100 posts
Central European Links
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Here’s a depressing but interesting story. More and more Jews are moving to Vienna, which sounds rather hopeful…except that they’re coming from Hungary, to get away from anti-Semitism and people like piece o’work Zsolt Bayer.
EP report on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU
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Today the LIBE and AFET Committees of the European Parliament accepted the report of Monika Flašíková Beňová on the Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union. The report welcomes the steps undertaken by the European Commission in ord...
New Judgment on Trade Union Freedom of Expression
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This post is written by Dirk Voorhoof* The European Court of Human Rights delivered a new and remarkable judgment on trade union freedom of expression. In Szima v. Hungary the European Court concluded that a criminal conviction of a leader of a polic...
Human rights 'invisible' in US election campaign
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It should be a cause for concern around the world that human rights have not been on the agenda for either candidate throughout the US presidential election campaign, writes Kate Allen...
Media freedom at home and abroad
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| Number of views :504I’m shortly off to Baku for the Internet Governance Forum. Azerbaijan is a country with serious issues of media freedom – where journalists regularly face arrest or imprisonment, and the suppression of very basic human...
“European Yearbook of Minority Issues” volume 9 is finally out
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'European Yearbook of Minority Issues' 2010 is now available. The 9th volume features special focus on education, minorities in the media, and minorities and religion. Continue reading →Source: ECMI InfoChannel @ European Centre for Minority Is...
Monday Update: Eurosceptism, gay rights and separatism
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Happy Monday. EU budget in times of austerity 53 Conservative Members of Parliament demanding that the EU cut spending sided with the opposition, in direct defiance of Prime Minister David Cameron, while an EU commissioner challenged the UK to decid...
EFD Rights Watch: Tear gas strike at hunger strike protestors… Pressure on journalists still on the agenda…
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A woman is helped by demonstrators as Turkish riot police fire water cannon and tear gas during a Kurdish demonstration in support of a widespread hunger strike by Kurdish prisoners, on November 4, 2012 in Istanbul (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) VIA Turk...
P and S v. Poland: adolescence, vulnerability, and reproductive autonomy
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The Strasbourg Observers are delighted to publish this guest post by Johanna Westeson, Regional Director for Europe, Center for Reproductive Rights. The Center for Reproductive Rights represented the applicants in P and S v. Poland before the ECtHR;...
ECHR Articles in the Modern Law Review
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The newest issue of the Modern Law Review (vol. 75, issue 6) includes two articles on the European Convention of Human Rights. The first is an article written by Ian Leigh and Rex Ahdar entitled 'Post-Secularism and the European Court of H...
Conference: “The Challenge of Non-Territorial Autonomy” on 9-10 November in Belfast
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European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) and partners are preparing for the multidisciplinary conference this weekend. A draft programme of 'The Challenges of Non-Territorial Autonomy' is now available. Continue reading →Source: ECMI InfoChan...
Supporting bottom-up, multi-stakeholder Internet governance
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The Internet has been built from the bottom up. From its origins as a US Government research project, private business, public authorities, civil society, academia and 2.3 billion users have built it over the past three decades into a global informat...
New book: "Activating Human Rights and Peace"
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An interesting read for all of us who work in the field of HRE (Human Rights Education):Goh Bee Chen, Baden Offord and Rob Garbutt (eds.), Activating Human Rights and Peace: Theories, Practices and Contexts, Ashgate, June 2012.A book review by Kris...
MEPs call for greater respect of human rights in Cambodia
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Last week in Strasbourg, two of the South West MEPs spoke in the debate on the situation in Cambodia and called on the Cambodian government to grant its citizens the fundamental right to freedom of expression, conduct free and fair elections and ensu...
New Publications on the ECHR
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At the start of the month, again a short selection of articles published in various journals or online, with the Convention or Court as their subject-matter. First off, the Indiana International and Comparative Law Review includes an article by&...
Announcement #2: Swedish Forum for Human Rights 2012 (Göteborg)
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The Swedish Forum for Human Rights (Mänskliga Rättighetsdagarna) is the biggest annual forum about human rights in the Nordic countries. The forum is held in November every year in various places in Sweden focusing on a variety of themes concerning...
Deeper EU - Israel trade relations: what about human rights concerns?
