In a recently released General Comment, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) stated that States parties have an obligation to protect, respect, and fulfill rights implicated by the activities of businesses based in their territory, even when those businesses are operating abroad, to stay in compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Read more
Civil Society On Tuesday, Amnesty International joined a boycott protesting the mandatory reporting rules for foreign-funded groups recently put into force in Hungary. [Washington Post] On Monday, Mexican reporter Salvador Adame was found dead in Mexico; seven journalists have been murdered in the country this year. [Guardian] Over the weekend, police forces in Istanbul, Turkey detained 44 people attending LGBT
Read more
Civil Society On Thursday, several civil society organizations urged for the prompt and independent investigation into the “barrage of assaults and threats” against human rights lawyers in Pakistan. [ICJ] On Saturday, thousands of protesters in Madrid, Spain marched to demand that the government fulfill its pledge to take in 17,000 refugees. [Al Jazeera] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, the
Read more
Civil Society On Monday, courts in Russia began sentencing anti-corruption demonstrators arrested during protests led by an opposition leader. [Guardian] On Tuesday, the parliament of Hungary approved regulations requiring certain foreign-funded civil society groups to register with the government. [Al Jazeera] International Criminal Law On Thursday, the International Criminal Court unanimously affirmed its jurisdiction over the charges of war crimes
Read more
Civil Society On Wednesday, a court in Bahrain ordered the dissolution of the last major opposition group in the country. [Washington Post] This week, it was reported that labor activists investigating alleged abuses at a Chinese factory producing Ivanka Trump shoes were detained or missing. [Guardian] On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians protested Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza
Read more
The United Nations Human Rights Committee recently found that Canada must consider the evidence on widespread gang violence, including the targeting of witnesses, in El Salvador when considering a man’s claim that his removal from Canada to El Salvador would expose him to gang violence and irreparable harm; the Committee concluded that the State violated the rights to life and prohibition
Read more
Civil Society On Wednesday, after eight weeks of protests, the death toll in Venezuela rose to 56 people. [LA Times] On Wednesday, anti-government protesters in Brazil set fire to a ministry building, and in response, President Michel Temer gave the army policing power to restore order. [Reuters] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a bombing in Somalia, claimed by al-Shabaab,
Read more
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) – an international, non-governmental organization of judges and lawyers – recently made public the final version of its Principles on the Role of Judges and Lawyers in relation to Refugees and Migrants (the Principles), which provide guidance to judges, lawyers, legislators, and other government officials in securing the human rights of migrants and refugees.
Read more
Civil Society On Thursday, five LGBT activists in Russia were detained while trying to submit a petition, requesting an investigation into the crackdown against gay men in Chechnya. [Guardian] On Monday, Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer in China, was tried for inciting state subversion. [Guardian] This week, the President of Tunisia deployed the army to protect businesses from sit-ins,
Read more
Civil Society Hundreds of people protested in Belarus on Monday in opposition to the current government, despite officials banning the demonstration. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, an estimated 2,000 students demonstrated outside of the West Rand campus in Johannesburg, South Africa in protest of alleged nepotism, racism, and intimidation tactics on campus. [IOL] On Monday, May Day marches took place all
Read more