liberty & security of person – Page 14 – International Justice Resource Center

IACHR Releases Report on Grave Human Rights Situation in Mexico

March 7, 2016 IJRC enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, international human rights, torture

In a report released March 2, 2016, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Inter-American Commission) has exposed the severity of Mexico’s ongoing human rights crisis. See IACHR, Situation of Human Rights in Mexico (2015). The report relies on information gathered during onsite visits conducted by the IACHR and its rapporteurships, as well as from IACHR hearings, precautionary measures, and petitions

Human Rights Committee: Australia Violated Guantanamo Transferee’s Right to Liberty

February 23, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, European System, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, reparations, security & rule of law, U.S. courts, UN treaty bodies

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found Australia in violation of the right to liberty protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) due to its continued detention of Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks following his transfer to Australia, despite evidence that the American military proceedings against him had been unfair. See UN Human Rights Committee, Hicks v. Australia,

Increased Oppression of Chinese Human Rights Defenders Draws International Criticism

February 22, 2016 IJRC civil society, democracy & political rights, human rights defenders, international human rights, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures

Human rights monitors have expressed alarm at China’s ongoing crackdown on those critical of the government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, recently drew attention to the Chinese government’s continued oppression of human rights defenders and government critics, specifically referring to a wave of arrests and harassment of civil society actors that began after

ACHPR Publishes Guidelines on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism

February 18, 2016 IJRC African System, civil society, due process & judicial protection, human rights defenders, international human rights, liberty & security of person, publications and resources, right to life, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has released new principles intended to guide its Member States in implementing counter-terrorism and security measures that comply with regional and international human rights norms. As African States increasingly face real and practical challenges posed by terrorism, the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa

UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

February 17, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, massacres, right to life, security & rule of law, torture, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

Guatemala Prosecutes Soldiers For Sexual Slavery During Civil War

February 16, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international criminal law, international human rights, torture, women's rights

A landmark trial of former Guatemalan soldiers for crimes against humanity commenced this month before the country’s High Risk Court A (Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo A). In 2014, the State arrested and charged former Sepur Zarco base commander Lieutenant Colonel Esteelmer Reyes Giron and former military commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asij with acts of sexual violence, sexual slavery, murder, and forced

UN Working Group Holds Julian Assange Has Been Arbitrarily Detained

February 11, 2016 IJRC civil society, conditions of detention, due process & judicial protection, immigration & asylum, international human rights, UN Special Procedures

In a controversial decision, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has concluded that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s detention, house arrest, and subsequent seclusion in Ecuador’s London embassy constitute arbitrary detention which the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom should redress. [OHCHR Press Release: Assange] The independent experts’ opinion, released on February 5, 2016, finds violations of Mr. Assange’s

International Criminal Court Authorizes Investigation of 2008 Georgia-Russia Conflict

February 3, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, International Criminal Court, international human rights, international humanitarian law, military and humanitarian intervention, right to life, torture

The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in South Ossetia from July 1 to October 10, 2008 during the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia. [ICC Press Release] According to the ICC Prosecutor, between 13,400 and 18,500 ethnic Georgians were forcibly displaced and the ethnic Georgian

Reactions to Refugee Crisis May Violate States’ International Legal Obligations

November 25, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, children, discrimination, economic, social & cultural rights, European System, freedom of religion, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, international human rights, security & rule of law, torture, Universal system

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

African Court Condemns Trial in Absentia, No Legal Aid, Delayed Appeal

November 24, 2015 IJRC African System, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person

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