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By Marnix de WitteOn the 23rd of October, the European Parliament (EP) passed the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) to further enhance Israel – EU trade relations. A questionable agreement; what about t...
Open Society Paper on ECHR Implementation
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The Open Society Justice Initiative has drafted a paper as a kind of counterweight to all the plans and initiatives from the ECHR state parties and those from within the Council of Europe itself. The paper, entitled 'National Implementation of the In...
Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi – winners of the 2012 Sakharov Prize
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Left: Jafar PANAHI and Nasrin SATOUDEH - Sakharov Prize Winner 2012 © European Union 2012 EP and © Handout/afp/ European Union 2012 EP 26-10-2012 - Two Iranian activists, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film director Jafar Panahi, are this year's...
Video in German about the Court
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Das Erste, one of Germany's main national public broadcasters has produced a short video about the European Court of Human Rights. The short feature (just a bit over seven minutes) in the series Ratgeber - Recht gives a short overview of what the Cou...
#Freevaxevanis; Greek Police issued an arrest warrant for journalist Kostas Vaxevanis
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In this current issue of HOT DOC Magazine, its editor Kostas Vaxevanis published a list of 2.059 Greek citizens who ... Continue reading...
ICANN, UDRP and freedom of speech: a call for humility
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This Kat is a silent follower of the CyberProf listserve. I read with interest the comments and exchanges that appear on the site, penned by some of the most thoughtful members of the IP/cyberlaw community. I have never expressed my view in conn...
A belated Fazıl Say trial roundup
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Renowned Turkish pianist’s trial postponed from Hurriyet Daily News Famous Turkish pianist Fazıl Say’s trial for remarks he made on Twitter allegedly supporting atheism.. Renowned Turkish pianist to appear on trial for insulting religion...
Bayram gift from CPJ to Turkish government: “Turkey’s Press Freedom Crisis”
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Turkey accused of pursuing campaign of intimidation against media from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Simon Tisdall Two independent reports have found evidence of a pattern of harassment against writers and broadcasters Ankara is pursuin...
Greek Golden Dawn party goes international and plays on double meanings
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25 October 2012 - This blog analyses how the Greek ultra-nationalist neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, has elaborated new strategies to gain support from Greek expatriates in North America and Australia during the past few months. In Greece, the party is...
Vacancy: International Human Rights Education Project Coordinator at Amnesty International (London)
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Amnesty International's Human Rights Education Team is seeking an International Human Rights Education Project Coordinator for our Education for Human Dignity project. Please see below for information about the role. The position is a fixed term co...
Homophobic Nick Griffin may face European Parliament sanctions
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Labour Members of the European Parliament have formally reported Nick Griffin’s controversial tweets to the President of the European Parliament. The BNP leader faces possible sanctions under Parliament rules. On Thursday last week, British Na...
X. v. Turkey: Why a Ruling on the Basis of Discriminatory Effects Would Have Been Preferable
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A few weeks ago, the European Court of Human Rights released its judgment in X. v. Turkey. The case concerned a homosexual detainee who was put in an individual cell and under a very restrictive detention regime, after he complained about intimidatio...
New Journal with ECHR-related Articles
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A brand new journal has been added to the universe of human rights periodicals: the Cyprus Human Rights Law Review. The new review, led by Leto Cariolou, of the European Human Rights Law Institute, aims to promote: knowledge, appreciation a...
Liber Amicorum for Bratza on Freedom of Expression
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This week a special collection of essays was offered to the Court's president to mark the end of his many years in Strasbourg, first in the European Commission of Human Rights and later at the Court, since its fulltime start...
Ukraine: Homophobic Bill Considered Ahead of Election
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Shortly after scrapping the infamous defamation bill in early October, Ukrainian MPs passed another scandalous proposal in the first reading, aimed at “defending children from the propaganda of homosexual lifestyle and the HIV/AIDS infection associ...
Subsidiarity: Right of Access to an Attorney
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Virtually all Europeans imagine their right to an attorney to be more or less the way they see it in American cop shows on TV. In reality, however, the law in most European countries is not quite so generous. Even under the 2008 ECtHR ruling of Saldu...
New ECHR Publications
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Albert Sánchez Graells (University of Hull), has published a working paper on SSRN, entitled 'The EU’s Accession to the ECHR and Due Process Rights in EU Competition Law Matters: Nothing New Under the Sun?'. This is the abstract:In light of the on...
