The village of Moiwana, consisting of N’djuka people of African descent, was attacked in November 1986 by members of the armed forces of Suriname, who allegedly massacred  40 men, women and children, and “razed the village to the ground.” Members of Moiwana practiced hunting, farming, and fishing as their means of subsistence. Following the massacre, …Read more

Susana Orlando, a 55-year-old-woman suffering from multiple sclerosis, brought a claim of amparo against the Federal State and the Province of Buenos Aires for acts and omissions preventing her to obtain the medicine she needed to fight her disease and that she could not afford. In particular, she complained about the fact that her illness …Read more

X, the Petitioner, was a sweeper with the State Bank of India, the Respondent, for nine years on a contractual basis.  The Respondent considered the Petitioner for another job and required him to undergo some medical tests. The Petitioner was deemed fit for the job by the concerned doctor. His ELISA test, however, showed that …Read more

The case was regarding multiple suo moto orders issued by the Rajasthan High Court to the municipal authorities of the city of Jaipur to clean-up, restore and maintain the city which was plagued with trash, open sewage and polluted water bodies. Specific orders were issued to remove and dispose of the plastic and polyethylene bags …Read more

A household-rubbish tip, or dump, was created in the Ümraniye district of Istanbul. Illegal dwellings were constructed around the rubbish tip. A report found that the rubbish tip posed health risks and the possibility of explosion. In April 1993 there was a methane explosion which triggered a landslide. Nine of the applicants’ family members were …Read more

An Afghani woman (appellant) seeks asylum in the United Kingdom. The Appellant and her husband lived and worked in Kabul, Afghanistan with their three young children. After war broke out in 1992 and the destruction of the family home, the Appellant and her family left Kabul and moved to Takhar, a town in northern Afghanistan …Read more

This case concerned what level of destitute asylum seekers must have reached before their condition signified a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“Convention”), which prohibits torture and cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment. A violation of Article 3 required the Secretary of State for the Home …Read more

The National Commission on Benefits of the National Health Treasury (CNS) provided free medical insurance for the elderly. Alejandro Cuba Plaza, a beneficiary of CNS, was diagnosed with “terminal chronic kidney failure” and treated with ongoing hemodialysis at Obrero Hospital. After 52 weeks of treatment, CNS ordered the Director of Obrero Hospital to transfer Plaza …Read more

The petitioner filed a writ of amparo (appeal for legal protection) against the Ministry of Health of Peru. She sought free administration of comprehensive medical treatment for HIV, including both the continuous delivery of necessary medicines and the performance of periodic CD4 cell count and viral load tests upon medical indication and/or the patient’s urgent …Read more

O.M. is a Mexican woman who left her newborn son in a garbage can in the municipal headquarters of Santa Clara del Cobre after having given labor in the public restrooms. The woman placed toilet paper on the newborn child’s mouth cavity and nostrils to prevent others from hearing the newborn child cry, cut his …Read more

A group of NGOs lodged a petition with the Commission alleging that Peru violated Maria Mamérita Mestanza Chávez’s rights on account of a forced sterilization that resulted in her death. Peru implemented a family planning policy involving compulsory and systematic sterilization in order to modify the reproductive behavior of the population. Poor, indigenous, and rural …Read more

F, M, D, B, J and Q were six asylum-seekers who had sought assistance from the Secretary of State under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, 2002. As per section 55 of the Act, the Secretary of State may not provide support to an asylum-seeker, if the Secretary “is not satisfied that the claim was …Read more

Brigida Díaz was told by her doctors that she urgently needed surgical intervention to replace her pacemaker. Her original pacemaker had been covered by a social welfare scheme, and she had used these funds to replace it once. However, by the time she was told that her pacemaker needed to be replaced a second time, …Read more

The applicant was a citizen of the Philippines who entered Canada in 1990 under the Foreign Domestic Program, later renamed the Live-In Caregiver Program. She remained legally employed as a caregiver until her employment authorization expired in 1998. Nonetheless, she continued to stay and work in Canada. In 1994, the applicant was diagnosed with kidney …Read more

