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The right to freedom of opinion and expression exercised through the Internet 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is also concerned by the emerging trend of timed (or "just-in-time") blocking to prevent users from accessing or disseminating information at key political moments, such as elections, times of social unrest, or anniversaries of politically or historically significant events. During such times, websites of opposition parties, independent media, and social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are blocked, as witnessed in the context of recent protests across the Middle East and North African region. In Egypt, users were disconnected entirely from Internet access.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The protection of sources and whistle-blowers 2015, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Confidential sources rely on others to invoke the right to confidentiality on their behalf. Historically, States have enabled a professional class of journalists to invoke the right, but the revolution in the media and in information over the past 20 years demands reconsideration of such limitations. Article 19, which protects freedom of expression through any media, requires that States take into account a contemporary environment that has expanded well beyond traditional print and broadcast media. The protection available to sources should be based on the function of collection and dissemination and not merely the specific profession of "journalist". The practice of journalism is carried out by "professional full-time reporters and analysts, as well as bloggers and others who engage in forms of self-publication in print, on the Internet or elsewhere" (Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 34, para. 44).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The right to freedom of association obliges States to take positive measures to establish and maintain an enabling environment. It is crucial that individuals exercising this right are able to operate freely without fear that they may be subjected to any threats, acts of intimidation or violence, including summary or arbitrary executions, enforced or involuntary disappearances, arbitrary arrest or detention, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, a media smear campaign, travel ban or arbitrary dismissal, notably for unionists. One or several of such violations is/are found in, e.g., Belarus, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Israel, the Philippines, , Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic and Zimbabwe.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- [International human rights instruments that protect the rights of particular groups specifically recognize directly or indirectly the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association for those groups:] In relation to non-nationals, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recognizes that States may require non-citizens to have work permits in order to be eligible for job offers. However, all individuals are entitled to the enjoyment of labour and employment rights, including the freedom of assembly and association, once an employment relationship has been initiated until it is terminated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the right to freedom of association includes the right to form political parties vying for power and other associations with goals that may be perceived as "political". Likewise, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly includes the right to engage in political demonstrations. Indeed, one of the core purposes of these rights is to preserve people's ability to peacefully express their grievances with political leaders. He abhors the increasingly common trend of conflating the interests of the State with the interests of the ruling political party, and believes that this approach to governance is incompatible with the principles of democracy, international human rights law and the spirit of the United Nations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
On the Declaration on human rights defenders 2011, para. 32a
- Paragraph text
- [Concerning permissible restrictions, the right to freedom of association is not absolute and it can be subjected to limitations in accordance with applicable international obligations. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 22) specifically details the requirements for such limitations to be admissible. For any restriction on the right to freedom of association to be valid, it must meet the following conditions:] It must be provided by law - that is through an act of Parliament or an equivalent unwritten norm of common law. Limitations are not permissible if introduced through Government decrees or other similar administrative orders;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
On the Declaration on human rights defenders 2011, para. 32b
- Paragraph text
- [Concerning permissible restrictions, the right to freedom of association is not absolute and it can be subjected to limitations in accordance with applicable international obligations. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 22) specifically details the requirements for such limitations to be admissible. For any restriction on the right to freedom of association to be valid, it must meet the following conditions:] It must be necessary in a democratic society. The State must demonstrate that the limitations are necessary to prevent a real threat to national security or the democratic order and that other less invasive measures are not adequate to achieve this purpose;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of multilateral institutions 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- States have repeatedly targeted individuals because of their advocacy work in multilateral arenas. Such acts of reprisals are of utmost concern to the Special Rapporteur.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In 1993, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the British House of Lords took the approach that length of time is the sole factor in constituting cruel or inhuman punishment. The case of Pratt and Morgan v. Jamaica created a presumption that spending more than five years on death row met the criteria necessary for a finding of death row phenomenon. The Privy Council's reasoning was that the domestic appeals process should take approximately two years and an appeal to an international body should take approximately 18 months. By combining the two, and adding an appropriate amount of time for reasonable delay, the Court was able to come up with a timetable of five years. In a number of cases, the Privy Council relied on the five-year principle as a guide. In Guerra v. Baptiste (1996), it found that four years and ten months under sentence of death, as a result of factors beyond the prisoner's control, constituted the death row phenomenon and therefore a violation. In Henfield v. Bahamas (1997), three and a half years was deemed an appropriate time limit. Similarly, in the landmark ruling of the Supreme Court of Uganda in January 2009, the Court held that to execute a person after a delay of three years in conditions that were not acceptable by Ugandan standards would amount to cruel, inhuman punishment. With regard to the reasons for the delay, the Privy Council found that delay inappropriately caused by the prisoner could not be used to the advantage of the inmate but where a State caused the delay, it was logical to hold the State responsible for violating the prisoner's rights. However, where delay was caused by a prisoner exercising his legitimate right to appeal, the fault was to be attributed to the appellate system that permitted such delay and not to the prisoner who took advantage of it. The Privy Council recognized that a prisoner would cling to any hope in order to protect his or her life, and that such human instinct could not be treated as a prisoner's fault. The European Court went even further and took the position that even if the delay was the result of the inmate's actions, he or