The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) for the first time held a State responsible for violating the progressive realization principle, determining that Guatemala’s inaction to extend healthcare services to people with HIV/AIDS contravened its duty to progressively achieve the full realization of the right to health, among other violations. [IACtHR Press Release] In Cuscul Piraval et al v. Guatemala,
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In November, several universal and regional human rights bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, and the review of individual complaints. Five United Nations treaty bodies will meet to review States’ progress with regard to civil and political rights, women’s rights, enforced disappearances, torture,
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On October 3, 2018, the Supreme Court of Peru overturned the pardon granted to former President Alberto Fujimori and ordered him to complete his sentence for crimes against humanity committed by his administration in the 1990s. [Reuters] Pursuant to a request submitted by massacre victims’ family members, the Supreme Court found that the humanitarian pardon lacked a legal basis and
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On September 10, 2018, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC or Child Rights Committee) published its first decision involving sexual violence against a minor, finding that Cameroon had failed to adequately investigate, punish, and redress the rape of a 10-year-old girl. [ACERWC] The Child Rights Committee found that the State’s lack of
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In June, the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued the first ever UN report detailing human rights abuses in Kashmir. [OHCHR Press Release] See OHCHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir (2018). The report seeks to draw attention to the victims of the human rights violations created by the political situation
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and United Nations experts have expressed concern over Nicaragua’s response to protests that began in opposition to President Ortega’s proposed social security reforms and led to violence, deaths, and the suppression of media attention. [NY Times: Protests; OHCHR Press Release; IACHR Press Release: Concern] The demonstrations started in Managua after President Ortega proposed changes
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The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) recently published a general recommendation on the adoption of a gender-based approach on the prevention of and response to climate change and environmental disasters. See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 37: Gender-related dimensions of disaster-risk reduction in the context of climate change, UN
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In March 2018, several universal and regional human rights bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, interactive dialogues, and hearings on individual complaints. Four United Nations treaty bodies will be holding sessions throughout March on the rights of persons with disabilities; the rights of
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This month, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and United Nations special procedures mandate holders all took steps to expose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime’s responsibility for human rights violations and international crimes committed against the Venezuelan population. On February 8, the prosecutor of the ICC announced that she opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Venezuela. The preliminary
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At the end of January, three international human rights bodies took substantial steps to ensure protection of children’s rights. On January 25, 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued its first decision on the merits in the case K.Y.M. v. Denmark, holding that Denmark violated the International Convention on the Rights of the Child
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