Williams v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1997
Court: United Nations Human Right Committee
Citation: Communication No 609/1995, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/61/D/609/1995 (4 November 1997)
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health
Williams (W) was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in December 1988. His appeal was dismissed in December 1990 and a senior lawyer advised him that an application to the judicial committee of the privy council for special leave to appeal would have no prospect of success. An appeal against the classification of his …Read more
Aksoy v. Turkey
Country: TurkeyYear: 1996
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Judgment of the ECtHR, 18 December 1996
Health Topics: Disasters and emergencies, Health care and health services, Medical malpractice, Prisons, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
Aksoy (A) claimed that in November 1992 he was taken into custody by twenty policemen after M (another detainee with them) had allegedly identified him as a member of the PKK which was engaged in a conflict with security forces for Kurdish autonomy. This conflict had resulted in nearly 8,000 deaths and there was a …Read more
Chinamora v Angwa Furnishers (PVT) Ltd, et al. (Attorney-General intervening)
Country: ZimbabweYear: 1996
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 1997 (2) BCLR 189 (ZS), [1997] 1 LRC 149, (1996) 2 CHRLD 100
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to liberty and security of person
The first respondent had obtained a default judgment against the applicant and a warrant of execution against his property in respect of a debt but was unable to satisfy the judgment debt because the applicant had by that time divested himself of all property. The first respondent then took out a summons calling upon the …Read more
Sahadath v. Trinidad and Tobago
Country: Trinidad and TobagoYear: 1996
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 684/1996, CCPR/C/74/D/684/1996
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
R.S. was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. On 8 March 1996, the same day that five other warrants of execution were read (although the prison was only equipped to handle two executions a day), R.S. was read a warrant for his execution, to take place on 13 March 1996. Along with a psychiatrist, …Read more
Tshishimbi v. Zaire
Country: Congo, DRCYear: 1996
Court: Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No 542/1993
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to liberty and security of person
Tshishimbi (T) had been a military adviser and bodyguard for the prime minister in a government politically opposed to the president. Members of the government and their advisors had been subjected to constant surveillance, harassment and bullying from military and paramilitary groups loyal to the president. T was abducted in March 1993, although the exact …Read more
X & Y v. Argentina
Country: ArgentinaYear: 1996
Court: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights [Comisión Interamericnana de Derechos Humanos]
Citation: Case 10.506, Inter-Am. Comm’n H.R., Report No. 38/96, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.95 Doc. 7 rev. (1997).
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to family life, Right to privacy
The prison authorities of Unit 1 of the SPF of Argentina adopted the practice of performing vaginal inspections on all female visitors who desired to have personal contact with the inmates. Ms. X, whose husband was detained at that Unit, and their thirteen year old daughter Y were thus routinely submitted to such searches each …Read more
Anderson v. Romero
Country: United StatesYear: 1995
Court: 7th Circuit Court of Appeal
Citation: 72 F.3d 518 (1995)
Health Topics: Health information, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Prisons, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to privacy
The Appellee, Anderson, brought this challenge against two prison officials at the cell house in which he was placed. Anderson alleged that a superintendent and a guard violated his constitutional right to privacy and the Illinois AIDS Confidentiality Act by revealing that he was infected with the AIDS virus to an inmate sleeping in Anderson’s …Read more
Francis v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1995
Court: United Nations Humans Right Committee
Citation: Communication No 606/1994
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health
Francis (F) had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in February 1980. An appeal was dismissed in November 1981 and in October 1987 a note of the oral judgment was produced but nothing written was issued. His lawyers had apparently stated that they could find no grounds to argue on his behalf with …Read more
Griffin v. Spain
Country: SpainYear: 1995
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: U.N. H.R. Comm., U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/53/D/493/1992 (Apr. 5, 1995).
Health Topics: Controlled substances, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to privacy
The petitioner, a Canadian citizen, was arrested along with two acquaintances when the group attempted to enter Spain with large quantities of hashish concealed in their vehicle. The petitioner claimed to have no knowledge of the contraband, and his acquaintances also told police that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the examining magistrate incarcerated …Read more
Peart and Peart v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1995
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication Nos. 464 & 482/1991
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial
Peart and Peart (A and G) were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1988. They claimed that their conviction was based on the uncorroborated evidence of an eyewitness, evidence which had conflicted with a written statement previously made to the police but which they had not been allowed to see before or during …Read more