Saribekyan and Balyan v. Azerbaijan
Country: AzerbaijanYear: 2020
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: [2020] ECHR 35746/11
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to life
The applicants, Mamikon Saribekyan and Siranush Balyan, brought an application that their son, Manvel Saribekyan, had been tortured and killed under the detention of the Azerbaijan authorities. Saribekyan, was a resident of the Tutjur village in the Gegharkunik region of Armenia near the border of Azerbaijan. On September 11th, 2010, Saribekyan lost his bearings in …Read more
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v Canada (Attorney General)
Country: CanadaYear: 2018
Court: Supreme Court of British Columbia
Citation: 2018 BCSC 62
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to life
The plaintiffs are two non-profit organizations, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of sections 31-33 and 37 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which authorized administrative segregation of inmates in federal prisons. Section 31 provided that the purpose of administrative segregation …Read more
Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development & Anr. v. Attorney General
Country: UgandaYear: 2018
Court: The High Court of Uganda at Kampala
Citation: Civil Suit No. 094 of 2015
Health Topics: Disabilities, Health care and health services, Hospitals, Mental health
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to a clean environment, Right to health, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to privacy, Right to water and sanitation
The plaintiff stated that the Butabika Hospital is the only public psychiatric hospital under the Ministry of Health in Uganda. Further it is the only mental referral hospital and cases referred to it by other health facilities are of acute conditions, which require a specialized and skilled management. A part of the procedure in the …Read more
Danilczuk v. Cyprus
Country: CyprusYear: 2018
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: [2018] ECHR 21318/12
Health Topics: Prisons, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
The applicant, Mr. Robert Danilczuk, a Polish national formerly held at a Nicosia Central Prisons in Cyprus, submitted an application under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) alleging poor detention conditions. Specifically, Danilczuk complained that in the various cell blocks in which he was placed, there was overcrowding, …Read more
X v. Germany
Country: GermanyYear: 2018
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 54646/17
Health Topics: Prisons, Public safety
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence
The applicant, a Russian national, arrived in Germany in 2002. In 2002 and 2011, the competent domestic authorities denied the applicant’s asylum requests. In 2012, the applicant was granted a residence permit, which was later prolonged until March 2018. In 2014, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution investigated the applicant due to …Read more
ABAR15 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
Country: AustraliaYear: 2016
Court: Federal Court of Australia
Citation: (No 2) [2016] FCA 721
Health Topics: Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity
This case addresses whether a protective visa under Australia’s Migration Act should be granted when appellant fears for her safety on return to her country because of domestic violence at the hands of her husband. A 54-year-old Vietnamese woman (appellant) was detained for being an unlawful non-citizen in Australia in 2014. She had remained in …Read more
Mambu v The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Country: Congo, DRCYear: 2016
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 2465/2014; UN Doc. CCPR/C/118/D/2465/2014
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Hospitals, Prisons, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of association, Right of access to information, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to participation
Eugène Diomi Ndongala Nzo Mambu was a national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and president of the opposition political party in the State, challenging the legitimacy of an election. He alleged that he was abducted in 2012 and held incommunicado for three months and 13 days while being interrogated about his ties with …Read more
Zogo Andela v. Cameroon
Country: CameroonYear: 2016
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: CCPR/C/121/D/2764/2016
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a treaty by which its parties commit to preserving certain human and political rights. The First Optional Protocol of the Covenant allows for individuals to bring complaints, referred to as communications, against state parties to the Protocol that have allegedly violated articles of the ICCPR. …Read more
Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee on Behalf of Ionel Garcea v. Romania
Country: RomaniaYear: 2015
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 2959/11
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Infectious diseases, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to life
The applicant was a Romanian NGO known as the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (“Association”), representing a deceased party, Ionel Garcea. Garcea was a mentally ill prisoner who died in prison. During his sentence, he made a number of complaints about his treatment, with the Association representing him. In June …Read more
Glossip et al. v. Gross et al.
Country: United StatesYear: 2015
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 576 U.S. __ (2015)
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
The state of Oklahoma adopted lethal injection as its method of execution for inmates on death row. The injection consisted of a three-drug protocol of (1) sodium thiopental (a barbiturate) to induce unconsciousness, (2) a paralytic agent to inhibit all muscular-skeletal movements, and (3) potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest. The Supreme Court had previously ruled …Read more