Last week following the World Day against Child Labor, India ratified two International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions that seek to eliminate child labor, and Thailand ratified one ILO Convention that prohibits labor discrimination. [ILO Press Release: India; ILO Press Release: Thailand; UN News Centre] The first convention India ratified, the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), requires that States
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Civil Society On Monday, courts in Russia began sentencing anti-corruption demonstrators arrested during protests led by an opposition leader. [Guardian] On Tuesday, the parliament of Hungary approved regulations requiring certain foreign-funded civil society groups to register with the government. [Al Jazeera] International Criminal Law On Thursday, the International Criminal Court unanimously affirmed its jurisdiction over the charges of war crimes
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The newly appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, presented her first report at the 35th regular session of the Human Rights Council in which she addressed the key elements of a gender-sensitive approach to the right to life, concluding that gender-based killings may constitute arbitrary execution and that systemic discrimination based on sex,
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Activities of International Human Rights Bodies and Experts Independent experts from the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a joint statement condemning recent attacks in Brazil on indigenous peoples’ rights and on environmental rights. [OHCHR Press Release] This week the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances announced its first visit to the Gambia
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At the end of May, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced the launch of the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) – an update to the original Minnesota Protocol, which was launched in 1991. [OHCHR Press Release] While the Minnesota Protocol is not a binding legal document, it seeks
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Civil Society On Wednesday, a court in Bahrain ordered the dissolution of the last major opposition group in the country. [Washington Post] This week, it was reported that labor activists investigating alleged abuses at a Chinese factory producing Ivanka Trump shoes were detained or missing. [Guardian] On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians protested Israeli troops across the West Bank and Gaza
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The United Nations Human Rights Committee recently found that Canada must consider the evidence on widespread gang violence, including the targeting of witnesses, in El Salvador when considering a man’s claim that his removal from Canada to El Salvador would expose him to gang violence and irreparable harm; the Committee concluded that the State violated the rights to life and prohibition
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In the month of June, several United Nations bodies and experts as well as a regional court will hold sessions, conduct country visits, or convene a hearing. Three United Nations treaty bodies will meet throughout June to review States’ compliance with their treaty obligations related to the rights of the child; economic, social, and cultural rights; and torture. The United
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Civil Society On Wednesday, after eight weeks of protests, the death toll in Venezuela rose to 56 people. [LA Times] On Wednesday, anti-government protesters in Brazil set fire to a ministry building, and in response, President Michel Temer gave the army policing power to restore order. [Reuters] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Wednesday, a bombing in Somalia, claimed by al-Shabaab,
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Civil Society On Friday, an estimated 11 activists were detained in Moscow while reading aloud Russia’s constitution. [Guardian] On Wednesday, the government in Venezuela announced it will deploy 2,000 soldiers in response to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that have been protesting the government since April. [Guardian] Freedom of Expression & Access to Information On Thursday, independent experts from
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