Applicant Mr. Zdzislaw Nitecki was a Polish national diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 1976. In June 1999, he was prescribed the drug Rilutek to treat his ALS. He appealed to the Kujawsko-Pomorski Health Insurance Fund (“Fund”) to reimburse his out-of-pocket costs, noting that, as a pensioner, he …Read more

Jacob was convicted of murder by the State and a mandatory death sentence by hanging was imposed on him in accordance with the domestic law of Grenada. Jacob and the deceased had been in a relationship and had lived together previously, ending their cohabitation a few months before the deceased’s death. A psychiatrist testified on …Read more

Paul Lallion appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging that his death penalty sentencing and appeal process, as well as the prison conditions he was subjected to during this process, violated Articles 4 (right to life), 5 (right to humane treatment), 7 (right to personal liberty), 8 (right to a fair trial), and …Read more

In 1984 the Quebec government created a new social assistance scheme. Section 29(a) of the Regulation Respecting Social Aid (the Regulation), made under the 1984 Social Aid Act, set the base amount of welfare payable to persons under the age of 30 at roughly one third of the base amount payable to those 30 and …Read more

A 55-year-old woman suffering from multiple sclerosis brought case against the Government of Argentina and the Province of Buenos Aires for acts and omissions that prevented the provision of the medications necessary for her condition that she could not afford. The petitioner’s illness did not fall within the provincial government’s jurisdiction for coverage. Therefore, the …Read more

Woman living in extreme poverty brought an action against the Ministry of Social Development and Environment of the Nation, the Province of Buenos Aires, and Hospital of Pediatrics Profesor Juan P. Garrahan on behalf of her eight children and herself, seeking, among others, the protection of their rights to food, health, education, and housing; the …Read more

On 20 August 1996 a police officer entered a brothel owned by the first appellant in Pretoria, paid R250 to the second appellant and a salaried employee, and received a pelvic massage by the third appellant, a prostitute. All three were charged with contravening s20(1)(aA) of the Sexual Offences Act 1957 (‘the Act’) which criminalised …Read more

The applicant was a Columbian national residing in the Netherlands. He complained that his expulsion to Columbia would violate Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the “Convention”) which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading punishment, as he would be unable to continue treatment for his HIV and Hepatitis B and would therefore …Read more

Oscar Álvarez, a 46 year old man who was disabled, unable to work and facing economic difficulties, filed an guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the Province of Buenos Aires and the National State. The plaintiff stated that he suffered from paralysis, both for congenital reasons and as a result of an accident. …Read more

Adoptive father of child with cerebral paralysis brought case against the State of Argentina and its dependent agencies to force them to fulfill their obligations under Arts. 3 (second paragraph) and 4 of Law N° 24.901 (subsidized healthcare system) , and Art. 23 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (Right of …Read more

Originally, three individuals living with HIV brought action against Hospital Simón Bolívar and the District’s Secretary of Health for the Hospital’s refusal to provide them with the necessary medications and treatment for their condition upon petitioners’ inability to afford payment of the medications and services. The petitioners claimed violations of their rights to health, life …Read more

The appellant owed the respondent and her daughter a maintenance debt that had accumulated to about 1.25 million New Shekel, having previously failed to pay regular maintenance and child support payments to his wife and daughter.  Being unable to afford this amount as a lump sum, he sought to have the Head of the Execution …Read more

The Appellant, a 51 year-old man who had spent much of his life in prison for violent crimes was arrested and convicted in St. Lucia. He was deemed dangerous and placed in a maximum-security section of the prison in cellular confinement with death row inmates. He was placed in mechanical restraints with chains tied to …Read more

Jahnabi Goswami Sharma was the wife of an “AIDS patient.” Her “miserable plight” prompted the Petitioner, Subodh Sharma, an independent social activist, to file a public interest litigation on behalf of people living with HIV and members of their family in the Gauhati High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India (original writ jurisdiction …Read more

Mrs. Grootboom and other respondents were homeless and living in appalling conditions. Many had applied for subsidized low-cost housing through the municipality and had been on the waiting list for a period of up to seven years. While waiting for the assignment, they decided to move and illegally live on someone’s private land. Respondents were …Read more