regional human rights protection – Page 51 – International Justice Resource Center

News Clips – through Sept. 14, 2010

September 14, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, discrimination, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, ICJ, ICTR, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, interim measures, International Criminal Court, internationalized criminal tribunals, liberty & security of person, massacres, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, UN Special Procedures, Universal system

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Syria welcomes its first visit from a UN special rapporteur, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a showing of increased participation with the UN Human Rights Council’s monitoring mechanisms, including its upcoming Universal Periodic Review. [The National; OHCHR] The Special Rapporteur estimates that 2 to 3 million people face food insecurity in

News Clips – July 18, 2010

July 19, 2010 IJRC discrimination, European System, Inter-American System, interim measures, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, labor rights, liberty & security of person, massacres, security & rule of law, U.S. courts

Argentina legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the second country in the Western Hemisphere to do so. [Washington Post] The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC has issued a second arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Al Bashir, who is wanted to face charges of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The first warrant was based on charges of war

ECHR Upholds Denial of Right to Marry to Same-Sex Couples

July 5, 2010 IJRC discrimination, European System, privacy

On June 24, the European Court of Human Rights issued its decision in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (App. No. 30141/04), concerning the right of same-sex couples to marry. (See the press release and judgment). Although the Court – for the first time – recognized that same-sex relationships fall within the purview of the Convention’s protection of ‘family life’, the Court

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Law Criminalizing “Material Support” of Designated Terrorist Organizations, Including Provision of Legal Advice

June 21, 2010 IJRC European System, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, U.S. courts

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, affirming in part and reversing in part the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, issued in 2007. [Washington Post; CCR] In a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court upheld 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1)—which makes it a federal crime to “knowingly provid[e] material support

ECHR to Review El-Masri Case against Macedonia; U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Mahrer Arar's Claim against U.S.

June 15, 2010 IJRC European System, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, torture, U.S. courts

Two high profile cases of extraordinary rendition and torture in the ‘war on terror’ were back in the news today when one advanced procedurally before the European Court of Human Rights and the other reached the end of road before U.S. courts. The Open Society Justice Initiative announced today that its application on behalf of Khaled El-Masri will be considered

U.S. Publishes Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

June 15, 2010 IJRC crime & impunity, European System, immigration & asylum, labor rights, liberty & security of person

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State put out its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This year, for the first time, the report includes a section on the United States; however, it was given the highest rating (complete compliance with the standards set in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)). In the words of Secretary Clinton, “This human rights abuse

Lori Berenson Released from Peruvian Prison Six Years after Sentence Upheld by Inter-American Court

June 13, 2010 IJRC domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, Inter-American System, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law

American citizen Lori Berenson has been paroled from Peruvian prison for the remaining five years of her 20-year sentence, stirring the animosity of those who believe she participated in terrorist activity during Peru’s decades-long struggle between government forces and militant leftist groups. [El Pais, Reuters] After being arrested in 1995, she was convicted—first before the discredited Peruvian military tribunals and

News Clips – June 13, 2010

June 13, 2010 IJRC domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, ICJ, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, interim measures, International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association

Physicians for Human Rights has published a report documenting illegal experimentation and torture by CIA medical personnel in the “war on terror”. The report is available here. Following the paper’s publication, PHR and other organizations filed a formal complaint before the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Human Research Protection against the CIA. [PHR] Human Rights Watch

News Clips – June 1, 2010

June 1, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, enforced disappearance, environmental rights, European System, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, interim measures, thought, expression & association, transitional justice, U.S. courts, Universal system

Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights enters into force today, introducing a number of changes to decrease the Court’s backlog, strengthen enforcement in order to reduce repetitive applications, concentrate its efforts on cases where applicants have suffered a “significant disadvantage”, and allow the European Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene as a third party [ECHR] Amnesty International

News Clips – May 23, 2010

May 23, 2010 IJRC civil litigation, discrimination, domestic courts, environmental rights, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, internationalized criminal tribunals, security & rule of law, torture, U.S. courts, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Protests continue in Thailand as Asian Centre for Human Rights decries international community’s silence and the EU Parliament and Human Rights Watch express concern over violence, emergency provisions, and censorship. The BBC has provided a detailed overview of the situation. Human Rights Watch urges new British government to reform counterterrorism strategies and investigate British agents’ complicity in torture and rendition. [HRW] Related cases decided by the