On August 5, in the culmination of a federal criminal trial, a jury convicted five police officers of various civil rights violations, but not murder, for having shot into a crowd of civilians fleeing New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, killing two individuals and injuring four more. [USHR Network] The Department of Justice, which prosecuted the four officers
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IACHR to Begin Hearings Today – Rights of Women, Indigenous Communities, Sexual Minorities and Human Rights Defenders on Today's Agenda
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights begins holding hearings today in its 141st Period of Sessions. The forty-four scheduled hearings will be held on March 25 (today), 28 and 29 at the OAS General Secretariat Building at 1889 F Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. and are open to the public (with the exception of two closed hearings on Venezuela). No
Read moreIACHR Takes Dominican Republic to the Inter-American Court in Guayabín Massacre Case
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced last week that it has filed an application with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Nadege Dorzema et al. v. Dominican Republic (Case No. 12.688). The case centers around the June 17, 2000 deaths and detention of a group of Haitians and one Dominican citizen at the hands of
Read moreMiddle East Protests Draw Focus to Freedom of Expression and Political Rights
In the ongoing wake of pro-democracy demonstrations that has swept through Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Yemen, Iran, Bahrain and Jordan, and which have affected other countries in the region – including Syria and Kuwait – the United Nations and human rights organizations are focusing on freedom of expression, political rights, and the role of democracy in the
Read moreNews Clips – October 25, 2010
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights begins holding hearings today in its 140th Period of Sessions. Issues to be discussed today include the Situation of Environmentalists in Mesoamerica, and Discrimination against the Transsexual, Transgender, and Transvestite Population in Brazil. See the week’s schedule of hearings here. Webcast of some hearings is available here. The role of humanitarian aid in contributing
Read moreNews Clips – October 15, 2010
The loss of leading international human rights scholar Louis Henkin is mourned, while the legal community remembers his long career dedicated to the development of international law and the protection of human rights. [Human Rights First] Moldova has ratified the Rome Statute to become the newest State Party to the International Criminal Court, bringing the total to 114. [UN] Canadian
Read moreU.S. Judge Excludes Evidence Obtained through Torture in New York Trial of Former GITMO Detainee Ahmed Ghailani
Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled today that the federal government could not use the testimony of a reportedly key witness in the prosecution’s case against former Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Ghailani, who is on trial for his suspected involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Read moreNews Clips – through Sept. 14, 2010
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Syria welcomes its first visit from a UN special rapporteur, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a showing of increased participation with the UN Human Rights Council’s monitoring mechanisms, including its upcoming Universal Periodic Review. [The National; OHCHR] The Special Rapporteur estimates that 2 to 3 million people face food insecurity in
Read moreNinth Circuit Dismisses Rendition Lawsuit against Boeing Subsidiary, Granting Government’s Invocation of State Secrets Privilege
On September 8, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a civil suit filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act by five extraordinary rendition victims against a Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. for its role in their rendition. [Amnesty International USA ; ACLU] The federal government intervened in the suit, arguing that
Read moreNews Clips – July 18, 2010
Argentina legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the second country in the Western Hemisphere to do so. [Washington Post] The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC has issued a second arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Al Bashir, who is wanted to face charges of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The first warrant was based on charges of war
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