she was not to be blamed for pursuing life as the fact remained that individuals were pursuing life under death row conditions with mounting tension over their own death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Prolonged delay is, however, only one cause of the death row phenomenon and, considered alone, may be harmful to a prisoner's rights. This approach risks conveying a message to States parties to carry out a capital sentence as expeditiously as possible after it is imposed. The Human Rights Committee declined to find that delay alone is enough to warrant a finding of death row phenomenon and a violation based on torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Consequently, even in cases of detention on death row for more than 10 years, the Committee maintained its previous practice of not finding a violation of article 7 of the Covenant unless such detention was aggravated by particularly harsh prison conditions. However, prolonged detention, as with any other delay in the process, must be subject to judicial review and the highest standards of regular review must be applied. Medical assistance and psychological follow-up should also be considered. It is the combined deprivation of basic human rights on death row which amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment or even torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- As a matter of best practice, interviewers are encouraged to proceed, when necessary, with probing questions designed to elicit information that will test all possible alternative explanations identified during the preparation of the interview. Strategic probing and disclosure of potential evidence allows officers to explore the interviewee's account in depth before proceeding to the next topic, helping to ensure that the presumption of innocence is respected while strengthening the case against a guilty suspect by preventing the subsequent fabrication of an alibi. Although interviewers may be persistent with their line of questioning when probing the interviewee's account, questioning must never become unfair or oppressive.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- There is evidently no formal process according to which a member of the public, let alone a special rapporteur, may seek such information from the United Nations. As a result, even if an intergovernmental organization has a good case for non-disclosure in a particular situation, that argument is not tested (see ST/SGB/2007/6). To address this point one must ask how are institutional decisions and analyses, and decision makers, to be put to the test when such information is so difficult to obtain? Instead of a formal process that would enable the submission of requests for information, public knowledge of the policies and actions of the United Nations and of other intergovernmental organizations is limited to only what those bodies choose to publish, while external evaluation typically depends on the efforts of journalists or researchers who develop access within such organizations. Within the United Nations, and most intergovernmental organizations, there appears to be no obligation on the part of any official source to provide reasons for refusing to disclose information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Court has also made numerous findings of inhuman or degrading treatment in cases involving the unnecessary or excessive use of force in the context of demonstrations. In Abdullah Yasa and Others v. Turkey, the Court found the launch of a tear gas grenade along a direct flat trajectory aimed towards protestors to be contrary to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights because it was not “proportionate to the aim pursued, namely to disperse a non-peaceful gathering” and because the severity of the resulting injuries to the applicant’s head were not “commensurate with the strict use by the police officers of the force necessitated by his behaviour”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Protection of journalists and press freedom 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, in situations where journalists find themselves in the territory of another State, the host State is also obliged to respect, protect and fulfil their rights, including their right to freedom of opinion and expression. This obligation also applies to an occupying power in situations of occupation, as well as forces of a State party acting outside its territory, such as forces constituting a national contingent of a State party assigned to an international peacekeeping or peace enforcement operation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also notes that the failure to provide any outlet for politically excluded groups to air their grievances can be counterproductive and carry severe consequences. Further, such restrictions can foster or magnify a culture of silence among the excluded group, putting them at higher risk of violations and abuses that may go unreported, uninvestigated and unpunished.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Stocktaking exercise on the work of the mandate on its tenth Anniversary 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Action on communications and urgent appeals is another method whereby the Special Rapporteur responds effectively to reliable allegations of human rights violations, with a view to protecting the rights of actual or potential victims of trafficking. In accordance with established procedures, the Special Rapporteur communicates the case to the Government concerned, requesting clarification and action, either through an allegation letter or through an urgent appeal where the alleged violation is time-sensitive and/or of a very grave nature.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also takes this opportunity to acknowledge the great contribution bravely and generously made by victims of trafficking to the work of the mandate and expresses her hope that their voices continue to guide and shape the mandate into the future.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- The database of communications sent to States and their replies shows to what extent a large number of governments do not reply adequately to communications, urgent appeals or letters of allegation, however well documented. Their replies do not always cover the situation or the case concerned but simply set out the situation, often in very general terms, without really addressing the seriousness of the cases in question.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Protection of journalists and press freedom 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to fulfil or to facilitate the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression requires States to take positive and proactive measures, including, for example, allocating sufficient attention and resources to prevent attacks against journalists and taking special measures to address such attacks, including providing protection for journalists. It also encompasses the obligation to create conditions to prevent violations of the right to freedom of expression, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their international human rights obligations and is effectively implemented.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The right to freedom of opinion and expression exercised through the Internet 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The types of action taken by States to limit the dissemination of content online not only include measures to prevent information from reaching the end-user, but also direct targeting of those who seek, receive and impart politically sensitive information via the Internet. Physically silencing criticism or dissent through arbitrary arrests and detention, enforced disappearance, harassment and intimidation is an old phenomenon, and also applies to Internet users. This issue has been explored in the Special Rapporteur's report to the General Assembly under the section on "protection of citizen journalists" (A/65/284). Such actions are often aimed not only to silence legitimate expression, but also to intimidate a population to push its members towards self-censorship.