Human Rights Law Commons^™

Torturous Journeys: Cruelty, International Law, And Pushbacks And Pullbacks Over The Mediterranean Sea, Jamal Barnes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Boat pushbacks and pullbacks by Italy and the European Union (EU) have returned migrants and refugees to Libya where they have been subjected to brutal human rights violations, such as torture and ill-treatment. This article argues that these pushbacks and pullbacks not only undermine key human rights principles, but they are also an act of cruelty. As Italy and the EU have used the law to evade their international human rights and refugee obligations, the law has had distributive effects that have shaped migration pathways and exacerbated the vulnerability of migrants and refugees to torture. Not only have legal manoeuvres …

Taking Responsibility Under International Law: Human Trafficking And Colombia’S Venezuelan Migration Crisis, Luz Estella Nagle, Juan Manuel Zarama

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

For more than six million Venezuelans, crossing international borders has become imperative to ensuring security and a livelihood that their country has failed to assure. These migrants and refugees, particularly young women and children, are vulnerable to many depredations, criminal acts, and the risk of becoming trafficking victims for forced labor and sexual slavery. This article focuses on State responsibility for migrant populations and analyzes conditions in Venezuela that caused a massive migration, the conditions in Colombia as a host State, the uncertain status of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, and human trafficking and its impact on the migrant population.

Non-State Actors "Under Color Of Law": Closing A Gap In Protection Under The Convention Against Torture, Anna R. Welch, Sangyeob Kim

Faculty Publications

The world is experiencing a global restructuring that poses a serious threat to international efforts to prevent and protect against torture. The rise of powerful transnational non-state actors such as gangs, drug cartels, militias, and terrorist organizations is challenging states’ authority to control and govern torture committed within their territory.

In the United States, those seeking protection against deportation under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) must establish a likelihood of torture at the instigation of or by consent or acquiescence of a public official acting in an official capacity or other person acting in an official capacity. However, what is …

Doe V. Nestle, S.A.: Chocolate And The Prohibition On Child Slavery, Megan M. Coppa

Pace International Law Review

West Africa is presently home to approximately 1.5 million acres of cocoa farmland, which subsequently produces 70% of the world’s current chocolate supply. Côte d’Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast, is one of the largest cocoa producing countries within West Africa.

The increase of farmland and the need to control the deteriorating conditions have always created a demand for farm workers. Regrettably, more than 1.5 million cocoa farm workers in West Africa are currently children. These child workers are exposed to hazardous dust, flames, smoke, and chemicals, are required to utilize dangerous tools that they are not properly trained …

Kekuasaan Pengawasan Ombudsman Republik Indonesia Dalam Memastikan Hak Setiap Orang Bebas Dari Penyiksaan Dan Perbuatan Merendahkan Derajat Manusia, Gatot Goei

"Dharmasisya” Jurnal Program Magister Hukum FHUI

The establishment of Ombudsman had been officially established on 2000, based on presidential decree number 44/2000 of Ombudsman Commission of Republic Indonesia. It was later strengthened by Law Number 37/2008 of Ombudsman Republic Indonesia. As one of State Auxiliary Body, Ombudsman exercises one of Legislative's powers, which is supervision function. Its feature adhered is to ensure the state administrators to practice their duty in giving public services. Ombudsman also partakes in guaranteeing the fulfillment of community rights by service provider, basedon enforced law, without discrimination and in line with the public services law. Ombudsman RI participates in protecting people from …

The Published Works Of Sir Nigel Rodley, James W. Hart

Law Librarian Articles and Other Publications

This work is a comprehensive bibliography of the writings of Sir Nigel Rodley that was compiled for the Urban Morgan Human Rights Conference Honoring Sir Nigel Rodley that was held at the University of Cincinnati College of Law on October 28 and 29, 2017. It lists the books that he was the sole author of, books that he edited either solely or with others, chapters in books edited by others, journal articles, conference papers, book reviews, reports issued as part of his UN work, two manuscripts, introductions, forwards, comments, tributes, and obituaries. It does not list decisions of the UN …

