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Human Rights Committee: Australia Violated Guantanamo Transferee’s Right to Liberty

armed conflict, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, European System, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, reparations, security & rule of law, U.S. courts, UN treaty bodies

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found Australia in violation of the right to liberty protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) due to its continued detention of Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks following his transfer to Australia, despite evidence that the American military proceedings against him had been unfair. See UN Human Rights Committee, Hicks v. Australia,

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Increased Oppression of Chinese Human Rights Defenders Draws International Criticism

civil society, democracy & political rights, human rights defenders, international human rights, liberty & security of person, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures

Human rights monitors have expressed alarm at China’s ongoing crackdown on those critical of the government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, recently drew attention to the Chinese government’s continued oppression of human rights defenders and government critics, specifically referring to a wave of arrests and harassment of civil society actors that began after

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ACHPR Publishes Guidelines on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism

African System, civil society, due process & judicial protection, human rights defenders, international human rights, liberty & security of person, publications and resources, right to life, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has released new principles intended to guide its Member States in implementing counter-terrorism and security measures that comply with regional and international human rights norms. As African States increasingly face real and practical challenges posed by terrorism, the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa

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UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

armed conflict, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, massacres, right to life, security & rule of law, torture, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

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Guatemala Prosecutes Soldiers For Sexual Slavery During Civil War

armed conflict, domestic courts, enforced disappearance, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international criminal law, international human rights, torture, women's rights

A landmark trial of former Guatemalan soldiers for crimes against humanity commenced this month before the country’s High Risk Court A (Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo A). In 2014, the State arrested and charged former Sepur Zarco base commander Lieutenant Colonel Esteelmer Reyes Giron and former  military commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asij with acts of sexual violence, sexual slavery, murder, and forced

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IACtHR Confirms Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Access to Information Rights

democracy & political rights, due process & judicial protection, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international human rights, thought, expression & association

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has issued its judgment in the case of Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v. Suriname, which concerns interference with two indigenous communities’ claim to and use of their traditional territories due to mining operations, the establishment of nature reserves, and the provision of property titles to other individuals. [IACtHR Press Release] The judgment, adopted

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UN Working Group Holds Julian Assange Has Been Arbitrarily Detained

civil society, conditions of detention, due process & judicial protection, immigration & asylum, international human rights, UN Special Procedures

In a controversial decision, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has concluded that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s detention, house arrest, and subsequent seclusion in Ecuador’s London embassy constitute  arbitrary detention which the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom should redress. [OHCHR Press Release: Assange] The independent experts’ opinion, released on February 5, 2016, finds violations of Mr. Assange’s

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International Criminal Court Authorizes Investigation of 2008 Georgia-Russia Conflict

armed conflict, International Criminal Court, international human rights, international humanitarian law, military and humanitarian intervention, right to life, torture

The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week authorized the Office of the Prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in South Ossetia from July 1 to October 10, 2008 during the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia. [ICC Press Release] According to the ICC Prosecutor, between 13,400 and 18,500 ethnic Georgians were forcibly displaced and the ethnic Georgian

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