The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea has again called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Eritrea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for adjudication of possible crimes against humanity committed by State officials since 1991. Speaking on behalf of the former three-member commission, whose mandate ended in June 2016, Sheila Keetharuth
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The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimously held on October 20 that Croatia violated a prisoner’s right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment when it confined him in a cell measuring 2.62 square meters for 27 consecutive days. See ECtHR, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, ECHR 2016, Judgment of 20 October 2016,
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On Sunday, October 2, 2016 Colombians headed to the polls to vote on a peace agreement to end the 52-year war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas. [The Guardian: Voters] Contrary to what the polls had predicted, the peace deal referendum was rejected by a 0.4 percent margin. [The Guardian: Voters] The deal was the result of
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In response to the ongoing crisis in Burundi, the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB) presented its final report to the Human Rights Council on September 27, 2016, which documented evidence of gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the government and its affiliates. [OHCHR Press Release] UNIIB was formed in light of increasing instability in Burundi, which was prompted
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Civil Society United Nations human rights experts showed concern for the harassment, detention, and torture of six human rights activists in Sudan who now may also face the death penalty. [OHCHR Press Release] With tens of millions of workers on strike in India, 150 million people were involved in protests on Friday. [Guardian] Girls at a high school in Pretoria,
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Following a May 2016 conviction for crimes against humanity, the Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) issued an order on July 29 for Hissène Habré to pay monetary reparations to thousands of victims. The former president of Chad was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes including murder, summary executions, kidnapping, rape, and sexual slavery committed during his 1982 – 1990 rule. [Guardian] Although
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During the month of August 2016, four United Nations treaty bodies will review several States’ compliance with their treaty obligations, two regional judicial bodies in Europe and the Americas will hold public hearings, the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will discuss research and developments in the area of human rights, and two UN Special Procedures mandate holders will conduct State
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Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, recently stated that the rights to freedom of association and of assembly are hindered by racial inequality in the United States. [OHCHR Press Release] Experts on freedom of expression from both the United Nations and the Organization for
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In South Sudan, opposing armed forces backing President Kirr and Vice President Machar may have committed war crimes by attacking civilians and humanitarian personnel and facilities in recent weeks, according to UN representatives, prompting a decision by the African Union to send additional troops to join the UN peacekeeping force there. [NPR; UN News Centre: Juba; OHCHR Press Briefing] Renewed
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In a recently released opinion, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found that China has arbitrarily deprived Sandy Phan-Gillis, an American citizen, of liberty because she has been denied access to counsel and not been brought before a judicial authority. See WGAD, Communication Concerning Phan (Sandy) Phan-Gillis, Opinion No. 12/2016 (People’s Republic of China), 3 June 2015,
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