From March 2 to 27, the United Nations Human Rights Council is holding its 28th regular session in Geneva, Switzerland. The agenda includes high-level panel discussions, interactive dialogues with special procedures, debates on racial discrimination and on the rights of persons with disabilities, and the consideration of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) outcomes. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner
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The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is holding its 54th session from February 23 to March 6 in Geneva, Switzerland. During the session, this United Nations human rights treaty body will review State reports submitted by the Gambia, Paraguay, and Tajikistan concerning their implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The CESCR
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The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) is holding its 60th session from February 16th to March 6th in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee is reviewing State reports from Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ecuador, Eritrea, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, and Tuvalu regarding their implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
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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
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On January 30, 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace held informal consultations with non-governmental organizations and Member States in preparation for the third session of the Working Group, which is scheduled for April 20 to 24, 2015. [Human Rights Centre of the University of
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January 1, 2015 marked the beginning of the International Decade for People of African Descent, a United Nations-initiated framework for strengthening national, regional, and international cooperation in pursuit of the full enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, and equal participation in all aspects of society by people of African descent. [UN: Plan of Action] The UN General
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The human rights records of 14 States are under review during the 21st session of the Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, being held in Geneva, Switzerland from January 19 to January 30, 2015. [OHCHR Press Release] Through this peer review process, United Nations Member States review one another’s overall human rights record every four and
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The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is reviewing 12 States’ implementation of their obligations under the Convention of the Rights of the Child (the Convention) and its optional protocols on the sale of children and children in armed conflict at its 68th Session, being held in Geneva, Switzerland from January 12 to January 30, 2015. [OHCHR
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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,
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On December 24, 2014, the watershed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) entered into force. The treaty, which is the first international instrument regulating the trade in conventional arms, creates a human rights framework to govern transfers of conventional arms, with the goal of curbing the flow of weapons that may be used to perpetrate human rights violations and crimes
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