liberty & security of person – Page 26 – International Justice Resource Center

ECHR to Review El-Masri Case against Macedonia; U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Mahrer Arar's Claim against U.S.

June 15, 2010 IJRC European System, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, torture, U.S. courts

Two high profile cases of extraordinary rendition and torture in the ‘war on terror’ were back in the news today when one advanced procedurally before the European Court of Human Rights and the other reached the end of road before U.S. courts. The Open Society Justice Initiative announced today that its application on behalf of Khaled El-Masri will be considered

U.S. Publishes Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

June 15, 2010 IJRC crime & impunity, European System, immigration & asylum, labor rights, liberty & security of person

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State put out its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This year, for the first time, the report includes a section on the United States; however, it was given the highest rating (complete compliance with the standards set in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)). In the words of Secretary Clinton, “This human rights abuse

Lori Berenson Released from Peruvian Prison Six Years after Sentence Upheld by Inter-American Court

June 13, 2010 IJRC domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law

American citizen Lori Berenson has been paroled from Peruvian prison for the remaining five years of her 20-year sentence, stirring the animosity of those who believe she participated in terrorist activity during Peru’s decades-long struggle between government forces and militant leftist groups. [El Pais, Reuters] After being arrested in 1995, she was convicted—first before the discredited Peruvian military tribunals and

News Clips – May 23, 2010

May 23, 2010 IJRC civil litigation, discrimination, domestic courts, environmental rights, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, internationalized criminal tribunals, security & rule of law, torture, U.S. courts, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Protests continue in Thailand as Asian Centre for Human Rights decries international community’s silence and the EU Parliament and Human Rights Watch express concern over violence, emergency provisions, and censorship. The BBC has provided a detailed overview of the situation. Human Rights Watch urges new British government to reform counterterrorism strategies and investigate British agents’ complicity in torture and rendition. [HRW] Related cases decided by the

UN Announces Legal Aid Fund for Iraqi Detainees

April 28, 2010 IJRC domestic courts, security & rule of law, torture, Universal system

The United Nations announced today that, since late last year, 20 legal defense centers have been providing free legal assistance to Iraqi detainees to help them defend themselves in criminal proceedings. The Programme for the Protection of Detainees and Torture Victims, funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), is operating in

IACHR Admits Cases Involving Ancestral Land Rights and ‘Environmental Racism’

April 28, 2010 IJRC economic, social & cultural rights, environmental rights, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, property, right to life, security & rule of law, torture

In its first five admissibility decisions of 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights admitted three petitions against Peru, one against Honduras, and one against the United States. The petition against Honduras concerns the rights of a Garifuna community, while the petition against the United States concerns the rights of a predominantly African American community in Mossville, Louisiana. In the

New IACHR Report on Captive Indigenous Communities in Bolivia

April 20, 2010 IJRC indigenous communities, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person

Today, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a new publication, entitled Captive Communities: Situation of the Guaraní Indigenous People and Contemporary Forms of Slavery in the Bolivian Chaco, which focuses on the plight of Guaraní communities subjected to debt bondage and forced labor on private estates in the Chaco region of Bolivia. The findings are based in part on

Argentine Officer Sentenced to 15 Years for Dirty War Abuses

April 13, 2010 IJRC domestic courts, international criminal law, liberty & security of person, right to life

Former army intelligence officer Horacio Barcos was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Tribunal Oral Federal in Santa Fe, Argentina on Monday in the culmination of his prosecution for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Dirty War, presided over by Jorge Rafael Videla‘s military dictatorship. Barcos was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the crimes of illegal

Judge Orders Release of Guantanamo Detainee Mohamedou Slahi

April 9, 2010 IJRC liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, U.S. courts

Today, the ACLU made available on its website D.C. District Court Judge James Robertson’s order granting Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (here). The decision, handed down on March 22, was under seal pending release of an unclassified version. Judge Robertson’s decision comes over eight years after Slahi’s initial detention in Senegal in November

D.C. District Court Dismisses as Moot 105 Habeas Petitions of Transferred Guantanamo Detainees

April 3, 2010 IJRC liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, U.S. courts

On April 1st, in its consideration of 105 habeas petitions presented by non-U.S. citizens formerly held at Guantanamo, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia held that such petitions become moot when the individuals have been transferred to foreign countries. The petitioners had filed their habeas petitions while still detained at Guantanamo and, following their release or transfer