On December 4, 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its judgment in the case of Zakharov v. Russia, concerning the compatibility of Russia’s secret surveillance of mobile phone communications with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. See ECtHR, Zakharov v. Russia [GC], no. 47143/06, Judgment of 4 December 2015. The case was
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In November 2015, representatives of African and European intergovernmental organizations and civil society gathered in Rwanda for the 11th African Union – European Union (AU-EU) Human Rights Dialogue, a platform for sharing experiences concerning human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Participants in the Human Rights Dialogue, which was held in Kigali on November 24, 2015, included the Hon.
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On December 1, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression by blocking access to YouTube, a widely-used video platform, from May 2008 to October 2010. See ECtHR, Cengiz and Others v. Turkey, nos. 48226/10 and 14027/11, Judgment of 1 December 2015 (available only in French). The application was lodged
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On November 18, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published a new report analyzing regional human rights standards on gender equality and women’s rights, as well as their implementation by domestic judiciaries. [IACHR Press Release] The publication, Legal Standards: Gender Equality and Women’s Rights, updates a 2011 publication with references to norms and interpretations developed through 2014. Its
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All of us at the International Justice Resource Center wish our readers, clients, partners, and supporters a very happy Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day commemorates and celebrates the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world’s first universal human rights instrument. In 1950, the United Nations established Human Rights Day to increase awareness and appreciation of these
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A new international agreement on modern slavery will enter into force in 2016, following ratifications by Niger and Norway. [UN News Centre] The Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 updates a 1930 treaty, including by addressing the increase of forced labor in the private sector and the vulnerabilities of workers in specific industries and at-risk groups, such
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The ongoing civil war in Syria has uprooted more than in 4.2 million Syrian refugees and 7.6 million internally displaced persons, and these numbers are predicted to increase. [UNHCR Press Release] A survey of individuals at a UNHCR refugee camp in Turkey revealed that more than half of them left Syria because it is too dangerous to stay, often noting
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On November 20, 2015, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) issued its judgment in the case of Alex Thomas v. Tanzania, which concerned a complaint brought by a man serving a mandatory minimum thirty-year prison sentence for armed robbery. He alleged that the Tanzanian courts had violated his due process rights by trying him in absentia and by
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During its most recent session, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) welcomed two new commissioners; examined four States’ human rights records; heard activity reports from its special mechanisms; and focused particular attention on the rights of women, implementation of ACHPR decisions, its relationship with non-governmental organizations and with national human rights institutions, and the intersections between international humanitarian law
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Amid an ongoing human rights and political crisis in which hundreds have lost their lives, civil society and human rights bodies are calling on Burundian authorities to avoid inciting violence, put a stop to attacks against advocates and journalists, and cooperate with monitoring efforts. On November 12, 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution condemning the
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