La Corte Interamericana aclara las obligaciones de los Estados en contextos de protección ambiental

by Liliana Ávila Asuntos contemporáneos y emergentes BORRAR, Blog INVALID 7, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR

La opinión consultiva también aclara las obligaciones extraterritoriales El pasado 7 de febrero del 2018, la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos dio a conocer su respuesta a una opinión consultiva solicitada por Colombia en relación con las obligaciones internacionales de los Estados frente a posibles impactos de actividades que pueden afectar el medio ambiente. Las opiniones consultivas son conceptos jurídicos en los …

The case of Argentina: the experience of the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances

by Estela B. de Carlotto and Geneva Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

16 February 2017 In 2015, on the occasion of its 35th anniversary, the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances traveled to our country to hold periodic meetings. It held meetings with human rights organisations and various State bodies working on the ground to prevent and guarantee justice in each case of enforced disappearances. The expert group concluded that Argentina is …

Indigenous peoples and the environment: challenges and opportunities for the UN human rights system

by Mariana Montoya, Universal Rights Group and Geneva Blog BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR, EHRD BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

On 1 August 2017, the Embassy of Turkey in Colombia, the Fundación el Nogal, and the Universal Rights Group, with the support of Club El Nogal, organised an event to raise awareness of the situation of the rights of indigenous peoples (IPs) in Colombia. This event saw the participation of high-level representatives of the Colombian Government, leaders of indigenous communities, …

Bringing the UN Treaty Body system closer to the people

by Christof Heyns, Professor of Human Rights Law, Univeristy of Pretoria and Member of the UN Human Rights Committee, Willem Gravett, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and Geneva Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Treaty Bodies

The ongoing process of strengthening the UN Treaty Body system provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on some of our hidden assumptions. The Treaty Bodies have over time gravitated towards Geneva, and it now appears to be the assumption that this is simply the way things should be done. Notwithstanding, we want to argue that reform of the human rights Treaty …

Report on the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Human Rights Council reports, Regular session

Quick summary  The 34th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC34) was held from Monday 27th February to Friday 24th March 2017. On 8th March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, presented his annual report on the global human rights situation. A number of dignitaries delivered statements during the session’s high-level segment, including inter alia, H.E. …

Report on the 30th Session of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Human Rights Council reports, Regular session

Quick summary The 30th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC30) was held from 14th September to 2nd October 2015. At the opening of the session the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, gave his regular update on the global human rights situation, the text of which can be found here . 6 panel discussions …

A Geneva Spring? Why civil society needs North-South solidarity

by Louise Arbour and the URG team Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Civil society BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

In the last decade, the international human rights framework has become addicted to norm-setting, devoting far too much effort to refining norms, tools and protocols, and not enough to their actual implementation. There have certainly been some important new normative initiatives, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But now the challenge is that the international …

A Rough Guide to the Regional Human Rights Systems

Regional human rights systems, consisting of regional instruments and mechanisms, play an increasingly important role in the promotion and protection of human rights. Regional human rights instruments (e.g. treaties, conventions, declarations) help to localise international human rights norms and standards, reflecting the particular human rights concerns of the region. Regional human rights mechanisms (e.g. commissions, special rapporteurs, courts) then help …