liberty & security of person – Page 18 – International Justice Resource Center

African Commission Addresses Torture of Human Rights Defenders in Sudan

April 6, 2015 IJRC African System, democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, health, human rights defenders, international human rights, labor rights, liberty & security of person, thought, expression & association

On March 10, 2015, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights published a decision condemning Sudan’s mistreatment of human rights defenders, which remains a pressing concern in the country. In the case of Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman v. Sudan, the African Commission held that the government of Sudan violated several articles of the African Charter on

UN Human Rights Committee Reviews 6 States’ Civil and Political Rights Records

March 30, 2015 IJRC children, civil society, conditions of detention, democracy & political rights, discrimination, freedom of religion, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, international human rights, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, labor rights, LGBTI rights, persons with disabilities, privacy, thought, expression & association, torture, UN treaty bodies, women's rights

The UN Human Rights Committee is holding its 113th session from March 16 to April 2, to consider the State reports of Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Monaco, and Russia on their implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). During the session, representatives from each State will engage in a dialogue with members of the Human

African Commission to Review Eight States’ Human Rights Records

March 25, 2015 IJRC African System, civil society, conditions of detention, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, international human rights, judicial independence, liberty & security of person, persons with disabilities, reproductive and sexual rights, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, women's rights

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) will open its 56th Ordinary Session on April 21, 2015 in Banjul, the Gambia. During this session, which continues through May 7, the Commission’s agenda includes discussion of the human rights situation in Africa, consideration of State reports, and hearing activity reports from members of the Commission and its special mechanisms. This

Inter-American Commission to Hold 55 Human Rights Hearings in March

March 11, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, children, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international human rights, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, labor rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, persons with disabilities, property, reparations, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, transitional justice, women's rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is holding its 154th regular session from March 13 to 27, 2015 at IACHR headquarters in Washington, D.C. The agenda includes public hearings on March 16, 17, 19 and 20. [IACHR Press Release] The hearings allow both States and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide the IACHR with information and context on 55 human

UN Human Rights Experts Summarize Recent Complaints against States

March 10, 2015 IJRC death penalty, international human rights, liberty & security of person, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures

On February 19, 2015, the special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council submitted to the Human Rights Council a joint report summarizing all communications concerning alleged human rights abuses that the special procedures sent to States between June and November 2014, as well as State replies to these communications received from August 2014 through January 2015. See Human

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Holds 107th Session

February 19, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, children, conditions of detention, democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, interim measures, massacres, property, thought, expression & association

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) convened its 107th regular session from January 26 to February 6, 2015 in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Court held hearings concerning five pending cases, provisional measures regarding Venezuelan prisons, and States’ compliance with four previous judgments. [IACtHR Press Release (Spanish)] Public hearings were held on the following pending cases: Rural Community of Santa Barbara

Former Guatemalan Police Chief Convicted for Spanish Embassy Siege

January 22, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international criminal law, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, universal jurisdiction

On January 19, a Guatemalan court found Pedro García Arredondo, a former police chief, guilty of murder and crimes against humanity for his role in authorities’ attack on the Spanish embassy in Guatemala City in 1980. In this attack, 37 protesters burned to death when the Spanish embassy building caught fire and García Arredondo ordered the building to be sealed

A witness testifies during Rios Montt's first genocide trial.Credit: Elena Hermosa/Trocair

Guatemalan Court Suspends Genocide Retrial of Former Dictator

January 8, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, Inter-American System, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, massacres, torture, UN treaty bodies

The retrial of former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt reopened on January 5, 2015, but was quickly suspended. [La Prensa; BBC] Charged with committing genocide and crimes against humanity against indigenous Ixil Maya of the Quiché region, the 88-year-old ex-army general is allegedly responsible for 15 massacres carried out against indigenous Mayans during his rule from 1982 to 1983,

The U.S. appears before the Committee Against Torture

Human Rights Experts Call for Prosecution, Reparations in Wake of U.S. Torture Report

December 16, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person, reparations, security & rule of law, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, universal jurisdiction

On Tuesday, December 9, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Intelligence Committee) published a report detailing the “abuses and countless mistakes” of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) detention and interrogation program in the years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. See Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program:

Extraordinary Rendition Victim Seeks Reconsideration from ACHPR in Djibouti Complaint

December 5, 2014 IJRC African System, due process & judicial protection, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, Uncategorized

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has rejected a complaint concerning Djibouti’s alleged involvement in the extraordinary rendition and mistreatment of a Yemeni national, in an inadmissibility decision released last month. See ACommHPR, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Al-Asad v. Djibouti, Communication No. 383/2010, 55th Ordinary Session, 14 October 2014. The Commission held that evidence pointing to the wrongful detention of Mohammed Abdullah