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to access information 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Notably, article 6 of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (known also as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders), adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 53/144, expressly provides for access to information on human rights, stating that everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, (a) to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including having access to information as to how these rights and freedoms are given effect in domestic legislative, judicial or administrative systems; and (b) as provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- More broadly, party resources should be differentiated from public resources. Public resources should not be used to tilt the electoral playing field in a party's favour and in particular the incumbent party or its candidates. This principle extends to the use of State institutions, such as police forces, the judiciary, the prosecutorial authority, law enforcement agencies and others, which should be impartial when controlling or limiting the activities of political parties, such as by initiating politically motivated court cases against rival candidates, in effect, preventing them from engaging in campaign activities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Ability of associations to access financial resources as a vital part of the right to freedom of association & Ability to hold peaceful assemblies as an integral component of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 2013, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur stresses again the utmost importance of new communication technologies, including the Internet and mobile phones, in organizing peaceful assemblies. Such technologies allow organizers to mobilize a large group of people in a prompt and effective manner, and at little cost. This importance was highlighted by both panelists and delegations during the Human Rights Council panel discussion on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests. It should be noted that individuals who post on social media organizers' calls for assemblies should not be considered as organizers, as has regrettably been the case in Malaysia, for instance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Security and protection of human rights defenders 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- The African Commission has developed a mechanism for adopting provisional measures in its rules of procedure (rule 111): "Before making its final views known to the Assembly on the communication, the Commission may inform the State party concerned of its views on the appropriateness of taking provisional measures to avoid irreparable damage being caused to the victim of the alleged violation … . The Commission … may indicate to the parties any interim measure, the adoption of which seems desirable in the interest of the parties or the proper conduct of the proceedings before it."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- In the Special Rapporteur's view, the principle of necessity requires the State to show that the desired result is necessary and that the law in question is the best available means of achieving that result. It must be demonstrated that the impact of the law is as targeted as possible, thereby impairing the exercise of the affecting rights as little as possible. Furthermore, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, the impact of the restrictions must be proportionate and the harm caused by the restrictions cannot outweigh the benefits derived from applying the restrictions. The ability of individuals to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly is an assessment of paramount importance, which the State needs to make as early as possible to ensure that those rights are not impaired.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- A prime example is the constitutional arrangement derived from the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Annexes thereto (Dayton Peace Agreement) (A/50/790). According to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, membership in the House of Peoples and the Presidency are reserved solely to those who identify as belonging to one of the "constituent peoples". That provision has been found by the European Court of Human Rights to violate international legal protections against discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds, and specifically the rights of persons belonging to ethnic groups other than the Bosniacs, Serbs or Croats. Sustainable peace is highly dependent on the participation of all population groups in peace negotiations and resulting State institutional arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Solitary confinement 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- There is no international standard for the permitted maximum overall duration of solitary confinement. In A.B. v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights held that detaining an individual in solitary confinement for three years constituted a violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. By contrast, in the United States of America, it is reported that two prisoners have been held in solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison for 40 years after failed attempts at judicial appeal of the conditions of their confinement. As explained in paragraph 26 above, the Special Rapporteur finds that solitary confinement exceeding 15 days is prolonged.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The death penalty and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Other harsh conditions currently employed on death rows throughout the world may themselves constitute violations of the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Human Rights Committee has expressed concern over the living condition of inmates on death row in terms of visits and correspondence, cell size, food, exercise, extreme temperatures, lack of ventilation, and lack of time outside of cells as constituting violations of articles 7 and 10 of the Covenant. The Special Rapporteur's predecessor, in the report on his visit to Mongolia, declared that physical conditions on Mongolia's death row alone might be so poor as to amount to cruel treatment (see E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.4).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Health
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, given that safeguards are particularly undermined when the detained persons are held in incommunicado or secret detention, the Rules should place an obligation on prison authorities to ensure that persons deprived of liberty are held in officially recognized and accessible places of detention. Police station chiefs and investigating officers should be held criminally accountable for any unacknowledged custody in cases where their responsibility, including command responsibility, has been established. The Special Rapporteur recalls that whether detention is secret or not is determined by its incommunicado character and by the fact that State authorities do not disclose the place of detention or information about the fate of the detainee (see A/HRC/13/42, paras. 8-10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- A State's failure to investigate, criminally prosecute or allow civil proceedings - or efforts to block or hinder such proceedings - relating to allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment constitutes de facto denial of an effective remedy. The Special Rapporteur regrets that this has been the case regarding victims of rendition and other extraterritorial acts of torture and ill-treatment seeking redress from Governments and reminds States that an essential component of the obligation to provide redress is the obligation not to obstruct redress or obstruct access of an individual to an effective remedy, for example by invoking "State secrets" to dismiss lawsuits in limine litis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph