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
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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
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Yesterday, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo inaugurated the previously-announced Truth Commission to investigate the events surrounding last June’s military coup which removed from power President Manuel Zelaya, who is currently exiled in the Dominican Republic. (Read Honduran government press releases here and here.) The establishment of such a commission was a condition of Zelaya’s exit from the national stage and a
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Thursday presented its 2009 Annual Report to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Organization of American States. See the press release, IACHR President Felipe Gonzalez’ speech before the Committee, and a video of the presentation and discussion. The most controversial part of the report is its Chapter 4 which describes,
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Inter-American Commissioners Elected to New Posts The seven members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights elected new officers last week. The new Chair, First Vice-Chair and Second Vice-Chair are Felipe González, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Dinah Shelton, respectively. Commissioner Shelton is one of four members who joined the Commission this year. Inter-American Commission Holds 138th Ordinary Session The 138th
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The African System is the youngest of the three judicial or quasi-judicial regional human rights systems, and was created under the auspices of the African Union (AU). Like the Inter-American System (and the European System, as originally designed), it includes a commission and a court with complementary mandates. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), African Court on Human
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The Inter-American System for the protection of human rights is a regional human rights system, and is responsible for monitoring, promoting, and protecting human rights in the 35 independent countries of the Americas that are members of the Organization of American States (OAS). The Inter-American System is composed of two principal entities: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and Inter-American
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A number of primary and secondary sources on international human rights law are available online, in addition to information on human rights conditions. Download our guide to Researching International Human Rights Law for a comprehensive overview to the various databases and websites, or use the pages in the Research Aids section of this website to: look up treaties, declarations and other
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In February 2024, various regional and universal human rights bodies will hold sessions or hearings to continue their oversight and adjudication of human rights issues. For more information on each of the bodies mentioned, visit the Courts & Monitoring Bodies section of the IJRC Online Resource Hub. At the regional level, the African and Inter-American human rights commissions and courts
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Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) published its first judgment to identify States’ obligations to prevent and redress sexual violence in schools. See I/A Court H.R., Guzmán Albarracín and Others v. Ecuador. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of 24 June 2020. Series C No. 405 (Spanish). The case concerned Paola del Rosario Guzmán Albarracín, who was
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