death penalty – International Justice Resource Center

Texas Executes Man in Contravention of Multiple International Legal Decisions

November 27, 2018 IJRC death penalty, due process & judicial protection, Inter-American System, International Court of Justice, international human rights, liberty & security of person, regional human rights protection, right to life

The American state of Texas executed 64-year-old Mexican national Roberto Moreno Ramos on November 14, contravening the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and several human rights bodies, which had concluded he was entitled to a retrial or new sentencing hearing because of due process violations related to his trial, and should not be subjected to the death penalty because of

UN Human Rights Committee Clarifies, Expands Guidance on Right to Life

November 20, 2018 IJRC death penalty, international human rights, progressive development of law, right to life, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued new legal guidance on the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), expanding its interpretation of government obligations to protect reproductive rights and address climate change, among other topics. See Human Rights Committee, General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the

News Clips – November 4, 2016

November 4, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, assembly and association, civil litigation, civil society, corporate accountability, cultural rights, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, domestic courts, economic, social & cultural rights, environmental rights, health, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, international human rights, LGBTI rights, migrants, News Clips, persons with disabilities, right to life, thought, expression & association, U.S. courts, UN General Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures, Universal system

Civil Society Two girls in Morocco are facing charges of homosexual conduct after they were seen kissing. [Guardian] Thousands protested this week against the United Nation’s peace proposal to end the conflict in Yemen. [Al Jazeera] Several UN experts called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to put an end to the ban on protests that has been in

News Clips – October 28, 2016

October 28, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, Asia, assembly and association, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, death penalty, discrimination, domestic courts, economic, social & cultural rights, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, News Clips, persons with disabilities, reproductive and sexual rights, right to life, security & rule of law, thought, expression & association, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures, Universal system, women's rights

Civil Society After recent protests in Argentina over the murder and rape of a teenage girl, two women who participated in the protest were murdered this week, causing civil society to argue that femicides and gender-based violence are on the rise. [Guardian] The police in South Africa this week used water canons, tear gas, and stun grenades against students protesting

News Clips- September 30, 2016

September 30, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, Asia, assembly and association, children, civil society, cultural rights, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, economic, social & cultural rights, environmental rights, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, News Clips, persons with disabilities, regional human rights protection, right to life, thought, expression & association, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, Universal system

Civil Society A court in China sentenced three activists to three years imprisonment in one case and over a year for the other two individuals. [Jurist] The Facebook accounts of Palestinian journalists who work in occupied Palestinian territories were frozen last week. [Al Jazeera] United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association called

News Clips- September 2, 2016

September 2, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, Asia, assembly and association, children, civil litigation, civil society, conditions of detention, corporate accountability, death penalty, democracy & political rights, discrimination, domestic courts, due process & judicial protection, economic, social & cultural rights, education, environmental rights, European System, extrajudicial executions, human rights defenders, Inter-American System, International Criminal Court, international criminal law, international human rights, liberty & security of person, migrants, News Clips, persons with disabilities, regional human rights protection, right to life, thought, expression & association, torture, U.S. courts, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, universal jurisdiction, Universal system

Civil Society United Nations human rights experts showed concern for the harassment, detention, and torture of six human rights activists in Sudan who now may also face the death penalty. [OHCHR Press Release] With tens of millions of workers on strike in India, 150 million people were involved in protests on Friday. [Guardian] Girls at a high school in Pretoria,

September 2016: Three Regional Courts Hold Hearings, UN Reviews States

August 31, 2016 IJRC African System, children, civil society, Commission on the Status of Women, corporate accountability, death penalty, discrimination, economic, social & cultural rights, education, enforced disappearance, European System, human rights defenders, immigration & asylum, indigenous communities, Inter-American System, international human rights, judicial independence, labor rights, migrants, monthly overview, persons with disabilities, regional human rights protection, reproductive and sexual rights, right to life, UN General Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, Universal Periodic Review, Universal system, women's rights

During the month of September 2016, several supranational bodies will review States’ implementation of their treaty obligations, regional judicial bodies will conduct hearings, and four UN special procedures mechanisms will conduct country visits. Four United Nations treaty bodies will hold interactive dialogues with more than 20 States regarding their implementation of treaty obligations related to economic, social, and cultural rights and

ACHPR Finds Botswana’s Secret Hanging of Prisoner Was Cruel Treatment

July 6, 2016 IJRC African System, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, interim measures, international human rights, progressive development of law

A recent case involving capital punishment in Botswana required the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to consider the adequacy of appointed counsel and clemency procedures, hanging as a method of execution, the death row phenomenon, and whether notice is required prior to imposition of the death penalty. See ACommHPR, Interights & Ditshwanelo v. Botswana, Communication No. 319/06,

UN Experts: Widespread Abuses and Killings of Detainees in Syria

February 17, 2016 IJRC armed conflict, conditions of detention, death penalty, due process & judicial protection, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international criminal law, international human rights, international humanitarian law, liberty & security of person, massacres, right to life, security & rule of law, torture, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council

A recent report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) has revealed that all sides to the conflict in Syria have subjected those captured, kidnapped, or arrested to violence and rights abuses that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. See UN Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Developing Right to Life General Comment

August 27, 2015 IJRC African System, armed conflict, civil society, conditions of detention, crime & impunity, death penalty, democracy & political rights, economic, social & cultural rights, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, international human rights, international humanitarian law, judicial independence, liberty & security of person, reparations, right to life

In June 2015, the Working Group on Death Penalty and Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings (Working Group) of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) met in Kigali, Rwanda to develop a General Comment on Article 4 (right to life) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, also known as the Banjul Charter (Charter). This meeting