In its first judgment to independently analyze the human right to a healthy environment, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has held Argentina responsible for violating Indigenous communities’ human rights through its failure to recognize and protect their lands. [IACtHR Press Release] In Indigenous Communities of the Lhaka Honhat Association (Our Land) v. Argentina, the Court considered allegations by
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In a controversial new judgment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found that Slovenia did not violate its positive obligation to provide access to drinking water and sanitation for Roma communities living in informal settlements. [ECtHR Press Release] In Hudorovič and Others v. Slovenia, a group of Slovenian nationals of Roma origin alleged that the Slovenian government failed
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In its first decision regarding obstetric violence, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) has found that Spain violated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) when domestic courts did not adequately assess a woman’s claims that she had been subjected to excessive and unnecessary exams, medication, and other interventions
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Various supranational human rights bodies have cancelled or limited meetings in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assessment of the global risk posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the increasing number of travel restrictions imposed by national governments. [NGO CSW; HRC Bureau Meeting; WHO Press Release: Feb 28] Civil society’s participation has been hardest hit, most notably by the
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A new United Nations report on the right to education in Iraq concludes that, two years after the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), many children and young adults remain unable to access secondary education because of difficulties obtaining the necessary documents, restrictions on travel within the country, and limited or inadequate educational programs. [UN
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In a new decision, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) assessed Finland’s lower level of childcare coverage for families with one parent who is unemployed or on parental leave, and found that the difference in treatment was discriminatory and violated the children’s and parents’ rights to social protection under the Revised European Social Charter. [ECSR Press Release] Finland’s 2016
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A new report synthesizes and elaborates on Organization of American States (OAS) Member States’ obligations with regard to human rights affected by business activity, and assesses their current status in the Americas. See IACHR, Empresas y Derechos Humanos: Estándares Interamericanos (2020) [Spanish only]. The Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (known by its Spanish acronym REDESCA) of
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In February, universal and regional human rights bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through the consideration of State and civil society reports and country visits. Four United Nations treaty bodies and one pre-sessional working group will be in session to assess States’ progress regarding children’s rights, women’s rights, the prevention of torture, and economic,
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has published a report on corruption and human rights with the goal of analyzing corruption in the Americas from a human rights perspective, and highlighting the relevant human rights standards at play. [IACHR Press Release (Spanish)] The report from the region’s principal human rights oversight body examines the factual situation and provides an
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In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances has laid out 15 principles to guide States and businesses in preventing and remedying workers’ exposure to toxics. [OHCHR Press Release] In September 2019, the Special Rapporteur, Baskut Tuncak, presented the principles to the UN Human Rights Council, which adopted a resolution calling on States
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