On November 12, 2015, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), published her annual Report on Preliminary Examination Activities (2015), which details the preliminary examination activities conducted by her office between November 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015. These included two situations – Georgia and Honduras – in which the Office of the Prosecutor (OPT) has concluded its
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Amid an ongoing human rights and political crisis in which hundreds have lost their lives, civil society and human rights bodies are calling on Burundian authorities to avoid inciting violence, put a stop to attacks against advocates and journalists, and cooperate with monitoring efforts. On November 12, 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution condemning the
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On November 5, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) released its judgment in Yagublu v. Azerbaijan, a case that has drawn international attention as representative of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on political dissent and freedom of expression. See ECtHR, Yagublu v. Azerbaijan, no. 31709/13, Judgment of 5 November 2015. The application concerned Tofig Yagublu, an independent Azerbaijani journalist and the deputy
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During the month of November 2015, six United Nations human rights mechanisms will meet in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN Human Rights Committee, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee), Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, Committee Against Torture (CAT), Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), and the Committee on
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently added a new section to its website concerning friendly settlements and published its Handbook on the Use of the Friendly Settlement Mechanism in the IACHR Petition and Case System (Handbook) to inform petitioners about the friendly settlement procedure and best practices. The friendly settlement process allows petitioners and States to engage in
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Last month, the body established to monitor economic, social, and cultural rights in the Americas reviewed six States’ reports on their implementation of the rights to health, education, and social security. [IACHR Press Release] The Working Group of the Protocol of San Salvador concluded its second session during the week of October 17, 2015 at the Organization of American States
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The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), European Union (EU), World Bank, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) are sponsoring the 2nd Continental Judicial Dialogue, entitled “Connecting National and International Justice” from November 4 to 6, 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania. The dialogue will bring together members of national, regional, and continental courts and human rights bodies
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On October 20, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, presented his seventeenth expert’s report to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly during its 70th Session, in New York. [Anti-Torture Initiative] The report addresses the extraterritorial obligations that arise under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman,
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On August 4, 2015, Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights (Special Rapporteur) submitted his report evaluating the World Bank’s human rights policy to the UN General Assembly. The World Bank, whose goals are to eradicate poverty and promote shared prosperity, spent $61 billion supporting developing countries last year. See UN General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur
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On September 29, 2015 the International Criminal Court (ICC) commenced its first trial concerning allegations of witness tampering, in the case of The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo et al. [ICC Press Release: Prosecutor’s Statement; The Guardian] Jean-Pierre Bemba Gomba, former Vice President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and four other defendants are charged with offenses to the
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