The Grand Chamber on hunting rights (once again): It is all about convictions
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This guest post was written by Ingrid Leijten, Ph.D. researcher and teaching assistant at the Leiden University Faculty of Law, Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law. Only a few months ago I took the opportunity to discuss Herrmann v. G...
Slovakia: “For Decent and Safe Life” Rally Stirs Controversy
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Tibor Blazko reports on the controversial Oct. 13 rally for "a decent and safe life," translating netizens' views on the rights of Slovakia's Roma and non-Roma citizens, as well as on the failure of the state to address the alarming social situation...
Cengiz Aktar: Yeni siyasî tutuklu tanımı
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Yeni siyasî tutuklu tanımı 3 Ekim’de Avrupa Konseyi Parlamenterler Meclisi (AKPM) yeni bir siyasî tutuklu tanımında uzlaştı. Amaç koloni döneminde Namibya için tarif edilmiş siyasî tutuklu halini güncellemek ve bazı üye ülkelerdeki...
Les Roms en France : “Le vrai problème, c’est la précarité” (1)
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Une interview de Perrine, ancienne stagiaire à Romeurope. Les Roms seraient entre 12 et 15 millions en Europe, 10 millions ...
Les Roms en France : “Le vrai problème, c’est la précarité” (2)
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Une interview de Perrine, ancienne stagiaire à Romeurope. 3. Les Cabris de l’Europe : Selon toi, quelles sont finalement les principales difficultés pour les Roms ?
Racism in Serbian football fan culture: the establishment fails to act | Jelena Obradovic-Wochink
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Racist behaviour in Krusevac drew attention to the wider and more systematic failures of the Serbian political leadershipAnyone familiar with the football fan culture of Serbia cannot feign surprise at the latest disturbances that took place at the U...
France: Photos and Impressions from the World Forum for Democracy 2012 in Strasbourg
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The first World Forum for Democracy took place in Strasbourg, France, from October 5 - 11, 2012. The co-editor of Global Voices in French was in attendance and reported on the conversations that took place.
Home of gay couple under police protection after Nick Griffin tweets
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Home of couple targeted is being watched by police Griffin under investigation by Cambridgeshire Police One of couple tells BBC that BNP leader is “an idiot” The home of a gay couple targeted by Nick Griffin online is now being watched b...
Greece: Petition to Remove Golden Dawn MP from Non-Discrimination Committee
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The Golden Dawn party has become notorious for its blatant anti-Semitic and xenophobic rhetoric and has been responsible for perpetrating attacks against Jews and foreigners.” The European Union of Jewish Students have created a petition urging th...
Hundreds of Prisoners in Turkey go on Hunger Strike…EFD Rights Watch…
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Turkey: Hundreds of Kurdish Political Prisoners go on Hunger Strike from Global Voices Online by Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar Hundreds of Kurdish political prisoners have entered an indefinite hunger strike, challenging Turkey’s treatment of Kurdish...
'A Path to Dignity' screened at Europe's largest human rights conference
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Screening of 'A Path to Dignity' at OSCE conference in Warsaw Warsaw, 26 September 2012 -- HREA organised a showing of the new documentary film "A Path to Dignity: The Power of Human Rights Education" at the annual Human Dimension Impleme...
New resource: Becoming a Human Rights Friendly School
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Amnesty International has launched a new resource in connection with its Human Rights Friendly Schools project. Amnesty International supports schools and their wider communities to build a global culture of human rights. Adopting a whole-school...
(European) Human Rights and the UK Constitution
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Colm O'Cinneide of University College London has written the report 'Human rights and the UK constitution', commissioned by the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences. In the author's own words, it 'makes the argument that the existin...
CfA Europeans for Peace
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The new call for application is out now! Are you about to plan or do you already have an international project partnership with a school and/or a non-school organisation in the countries of Central-, Eastern-, and South-Eastern Europe or Israel? Then...
Malloy: Europe misses the guts to rethink the secular
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“What is lacking in Europe is the guts to rethink the secular,” writes Dr. Tove H. Malloy in an answer to 'The Morningside Post'. Continue reading →Source: ECMI InfoChannel @ European Centre for Minority Issues.
