UN Experts Warn of Continued Rights Violations in the Philippines

Last week, three United Nations independent experts – the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children – made an urgent appeal to the government of the Philippines concerning grave human rights violations, including murder; threats against human

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African Commission Declaration Recommends Expanded Protections for Human Rights Defenders

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) recently published the Cotonou Declaration on strengthening and expanding the protection of all Human Rights Defenders in Africa that recommends repealing harmful and discriminatory laws, ensuring compliance with existing international standards that impact human rights defenders, and developing standards on women human rights defenders, among other recommendations. Adopted earlier this year during the 2nd

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Council of Europe Body to Monitor Turkey on Human Rights, Rule of Law

Due to “serious concerns” about Turkey’s compliance with its human rights obligations and the erosion of democratic institutions and functions, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided in a resolution issued last week to reinstate Turkey into its monitoring procedure, a process by which PACE ensures Council of Europe Member States are in compliance with their human

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UN Finds Libyan Trial Violated Rights of Gaddafi Regime Members

In a report published on February 21, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that the trial of 37 former members of the Gaddafi regime, including Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, failed to meet international due process standards. See UNSMIL & OHCHR, Report on the Trial of

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Rights Protests Continue Across the U.S. as Immigration Ban Implemented

Protesters in the United States and around the world demonstrated last week and over the weekend, calling for the protection of the rights of migrants and refugees, women, and other vulnerable groups, as a new administration assumed power in the United States following a bitterly divisive campaign in which now-President Trump denied sexual assault allegations and promised to enact a

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Migrants Detained in Libya Face Serious Rights Abuses, UN Reports

A new report from the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights details rights abuses against migrants held in detention in Libya. Published on December 13, 2016, “Detained and dehumanized”: Report on Human Rights Abuses Against Migrants in Libya, summarizes information gathered from migrants held in detention centers that are mostly run

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