الحقوق الصحية

The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) claimed in a petition before the European Committee of Social Rights (which judges compliance of State parties with the European Social Charter) that France had violated the right to medical assistance (Article 13 of the Revised European Social Charter) by ending the exemption of illegal immigrants, with very low incomes, from charges for medical and hospital treatment.

The case was a consolidation of two class actions brought under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), which allows prisoners to sue for violations of constitutional rights. California's prisons were designed to hold about 80,000 prisoners, but at the time of filing, the system held about 156,000. In both class actions, overcrowding was found to constitute an 8th Amendment violation because of a serious lack of access to basic medical care, with one case dealing specifically with prisoners with serious mental illness.

This case addresses the plight of as many as 100,000 children (known as talibés), who while attending Qur’anicschools (daaras) in Senegal, are forced by some instructors to beg in the streets, to secure their own survival and enrich the teachers. The children live away from their families, often in deplorable conditions, and are exposed to brutal physical assaults, malnutrition, illness, sexual abuse, and several other vulnerabilities. The forced begging leaves no time for a proper education.

On May 5, 2011, Irene Nanteza arrived at Nakaseke Hospital with her husband. Although a nurse confirmed the signs of obstructed labor and called the doctor on duty, the doctor did not arrive until Nanteza had been in labor for about 8 hours. The patient died of a hemorrhage and ruptured uterus. Despite the hospital administrator’s awareness of Nanteza’s condition and the doctor’s absence prior to her death, the Court noted that it was not shown that he made any effort to transfer her to another hospital.