The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held its twelfth session from September 15 to October 3, 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee reviewed State reports from Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea regarding their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Additionally, the agenda included the Committee’s review
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Last week, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, announced the opening of a second investigation into the Central African Republic (CAR), this time with respect to alleged international crimes committed since late 2012. More than 5,000 people have died in recent months due to sectarian fighting in the country. “The list of atrocities is endless. I
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Last week, the European Court of Human Rights held that the establishment of military polling stations, in contravention of the Azerbaijani Electoral Code, violated the right to free elections under the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. ECtHR, Karimov v. Azerbaijan, no. 12535/06, ECHR 2014, Judgment of 25 September 2014, para. 52. The applicant, Mr. Hasan Huseyn
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The much anticipated one-day Climate Summit 2014 took place this Tuesday, September 23 at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, marking the international community’s latest effort to address climate change. Hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Climate Summit 2014 aimed to engage world leaders and encourage international action to slow climate change. Governments at the Summit were expected
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On September 22 and 23, the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The purpose of the World Conference is to “share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples” and to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
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The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) held its 67th Session from September 1 to 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. The CRC reviewed the State reports of Croatia, Fiji, Hungary, Morocco, Singapore, and Venezuela concerning their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols on the sale and prostitution of children and
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On September 16, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its Grand Chamber judgment in Hassan v. United Kingdom, which involved the detention of an Iraqi national, Tarek Hassan, by the British army in Iraq in 2003. The applicant alleged that the United Kingdom was responsible for Tarek’s unlawful detention, ill-treatment, and death. The key issues before the Court were whether
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Last week, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) published a joint report providing an overview of human rights abuses committed in Libya from May through August 2014, amid ongoing fighting among militias for control of Benghazi and Tripoli. See UNSMIL & OHCHR, Overview of Violations of International Human Rights
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The United Nations Human Rights Council held its 22nd special session this week to address human rights violations committed by the Islamic State and associated groups, which have been accused of mass atrocities as they move to take territory and eliminate minority groups in Iraq and neighboring countries. [OHCHR; Amnesty] The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution requesting the
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