The ICJ welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, on the linkages between violations of human rights and the challenge of stigma, in relation to water, sanitation and hygiene.
The ICJ and Amnesty International presented a third party intervention in the case El Masri v. the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.
In the third party intervention, the ICJ and AI outlined developments on the principle of non-refoulement, on enforced disappearances, on the international law of state responsibility and on the right to truth.
Macedonia-written submission-legal submission-2012 (full text in English, PDF)
The ICJ and other NGOs delivered a joint statement at the UK Brighton Conference on the Reform of the European Court of Human Rights.
Amnesty International, the AIRE Centre, the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), Human Rights Watch, INTERIGHTS, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), JUSTICE, Open Society Justice Initiative and REDRESS jointly delivered a statement on their views on the declaration on reform of the European Court of Human Rights under negotiation at Brighton (UK) under the UK Presidency of the Council of Europe.
Europe-Brightondeclaration-jointstatement-2012 (download the joint statement)
The ICJ is pleased with the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that parental sexual orientation is not a factor in child custody cases.
On 20 March the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that parental sexual orientation is not a factor in child custody cases and that Chile had violated Karen Atala’s rights to equality, non-discrimination and privacy when the Supreme Court of Chile removed custody of her three daughters from her because she had begun a relationship with another woman.
In its first sexual orientation case, the Court held that sexual orientation is a protected ground, included under “other social condition” in Article 1 of the American Convention on Human Rights.
The Court further stated that the best interests of the child test could not be used as a pretext for prohibited discrimination in custody cases.
The Court also found that the Supreme Court of Chile’s reliance on stereotypes and prejudices was a violation of the State’s obligation to protect rights. Finally, the Court stated that the American Convention did not protect a specific form of traditional family and that states must recognize diverse family structures.
The International Commission of Jurists was called by the Inter-American Commission as an expert and submitted written and oral testimony on the role of parental sexual orientation as a factor in child custody cases.
Decision:
(http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_239_esp.pdf)
(https://www.icj.org/dwn/database/Jernow%20Written%20Submission.pdf)
The ICJ is concerned at the lack of transparency in the process, which could undermine universal human rights standards.
Civil Society Statement Ahead of Cour de Cassation Hearing on Immunities for State Officials in the Case of Bashar al-Assad
Palestine/Israel: Israel must immediately stop its criminal forcible displacement in Gaza
ICJ Submission on draft General Comment No. 27 on Children’s access to justice and effective remedy
HRC59: ICJ Statement in the interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Venezuela – addressing arbitrary detention and repression of civic space