right to life – Page 16 – International Justice Resource Center

Inter-American Commission to Hold 55 Human Rights Hearings in March

March 11, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, children, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international human rights, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, labor rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, persons with disabilities, property, reparations, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, transitional justice, women's rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is holding its 154th regular session from March 13 to 27, 2015 at IACHR headquarters in Washington, D.C. The agenda includes public hearings on March 16, 17, 19 and 20. [IACHR Press Release] The hearings allow both States and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide the IACHR with information and context on 55 human

UN Human Rights Experts Summarize Recent Complaints against States

March 10, 2015 IJRC death penalty, international human rights, liberty & security of person, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures

On February 19, 2015, the special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council submitted to the Human Rights Council a joint report summarizing all communications concerning alleged human rights abuses that the special procedures sent to States between June and November 2014, as well as State replies to these communications received from August 2014 through January 2015. See Human

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Holds 107th Session

February 19, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, children, conditions of detention, democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, interim measures, massacres, property, thought, expression & association

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) convened its 107th regular session from January 26 to February 6, 2015 in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Court held hearings concerning five pending cases, provisional measures regarding Venezuelan prisons, and States’ compliance with four previous judgments. [IACtHR Press Release (Spanish)] Public hearings were held on the following pending cases: Rural Community of Santa Barbara

Committee on Enforced Disappearances Reviews Armenia, Mexico, and Serbia

February 11, 2015 IJRC civil society, enforced disappearance, UN treaty bodies

The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) is holding its 8th session from February 2nd to 13th in Geneva, Switzerland. The CED is reviewing the State reports from Armenia, Mexico, and Serbia regarding their implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (Convention). During this session, the CED engaged in a constructive dialogue

Former Guatemalan Police Chief Convicted for Spanish Embassy Siege

January 22, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international criminal law, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, universal jurisdiction

On January 19, a Guatemalan court found Pedro García Arredondo, a former police chief, guilty of murder and crimes against humanity for his role in authorities’ attack on the Spanish embassy in Guatemala City in 1980. In this attack, 37 protesters burned to death when the Spanish embassy building caught fire and García Arredondo ordered the building to be sealed

IACHR Issues Report on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada

January 14, 2015 IJRC children, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, right to life, women's rights

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has published a new report on missing and murdered indigenous women in British Columbia, Canada. The report, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada, examines the context and efficacy of Canada’s response to the pattern of violence and discrimination against indigenous women. The report also offers recommendations to assist the Canadian

A witness testifies during Rios Montt's first genocide trial.Credit: Elena Hermosa/Trocair

Guatemalan Court Suspends Genocide Retrial of Former Dictator

January 8, 2015 IJRC armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, Inter-American System, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, massacres, torture, UN treaty bodies

The retrial of former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt reopened on January 5, 2015, but was quickly suspended. [La Prensa; BBC] Charged with committing genocide and crimes against humanity against indigenous Ixil Maya of the Quiché region, the 88-year-old ex-army general is allegedly responsible for 15 massacres carried out against indigenous Mayans during his rule from 1982 to 1983,

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviews the United States

Human Rights Bodies Respond to Killings by Police in U.S.

December 12, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, discrimination, due process & judicial protection, extrajudicial executions, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies

Recent decisions by two grand juries in the United States not to indict white police officers for the shooting deaths of two black men, Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Missouri, have sparked “legitimate concerns” about American police practices among United Nations human rights experts. [UN News Centre] The deaths of Garner and Brown in separate incidents

ICC Prosecutor Withdraws Charges against Kenyan President

December 9, 2014 IJRC crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, extrajudicial executions, International Criminal Court, international humanitarian law

On December 5, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, withdrew the charges against Uhuru Kenyatta, the current President of Kenya, who is accused of having committed crimes against humanity committed during Kenya’s 2007-2008 election violence. The newly-withdrawn charges alleged that Kenyatta was criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator of crimes against humanity, including murder, deportation or

New IACtHR Judgments Address Length of Criminal Proceedings and Forced Disappearances

December 3, 2014 IJRC armed conflict, children, crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, Inter-American System, reparations

Last week, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued judgments in two cases, one of which concerned the duration of criminal proceedings against a Peruvian soldier responsible for two civilians’ deaths, and the other the forced disappearance of children during El Salvador’s internal armed conflict. [IACtHR Press Release: Tarazona Arrieta; IACtHR Press Release: Rochac Hernández] The judgments came as the