International Justice Resource Center

ECtHR: States Must Recognize Equal Eligibility, Vulnerability of LGBT Migrants

July 12, 2016 IJRC discrimination, European System, family, immigration & asylum, international human rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, regional human rights protection

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found violations of the rights to non-discrimination and liberty in two recent cases involving applicants who identify as homosexual. In Taddeucci and McCall v. Italy, the ECtHR held Italy’s rejection of a family-based residence permit for an Italian man’s same-sex partner amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation because while same-sex

News Clips – July 8, 2016

July 8, 2016 IJRC African System, armed conflict, Asia, civil society, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, domestic courts, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, internationalized criminal tribunals, massacres, military and humanitarian intervention, News Clips, regional human rights protection, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, universal jurisdiction

Human Rights Bodies’ Activities The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution supporting online users’ human rights and criticizing internet shutdowns. [Access Now; TechCrunch] The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met with civil society representatives from the Philippines, Myanmar, and France ahead of those States’ interactive dialogues with the CEDAW Committee, which also took place this week as it

ACHPR Finds Botswana’s Secret Hanging of Prisoner Was Cruel Treatment

July 6, 2016 IJRC African System, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, interim measures, international human rights, progressive development of law

A recent case involving capital punishment in Botswana required the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to consider the adequacy of appointed counsel and clemency procedures, hanging as a method of execution, the death row phenomenon, and whether notice is required prior to imposition of the death penalty. See ACommHPR, Interights & Ditshwanelo v. Botswana, Communication No. 319/06,

July 2016: UN and European Bodies Meet, IACHR Session Canceled

July 5, 2016 IJRC assembly and association, civil society, economic, social & cultural rights, European System, Inter-American System, labor rights, monthly overview, persons with disabilities, torture, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, women's rights

During July 2016, the European Committee of Social Rights and the United Nations human rights treaty bodies focused on civil and political rights, discrimination against women, and torture will convene to review States’ compliance with their treaty obligations. Additionally, the UN experts on freedom of assembly and association and on the rights of persons with disabilities will carry out country visits

International Law Commission Adopts New Articles on Crimes against Humanity

July 1, 2016 IJRC due process & judicial protection, international criminal law, international human rights, universal jurisdiction, Universal system

During its 68th session, the International Law Commission (ILC) adopted an additional five draft articles for a possible international convention on crimes against humanity. The new draft articles address criminalization under national law, establishment of national jurisdiction, investigations and inter-State cooperation, preliminary detention, the obligation to extradite or prosecute, and treatment of alleged offenders. See International Law Commission, Sixty-eighth Session

Study Examines Impact of Testifying Before International Criminal Tribunal

June 30, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, ICTY, International Criminal Court, international criminal law

The Victims and Witnesses Section (VWS) of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has issued a report entitled Echoes of Testimonies: A Pilot Study into the long-term impact of bearing witness before the ICTY, which recommends programs to ensure witness safety and shares the findings of a four-year study on the overall impact of testifying before the

News Clips- June 24, 2016

June 24, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, civil society, conditions of detention, economic, social & cultural rights, freedom of religion, human rights defenders, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, internationalized criminal tribunals, labor rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, regional human rights protection, right to life, thought, expression & association, UN General Assembly, Universal system

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Nobel Laureate, Auun San Suu Kyi, arrived in Thailand on Thursday where she is expected to lobby for the rights of migrant workers. [The Guardian] Over 2,000 police have been deployed in Paris in preparation of protests over new labour legislation. Extra precautions have been taken in light of the last set of protests on

AfCHPR: Gaddafi’s Son’s Rights Violated by Secret Detention in Libya

June 22, 2016 IJRC African System, due process & judicial protection, International Criminal Court, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) has held that Libya violated the rights to liberty and fair trial by holding Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, in secret detention since 2011. See AfCHPR, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Libya, App. No. 002/2013, Judgment of 3 June 2016. These breaches, the Court

Human Rights Bodies Address Homophobia, Gun Violence after Orlando Attack

June 20, 2016 IJRC European System, Inter-American System, international human rights, LGBTI rights, right to life, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Security Council

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Security Council, and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) have urged States to address homophobia, gun violence, and terrorism in the wake of the recent nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. [OHCHR Press Release; UN Press Release; IACHR Press Release] Early Sunday morning on June 12, 2016 Omar

News Clips- June 17, 2016

June 17, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, children, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, discrimination, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, ICTY, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, labor rights, LGBTI rights, liberty & security of person, military and humanitarian intervention, regional human rights protection, right to life, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) heard from civil society organizations on adherence to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the United Kingdom, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Angola. [OHCHR Press Release] As the French government debated a new labor bill that would ease restrictions on