The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights recently delivered four judgments, including a noteworthy decision in the case of the Beneficiaries of the Late Norbert Zongo and others v. Burkina Faso. [AfCHPR] The Court rendered its decisions during its 32nd Ordinary Session, held in from March 10 to 28 at the Court’s seat in Arusha, Tanzania.
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From March 31 to April 4, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights celebrated its 50th Special Session at its headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. The Court held public hearings on three pending cases concerning forced disappearance, indigenous land rights, and torture in arbitrary detention. The Court also conducted private deliberations to prepare its judgment in a case concerning the
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The UN Human Rights Committee held its 110th session from March 10 to 28 to consider the State reports of Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and the United States of America. Following the session, the Committee released its concluding observations, detailing key concerns and recommendations for these States’ improved implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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Tensions have escalated in Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela in recent weeks as political protests have given rise to violent clashes and political upheaval. The United Nations and international human rights bodies have called upon each government to engage in meaningful dialogue to address these conflicts and develop solutions. [OHCHR; COE; UN News Centre] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that “there
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On February 20, 2014, a historic Haitian appellate court ruling opened the door to the possible prosecution of former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”) for crimes against humanity. Survivors of the Duvalier regime’s abuses and human rights activists see the decision as an important victory in their quest for justice and accountability. [UN Radio; Reuters]
Read moreThe Inter-American Court of Human Rights will hear expert and witness testimony in three pending cases concerning extrajudicial executions, convene two private hearings on States’ compliance with prior decisions, and deliberate on the merits of two cases concerning alleged criminal due process violations during its ongoing 102nd Regular Session, being held from January 27 through February 7 at its headquarters
Read moreThe European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a judgment last week upholding a British court’s grant of immunity to Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials who allegedly tortured British citizens. See ECtHR, Jones and Others v. United Kingdom, nos. 34356/06 and 40528/06, ECHR 2014, Judgment of 14 January 2014. The UK House of Lords had blocked the plaintiffs’ civil suits
Read moreFrom January 28 to 31, 2014, the United Nations’ open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Group on the revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs) will hold its Third Meeting in Brasilia, Brazil in order to continue the process of revising the SMRs. [UNODC: SMRs] The review process is intended to modernize the SMRs to reflect developments in
Read moreOver the past week, the European Court of Human Rights has held hearings in several cases relating to the “war on terror,” at the same time as the United States has forcibly repatriated two Guantanamo Bay detainees, despite their fears of persecution. The following post summarizes these developments and – in follow-up to this previous post – also surveys recent advances in other
Read moreDuring its 31st Ordinary Session, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) held public hearings in two pending cases, one involving the unsolved assassination of a prominent journalist in Burkina Faso and the other concerning alleged criminal due process violations and arbitrary detention in Tanzania. On November 28-29, the AfCHPR heard arguments on the merits in Beneficiaries of the Late
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