On Monday, the Philippine Senate ratified the International Labor Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention (DWC), paving the way for the DWC to enter into legal force next year. The Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers (No. 189), is the first international treaty to address the specific vulnerabilities and rights of the estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide, most of
Read moreThe Center for Justice and International Law [CEJIL] has released a documentary on the plight of indigenous Miskito fisherman divers along the Caribbean coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua, where inadequate work safety protections, medical treatment, and compensation for injuries suffered in this increasingly-dangerous occupation have left many families in desperate situations. CEJIL and local organizations have presented a petition to the
Read moreThe Inter-American Commission on Human Rights begins holding hearings today in its 141st Period of Sessions. The forty-four scheduled hearings will be held on March 25 (today), 28 and 29 at the OAS General Secretariat Building at 1889 F Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. and are open to the public (with the exception of two closed hearings on Venezuela). No
Read moreToday in the United States, the life and work of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are commemorated. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929 and in the years prior to his assassination in 1968, Dr. King was a leading figure in the non-violent struggle to gain respect for the civil rights of African Americans across the United
Read moreThe Inter-American Commission on Human Rights begins holding hearings today in its 140th Period of Sessions. Issues to be discussed today include the Situation of Environmentalists in Mesoamerica, and Discrimination against the Transsexual, Transgender, and Transvestite Population in Brazil. See the week’s schedule of hearings here. Webcast of some hearings is available here. The role of humanitarian aid in contributing
Read moreArgentina legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the second country in the Western Hemisphere to do so. [Washington Post] The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC has issued a second arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Al Bashir, who is wanted to face charges of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The first warrant was based on charges of war
Read moreYesterday, the U.S. Department of State put out its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This year, for the first time, the report includes a section on the United States; however, it was given the highest rating (complete compliance with the standards set in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)). In the words of Secretary Clinton, “This human rights abuse
Read moreToday the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced that it filed two applications with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The first, against the State of Ecuador, has to do with an individual who died after failing to receive adequate medical treatment while in detention. The second, against the State of Peru, involves judicial protection against the retroactive elimination of
Read more