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Post tagged in "human rights"

City Bar Statement on Peruvian Congress’s Passage of Statute of Limitations Bill

Posted on August 20, 2024

On July 4, 2024, Peru’s Congress passed Bill No. 6951/2023-CR, a piece of legislation that would establish a statute of limitations on crimes against humanity committed from 1980-2002, effectively ensuring impunity for atrocities that occurred during former president Alberto Fujimori’s administration and Peru’s internal armed conflict. This decision came on the heels of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights resolution granting provisional measures in the Case of Barrios Altos and Case of La Cantuta v. Peru, both of which involved accountability for massacres committed under the Fujimori regime. Despite the Court’s admonishment of the bill and directive to the State... read more

City Bar Statement on Venezuela’s 2024 Presidential Election

Posted on August 15, 2024

In a statement published on August 15, the New York City Bar Association condemned the Venezuelan government’s lack of transparency concerning the results following the July 28, 2024, election and expressed grave concern about the reported use of excessive police force and arbitrary or politically motivated detentions by the Venezuelan government in response to peaceful post-election demonstrations. The City Bar calls on the Venezuelan government to fully adhere to its international and domestic legal obligations, including Venezuela’s commitment to respect its citizens’ freedoms of political speech and assembly, as well as their rights to due process of law. “Law enforcement... read more

City Bar Statement Expressing Concern About the New Legislation to Regulate Non-Profit Organizations in Paraguay

Posted on October 14, 2024

También disponible en español aquí In a new report, the New York City Bar Association expressed serious concern about proposed legislation currently under discussion before Paraguay’s Congress. The legislation is ostensibly aimed at promoting transparency and accountability of non-profit organizations but would, in fact, limit their ability to function. If passed, the law “would hinder non-profits in numerous ways, including discouraging international cooperation or alliances and potentially violating the rights to freedom of expression, association, and privacy, amongst others, that have been enumerated under international human rights treaties and standards,” the statement says. The report presents the history and key... read more

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Calls for Release of Guatemalan Journalist José Rubén Zamora

Posted on July 1, 2024

July 2, 2024 – The ongoing detention of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora is arbitrary and violates international law and he should be released immediately, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a decision made public on Monday.   Zamora, the founder and former editor of independent newspaper elPeriódico, has been detained since his arrest in July 2022 for alleged financial crimes. In June 2023, he was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine for alleged money laundering. The Vance Center and numerous other rights organizations have criticized the trial proceedings for multiple violations... read more

Vance Center Submits Amicus Brief on Inter-American Court’s Jurisdiction to Hear Cases of Human Rights Violations in Venezuela

Posted on May 23, 2024

May 23, 2024 – The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice of the New York City Bar Association, along with counsel Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, today filed an amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the case Chirinos et al. v. Venezuela.   The submission relates to the jurisdiction of the Court to hear cases concerning human rights violations in Venezuela that occurred after Venezuela’s withdrawal from the American Convention on Human Rights in 2013. The amicus finds that the Court has jurisdiction over Venezuela and that it may exercise that jurisdiction with respect to human... read more

Vance Center Supports Crucial Submission in Landmark Inter-American Court Decision on Environmental Rights

Posted on March 25, 2024

Photo credit: Shutterstock  On March 22, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark decision finding that the state of Peru violated multiple human rights of the residents of the town of La Oroya, including their right to a healthy environment. Together with the law firm Arias, the Vance Center advised David Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, in his 2022 submission to the Court in this case.  This month’s decision by the Inter-American Court marks a major development in a long and arduous process for the victims seeking justice. For decades the residents... read more