This month, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and United Nations special procedures mandate holders all took steps to expose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime’s responsibility for human rights violations and international crimes committed against the Venezuelan population. On February 8, the prosecutor of the ICC announced that she opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Venezuela. The preliminary
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On August 17, 2017, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a Reparations Order in the case of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who in September 2016, upon pleading guilty to the destruction of 10 religious and historic sites in Timbuktu, Mali, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. [ICC Press Release; IJRC] In its Reparations Order, Trial Chamber VIII of the
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On July 17, 2017, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its mid-year report on the situation of civilians in Afghanistan, revealing that the level of civilian casualties remains high. [UNAMA Press Release] UNAMA confirmed a total of 5,243 civilian casualties (1,662 deaths and 3,581 injured) from January 1 to June 30, 2017, which represents a decrease of
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In its decision of July 6, 2017, a pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held that South Africa violated its obligations under the Rome Statute by failing to comply with an ICC request to arrest and turn over to ICC custody Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on multiple counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
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Civil Society On Thursday, Turkish police arrested nine human rights activists, including Amnesty International’s Turkey director, Idli Eser. [BBC News] On Thursday, a student activist in Hong Kong pleaded guilty to a contempt of court charge related to his participation in pro-democracy protests in 2014. [Al Jazeera] On Sunday, anti-G20 summit protesters clashed with local police in Hamburg, Germany. [Guardian]
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Civil Society On Monday, courts in Russia began sentencing anti-corruption demonstrators arrested during protests led by an opposition leader. [Guardian] On Tuesday, the parliament of Hungary approved regulations requiring certain foreign-funded civil society groups to register with the government. [Al Jazeera] International Criminal Law On Thursday, the International Criminal Court unanimously affirmed its jurisdiction over the charges of war crimes
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Civil Society On Thursday, five LGBT activists in Russia were detained while trying to submit a petition, requesting an investigation into the crackdown against gay men in Chechnya. [Guardian] On Monday, Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer in China, was tried for inciting state subversion. [Guardian] This week, the President of Tunisia deployed the army to protect businesses from sit-ins,
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Civil Society On Thursday, Palestinians organized a strike, which closed down schools, institutions, and transportation, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes in Israeli jails. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, 30 people in Turkey were detained and charged with membership in an armed terror organization as a result of their ties to a newspaper that was run by a
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Civil Society On Wednesday, anti-government protesters marched in the streets of Caracas, Venezuela amid riot police while the government held counter-demonstrations. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission in Ethiopia reported 669 deaths resulting from anti-government protests in the country. [BBC News] On Saturday, a United States aid worker was released from pretrial detention in Egypt after three years.
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Civil Society This week, authorities in Chechnya, Russia initiated an anti-gay campaign that resulted in more than 100 detentions and three deaths. [Guardian] On Friday, two women’s rights activists in China, who were originally detained in 2014 for supporting pro-democracy protests, were convicted of inciting subversion of state power. [Washington Post] Thousands participated in protests in Serbia this week to
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