By Bhavani Raveendran The ten-year conflict between Maoist rebels and the government of Nepal, which finally ended in 2006, resulted in many human rights abuses; not the least among them was the use of child soldiers by the Maoist rebels. According to human rights organizations, Maoists forcibly took children from schools and persuaded them to [Read More...]
Release of Child Soldiers: A Good Sign for the Nepalese Peace Process
January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina; European Court Ruling on Racial and Religious Exclusion
January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
by Annamaria Racota On December 22, 2009, in a 14 to 3 vote, the European Court of Human Rights held in Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina that the racial or ethnic-based exclusion of Jews and Roma from Bosnia’s highest elected offices constituted unlawful discrimination. Both applicants are Bosnian citizens and prominent public figures: [Read More...]
South Korea Grants Refugee Status to Gay Pakistani Asylum Seeker
January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
By Ri Yoo, January 29, 2010 Seoul Administrative Court Due in part to the strong cultural influence of Confucianism, South Korea is a conservative society with a generally negative public perception of homosexuality. It was not until 2000, when Korean celebrity Seok-cheon Hong publicly announced that he was gay, that the public began to actively [Read More...]
Landmark Rendition Trial in Italy
January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
by Annamaria Racota In a landmark ruling on November 4, 2009, Italy’s highest court gave verdicts on the 2003 abduction of Egyptian-born cleric Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar. On February 17, 2003, Nasr, an Egyptian cleric, was abducted as part of an extraordinary rendition operation between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the [Read More...]
Swiss Ban on Minarets Heads to European Court
January 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
By Whitney Hayes, January 28, 2010 A Swiss People’s Party poster supporting the initiative states, “Stop! Yes to the minaret ban.” On December 16, 2009, Hafid Ouardiri, an Algerian-born Muslim living in Switzerland and former spokesman for the Geneva Mosque, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights challenging Switzerland’s recent constitutional amendment [Read More...]
Juveniles Locked Up or Life for Non-Homicides: Cruel and Unusual or an Appropriate Punishment?
January 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
by Evan Wilson, January 27, 2010 The United States Supreme Court is set to decide two cases that could eliminate life without parole for juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses. On November 9, 2009, the Court heard arguments in two cases, Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida, in which petitioners challenged the constitutionality of life [Read More...]
Mexico City Changes the Definition of Marriage
January 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
By Tracey Begley, January 27, 2010 Mexico City’s legislative assembly recently voted to change the definition of marriage, legalizing gay marriage. Representatives voted in December 2009 to change the Civil Code, which previously defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman and now provides that marriage is simply between two people. What [Read More...]
Treating Addiction Through Force
January 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
By Aileen Thomson, January 26, 2010 Drug users in Cambodia are subject to arbitrary arrest and commitment to drug treatment facilities, but in a startling development may now also be unwilling participants in an experimental drug trial. In December 2009, police in Phnom Penh reportedly arrested at least 17 drug users and forced them into [Read More...]
IACtHR Reforms Rules of Procedure
January 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment
By Daniela X. Cornejo, January 25, 2010 On November 24, 2009, the Inter-American Court of Human Right (Court or IACtHR) presented its new rules of procedure, describing the reform process as “the product of constructive, participatory, and transparent communication with the different actors and users of the Inter-American System.” The Court received observations regarding the [Read More...]
