Posts filed under 'Human Rights'
February 22nd, 2008 at 04:09am
In Alexandridis v. Greece, the European Court of Human Rights recently held that obligating a person to reveal his religion constitutes a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The applicant, a Greek lawyer, alleged that he was asked to reveal whether he was an orthodox Christian when taking the oath of office. The Greek Government in response to the allegation stated that the applicant had been allowed to make a solemn declaration and refrain from disclosing his religion but was unable to exercise this option due to a procedural failure. The court also held there was no effective alternative remedy for the applicant, which qualified as a violation of Article 13, the right to an effective remedy, of the European Convention on Human Rights. For further details on this case, click here.
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February 13th, 2008 at 10:41pm
On February 13, some 1200 experts, legislators, law enforcement officials, business leaders, NGO representatives, celebrities, and trafficking victims convened in Vienna, Austria for the first-ever UN global forum against human trafficking. Giving remarks ahead of the February 13-15 forum, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa explained that human trafficking is widespread throughout the global economic system. Yet because of the lack of information about human trafficking, Mr. Costa called it “a monster whose shape, size and ferocity we can only guess.â€Â It often accompanies other unlawful activities, including illegal migration, forced labor, pedophilia, child exploitation, and organized prostitution.
“It’s time for the world to open its eyes to this form of modern slavery,†declared Mr. Costa. “Moral outrage [alone] is not going to stop the traffickers; we need high impact law enforcement measures to make human trafficking a riskier business.â€
Forum participants are discussing practical measures of preventing human trafficking and bringing perpetrators to justice. Measures under consideration include tracking and blocking Internet payments for human trafficking transactions; developing technology to pinpoint frequently used trafficking routes; help-lines to report suspected child prostitution or sex slavery; codes of conduct to curb sex tourism; and efforts to stop the forced removal and trade of human organs.
In a related development, UNODC launched a manual, Good Practices in the Protection of Witnesses in Criminal Proceedings Involving Organized Crime, aimed at helping countries develop comprehensive programs for the protection of victims and witnesses of crime. Witness protection programs can be a key tool in the dismantling of human trafficking networks.
More on these stories is available here and here.
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December 17th, 2007 at 12:07pm
The BBC reported today that Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned the female rape victim in the “Qatif girl” case. In November, the woman and was sentenced to 200 lashes for the crime of being alone with a male who was not a relative. The woman and her companion were abducted while sitting in a car together and were both gang raped multiple times by seven other men. The rapists were subsequently given prison sentences of up to 9 years.
King Abdullah often issues pardons during Eid al-Adha, which will take place at the end of this week. Human rights groups had been calling on him to change the sentence, but in the aftermath of the pardon some religious conservatives have denounced the king’s decision.
It is not known whether the sentence of the woman’s companion was also lifted.
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December 15th, 2007 at 03:16pm
An international monitoring group has been created by the Council of Europe to implement the Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) will be composed of between ten and fifteen experts in the field of human rights. Once the Convention takes effect in February of 2008 the group will be formed within the following year and will establish its own methods for monitoring trafficking in human beings within the member states. The Convention has been ratified by Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Georgia, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia, and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, has urged more states to ratify it.
The Council of Europe press release can be found here.
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December 10th, 2007 at 07:58pm
December 10 was UN Human Rights Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the occasion to remind the world that the freedoms upheld in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must apply universally: “The Declaration remains as relevant today as it did on the day it was adopted,†Mr. Ban said. “But the fundamental freedoms enshrined in it are still not a reality for everyone. Too often, Governments lack the political will to implement international norms they have willingly accepted.â€
December 10, 2008 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Declaration. Mr. Ban hopes that the world will use year leading up to the anniversary to reinvigorate efforts to ensure that the document’s freedoms apply to all.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour gave a separate statement.
The full text of the Declaration, adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948, is available here.
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November 16th, 2007 at 01:12pm
The Human Rights Committee of the UN General Assembly passed 99-52 a resolution calling for an end to the death penalty. The resolution was sponsored by EU states and 60 other countries. It must still be submitted to the 192-member General Assembly next month. If approved, the resolution would be non-binding, but is intended to send a strong moral message.
Many opponents to the resolution, which include the United States, Syria, Barbados, and Iran, cited issues of national sovereignty in their objections.
Two proposed death penalty moratoriums have previously reached the floor of the General Assembly, in 1994 and 1999.
The full story is available here.
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November 13th, 2007 at 08:20pm
The African Union continues to take cognizance of the “Arche de Zoe” affair two weeks after condemning it as unjustifiable, scandalous, and an abuse of humanitarian interference. The incident refers to a case in which sixteen Europeans (including nine French citizens) who claimed to be on a mission to save war orphans from Darfur could be facing stiff sentences and hard labor after attempting to airlift 103 children out of Chad. Members of the group, which is linked to a French charity called l’Arche de Zoé (Zoe’s Ark), are charged in Chad with extortion and child abduction. Amid evidence that the 103 children in question were not necessarily sick, orphaned, or even from Darfur, the failed mercy mission has grown into a diplomatic scandal that could jeopardize international plans to deploy peacekeepers in the borderlands of the troubled Sudanese region.
The full text of the press release is available here.
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November 6th, 2007 at 10:04pm
The UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries will report to the General Assembly on November 7 that a number of private security firms operating in conflict zones, particularly Afghanistan and Iraq, are engaging in new forms of mercenary activity. The Group’s report characterizes the personnel employed by such companies as a new form of mercenaries, similar to “irregular combatants.”
The report also warns that States employing such private companies could be liable for human rights violations committed by them, especially if governments are directing the companies or have authorized them to exercise elements of governmental authority. The report further discourages States from granting immunity to such companies and their personnel.
The full story on the report is available here.
More on the Working Group can be found here.
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November 6th, 2007 at 09:45pm
Juan Miguel Petit, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, called for a full investigation into the alleged attempt by a French NGO to abduct 103 children from Chad and fly them to France. Mr. Petit has urged the Chadian and French authorities to investigate the attempted abduction, insisting that those responsible must be brought to justice and “tried in accordance with international fair trial standards.”
Mr. Petit’s statement comes in the wake of the October 25 arrest of some members of an NGO called “Arche de Zoé/Child Rescue.” The full press release is available here.
Other UN officials have condemned the act as well.
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May 9th, 2007 at 05:47pm
This week, Serbia is is scheduled to assume chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s executive body. Human Rights Watch and other organizations have objected, pointing to Serbia’s human rights record.
HRW’s letter is here.
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