News Concerning the Universal System and Regional Systems for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

Abstract

This edition provides an overview of the most recent developments within the United Nations human rights system and the regional human rights protection systems, including the report of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the systematic use of conflict-related sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan; two views adopted by the Human Rights Committee concerning, respectively, the protection of an adolescent's right to privacy in relation to the collection and retention of his DNA profile, and the responsibility for deporting a child with a severe disability without an adequate assessment of the risk of irreparable harm resulting from the lack of appropriate medical treatment in the receiving country; as well as the recent actions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to protect human rights defenders and address xenophobic violence against migrants in South Africa. The newsletter also examines the most significant decisions of the regional human rights systems, including judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning discrimination against Jehovah's Witnesses in Italy; reports issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Mexico's ongoing crisis of enforced disappearances and the labour conditions of Cuban medical personnel participating in international medical missions; and the recent judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights holding Nicaragua and Venezuela internationally responsible for serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture, violations of judicial guarantees, and unlawful restrictions on political rights. Each edition aims to provide a carefully curated selection of news and developments through which practitioners, academics, and human rights defenders may identify issues of relevance and interest, regardless of their particular areas of specialization.