Last week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published a report on the human rights situation in Jamaica. IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Jamaica (2012). The report is the first of the IACHR’s country reports to focus on Jamaica, and is a result of monitoring activities carried out in recent years, including a country visit in 2008,
Read moreCategory: regional human rights protection
Developments in Sri Lanka, Honduras Cause Concern for Judicial Independence
Recent developments in Honduras and Sri Lanka have caused concern among civil society and human rights monitoring bodies for the judiciary’s independence in those countries. In Honduras, the National Congress removed four of the five justices who sit on the Constitutional Chamber of the nation’s Supreme Court. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Honduran Congress ousted the justices due to their
Read moreEuropean Committee of Social Rights Considers Labor Rights, Social Assistance, Access to Abortion and Environmental Contamination Complaints in 261st Session
The European Committee of Social Rights held its 261st Session from December 3 to 7, 2012 to consider seventeen collective complaints and examine States’ reports on their implementation of various articles of the European Social Charter. The European Committee of Social Rights, which typically meets seven times annually, is tasked with monitoring State compliance with the European Social Charter. Adopted in 1961 and revised in
Read moreUnderstanding the IACHR Reform Process
Overview In March 2013, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) plans to hold a special session in which it will consider and potentially adopt a series of controversial proposals for reforming the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“Commission” or “IACHR”). The adoption of the proposals will mark the culmination of a nearly two-year process that began
Read moreAfrican Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Issues First General Comments, on Women's Health and HIV
During its 52nd Ordinary Session, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) adopted its first General Comments on any of its legal instruments‘ meaning. The General Comments pertain to Article 14(1)(d) and (e) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (commonly referred to as the Maputo Protocol), recognizing
Read moreNovember 19 Deadline for Civil Society Participation in OAS Dialogue on Reforms to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
On December 7, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold two Extraordinary Sessions with civil society and users of the Inter-American Human Rights System to discuss proposed, controversial reforms to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights‘ mandate and procedures. The sessions will be held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC and will be preceded by a
Read moreIn Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia, ECHR Finds Violation of Right to Education
On October 19, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of Catan and Others v. Moldova and Russia, nos. 43370/04, 8252/05, and 18454/06. The case concerned Moldovan nationals living in the Moldovan Republic of Transdniestria (MRT), a separatist entity that split from the Republic of Moldova in 1990 but that has not
Read moreSouth African Development Community Tribunal to Lose its Human Rights Mandate
At the close of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit held in August, 2012 in Maputo, Mozambique, SADC issued a final meeting communiqué. While much of the communiqué was unremarkable, tucked away towards the end was a short paragraph stating: …a new Protocol on the [SADC] Tribunal should be negotiated and that its mandate should be confined to interpretation
Read moreThe Gambia Suspends Executions after International Outcry
President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia announced on September 15 that he will be suspending further executions of death row inmates. [BBC] In August, President Jammeh had unexpectedly announced all of the remaining forty-eight prisoners on death row would be executed by September, ending the country’s over twenty-five year old moratorium on executions. [BBC] The following Sunday, nine prisoners were executed
Read more
In El Haski v. Belgium, ECHR Finds Fair Trial Violation where 'Real Risk' that Evidence Was Obtained through Torture by Other States
Last Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights held in El Haski v. Belgium, no. 649/08, Judgment of 25 September 2012, that Belgium should have excluded evidence where there was a real risk that the evidence had been obtained through torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. ECtHR, El Haski v. Belgium, no. 649/08, Judgment of 25 September 2012 (available in French only). The Court
Read more