liberty & security of person – Page 13 – International Justice Resource Center

AfCHPR: Gaddafi’s Son’s Rights Violated by Secret Detention in Libya

June 22, 2016 IJRC African System, due process & judicial protection, International Criminal Court, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) has held that Libya violated the rights to liberty and fair trial by holding Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, in secret detention since 2011. See AfCHPR, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Libya, App. No. 002/2013, Judgment of 3 June 2016. These breaches, the Court

News Clips- June 17, 2016

June 17, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, children, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, discrimination, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, ICTY, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, labor rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, military and humanitarian intervention, regional human rights protection, right to life, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) heard from civil society organizations on adherence to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the United Kingdom, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Angola. [OHCHR Press Release] As the French government debated a new labor bill that would ease restrictions on

OHCHR: Restricted Movement, Torture, Disappearances Ongoing in Ukraine Conflict

June 14, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

A recent report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shows that human rights conditions in eastern Ukraine remain precarious two years after the outbreak of conflict there, in view of recent violence in the Donetsk region, increasing militarization near the front line, and continuing rights abuses by both sides in the battle between

Argentine Court Convicts Former Dictator for Conspiracy in Operation Condor

June 7, 2016 IJRC domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, Inter-American System, international criminal law, liberty & security of person, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture

An Argentine court has convicted and sentenced former dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other former Argentine military officers of crimes against humanity for their roles in Operation Condor, a transnational conspiracy behind the kidnapping, torture, killing, and forced disappearance of hundreds of political dissidents during the 1970s and 1980s. [NYT; CIJ] Bignone was convicted of participating in an illicit association,

Deterioration of Rights Environment in Turkey Violates International Obligations

May 16, 2016 IJRC conditions of detention, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, enforced disappearance, European System, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, international human rights, migrants, right to life, thought, expression & association, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

Human rights experts and civil society groups have issued repeated calls for Turkey to address the ongoing deterioration of the rights environment in the country amidst a failed Kurdish peace process, a sharp escalation of violent anti-terrorism operations, border guards’ attacks against Syrian refugees, and a severe crackdown on journalists and political dissidents. [Washington Post; CPJ] In a statement delivered

Documentation, Local Prosecutions Advance Accountability for War Crimes in Syria

May 12, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, civil society, domestic courts, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, internationalized criminal tribunals, right to life, torture

Germany recently began its first prosecution for alleged war crimes in Syria, joining the several States and private actors seeking accountability for atrocities committed in the ongoing conflict in Syria. [The New Arab] Despite the lack of a final peace agreement, human rights experts are encouraging State governments to take steps to bring to justice those responsible for war crimes

ECtHR: Failure to Provide Psychiatric Treatment Rendered Life Sentence Irreducible

May 4, 2016 IJRC European System, international human rights, liberty & security of person, regional human rights protection

On April 26, 2016, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that a life sentence was de facto irreducible because the applicant was denied medical treatment that could have positively affected his pardon requests and, consequently, held that the Netherlands violated the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under Article 3 of

May 2016: Human Rights Bodies’ Sessions, Hearings, and Country Visits

May 2, 2016 IJRC children, corporate accountability, cultural rights, discrimination, economic, social & cultural rights, European System, health, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, international human rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, monthly overview, regional human rights protection, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review, women's rights

During the month of May 2016, supranational human rights bodies’ activities will include review of dozens of States’ compliance with their treaty obligations, public hearings on individual complaints, and 11 country visits. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will hear a Finnish case concerning the tension between privacy and freedom of expression and a Belgian case

Gambia Criticized for Most Recent Detentions, Mistreatment of Protesters

April 27, 2016 IJRC international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, torture

Human rights monitors have criticized Gambian authorities’ detention and alleged torture of political protesters, including the reported death in custody of a political opposition leader, as the international community pays closer attention to a government known to carry out extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests. [okayafrica; HRW] The Gambian government has charged protestors associated with the opposition party with

Rwanda Withdraws Access to African Court for Individuals and NGOs

March 14, 2016 IJRC African System, civil society, democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, transitional justice

The government of Rwanda has announced it will no longer allow individuals and non-governmental organizations to directly file complaints against it with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR). [Ministry of Justice Press Release] The decision comes as the African Court is set to decide a claim against Rwanda by a leading opposition politician, Victoire Ingabire, who alleges