Category: liberty & security of person

August 2016: Four UN Treaty Bodies, Inter-American Court in Session

enforced disappearance, European System, Inter-American System, international human rights, migrants, monthly overview, persons with disabilities, regional human rights protection, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, Universal system, women's rights

During the month of August 2016, four United Nations treaty bodies will review several States’ compliance with their treaty obligations, two regional judicial bodies in Europe and the Americas will hold public hearings, the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will discuss research and developments in the area of human rights, and two UN Special Procedures mandate holders will conduct State

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Attacks on South Sudanese Civilians, Humanitarian Workers Prompt International Response

African System, armed conflict, children, extrajudicial executions, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, military and humanitarian intervention, property, regional human rights protection, right to life, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

In South Sudan, opposing armed forces backing President Kirr and Vice President Machar may have committed war crimes by attacking civilians and humanitarian personnel and facilities in recent weeks, according to UN representatives, prompting a decision by the African Union to send additional troops to join the UN peacekeeping force there. [NPR; UN News Centre: Juba; OHCHR Press Briefing] Renewed

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UN Working Group Finds China Is Arbitrarily Detaining American Citizen

due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, torture, UN Special Procedures

In a recently released opinion, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found that China has arbitrarily deprived Sandy Phan-Gillis, an American citizen, of liberty because she has been denied access to counsel and not been brought before a judicial authority. See WGAD, Communication Concerning Phan (Sandy) Phan-Gillis, Opinion No. 12/2016 (People’s Republic of China), 3 June 2015,

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ECtHR: States Must Recognize Equal Eligibility, Vulnerability of LGBT Migrants

discrimination, European System, family, immigration & asylum, international human rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, regional human rights protection

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found violations of the rights to non-discrimination and liberty in two recent cases involving applicants who identify as homosexual. In Taddeucci and McCall v. Italy, the ECtHR held Italy’s rejection of a family-based residence permit for an Italian man’s same-sex partner amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation because while same-sex

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ACHPR Finds Botswana’s Secret Hanging of Prisoner Was Cruel Treatment

African System, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, interim measures, international human rights, progressive development of law

A recent case involving capital punishment in Botswana required the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to consider the adequacy of appointed counsel and clemency procedures, hanging as a method of execution, the death row phenomenon, and whether notice is required prior to imposition of the death penalty. See ACommHPR, Interights & Ditshwanelo v. Botswana, Communication No. 319/06,

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