International Justice Resource Center

News Clips – October 3, 2010

October 3, 2010 IJRC children, civil litigation, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, discrimination, domestic courts, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, internationalized criminal tribunals, massacres, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, U.S. courts, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures

In Ecuador, a state of emergency remains in place following last week’s uprising of members of the military against President Correa’s government, prompting human rights defenders to call for a quick restoration of full civil liberties. [CEJIL] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the attack against Correa. [IACHR] Germany today commemorates 20 years of reunification and will use its

Book Review – Preventing Irreparable Harm: Provisional Measures in International Human Rights Adjudication

September 21, 2010 IJRC book reviews, interim measures, regional human rights protection, UN treaty bodies

Eva Rieter, Preventing Irreparable Harm: Provisional Measures in International Human Rights Adjudication (Intersentia, Antwerp, 2010, xl + 1200 pp., €129.00) ISBN 978-90-5095-931-5 (pb) This year, Eva Rieter, assistant professor in public international law and international human rights at Radboud University Nijmegen, has authored an extensive volume which is the result of years of research on provisional measures in the international

U.S. Court Rules Corporations Cannot be Held Civilly Liable for Torture and Other Violations of International Law under ATCA

September 20, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, corporate accountability, environmental rights, U.S. courts

Last Friday’s Second Circuit ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, if upheld, could be the death knell for litigation seeking to hold corporations accountable for torture and other violations of customary international law under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The plaintiffs, Nigerian nationals, brought suit against Royal Dutch and Shell Petroleum for aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in

News Clips – September 20, 2010

September 20, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, crime & impunity, discrimination, due process & judicial protection, environmental rights, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, massacres, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, U.S. courts, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures

In a heartbreaking blow to Afghan hopes for peace, several U.S. soldiers are under investigation for murdering at least three Afghan civilians last year as part of a rogue “kill team” that was allegedly formed when a staff sergeant who had served in Iraq in 2004 joined the platoon stationed in Kandahar province. [Washington Post] The French Senate has approved

News Clips – through Sept. 14, 2010

September 14, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, crime & impunity, democracy & political rights, discrimination, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, ICJ, ICTR, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, interim measures, International Criminal Court, internationalized criminal tribunals, liberty & security of person, massacres, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, torture, UN Special Procedures, Universal system

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Syria welcomes its first visit from a UN special rapporteur, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a showing of increased participation with the UN Human Rights Council’s monitoring mechanisms, including its upcoming Universal Periodic Review. [The National; OHCHR] The Special Rapporteur estimates that 2 to 3 million people face food insecurity in

Ninth Circuit Dismisses Rendition Lawsuit against Boeing Subsidiary, Granting Government’s Invocation of State Secrets Privilege

September 11, 2010 IJRC ATCA litigation, due process & judicial protection, torture, U.S. courts

On September 8, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a civil suit filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act by five extraordinary rendition victims against a Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. for its role in their rendition. [Amnesty International USA ; ACLU] The federal government intervened in the suit, arguing that

News Clips – July 18, 2010

July 19, 2010 IJRC discrimination, European System, Inter-American System, interim measures, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, labor rights, liberty & security of person, massacres, security & rule of law, U.S. courts

Argentina legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the second country in the Western Hemisphere to do so. [Washington Post] The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC has issued a second arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Al Bashir, who is wanted to face charges of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The first warrant was based on charges of war

U.S. Department of Justice Files Constitutional Challenge against Arizona Immigration Law

July 11, 2010 IJRC civil litigation, discrimination, immigration & asylum, U.S. courts

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that it had filed a constitutional challenge to Arizona’s new immigration law, S.B. 1070 (discussed earlier on this blog here and here), seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against its enforcement. The suit was filed on behalf of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State, which

ECHR Upholds Denial of Right to Marry to Same-Sex Couples

July 5, 2010 IJRC discrimination, European System, privacy

On June 24, the European Court of Human Rights issued its decision in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (App. No. 30141/04), concerning the right of same-sex couples to marry. (See the press release and judgment). Although the Court – for the first time – recognized that same-sex relationships fall within the purview of the Convention’s protection of ‘family life’, the Court

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Law Criminalizing “Material Support” of Designated Terrorist Organizations, Including Provision of Legal Advice

June 21, 2010 IJRC European System, immigration & asylum, Inter-American System, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, U.S. courts

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, affirming in part and reversing in part the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision, issued in 2007. [Washington Post; CCR] In a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court upheld 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1)—which makes it a federal crime to “knowingly provid[e] material support