ECtHR: Mandatory Co-ed Swim Class Does Not Violate Religious Freedom

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimously held last week that requiring two Muslim girls below the age of puberty to participate in a school’s compulsory mixed gender swim class did not violate their parents’ right to religious freedom under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). See ECtHR, Osmanoǧlu and Kocabaş v. Switzerland, no.

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Inter-American Commission Finds Undocumented Migrants Entitled to Workplace Protections

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently released a decision vindicating the rights of two undocumented workers in the United States whose employers denied them medical benefits and wage replacement after they were injured on the job, in a context of domestic jurisprudence and policy limiting labor protections for undocumented migrants. See IACHR, Merits Report No. 50/16, Case 12.834,

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IACtHR Holds Bolivia Responsible for Forced Sterilization in Landmark Judgment

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) examined for the first time the issue of informed consent to medical treatment and forced sterilization, in its judgment in I.V. v. Bolivia, released last week. [IACtHR Press Release (in Spanish)] The case involves a Peruvian refugee who was sterilized by a tubal ligation performed without her informed consent in a Bolivian public

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New Clips – December 31, 2016

Civil Society In Argentina this week, human rights advocate Milagro Sala, and other members of the organization Tupac Amaru, were sentenced to 2-3 years probation, or suspended prison, for “aggravated damage” after participating in a protest. [Telesur] A United Nations agency condemned the murder of journalist, Larry Que, of the Phillippines, and called for an investigation into the death as

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East African Court Dismisses Property Rights Case, Critiques Burundi’s Judiciary

In a judgment adopted on December 2, 2016, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) did not find violations of the principle of the rule of law or of the right to property due to insufficient evidence provided by the complainant, but did analyze the conduct of Burundian courts and its own jurisdiction to review their decisions. See East African

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