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News Clips – July 8, 2016

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

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

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,

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International Law Commission Adopts New Articles on Crimes against Humanity

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

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Study Examines Impact of Testifying Before International Criminal Tribunal

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

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

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

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Human Rights Bodies Address Homophobia, Gun Violence after Orlando Attack

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

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OHCHR: Restricted Movement, Torture, Disappearances Ongoing in Ukraine Conflict

armed conflict, crime & impunity, due process & judicial protection, international human rights, liberty & security of person, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

A recent report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shows that human rights conditions in eastern Ukraine remain precarious two years after the outbreak of conflict there, in view of recent violence in the Donetsk region, increasing militarization near the front line, and continuing rights abuses by both sides in the battle between

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