Two high profile cases of extraordinary rendition and torture in the ‘war on terror’ were back in the news today when one advanced procedurally before the European Court of Human Rights and the other reached the end of road before U.S. courts. The Open Society Justice Initiative announced today that its application on behalf of Khaled El-Masri will be considered
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U.S. Publishes Annual Trafficking in Persons Report
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State put out its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. This year, for the first time, the report includes a section on the United States; however, it was given the highest rating (complete compliance with the standards set in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)). In the words of Secretary Clinton, “This human rights abuse
Read moreLori Berenson Released from Peruvian Prison Six Years after Sentence Upheld by Inter-American Court
American citizen Lori Berenson has been paroled from Peruvian prison for the remaining five years of her 20-year sentence, stirring the animosity of those who believe she participated in terrorist activity during Peru’s decades-long struggle between government forces and militant leftist groups. [El Pais, Reuters] After being arrested in 1995, she was convicted—first before the discredited Peruvian military tribunals and
Read moreNews Clips – June 13, 2010
Physicians for Human Rights has published a report documenting illegal experimentation and torture by CIA medical personnel in the “war on terror”. The report is available here. Following the paper’s publication, PHR and other organizations filed a formal complaint before the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Human Research Protection against the CIA. [PHR] Human Rights Watch
Read moreICTY Convicts Seven in Srebrenica Massacre Case
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted seven Bosnian Serb military leaders owing to their participation in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995, in which over 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed. Read the judgment summary here. [Impunity Watch, ICTY] From among the many atrocities committed during the Balkans conflict, the Srebrenica massacre has been singled
Read moreNews Clips – June 1, 2010
Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights enters into force today, introducing a number of changes to decrease the Court’s backlog, strengthen enforcement in order to reduce repetitive applications, concentrate its efforts on cases where applicants have suffered a “significant disadvantage”, and allow the European Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene as a third party [ECHR] Amnesty International
Read moreNews Clips – May 23, 2010
Protests continue in Thailand as Asian Centre for Human Rights decries international community’s silence and the EU Parliament and Human Rights Watch express concern over violence, emergency provisions, and censorship. The BBC has provided a detailed overview of the situation. Human Rights Watch urges new British government to reform counterterrorism strategies and investigate British agents’ complicity in torture and rendition. [HRW] Related cases decided by the
Read moreU.N. Experts Express "Serious Doubts" Regarding Arizona Law's Compatibility with Human Rights Obligations
Yesterday, several U.N. rapporteurs and independent experts issued a joint statement calling into question whether the new Arizona law targeting undocumented migrants (discussed here and here) is compatible with the United States’ human rights treaty obligations. The experts warn of the possibility of racial profiling, suppression of minority groups’ cultures, and unjustified use of detention. The statement also notes, in reference to Arizona House
Read moreNew ECHR Decisions on Freedom of Expression in France
This week the European Court of Human Rights published its decisions in, among others, three cases related to freedom of expression in France: Le Pen v. France, Fleury v. France and Brunet Lecomte and Lyon Mag v. France. All three deal with civil or criminal penalties imposed on individuals for published statements regarding other individuals or groups. The Court found no violation in
Read moreNew IACHR Report on Crime and Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today made available online its Report on Citizen Security and Human Rights, which addresses the problem of common crime, State tactics for the prevention and punishment of crime, and the effect these have on the human rights of individuals. As reviewed in Chapter III of the report, the relatively high level of violent crime in
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