RightsCon Silicon Valley 2016: Intersection of Human Rights and Technology

RightsCon, an annual conference on technology and human rights, took place in San Francisco this year with three days of panel discussions. The conference brings together human rights defenders, lawyers, engineers, government officials, corporate representatives, and technologists to discuss technology’s benefits as a tool for protecting human rights and its pitfalls as a catalyst for rights abuses. The conference was

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Special Rapporteur Highlights Freedom of Speech in Counterterrorism Measures

Before the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 15, 2016, the UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights while countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson, presented his report focused on violent extremism and the human rights implications of measures taken to eradicate it. See Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights

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Human Rights Committee: Australia Violated Guantanamo Transferee’s Right to Liberty

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found Australia in violation of the right to liberty protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) due to its continued detention of Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks following his transfer to Australia, despite evidence that the American military proceedings against him had been unfair. See UN Human Rights Committee, Hicks v. Australia,

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Increased Oppression of Chinese Human Rights Defenders Draws International Criticism

Human rights monitors have expressed alarm at China’s ongoing crackdown on those critical of the government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, recently drew attention to the Chinese government’s continued oppression of human rights defenders and government critics, specifically referring to a wave of arrests and harassment of civil society actors that began after

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ACHPR Publishes Guidelines on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has released new principles intended to guide its Member States in implementing counter-terrorism and security measures that comply with regional and international human rights norms. As African States increasingly face real and practical challenges posed by terrorism, the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa

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UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

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Burundi: International and Regional Bodies Urge Dialogue, Fear Mass Violence

Amid an ongoing human rights and political crisis in which hundreds have lost their lives, civil society and human rights bodies are calling on Burundian authorities to avoid inciting violence, put a stop to attacks against advocates and journalists, and cooperate with monitoring efforts. On November 12, 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution condemning the

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Juan Mendez, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Special Rapporteur Highlights Extraterritoriality of Torture Convention Obligations

On October 20, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, presented his seventeenth expert’s report to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly during its 70th Session, in New York. [Anti-Torture Initiative] The report addresses the extraterritorial obligations that arise under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman,

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Burkina Faso’s President Reinstated and Elections Rescheduled after Coup

Burkina Faso’s interim President Michel Kafando was reinstated on September 23, 2015, following a truce agreement between coup leaders and the national army. [BBC News: Reinstated; Al Jazeera: Coup leaders sign truce] This truce agreement came after the September 16th coup in which members of the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP, for its French name: Régiment de sécurité présidentielle), calling themselves

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