torture – Page 7 – International Justice Resource Center

July 2016: UN and European Bodies Meet, IACHR Session Canceled

July 5, 2016 IJRC assembly and association, civil society, economic, social & cultural rights, European System, Inter-American System, labor rights, monthly overview, persons with disabilities, torture, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, women's rights

During July 2016, the European Committee of Social Rights and the United Nations human rights treaty bodies focused on civil and political rights, discrimination against women, and torture will convene to review States’ compliance with their treaty obligations. Additionally, the UN experts on freedom of assembly and association and on the rights of persons with disabilities will carry out country visits

OHCHR: Restricted Movement, Torture, Disappearances Ongoing in Ukraine Conflict

June 14, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

A recent report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shows that human rights conditions in eastern Ukraine remain precarious two years after the outbreak of conflict there, in view of recent violence in the Donetsk region, increasing militarization near the front line, and continuing rights abuses by both sides in the battle between

Argentine Court Convicts Former Dictator for Conspiracy in Operation Condor

June 7, 2016 IJRC domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, Inter-American System, international criminal law, liberty & security of person, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture

An Argentine court has convicted and sentenced former dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other former Argentine military officers of crimes against humanity for their roles in Operation Condor, a transnational conspiracy behind the kidnapping, torture, killing, and forced disappearance of hundreds of political dissidents during the 1970s and 1980s. [NYT; CIJ] Bignone was convicted of participating in an illicit association,

Documentation, Local Prosecutions Advance Accountability for War Crimes in Syria

May 12, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, civil society, domestic courts, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, internationalized criminal tribunals, right to life, torture

Germany recently began its first prosecution for alleged war crimes in Syria, joining the several States and private actors seeking accountability for atrocities committed in the ongoing conflict in Syria. [The New Arab] Despite the lack of a final peace agreement, human rights experts are encouraging State governments to take steps to bring to justice those responsible for war crimes

Gambia Criticized for Most Recent Detentions, Mistreatment of Protesters

April 27, 2016 IJRC international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, torture

Human rights monitors have criticized Gambian authorities’ detention and alleged torture of political protesters, including the reported death in custody of a political opposition leader, as the international community pays closer attention to a government known to carry out extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests. [okayafrica; HRW] The Gambian government has charged protestors associated with the opposition party with

IACHR Releases Report on Grave Human Rights Situation in Mexico

March 7, 2016 IJRC enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, international human rights, torture

In a report released March 2, 2016, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Inter-American Commission) has exposed the severity of Mexico’s ongoing human rights crisis. See IACHR, Situation of Human Rights in Mexico (2015). The report relies on information gathered during onsite visits conducted by the IACHR and its rapporteurships, as well as from IACHR hearings, precautionary measures, and petitions

Increased Oppression of Chinese Human Rights Defenders Draws International Criticism

February 22, 2016 IJRC civil society, democracy & political rights, human rights defenders, international human rights, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures

Human rights monitors have expressed alarm at China’s ongoing crackdown on those critical of the government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, recently drew attention to the Chinese government’s continued oppression of human rights defenders and government critics, specifically referring to a wave of arrests and harassment of civil society actors that began after

UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

February 17, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, massacres, right to life, security & rule of law, torture, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

Guatemala Prosecutes Soldiers For Sexual Slavery During Civil War

February 16, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international criminal law, international human rights, torture, women's rights

A landmark trial of former Guatemalan soldiers for crimes against humanity commenced this month before the country’s High Risk Court A (Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo A). In 2014, the State arrested and charged former Sepur Zarco base commander Lieutenant Colonel Esteelmer Reyes Giron and former military commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asij with acts of sexual violence, sexual slavery, murder, and forced

International Criminal Court Authorizes Investigation of 2008 Georgia-Russia Conflict

February 3, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, International Criminal Court, international human rights, international humanitarian law, military and humanitarian intervention, right to life, torture

The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in South Ossetia from July 1 to October 10, 2008 during the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia. [ICC Press Release] According to the ICC Prosecutor, between 13,400 and 18,500 ethnic Georgians were forcibly displaced and the ethnic Georgian