Recent developments have made it easier for civil society to engage in advocacy in before various UN human rights bodies. The changes particularly benefit NGOs that lack a permanent presence in Geneva and New York, allowing them to watch sessions or in some cases even participate even when travel to Geneva is not feasible. Online Speaker Lists for NGOs at
Read moreOn September 8, Adnan Latif became the ninth Guantánamo Bay detainee to die in U.S. custody. [NY Times] The military publicly announced Latif’s identity today, the eleventh anniversary of the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001. Those terrorist attacks gave rise to a more public, aggressive and extensive “war on terror” whose features have included the use of “black sites”
Read moreThe Committee Against Torture (CAT) completed its 47th Session on Friday, having adopted observations and recommendations on periodic reports from States party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. [UN] Up for review during this session were: Belarus, Bulgaria, Djibouti, Germany, Madagascar, Morocco, Paraguay and Sri Lanka. The Committee also requested that Syria to submit
Read moreFive non-governmental organizations (Alkarama, Amnesty International, the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF), the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT)) have collaborated to jointly webcast the 47th session of the Committee Against Torture (CAT), a United Nations treaty body. [OMCT press release] The Committee, which is charged with monitoring State compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other
Read moreIn Geneva, the 103rd Session of the Human Rights Committee (the treaty body charged with monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) is underway; it will examine the compliance of Jamaica, Kuwait, Norway, Iran, Malawi (no report submitted), and convene Country Task Forces regarding Armenia, Lithuania, Kenya, Cape Verde (no report submitted), Uruguay, Cameroon, Monaco, Denmark,
Read moreThe Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has published two merits reports so far this year, having to do with deportation of non-citizens without consideration for humanitarian factors (against the United States) and impunity in the death of a journalist (against Brazil). In addition to the two merits reports, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has published thirty-six favorable admissibility decisions,
Read moreThe loss of leading international human rights scholar Louis Henkin is mourned, while the legal community remembers his long career dedicated to the development of international law and the protection of human rights. [Human Rights First] Moldova has ratified the Rome Statute to become the newest State Party to the International Criminal Court, bringing the total to 114. [UN] Canadian
Read moreEva Rieter, Preventing Irreparable Harm: Provisional Measures in International Human Rights Adjudication (Intersentia, Antwerp, 2010, xl + 1200 pp., €129.00) ISBN 978-90-5095-931-5 (pb) This year, Eva Rieter, assistant professor in public international law and international human rights at Radboud University Nijmegen, has authored an extensive volume which is the result of years of research on provisional measures in the international
Read moreFollowing the conclusion of its 98th session, held in New York earlier this month, the Human Rights Committee issued a press release deploring the execution of two individuals whose cases are pending before the Committee and on whose behalf the Committee had issued interim measures. During its session, the Committee had requested clarification from Belarus, which was not forthcoming. The
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