N and four others were remanded in Natabua prison on 15th December 1999 on a charge of murder contrary to ss 199 and 200 of the Penal Code. In October 2000 the High Court refused the applicants’ request for bail whilst saying that if they were not released expeditiously it would have to reconsider the …Read more

NS and PH were convicted of murder in St Vincent and St Lucia respectively. In both jurisdictions, the offence is subject to a mandatory sentence of the death penalty. On raising constitutional arguments against the mandatory death sentence before the Privy Council, which had not previously been raised in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (the Court), the …Read more

The applicant, a former teacher and former head of the Diyarbakır branch of the Education and Science Workers Union, made comments to a local newspaper about the mistreatment of teachers by government authorities. She was disciplined according to domestic law—an administrative court ultimately overturned this penalty six years later. Following this incident, the applicant received …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

Applicant, a Polish national suffering from chronic depression, alleged violations of Articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 5.3 (trial within a reasonable time), 6.1 (unreasonably long proceedings), and 13 (effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The applicant was in detention for fraud charges. While in prison, he attempted suicide twice and went …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

R was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by the Chief Magistrate for the offence of escaping from lawful custody contrary to s 138 of the Penal Code Cap 17. In addition the Commissioner of Prisons imposed sanctions on R for the escape under the Prisons Act Cap 86, ss 83(1)A(i) and (vi) and paras 123(3) …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

Trevor Bennett (“author”) at the time of submission of the communication was awaiting execution at a prison. He had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His appeals to the Court of Appeal and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were dismissed. He claimed violations of articles 6, 7, 9, 10, and 14 of …Read more

The first appellant was arrested for murder in July 1993. He was committed for trial in November 1993 but there was a technical defect in the committal as a result of which it was subsequently quashed. On 14 November 1994 he was committed again and on 2 October 1995 found guilty and sentenced to death. …Read more