British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v Canada (Attorney General)
Country: CanadaYear: 2018
Court: Supreme Court of British Columbia
Citation: 2018 BCSC 62
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to life
The plaintiffs are two non-profit organizations, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of sections 31-33 and 37 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which authorized administrative segregation of inmates in federal prisons. Section 31 provided that the purpose of administrative segregation …Read more
X v. Germany
Country: GermanyYear: 2018
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 54646/17
Health Topics: Prisons, Public safety
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence
The applicant, a Russian national, arrived in Germany in 2002. In 2002 and 2011, the competent domestic authorities denied the applicant’s asylum requests. In 2012, the applicant was granted a residence permit, which was later prolonged until March 2018. In 2014, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution investigated the applicant due to …Read more
Glossip et al. v. Gross et al.
Country: United StatesYear: 2015
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 576 U.S. __ (2015)
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
The state of Oklahoma adopted lethal injection as its method of execution for inmates on death row. The injection consisted of a three-drug protocol of (1) sodium thiopental (a barbiturate) to induce unconsciousness, (2) a paralytic agent to inhibit all muscular-skeletal movements, and (3) potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest. The Supreme Court had previously ruled …Read more
Wong Ho Wing v. Peru
Country: PeruYear: 2015
Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights
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, Right to life
Wong Ho Wing, a Chinese citizen, was wanted by the judicial authorities of Hong Kong, China for smuggling, money laundering, bribery, and tax evasion. He was arrested at the Lima airport as he attempted to enter Peru from the United States. China and Peru had entered into an extradition treaty in 2001 that obligated both …Read more
Amirov v. Russia
Country: RussiaYear: 2014
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: [2014] EHCR 51857/13
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Infectious diseases, Medicines, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to health
Amirov is a local politician who was arrested and charged in June 2013 with attempted murder, attempting to organize a terrorist attack, and related charges. Amirov was paralyzed in 1993 and requires constant medical care. Amirov argued that he should not be detained pending trial because of his poor health, age and position in the …Read more
Blessington, et al. v. Australia
Country: AustraliaYear: 2014
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 1968/2010; CCPR/C/112/D/1968/2010
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
The claimants, who were serving life imprisonment sentences, claimed that the state of Australia had violated articles 7, 10, 15 and 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“Covenant”), particularly the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman, and/or degrading treatment. The claimants were jointly tried for the murder, abduction, and …Read more
Hall v. Florida
Country: United StatesYear: 2014
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 572 U.S. ___ (2014); 134 S.Ct. 1986
Health Topics: Disabilities, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
The petitioner and his accomplice kidnapped, beat, raped, and murdered a pregnant woman before driving to a convenience store, which they planned to rob. In the parking lot of the store, they killed a sheriff’s deputy who attempted to apprehend them. The petitioner received the death penalty for both murders. He argued that he could …Read more
Shatrughan Chauhan and another v. Union of India and others
Country: IndiaYear: 2014
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Writ Petition 55 of 2013
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
Fifteen criminal convicts sentenced to the death penalty challenged their sentences as in violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which protects the right to life. They claimed that the executive orders rejecting their mercy petitions were passed without considering supervening events, including delay, insanity, solitary confinement, and procedural lapses. Two convicts alleged that the …Read more
Tapela, et al. v. Attorney General, et al.
Country: BotswanaYear: 2014
Court: High Court
Citation: (MAHGB-000057-14), BWHC 1 (2014)
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Medicines, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to health, Right to life
The applicants, two prisoners with HIV and an interested non-governmental organization, complain that the policy of denying Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (“HAART”) to non-citizen inmates is a violation of the rights of such non-citizen prisoners under the Constitution of Botswana. HAART is a drug treatment that helps control HIV mutation and reduces the likelihood of …Read more
Valetov v. Kazakhstan
Country: KazakhstanYear: 2014
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 2104/2011
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Infectious diseases, Prisons, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial
Nikolai Valetov, a Russian national, was arrested and charged in June 2001 with murder by Kyrgyzstan authorities while living in Kyrgyzstan. In addition to maintaining that he was framed for this crime by the police, Valetov further claimed that he was tortured by the police so severely while in pre-trial detention that he was permanently …Read more