At the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), the President of the Council is to appoint five independent human rights experts to serve as the Working Group on Discrimination against Women.
UN-wgwomencriteria-advocacy-2010 (full text, PDF)
“Since the attacks of September 2001, decisions being taken at both national and international levels have been touching all regions of the world,” Michèle Rivet said as a preamble.
Many States or governments have adopted measures: pre-emptive detention without charge, long periods of pre-trial detention, restriction to the access to legal counsel, expulsion of foreigners without due consideration to the non refoulement principle, and finally, establishment of special courts that do not meet the minimum requirement of independence and impartiality.
Some governments have carried out activities shrouded in secrecy, and introduced measures that deny individuals the right to test or to challenge the legality of the actions taken against them or the lawfulness of their detention.
Many detainees have been summarily taken or expelled without due process in violation of usual extradition procedures to a country where they can be tortured with impunity. We have seen basic fair trial guarantees ignored, rights of defence cut down, and rights of appeal removed.
Genevaforum-fairtrial-advocacy-2010 (full text, PDF)
The time has come to ensure that people denied their economic, social and cultural rights, in particular those living in poverty, are able to access justice.
Human Rights Council: UN human rights experts are scheduled to present their joint study on global practices of secret detention in the context of countering terrorism.
The most visible example of oppression on the grounds of sexual orientation is the continued criminalization of sexual activity between consenting adult partners of the same sex in many states around the world.
Regardless of whether they are enforced, these so-called sodomy laws have the effect of stigmatizing an entire group of people as criminal. International law on the issue is clear. Such laws violate human rights. In this ICJ Briefing Paper, we analyze the application of international human rights law to the criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct.
International human rights law and the criminalizaion of same-sex sexual conduct-anyalsis brief-2010 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ and Amnesty International welcome the initiative of the Committee of Ministers to prepare guidelines on the obligations of Council of Europe Member States to prevent and counter impunity.
Pakistan – Dismantling Justice: A Full-Frontal Assault on the Rule of Law
Egypt: New Criminal Procedure Code violates human rights
GUATEMALA: International organizations express concern over the detention of lawyer Ramón Cadena
Tanzania: African CSOs Call for the Non-Recognition of the Illegitimate Government and for Transitional Justice and Fresh Elections