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 Tuesday, December 9, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Intelligence Committee) published a report detailing the “abuses and countless mistakes” of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) detention and interrogation program in the years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. See Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program:
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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
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Three United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies have released new interpretations concerning the rights to liberty and security of the person; harmful practices impacting women and girls; and the effect of gender on the refugee status, asylum, nationality, and statelessness of women. These general comments and general recommendation flesh out States parties’ obligations under three UN human rights treaties. The
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November 2, 2014 marked the first International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, established by the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to “attacks and violence against journalists,” which it unequivocally condemned. See UN General Assembly, Resolution 68/163, The safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, UN Doc. A/RES/68/163, 18 December 2013, para. 2. The General
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The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held its twelfth session from September 15 to October 3, 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee reviewed State reports from Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea regarding their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Additionally, the agenda included the Committee’s review
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The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) held its 67th Session from September 1 to 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. The CRC reviewed the State reports of Croatia, Fiji, Hungary, Morocco, Singapore, and Venezuela concerning their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols on the sale and prostitution of children and
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The United Nations Human Rights Council held its 22nd special session this week to address human rights violations committed by the Islamic State and associated groups, which have been accused of mass atrocities as they move to take territory and eliminate minority groups in Iraq and neighboring countries. [OHCHR; Amnesty] The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution requesting the
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