Ranjana Natarajan contributes this guest post on a recent notable decision by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding a complaint presented by Guantanamo Bay detainee Obaidullah, who was represented before the Working Group by the University of Texas School of Law‘s National Security Clinic and Human Rights Clinic.
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World Refugee Day Draws Attention to Near-Record Number of People Displaced by Conflict and Humanitarian Crises
World Refugee Day is commemorated annually on June 20 to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the globe. This year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is drawing attention to the near-record number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) unable to return home due to conflict, humanitarian crises, and other causes. At over 45 million
Read moreMali Conflict: Concerns Persist for Protection of Human Rights, Displaced Populations, Minority Groups
The West African nation of Mali, previously hailed as a democratic model for other regional governments, has become engulfed in a human rights and political crisis that is now the target of international attention and military intervention. Government and foreign forces are attempting to reclaim territory from separatist rebel groups, while the International Criminal Court and UN and African human rights
Read moreIJRC in the News
IJRC’s work is a resource for advocates, scholars, journalists, and students around the world, and many, many legal research guides, civil society organization websites, and blogs link to our Online Resource Hub materials. The articles and videos listed below provide a partial sampling of articles in local and international news media that feature or refer to IJRC’s work. Washington
Read moreSyrian Opposition Coalition Formed as Human Rights Situation Continues to Deteriorate
On Sunday, November 11, Syrian opposition groups signed a draft agreement to form the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary Opposition Forces. [BBC] Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus who is considered a moderate and unifying force, was chosen to lead the new coalition. The Gulf Arab States have recognized the coalition as the sole legitimate
Read moreCitizenship & Nationality
N.B.: Although the terms nationality and citizenship technically have two distinct meanings, international human rights courts and advocates at times use the two terms interchangeably. OVERVIEW The right to a nationality is of paramount importance to the realization of other fundamental human rights. Possession of a nationality carries with it the diplomatic protection of the country of nationality and is
Read moreLisa De Gray
Lisa De Gray was a law fellow with IJRC in 2012. Lisa received her B.A. in Communications with a minor in French from Boston College. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she specialized in international human rights law and completed Georgetown’s Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. While in law school Lisa participated in the International
Read moreThe Status of Guantánamo and Extraordinary Rendition Litigation before Regional Tribunals
On 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”
Read moreTorture
OVERVIEW The right to freedom from torture is enshrined in many human rights instruments and protects all individuals from being intentionally subjected to severe physical or psychological distress by, or with the approval or acquiescence of, government agents acting for a specific purpose, including to inflict punishment or to obtain information. Under international humanitarian law, which applies in the context
Read moreBetsy Apple
Betsy Apple is Advocacy Director for the Open Society Justice Initiative. She has diverse experience as an international human rights lawyer, focusing on issues at the intersection of human rights, gender justice, environmental abuses, and public health. Previously, she was Legal Director and General Counsel at AIDS-Free World and, prior to that, the director of the Crimes Against Humanity program at Human Rights
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