Laskey (L), Jaggard (J) and Brown (B) had taken part in sado-masochistic encounters with as many as forty-four other homosexual men over a ten-year period. These mainly involved maltreatment of the genitalia and ritualistic beatings, either with the assailant’s bare hands or a variety of implements. There were instances of branding and infliction of injuries …Read more

The applicant, a Finnish national, had been married to X, who was not a Finnish national, at the time the events occurred. They were both infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). X was convicted for rape and during the criminal proceedings the court gave orders requiring the applicant’s medical advisers to give evidence. In …Read more

A group of armed persons with their faces covered by masks violently entered the home of the Mejías, abducted Mr. Mejías and later returned to the house, apparently to ask Mrs. Mejías for her husband’s identity documents. While she looked for them, one of the men followed her into the room and told her that …Read more

Women inmates in the District of Columbia (D.C.) correctional system alleged that they were being mistreated in a variety of ways, including sexual harassment, failure to provide or inadequate levels of obstetrical and gynecological care, unequal educational and work-related programming  as compared to similarly situated male inmates, uneven recreational and religious time, and general inhumane …Read more

The first defendant was a fourteen and a half year old girl who became pregnant after being raped by a family friend. Her parents (second and third defendants) reported the rape to the police and inquired whether there was a process available to test the paternity of the fetus before the defendants aborted the pregnancy …Read more

Cruz Varas (C V) , his wife and son (all Chilean nationals) had applied for political asylum but the National Immigration Board held that, from the information given, they had not invoked sufficiently strong reasons to be considered as refugees under national or international law and that they should be expelled. In an unsuccessful appeal …Read more

A woman consecutively shot her partner three times. She was charged with aggravated homicide.  She claimed self-defense, alleging to have been subjected to continuous domestic violence and abuse. The ruling of the Court of First Instance justified her action and she was acquitted. The prosecutor appealed the decision on grounds that the woman’s response was …Read more

The applicant, a father of a mentally handicapped woman, found himself unable to institute criminal proceedings against an individual who had sexually assaulted his daughter due to a gap in the domestic criminal laws of the Netherlands, which required the victim to file the complaint herself. Although the victim was more than sixteen years of …Read more

The Court considered three cases together that involved individuals sentenced to death. One case involved a black man who was convicted of murdering a homeowner during an attempted burglary. He was committed to a psychiatric hospital after arrest and diagnosed as suffering from mild to moderate mental impairments with psychotic episodes, but was later found …Read more