New Tools Expand Access to Inter-American Human Rights Doctrine

Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) formally announced the availability of a new online database of its decisions and other documents. [IACHR Press Release: Repository] The database, hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), is the first such tool created with the IACHR’s involvement. The new site adds to a list of recent efforts by the IACHR

Read more
civil society meets with IACHR

New Report: Civil Society Access to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The International Justice Resource Center (IJRC) has published its second report in an ongoing series examining the barriers to civil society’s engagement with supranational human rights oversight bodies. See IJRC, Civil Society Access to International Oversight Bodies: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2019). This edition analyzes the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a principal autonomous organ of the Organization

Read more

ACHPR Publishes Guidelines on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has released new principles intended to guide its Member States in implementing counter-terrorism and security measures that comply with regional and international human rights norms. As African States increasingly face real and practical challenges posed by terrorism, the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa

Read more

U.S. State Department Releases 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights

The U.S. Department of State recently released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012.  The annual reports cover nearly every country besides the United States and address various human rights topics, such as freedom of speech and press, arbitrary arrest or detention, and workers’ rights. Drawing on a variety of resources, including U.S. consular staff and civil society

Read more

UN Publishes Guide for Measuring Human Rights

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) at the end of 2012 released a new publication entitled Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to Measurement and Implementation, which is available online in English and Spanish.  The Guide supports the identification of objective indicators for measuring countries’ progress in realizing human rights and came about in response to requests

Read more

DR Congo Needs Stronger Judiciary to Fight Impunity for Int'l Crimes, Amnesty Reports

A report published by Amnesty International last week asserts that the Democratic Republic of Congo must strengthen its judicial system in order to ensure adherence to due process, hold perpetrators accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and offer justice and reparation to victims.  The Time for Justice is Now: New Strategy Needed in the Democratic Republic of the

Read more

Growing Trend of Attacks on Health Care Workers in Conflict Zones Puts Millions at Risk, Violates International Law

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a report earlier this week examining 655 incidents of violence involving medical aid in conflict zones, which the organization says is part of a wider, growing trend of attacks against medical personnel and infrastructure that is hindering the provision of emergency healthcare to communities in need and violates international humanitarian law. [AP] 

Read more

Articles and Other Commentary: July 2011

A new 100-page publication by Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, explains the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Declaration on Human Rights Defenders), the rights it protects, and how they may be implemented.  UN Special Rapporteur on the

Read more

Book Review – Preventing Irreparable Harm: Provisional Measures in International Human Rights Adjudication

Eva Rieter, Preventing Irreparable Harm: Provisional Measures in International Human Rights Adjudication (Intersentia, Antwerp, 2010, xl + 1200 pp., €129.00) ISBN 978-90-5095-931-5 (pb) This year, Eva Rieter, assistant professor in public international law and international human rights at Radboud University Nijmegen, has authored an extensive volume which is the result of years of research on provisional measures in the international

Read more