Judge Posner's Road Map For Convention Against Torture Claims When Central American Governments Cannot Protect Citizens Against Gang Violence, Steven H. Schulman

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

How International Law Can Eradicate Torture: A Response To Cynics, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Tortureres: Evaluating The Senate Select Intelligence Committee’S Torture Report And Assessing The Legal Liability Of “Company Y” In The Cia’S Post 9-11 Interrogation And Detention Program Under The Alien Tort Statute, David Satnarine

David Satnarine

The U.S. national security apparatus after September 11, 2001 engendered an emphasis of new forms of intelligence gathering. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the United States and its agents sought to collect as much information as possible to prevent another attack on the homeland, and to bring to justice those responsible for the heinous acts of September 11, 2001. Through the use of private actors, corporate shells, and contractors, the United States employed a host of professional interrogators in its war on terror. Some of these private actors, through their corporate shells later become known as the architects of the …

Democracy And Torture, Patrick A. Maurer

Patrick A Maurer

September 11th spawned an era of political changes to fundamental rights. The focus of this discussion is to highlight Guantanamo Bay torture incidents. This analysis will explore the usages of torture from a legal standpoint in the United States.

The International Law Of Torture: From Universal Proscription To Effective Application And Enforcement, Winston P. Nagan, Lucie Atkins

Winston P Nagan

This Article presents a comprehensive review of world torture and the efforts to eradicate it through both official and unofficial strategies of intervention, with special emphasis on the legal strategies. This Article recognizes the complexity of these strategies as they form a vast number of initiatives emerging from various elements of the international community. Part II of the Article touches on matters of definition and legal history. This enables the examination of the inherent characteristics of torture as they impact issues of governance, social control, and principles of basic respect and human dignity. Part III examines the efforts to universally …

The Admissibility Of Confessions Compelled By Foreign Coercion: A Compelling Question Of Values In An Era Of Increasing International Criminal Cooperation, Geoffrey S. Corn, Kevin Cieply

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article proceeds on a simple and clear premise: a confession extracted by torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment should never be admitted into evidence in a U.S. criminal trial. Whether accomplished through extending the Due Process or Self-Incrimination based exclusionary rules to foreign official coercion, or by legislative action, such exclusion is necessary to align evidentiary practice regarding confessions procured by foreign agents with our nation's fundamental values as reflected in the Fifth Amendment and our ratification of the CAT. This outcome is not incompatible with Connelly. Rather, this Article explores the limits of the Court's language in …

Litigating Customary International Human Rights Norms, Beth Stephens

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag: Providing A Civil Right Of Action For Torture Committed By U.S. Officials Abroad, An Obligation Of The Convention Against Torture?, Leland H. Kynes

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

A Competition Of Minds And A Penetration Of Souls: How Short-Term Interrogation Tactics After 9/11 Led To Grave Long-Term Unintended Consequences Today (As Told Through The Voices Of Four Interrogators), Peter J. Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

No abstract provided.

Beyond "De-Nile" - The United Nations' Genocide Problem In Darfur, William Reisinger

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Case-Law Of The European Court Of Human Rights On The Immunity Of States, Theodor Jr Schilling

Theodor JR Schilling

Invoking State immunity in court proceedings is a way for a State to prevent judicial scrutiny of its responsibility for its actions. Such scrutiny, however, is the main raison d'être at least of those human rights regimes that provide for a supervision of States' compliance with human rights. It would therefore come as no surprise if human rights jurisprudence, especially the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights would prove to be a challenge to State immunity. However, it is not, or, at most, in a roundabout way.

Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio Grossman

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Closed environments pose a major challenge to the full and effective implementation of human rights norms and conventions. However, many conventions contain mechanisms that can be used to further advance implementation of human rights in those closed environments. The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) has several mechanisms in place that play an important role in enforcing and implementing human rights obligations. Along with the creation of a supervisory organ, the Committee against Torture (the Committee), the Convention provides a framework for: State Party reporting and concluding observations (COBs) under …

Homage To Filártiga, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

The Supreme Court’s new decision in Kiobel severely restricted human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). In doing so, the Court gravely injured the canonical human rights case of Filártiga. This essay celebrates Filártiga, demonstrating that it survives Kiobel in four key respects: its approach to the sources of international law, its conclusion that international law prohibits torture, its dynamic vision of the way the human rights revolution transformed international law, and its hope that courts can help make real a world without torture. The essay presents Filártiga as a living presence and a beacon for future development …

Implementing Human Rights In Closed Environments Through The United Nations Convention Against Torture, Claudio M. Grossman

Claudio M. Grossman

U.S. Institutionalized Torture With Impunity: Examining Rape And Sexual Abuse In Custody Through The Icty Jurisprudence, Allison Rogne

Allison Rogne

It is a well-established principle, both domestically and internationally, that rape is torture when suffered as part of confinement. It is also well documented, both domestically and internationally, that rape is rampant in U.S. prisons. And it is well established, both domestically and internationally, that those who torture should not do so with impunity, that that impunity is an affront to civilization and the human rights principles to which we all strive. And yet, in U.S. prisons, shocking numbers of women are systematically raped and sexually abused by those that would rehabilitate them. Female prisoners are victims of vaginal and …

Abduction, Torture, Interrogation - Oh My! An Argument Against Extraordinary Rendition, Kaitlyn E. Tucker

Kaitlyn E Tucker

An American citizen waits patiently in an airport terminal in Jordan for a flight back to the United States. Several men – Jordanian officials – are watching the American and waiting for the right moment to approach him. The American gets up and starts to walk away, perhaps to get a cup of coffee. The Jordanian officials stop the American quickly and take him to a secluded part of the airport. For the next several days, the Jordanians question the American relentlessly, trying to discover his connection to the torture of hundreds of Muslim and Middle Eastern individuals. They do …

All Other Breaches: State Practice And The Geneva Conventions’ Nebulous Class Of Less Discussed Prohibitions, Jesse Medlong

Michigan Journal of International Law

With respect to the protections afforded by the Geneva Conventions, a great deal of ink has been spilled in recent years over the two-tiered system of tribunals employed by the United States in its prosecution of enemy combatants in the “war on terror.” Less discussed, though, is the wholly separate two-tiered system for sorting violators of the Geneva Conventions that emerges from the very text of those agreements. This stratification is a function of the Conventions’ distinction between those who commit “grave breaches” and those who merely commit “acts contrary to the provisions of the present convention” or “all other …

Kiobel, Extraterritoriality, And The "Global War On Terror", Craig Martin

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Torture In Us Jails And Prisons: An Analysis Of Solitary Confinement Under International Law, Anna Conley

Anna Conley

No abstract provided.

Is Torture Justified In Terrorism Cases?: Comparing U.S. And European Views, Stephen P. Hoffman

Stephen P. Hoffman

This essay discusses issues of torture and some of the philosophical underpinnings. First, I define torture as it is used in international and human rights law. Then, I discuss three primary theories of torture: deontology, consequentialism, and threshold deontology. After setting this groundwork, I introduce particular issues in terrorism cases such as the “ticking bomb” scenario, which is often used to argue that torture may be appropriate and possibly required when done to save many lives. This invariably must include a discussion of the necessity doctrine, the legal doctrine allowing an individual to take extraordinary — even illegal — measures …

Panel Iv: Challenges To Proving Cases Of Torture Before The Committee Against Torture, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Impunity Writ Large: A Study Of Crimes Committed During Anti-Veerappan Operations, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

An End To The Violence: Justifying Gender As A "Particular Social Group", Suzanne Sidun

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Search Of A Forum For The Families Of The Guantanamo Disappeared, Peter Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

The United States government has committed grave human rights violations by disappearing people during the past decade into the detention camps in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And for nearly thirty years, beginning with a 1983 decision from a case arising in Uruguay, there has been a well-developed body of international law establishing that parents, wives and children of the disappeared suffer torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CID).

This paper argues that the rights of family members were severely violated when their loved ones were disappeared into Guantanamo. Family members of men disappeared by the United States have legitimate claims …