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
Read more
Over the past weeks, Venezuelan citizens have reacted to a deteriorating economic situation and food shortages through protests and an effort to recall President Nicolas Maduro, while the State has responded by declaring a rights-restricting state of emergency and cracking down on dissent. [Vice News; IACHR Press Release: Detentions] At a recent rally, on June 7, 2016, hundreds of Venezuelan
Read more
An Argentine court has convicted and sentenced former dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other former Argentine military officers of crimes against humanity for their roles in Operation Condor, a transnational conspiracy behind the kidnapping, torture, killing, and forced disappearance of hundreds of political dissidents during the 1970s and 1980s. [NYT; CIJ] Bignone was convicted of participating in an illicit association,
Read more
A new charter on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in responses to humanitarian crises was endorsed at the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 24, 2016. [UN News Centre] The Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action encourages States and civil society organizations to consider the specific needs of people with disabilities in all
Read more
During the month of June 2016, supranational human rights bodies’ activities will include discussion of broad human rights concerns, assessment of specific States’ practices, and visits to three countries. Two political organs, the United Nations Human Rights Council and Organization of American States General Assembly, will convene to debate issues of concern to their Member States; the latter is also
Read more
Citing a severe financial crisis, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced on May 23, 2016 that it is suspending regular sessions and scheduled country visits effective immediately, and is set to lose 40 percent of its personnel when their contracts expire in July. In announcing the imminent cuts, the IACHR stated that the current budget shortfall highlights an
Read more
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new report to help medical practitioners engage in a human-rights-based approach toward managing and treating health complications associated with or caused by female genital mutilation (FGM). See World Health Organization, WHO Guidelines on the Management of Health Complications from Female Genital Mutilation (2016). The guidelines identify the human rights implications of FGM,
Read more
In a case concerning the right of Traveller families to adequate housing and caravan sites, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) held that Ireland violated their right to social, legal, and economic protection under Article 16 of the Revised European Social Charter because of the de facto insufficiency of accommodations for Travellers, inadequate conditions in the existing Traveller accommodations,
Read more
On April 14, 2016, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) submitted an application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), referring several cases that involve the extrajudicial killings by Colombian security agents. [IACHR Press Release] The victims were killed between 1992 and 1997 and were six of several thousand “falsos positivos,” a term used to refer to ordinary
Read more
Human rights experts and civil society groups have issued repeated calls for Turkey to address the ongoing deterioration of the rights environment in the country amidst a failed Kurdish peace process, a sharp escalation of violent anti-terrorism operations, border guards’ attacks against Syrian refugees, and a severe crackdown on journalists and political dissidents. [Washington Post; CPJ] In a statement delivered
Read more