Higgs and David Mitchell v. The Minister of National Security and Others
Country: BahamasYear: 1999
Court: Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Citation: [2000] 2 WLR 1368; [2000] 2 LRC 656; (1999) 8 BHRC 201; (1999) 5
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
The first appellant was arrested for murder in July 1993. He was committed for trial in November 1993 but there was a technical defect in the committal as a result of which it was subsequently quashed. On 14 November 1994 he was committed again and on 2 October 1995 found guilty and sentenced to death. …Read more
Finn v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1998
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 617/1995
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Finn (F) was arrested in 1987 and alleged that he was beaten on his way to the police lock up. He also alleged that threats were then made against his life and that he was given no medical treatment. F claimed that complaints about this ill treatment were not responded to. He was charged, together …Read more
Liaquat and another v. Pakistan
Country: PakistanYear: 1998
Court: Federal Shariat Court
Citation: 1999 P Cr. L J 1004
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to liberty and security of person
The appellant was an incarcerated woman who was pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl while in jail. She had earlier appealed her incarceration, but the appeal was dismissed with a provision to bring the application before the court again if there were any new developments regarding the viability of the foetus. The appellant …Read more
Shaw v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1998
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No 704/1996, Views of the UNHRC, 2 April 1998
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
Shaw (S) was arrested for the murder of a family and allegedly acknowledged his involvement in the killings in an interview preceding a caution statement. He claimed that he was not charged with murder until nineteen days later (although it appeared from the file that the delay was actually nine days) and that he was …Read more
Taylor (Desmond) v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1998
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No 705/1996, Views of the UNHRC, 2 April 1998
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
Taylor (T), P (his brother) and S were charged with murdering four persons in May 1992 and were convicted and sentenced to death in July 1994. T claimed that the two years and three months spent in pre-trial detention was unreasonable, given that the primary evidence against him was a statement made by S. He …Read more
Fisher v. The Minister of Public Safety and Immigration and Others
Country: BahamasYear: 1997
Court: Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Citation: (1997) 4 BHRC 191, [1997] 4 LRC 344, [1998] AC 673
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
The appellant was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder arising out of two separate incidents. At the same time, he plead guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition for which he was sentenced to a total of two years’ imprisonment. Two years later, he was convicted of attempted murder, armed robbery and …Read more
Loayza-Tamayo v. Peru
Country: PeruYear: 1997
Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Loayza Tamayo (L) had allegedly been confined in a tiny prison cell for twenty-three and a half hours a day for one year. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had requested provisional measures whereby Peru would be requested to end her solitary confinement and incommunicado detention and to return her to the pavilion of the prison …Read more
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