A Blog on International Justice
José Efraín Ríos Montt, former dictator of Guatemala, has been found guilty of genocide for his role in the slaughter of 1,771 people belonging to the indigenous Mayan ethnic group known as the Ixil in the 1980s. The 86 year old was found guilty by a three-judge tribunal and sentenced to 80 years in prison, 50 [...]
The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) came into force on 5 May 2013. The Optional Protocol would allow the citizens of a member state to apply to the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights when their economic, social, or cultural rights such as [...]
The sixteenth session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concluded this week in Geneva. The session began on 22nd April and continued till 3rd May. Countries whose human rights records were reviewed during this session were: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Canada, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, Djibouti, Germany, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, and Uzbekistan. This marks [...]
United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, has urged the Russian Government to take concrete measures to safeguard the independence and impartiality of the justice system. Ms. Knaul visited the Russian Federation from 15 to 25 April 2013, to review the achievements and shortcomings of the country in ensuring [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its judgment in the Tymoshenko v Ukraine. The case concerned the detention of the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko. The ECtHR found her detention to be “arbitrary and unlawful” constituting a violation of Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which guarantees right [...]
This month, the Human Rights Review Panel (HRRP) held its 15th session in Pristina. The Panel found among others a human rights violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by EULEX Kosovo in the implementation of its executive mandate. The complainant alleged that EULEX shared his witness statement with Serbian authorities in contravention [...]
A judge in Guatemala has suspended the trial of former dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt. Judge Carol Patricia Flores was recently reinstated to the case after being recused from it in February 2012. She ruled that all actions taken in the case since she was asked to step down were null, forcing prosecutors to start [...]
The US Supreme Court has ruled today that US courts cannot hear lawsuits about human rights abuses abroad. In their decision, the Justices ruled unanimously that a federal court in New York could not hear a case involving Nigerian activists who said the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell was complicit in rights abuses committed by the [...]
Splitting the hairs between corporate responsibility in Myanmar and Cambodia A comment by Mahdev Mohan and Vani Sathisan To many, Cambodia and Myanmar are at different points on the arc towards democracy and development. Hun Sen’s Cambodia is often viewed as an authoritarian state mired in endemic corruption. Myanmar is regarded as an emerging success [...]
by Amy Sheils* After gaining independence from France in 1960, Mali endured decades of droughts, rebellions, and military dictatorship following a coup in 1968. The latest rebellion started in January 2012 when the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) – a secular group representing nomadic Tuareg and other ethic groups from northern Mali – [...]
The 57th session of the United Nations Commission for Women (UCW) concluded with an agreement of 131 states to end discrimination against all forms of violence against women. The 2013 session of the UCW was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 4 to 15 March 2013. The focus of the session [...]
The United States has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and destroyed tribal structures with unmanned aerial drone strikes near the Afghan border, warned Ben Emmerson, the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights. Returning from a three-day visit to Islamabad, Ben Emmerson said he had been given assurances that there was no tacit consent by Pakistan [...]
Last January, a judge ruled that José Efraín Ríos Montt, who presided over one of the bloodiest periods of Guatemala’s civil war, will stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide in connection with the killing of 1771 indigenous Ixil Mayans during his rule in 1982-1983. Many consider that such ruling is symptomatic [...]
Ben Emmerson, the United Nations’ (UN) special rapporteur on protection of human rights and counter terrorism has called on the government of the United States to release the findings of inquiry into the secret Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) detention and interrogation practices. Mr. Emmerson, speaking at the presentation of his report on the promotion and [...]
On 10th January 2013, the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, was removed from office by a vote of Parliament, after a Select Committee of seven government ministers declared her guilty of misconduct. A report by Geoffrey Robertson QC published this week by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) [...]
The Open Society Justice Intitiative (OSJI) has published a report on human rights abuses associated with the US Central Intelligence Agency’s post-September 11, 2001, secret detention and extraordinary rendition operations. The 216-page report, entitled Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition, is presented as the most comprehensive account yet assembled of the human rights [...]
The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday applauded the upcoming entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enabling individual complaints for economic, social and cultural rights. Ms. Pillay said, “the entry into force of the Optional Protocol is a [...]
The EU’s Human Rights Review Panel has just published its 2012 Annual Report, which includes a set of important recommendations regarding the future of EULEX with regard to the protection of human rights in Kosovo. iLawyer Guénaël Mettraux is a member of the Panel. Share this:
On the occasion of the Opening of the Judicial Year at the European Court of Human Rights, Judge Theodor Meron, ICTY President, gave an enriching lecture on the relationship, historical and contemporary, between international criminal justice and human rights law. A link to that speech is provided here. Share this:
A judge overseeing a military trial at Guantánamo Bay ordered the government on Thursday to disconnect the technology that allows offstage censors — apparently including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) — to block a public feed of the courtroom proceedings at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The blocked comments came during a pretrial motions hearing on Monday [...]
The U.S. State Department has reassigned Daniel Fried, its special envoy for closing the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. No senior official will replace Ambassador Fried as lead diplomat to persuade countries to resettle Guantánamo inmates approved for release. Instead, those responsibilities will now transfer to the department’s legal office. Fried helped in the transfer of [...]
The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights has opened the applications for its 2013/2014 LL.M. Programme in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The LL.M. provides students with a unique opportunity to follow advanced courses and seminars in all branches of international law applicable to situations of armed conflict and to grasp [...]
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) passed a landmark judgment on religious freedoms in workplace. The Court held on 15 January 2013 that religious freedom applies in the workplace, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others. With this decision, the ECtHR has recognized religious freedom as a right [...]
In a recent report, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) urges international organisations and foreign governments to lend crucial support to the reform process in Myanmar (Burma), but warns that any assistance must be targeted carefully so as to include all sections of the country’s population. The 115-page detailed report entitled ‘The Rule [...]
Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights has called for an international investigation into human rights violations committed by the North Korean government over the last decades. The high commissioner said the elaborate network of political prison camps, forced labor and torture in the country cannot be allowed to continue. Navi Pillay expressed [...]