Cultural Rights

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The authors, Indigenous Peoples of the Torres Strait Islands, brought a petition against Australia for violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The petitioners argued that Australia’s insufficient climate action violated their human rights, under ICCPR Articles 6 (right to life), 17 (right to private, family and home life) 24(1) (right of the child to protective measures), and 27 (right to culture). 

In Lhaka Honhat v. Argentina, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held that Argentina violated its obligations under Article 1.1 of the American...

African Children's Rights Committee holds Mauritania Accountable for Child Slavery

Said Ould Salem and his younger brother, Yarg Ould Salem, were born to a Haratine mother, part of Mauritania’s former slave class. While slavery is now outlawed in Mauritania, the practice remains widespread, commonly victimizing members of the Haratine minority. From birth onwards, both brothers became slaves to the El Hassine family. The two children worked seven days a week without rest, including on Fridays.

African Court upholds land rights for Kenya’s Ogiek

In October 2009, the Kenya Forestry Service issued an eviction notice requiring the Ogiek, a forest-dwelling community and one of Kenya’s most marginalized indigenous peoples, to leave the Mau Forest within 30 days.

The World Uyghur Congress submitted an Alternative Report to the Committee On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights (CESCR). This was in anticipation of the session on the People's Republic Of China. The March 2013 submission addresses the right to just and favourable working...

On 27th September 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) unanimously found suspected Islamist, Ahmad Al Mahdi, guilty beyond reasonable doubt as a co-perpetrator of a war crime pursuant to art. 8(2)(e)(iv) of the Rome Statute, in response to Mr. Al Mahdi’s intentionally directing of attacks against ten of the most important cultural heritage sites in Timbuktu, Mali, in June and July 2012.

The case was filed against the US government by Glamis Gold, a Canadian mining company engaged in the mining of precious metals. The project area was located within the California Desert Conservation Area, and designated areas of special cultural concern, and near, though not on, the Quechan Indian Tribe’s reservation lands.