A motion for an interlocutory injunction was brought to prevent the City of Toronto from enforcing its By-law that prohibited camping and erecting tents, structures, and shelters in City parks, City of Toronto Municipal Code, c. 608. The applicants did not challenge the validity of the By-law but sought an order to have it suspended …Read more

The applicants appealed a decision affirming the constitutionality of Brian’s Law (Mental Health Legislative Reform), 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 9. (“Brian’s Law”), which was enacted by the Ontario legislature in 2000. Brian’s Law amended the Mental Health Act (“MHA”), adding provisions that expanded criteria for involuntary committal in a psychiatric hospital and introduced community treatment …Read more

The applicants’ claim was based on s. 27(1)(b) of the Constitution – the right to sufficient food and water, which they submitted found further expression in the provisions of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 (“WSA”). Their complaint argued that farm occupiers and labour tenants, especially the applicants, lacked “access to sufficient water, basic …Read more

The applicant, Mr. Slavko Krajnc, was a professional truck driver in Celje, Slovenia. On September 29, 2003, Krajnc was deemed to have “category III work-related disability” as a result of his epilepsy, which rendered him unable to work as a truck driver. Accordingly, he had the right to be assigned to a different, more suitable …Read more

The state of Cabinda was declared annexed by Angola without any Cabindan participation in 1975. Despite protests by the Cabindan people, Angola exercised sovereignty over Cabinda. Groups in Cabinda attempted to re-claim autonomy of their country in 2002, but Angola undertook a massive military campaign against them. Angola’s large military force committed numerous documented human …Read more

Three individuals (‘the victims’) were arrested, detained, interrogated, tried and sentenced to death by the Egyptian authorities for their alleged involvement in the 2004 and 2005 bomb attacks on tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula. The victims argued that in the course of these proceedings Egypt violated their rights to be free from torture and …Read more

Mr. Mwamba was a Zambian national on death row awaiting review of his appeal by the Supreme Court of Zambia. Mr. Mwamba was previously a high ranking police officer before he was arrested and detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and aggravated robbery. During his initial detention in 1999, Mr. Mwamba was allegedly subjected to …Read more

The complainants, two human rights organizations based in Sudan, the United Kingdom and Canada, alleged gross and systematic violations of human rights on the part of the Republic of Sudan and Government-supported militia forces in the Darfur region against indigenous tribes, including the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa. The organizations alleged that since General Omar Al-Bashir …Read more

The complainants were South Cameroonian citizens who alleged a variety of human rights violations done by Cameroon and were seeking the right to secede and form their own state. In 1961, the United Nations Trust System held a plebiscite that allowed South Cameroonians to join Cameroon or Nigeria but not to form their own country. …Read more

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) filed a complaint on behalf of Mr. Esmaila Connateh and 13 other Gambians deported from Angola during March through May of 2004. IHRDA’s complaint alleged that Angola arbitrarily arrested and detained the individuals, along with tens of thousands of foreigners who had legally lived and …Read more

The Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project (“SERAP”) sued the government of Nigeria, alleging that the state violated its citizens’ right to education because of large-scale corruption. The issue was whether the Communication submitted by SERAP was admissible or not. In 2005, it was alleged that the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives took …Read more

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, a coalition of twelve human rights organizations, alleged that the Government of Zimbabwe and supporters of the ruling ZANU (PF) political party engaged in a systematic campaign of intimidation leading up to a Constitutional Referendum held in February of 2000, as well as in the months following its fifth …Read more

The Democratic Republic of Congo initiated proceedings before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, alleging that the respondent countries (Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda) committed various human rights violations. The Democratic Republic of Congo alleged that the respondent countries committed multiple massacres against people of the Democratic Republic of Congo including attacking Inga hydroelectric …Read more

Complainants P and M were mental health advocates, who brought the complaint on behalf of patients detained at Campama, a psychiatric unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, and existing and future mental health patients detained under the Mental Health Acts of the Republic of The Gambia. Complainants alleged that legislation governing mental health in The …Read more

The applicant alleged that the military government of Nigeria (Government), in its efforts to produce oil through the State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), contaminated the environment of the Ogoni People and led to environmental degradation and health problems among that community. More specifically, the applicant claimed that the NNPC, acting within a consortium with …Read more

Six communications jointly alleged that the Mauritanian state committed numerous human rights violations from 1986 to 1992. Specifically, the communications alleged that the State violated articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, and 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“the Charter”), which came into …Read more

The complainant alleged that Nigerian security agents arbitrarily arrested his client, Mr. Ayodele Ameen, as a result of Mr. Ameen’s political activism in support of validating the country’s 12 June 1994 elections, which the Nigerian military government had previously annulled. While in prison, the complainant claimed that Nigerian security officials tortured Mr. Ameen, subjected him …Read more

Huri-Laws, a non-governmental organization registered in Nigeria, filed on behalf of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), another Nigerian organization based in Lagos, a complaint claiming that the Federal Military Government of Nigeria harassed and persecuted the latter’s legal staff in various forms that violated provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Charter). …Read more

Amnesty International and three other international human rights organizations filed a series of four complaints (Communications 48/90, 50/91, 52/91, and 89/93) on behalf of hundreds of prisoners, whom the organizations believed suffered detainment without trial, as well as various forms of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment in prison, following a coup d’état in Sudan …Read more

Rights International, a non-governmental organization based in the United States, claimed that Nigerian military soldiers arrested and tortured Mr. Charles Baridorn Wiwa at an unknown military detention camp in Gokana, Nigeria. The Complainant alleged that Mr. Wiwa’s detention lasted from January 2-9, 1996, and that during his detention, authorities horsewhipped him, subjected him to various …Read more

S, a writer and president of an Ogoni people’s movement, and L (the movement’s vice-president) were arrested in May 1994 after the murder of four Ogoni leaders following a riot which had occurred during a meeting organized by the movement. It was alleged that S was severely beaten during the first days of his detention …Read more

Decrees were issued in August 1993, following the annulment of presidential elections, which proscribed the publication of two magazines and officials sealed their premises. There were also frequent seizures of magazines critical of the government’s decisions and arrests of those selling them. A third decree proscribed ten newspapers published by four different media organizations. It …Read more

Various communications alleged that: (1) Burundian nationals, who had been refugees in Rwanda for several years, were told they had one month to leave the country as they were considered national risks risks due to their “subversive activities”. The refugees were not able to challenge the expulsion in court (2) arbitrary arrests and summary executions …Read more

Members of the World Organization Against Torture filed Communication 25/89 with the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights (‘the Commission’) in March 1989 alleging torture of 15 detained persons by a military unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (‘the DRC’). The Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights in New York filed Communication 47/90 with …Read more