationed in Kandahar province. [Washington Post] The French Senate has approved
Read moreNews Clips – June 1, 2010
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
Read moreNews Clips – May 23, 2010
Protests continue in Thailand as Asian Centre for Human Rights decries international community’s silence and the EU Parliament and Human Rights Watch express concern over violence, emergency provisions, and censorship. The BBC has provided a detailed overview of the situation. Human Rights Watch urges new British government to reform counterterrorism strategies and investigate British agents’ complicity in torture and rendition. [HRW] Related cases decided by the
Read moreIACHR Submits Cases Involving Disappearance and Indigenous Land Rights to Inter-American Court
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced today that it will litigate two cases before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (against Argentina and Ecuador), while the press and civil society reported that a third case against the Dominican Republic will also be heard by the court. The IACHR press release states: On April 18, 2010, the IACHR filed an
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Protests and celebrations commemorate International Workers’ Day around the world. [NPR, AP] For information on international labor standards and agreements, visit the International Labour Organization’s website. Omar Khadr boycotted the second day of his Military Commission evidentiary hearings yesterday when he was required to wear sensory deprivation equipment while being transported to the courthouse [Impunity Watch] the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Read moreIACHR Admits Cases Involving Ancestral Land Rights and ‘Environmental Racism’
In its first five admissibility decisions of 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights admitted three petitions against Peru, one against Honduras, and one against the United States. The petition against Honduras concerns the rights of a Garifuna community, while the petition against the United States concerns the rights of a predominantly African American community in Mossville, Louisiana. In the
Read moreICJ Finds Uruguay Breached Procedural, but Not Substantive, Obligations in Pulp Mill Case Brought by Argentina
The International Court of Justice announced its judgment in the Case Concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay), in which it held that Uruguay had breached its obligations under the Statute of the River Uruguay to cooperate with Argentina and the Administrative Commission of the River Uruguay, as required prior to the authorization of development projects that
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