6th EU Human Trafficking Conference
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Today is something of a rushed post. Yesterday was my birthday, a day when I spent much time being kissed by many people I would prefer not to be kissed by, and a day when I was not kissed by many people I would happily be kissed by. Hmmm! Anyway...
Extraordinary Rendition, Forced Labour, and Evidence Obtained by Torture
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There are three cases, among the many decided by the Court in the past few weeks, which I would like to highlight. They deal with testimony potentially obtained through torture, forced labour and extraordinary rendition respectively. The first i...
Greece: Theater Critic Assaulted by Neo-nazis and Religious Groups Protesting Play
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Religious groups and neo-nazis protested against gay-themed play Corpus Christi in Athens on 11 October, 2012. Deeming it blasphemous, they assaulted a theater critic and forced the cancellation of the performance. Netizens reacted in shocked outrage...
Nobel Prize-winning EU only goes halfway on migrants’ rights
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Today, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Notwithstanding this great honour, the EU has far to go to promote the human rights of migrants in Europe in key areas of integration, according to the 2010 Migrant Integration Policy R...
When a “political prisoner” is not a “political prisoner”
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Only a few days ago I wrote a short entry stating PACE/Council of Europe had eventually defined “political prisoner“. The definition is thus: “A person deprived of his or her personal liberty is to be regarded as a “political pris...
New Academic Articles on Al-Jedda, Al-Skeini, and EU Accession to ECHR
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The most recent issue of the Military Law and the Law of War Review (Revue de Droit Militaire et de Droit de la Guerre, vol. 50, nos. 3-4 of 2011) has been published. It includes an 'agora' / special thematic part on the Al-Jedda and Al-Ske...
Council of Europe defines “Political Prisoner”
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Very quietly and without much fanfare, on Thursday the Council of Europe (PACE) eventually committed itself to a legal definition of who can be classified as a “political prisoner”. Needless to say it will have some ramifications for all...
New ECHR Academic Articles
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The newest issue of SIM's 'current contents' (September 2012) on human rights has been published. As always, it also includes a number of ECHR-related references. These include:K. Dzehtsiarou and V. Lukashevich, 'Informed decision-making: the co...
When I was a homophobe.
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I’m one of those people who regards same-sex marriage as a litmus test for politicians. That doesn’t mean that every candidate I support or votes for has to be pro-gay marriage, but I certainly could not vote for one who actively campaign...
Skulle vi ha flydd 714 mennesker hjem til torturkammer?
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Fremskrittspartiet sendte ut det som må være høstens mest usmakelige smaksprøve på mulig fremtidig politikk. Partiets nestleder, leder av programkomiteen og Stortingsrepresentant Per Sandberg ønsker å sende ut asylsøkere før søknaden er e...
Ukraine: Protesting the Controversial Defamation Bill
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A bill that calls for penalties of up to five years in jail for defamation passed a first reading in the Ukrainian Parliament on Sep. 18. Following the online campaign against the adoption of the bill, its author submitted a request to recall it. The...
The temptation to oppose the ECtHR and the CJEU on European Labour Law
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This is the first of hopefully many articles on European Law I will write during my year at King’s, while I am taking an LLM with specialism in that topic. Today’s topic was inspired by the readings for the first … Continue reading →...
Madrid view: the power of identity
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Muslims on the warpath against the Americans and the French over pictures of Mohammed; China and Japan strutting and rumbling about some tiny islands. Identities are back on the scene, yellingRead more…...
Google Execs Evade Brazilian Jail Time
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In late September 2012, the Brazilian state police detained the head of Google’s operations in the state after the company’s management failed to act on an electoral judge’s order to remove videos from its YouTube site criticizing a candidate i...
Czech Republic: Roma Struggle for Roots, Resist Evictions in Ostrava
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This summer, Přednádraží, a small neighborhood in Ostrava, has been the site of an intense struggle against unlawful evictions of the predominantly Roma residents. Daniela Kantorova reports.
Charlie Hebdo, “Muslims” and free speech
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Cross-posted from the Workers Liberty website and the paper Solidarity: http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2012/09/25/charlie-hebdo-muslims-and-how-defend-freedom-expression By Yves Coleman The author is a French socialist activist, involved in pub...
