Santiago Canton tweeted earlier this week that the first witness to use the Legal Assistance Fund would be testifying before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during its current period of sessions. The witness appeared to provide testimony in a case involving the plight of the Buzos Miskitos, indigenous fishermen divers who work in dangerous conditions in a remote area
Read moreCategory: regional human rights protection
IACHR Hearings – Thursday, October 27
On Thursday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hold hearings on a range of human rights topics and cases. Hearings to be held in the Padilha Vidal Room (webcast here) will address: various topics concerning Colombia (violence against women, peasant land control, labor unions, and the general human rights situation), rights to territory and self-governance of the indigenous peoples in
Read moreIACHR, ACHPR, HRC, UNGA in Session this Week
In Geneva, the 103rd Session of the Human Rights Committee (the treaty body charged with monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) is underway; it will examine the compliance of Jamaica, Kuwait, Norway, Iran, Malawi (no report submitted), and convene Country Task Forces regarding Armenia, Lithuania, Kenya, Cape Verde (no report submitted), Uruguay, Cameroon, Monaco, Denmark,
Read moreCampaign 501: Become 1 of 501 to Support IJRC's Efforts to Empower Rights Defenders
To celebrate its launch as a public charity, IJRC is conducting Campaign 501 to gain 501 supporters over the next 50 days, ending December 10 (Human Rights Day). Please make a contribution today; no amount is too small. Every dollar raised will help us inform, advise and support human rights defenders. The International Justice Resource Center (ijrcenter.org) is a new non-profit focused on empowering social justice
Read moreRead 'IJRC Daily': Human Rights Headlines in Newspaper Form on Paper.li
IJRC is now publishing an online newspaper, IJRC Daily, on Paper.li. The paper will be published twice daily and contains human rights news stories curated by IJRC, in addition to posts from the News Room. The paper features sections on society, politics, world news, education, the environment, #humanrights tweets, and trending human rights topics on Twitter (such as Bahrain or
Read moreEuropean Social Charter: Promoting Economic and Social Rights for 50 Years Today
The European Social Charter was adopted by the Council of Europe on October 18, 1961 – fifty years ago today. [Deutsche Welle] The Charter provides protection of economic and social rights relating to vocational training, health, social security and other protections, freedom of association and collective bargaining, special rights of children and women, and freedom of movement. As stated in
Read moreEuropean Commission Proposes Directive on Right to Counsel in Criminal Proceedings
The European Commission has issued the third in a series of proposals for European Parliament and Council directives to set “common minimum standards on the rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union”, pursuant to a European Council resolution adopted in November 2009, and part of the Stockholm Programme. Council Resolution 15434/09, Roadmap for Strengthening Procedural Rights
Read moreHristovi v. Bulgaria: Police Must Be Identifiable When Using Masks – EHCR
The European Court of Human Rights‘ judgment this week in Hristovi v. Bulgaria, App. No.42697/05, Judgment of 11 October 2011, concerned allegations of excessive force, intimidation and threats against a Bulgarian couple by armed, masked police officers who burst into their apartment to conduct an arrest and search. The Court held that, while the applicants had not sufficiently proved the
Read moreECHR in Emre 2: Swiss Courts' Reduction of Immigration Ban from Indefinite to 10 Years Still Not in Compliance with Convention
In 2008, the European Court of Human Rights held that Switzerland’s decision to ban an immigrant from the country indefinitely violated his right to protection of private and family life (Article 8), when that decision was based on his criminal convictions (some committed as a juvenile), and did not take into account his health problem, personal and family ties in
Read moreECHR Rejects Soros' Complaint of Unfair Prosecution for Insider Trading
The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed philanthropist George Soros’ application challenging his 2002 conviction in France for insider trading. [FT] Last September, the court declared his complaint partially admissible, admitting Soros’ allegation that the crime with which he was charged was not clearly established in French law (in violation of the nulla poena sine lege, or no ex
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