NGO calls on ECtHR to intervene in military commissions case of Al Nashiri

The Open Society Justice Initiative is calling on the European Court of Human Rights to intervene urgently in the first death penalty case to be tried by US military commissions at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, involving Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. In an application to the Court, OSI argues that Poland violated al-Nashiri’s rights under articles 2, 3 [...]

Turkey Frees 23 Suspected Militants

The NYT reports that more than 20 suspected militants, including members of an extreme Islamist organization, were released from Turkish jails on Tuesday after a Supreme Court of Appeals ruling that limits to 10 years the time detainees can be held without being sentenced. The practice of jailing detainees indefinitely without sentences has long disturbed [...]

El-Masri Case against Macedonia Moves Forward at European Court of Human Rights

Macedonia has become the first government called to account for its collaboration with the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program before an international tribunal. The case, brought by the Open Society Justice Initiative on behalf of German citizen Khaled El-Masri, was communicated to the Macedonian government by the European Court of Human Rights on October 8. The [...]

ECtHR: recent decisions on violation of art. 3 arising from expulsion/deportation

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has recently delivered two judgments concerning the violation of article 3 arising from the risk of ill-treatment of the claimants, if returned to their country of origin. The first case, A. v. The Netherlands, originated in an application filed by a Libyan national, Mr A., in which he [...]

Vienna Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism delivers final report into murder of Chechnyan in Austria

In January 2009, an asylum seeker from Chechnya was gunned down in front of a supermarket in Vienna. Austrian investigators now say that their inquiries have led them to suspect that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov may have been behind the slaying. Their findings could strain relations between Europe and Russia. The murder of Umar Israilov, [...]

ECtHR asks UK to delay extradition of terror suspects to US

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ordered (press release; decision) UK to delay the extradition of the radical cleric Egyptian-born radical cleric Mustafa Kamal Mustafa — also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri -  and three other men. The Court said Hamza and the other men shouldn’t be extradited from the UK until it [...]

HRW criticizes stop and search

Human Rights Watch has released a comprehensive report into the Government’s controversial anti-terrorism stop and search powers. The report – Without Suspicion Stop and Search under the Terrorism Act 2000 -  criticizes area-based stop and search under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Responding to proposals to cut the scope of the scheme, the [...]

ECHR rejects UK appeal in Gillan and Quinton

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected the United Kingdom’s application to appeal to the court’s Grand Chamber its decision in the Gillan and Quinton case that stop and search powers enacted as part of anti-terrorism legislation breached human rights law.   The court’s refusal renders the decision final. The Home Secretary has already announced [...]

UK Supreme Court rules against extraterritorial application of the HRA

The UK Supreme Court ruled (judgment; summary) on Wednesday 30 June that British troops deployed abroad are not protected by the 1998 Human Rights Act (which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into English law), and that soldiers are not automatically entitled to inquests arising from deaths in foreign conflicts. The case, R (Smith) [...]

Hammamber: European states must respect Strasbourt Court’s order to halt deportations

Thomas Hammamberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has a comment on Rule 39 of the ECThR, which gives the Court the power to ask a state to suspend the deportation of a foreign national until the Court has examined the case. Hammamberg, however, observes that “these decisions have not been respected in [...]