Last Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights held in El Haski v. Belgium, no. 649/08, Judgment of 25 September 2012, that Belgium should have excluded evidence where there was a real risk that the evidence had been obtained through torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. ECtHR, El Haski v. Belgium, no. 649/08, Judgment of 25 September 2012 (available in French only). The Court
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On September 24, 2012, the UN General Assembly held a High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law during its 67th Session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. This was the first-ever high-level meeting by the General Assembly devoted to the Rule of Law and took place a day before the general debate opened. The meeting was over-subscribed with approximately
Read moreIn July of this year, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) delivered to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers a draft of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. The draft is the result of multiple sessions of the AICHR and is scheduled to be adopted this November. One of the stated goals
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Overview On September 10, 2012 the Government of Venezuela denounced the American Convention on Human Rights (the American Convention). Pursuant to Article 78 of the American Convention, the Government of Venezuela officially made its denunciation through a letter delivered to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza. When the withdrawal takes effect in one year’s
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Recent developments have made it easier for civil society to engage in advocacy in before various UN human rights bodies. The changes particularly benefit NGOs that lack a permanent presence in Geneva and New York, allowing them to watch sessions or in some cases even participate even when travel to Geneva is not feasible. Online Speaker Lists for NGOs at
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The 52nd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will take place October 9-22 in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. The session will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the formation of the African Commission, which is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights throughout the African Continent as well as interpreting the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Read moreYesterday, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in Nada v. Switzerland [GC], no. 10593/08, a case concerning a Swiss entry and transit ban imposed on Mr. Youssef Moustafa Nada, an Italian and Egyptian citizen, by virtue of his inclusion in 2001 on a list of individuals and entities purportedly associated with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda
Read moreOn September 8, Adnan Latif became the ninth Guantánamo Bay detainee to die in U.S. custody. [NY Times] The military publicly announced Latif’s identity today, the eleventh anniversary of the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001. Those terrorist attacks gave rise to a more public, aggressive and extensive “war on terror” whose features have included the use of “black sites”
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The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, will present his annual report on government reprisals against persons who report human rights abuses to the UN at the Human Rights Council in September 2012. The Secretary-General’s report (A/HRC/21/18) presents numerous countries and cases where human rights defenders were subjected to intimidation and harassment by government for interacting or communicating with
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1) Define your objectives realistically Why? As with any form of advocacy, the first step for engaging with the Human Rights Council is to clearly define your objectives based on realistic expectations of what is achievable. Advocates should recognize that the Council seeks to promote respect for human rights primarily through political dialogue. The Council holds no mandate to decide
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