The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) – an international, non-governmental organization of judges and lawyers – recently made public the final version of its Principles on the Role of Judges and Lawyers in relation to Refugees and Migrants (the Principles), which provide guidance to judges, lawyers, legislators, and other government officials in securing the human rights of migrants and refugees.
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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, has become the first UN Human Rights Council independent expert to conduct a country visit to North Korea. [OHCHR Press Release: Announcement] The visit, which took place from May 3–8 at the invitation of the North Korean government, served as an opportunity for the Special
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While celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the recently concluded sixteenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), participants also discussed the particular issues that continue to affect indigenous populations around the globe, including land dispossession and violence. During the recent session, regional and universal
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The European Commission, a body of the European Union, adopted a proposal to endorse the European Pillar of Social Rights that sets out 20 key principles and rights aimed at improving working and living conditions of persons within the EU, focusing specifically on labor markets and welfare systems. The principles and rights in the Pillar draw on already existing law
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Civil Society Hundreds of people protested in Belarus on Monday in opposition to the current government, despite officials banning the demonstration. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, an estimated 2,000 students demonstrated outside of the West Rand campus in Johannesburg, South Africa in protest of alleged nepotism, racism, and intimidation tactics on campus. [IOL] On Monday, May Day marches took place all
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Civil Society On Thursday, Palestinians organized a strike, which closed down schools, institutions, and transportation, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes in Israeli jails. [Al Jazeera] On Thursday, 30 people in Turkey were detained and charged with membership in an armed terror organization as a result of their ties to a newspaper that was run by a
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Tunisia formally agreed last week to allow individuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to directly access the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) with complaints of human rights violations against Tunisia. Tunisia joins seven other countries that also currently grant the Court the same jurisdiction. [AfCHPR Press Release] The government of Tunisia hosted a delegation of the AfCHPR in
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Civil Society On Wednesday, anti-government protesters marched in the streets of Caracas, Venezuela amid riot police while the government held counter-demonstrations. [Washington Post] On Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission in Ethiopia reported 669 deaths resulting from anti-government protests in the country. [BBC News] On Saturday, a United States aid worker was released from pretrial detention in Egypt after three years.
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First the first time in nearly 10 years, a United Nations independent expert visited Cuba on an official country visit when the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, toured the country from April 10 to 14, 2017. The purpose of the Special Rapporteur’s visit was to assess the situation of victims of
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Civil Society This week, Thai authorities warned that the online dissemination of information from two academics and a journalist critical of the government could violate Thailand’s Computer Crime Act. [Guardian] On Wednesday, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced a human rights lawyer to ten years in prison for using Facebook to “harm national unity.” [Washington Post] Last week, a TV reporter
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