Feb 6, 2013
The ICJ is concerned by laws and legislative proposals in a variety of countries that severely threaten the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and human rights defenders.
Ahead of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council (25 February to 22 March 2013), the ICJ today submitted a written statement to the UN encouraging the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to follow up on these laws and legislative proposals.
Pointing to unlawful restrictions on the freedoms of association and assembly, and the freedom of expression, in several countries, the ICJ encouraged the Special Rapporteur to:
- Call on governments to protect these rights for everyone and to ensure that any restrictions comply with the requirements of legality, of necessity and proportionality and of non-discrimination on all grounds; and
- In the case of laws or legislative proposals that fail to comply with these requirements, take appropriate action.
HRC22-Item3-HRDs-WrittenStatement-legal submission-2013 (download statement)
Jan 29, 2013
The ICJ today submitted a written statement calling on the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the open-ended intergovernmental working group (IGWG) on private military and security companies (PMSCs).
The statement was submitted ahead of the 22nd session of the Council (25 February to 22 March 2013).
Recognizing that the IGWG identified, during its second session in August 2012, that there are a number of existing gaps and areas of concern relating to the protection of human rights in the context of the activities of private security companies, the ICJ urged the Council and all States participating in the IGWG to:
- Consider the possibility of elaborating a legally binding instrument on the regulation, monitoring and oversight and accountability of the activities of PMSCs, as well as complementary approaches and strategies; and
- Approach the issue of the regulation of PMSCs from a human rights perspective, particularly on the questions of accountability and access to justice.
HRC22-IGWGonPMSCs-LegalSubmission-2013 (download full submission in PDF)
Dec 22, 2012
In this case the applicants alleged that Costa Rica’s complete prohibition on in vitro fertilization (IVF) contravened the American Convention on Human Rights giving rise to violations of their rights to privacy and family life.
On 21 December 2012, the Inter-American Court upheld the applicants claim and requested Costa Rica to take measures to address the situation including overturning the prohibition within a six month period.
In its important decision the Court held that the prohibition contravened the applicants’ rights to privacy, liberty, personal integrity, and to form a family as protected by the American Convention on Human Rights.
The court also considered the prohibition undermined enjoyment of the right to be free from discrimination.
The ICJ filed an Amicus brief in the case in September 2012.
In its brief the ICJ focused on the legal principles and doctrine that should be applied by the Court when considering the case.
Specifically the ICJ addressed the criteria that should be taken into account by the Court when considering whether Costa Rica’s complete ban on IVF amounted to a permissible limitation on the applicant’s human rights.
Costa Rica-ICJ Amicus Fertilization in vitro-legal submission-2012 (full text in PDF)
Costa Rica-Amicus ICJ-fecundacion in vitro-legal submission-2012-spa (full text in PDF)
Dec 13, 2012
The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, with the support of the Academic Platform Switzerland UN, today convened an expert meeting on the independence of the UN treaty bodies.
Providing a critical assessment from civil society, the ICJ’s UN Representative spoke of the legal and policy challenges in the proposal to establish a code of conduct for treaty body members. His intervention posited that:
- The General Assembly’s intergovernmental process on the strengthening of the treaty bodies has no legal competence to establish or impose a code of conduct for treaty body members;
- A request by the intergovernmental process for treaty bodies to themselves establish a code of conduct would be inappropriate and inconsistent with the framework of the human rights treaty bodies; and
- Such a request is also unnecessary.
The ICJ’s intervention reflects its submission to a civil society consultation on the intergovernmental process.
ICJ-TBStrengtheningCSForum-legal submission (2012) (download in PDF)
Dec 7, 2012
In a joint submission to the Committee against Torture concerning Peru, the ICJ and COMSIDEH-Peru called for recommendations concerning accountability for torture and ill-treatment of persons and the enhancement of measures to prevent and detect such conduct and to provide remedies to victims.
During its session in October and November 2012, the Committee against Torture undertook an examination of Peru’s sixth periodic report under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention).
The joint submission of the ICJ and COMSIDEH-Peru (Comisión de Derechos Humanos – Peru) brought to the attention of the Committee issues related to articles 2, 4, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16 of the Convention.
Peru-ICJ-COMISEDH-CAT49-AlternativeReport-legal submission (2012) (download PDF version of submission in Spanish)
Peru-CAT49-ConcludingObservations (download Word version of Concluding Observations in English)
