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
Mambu v The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Country: Congo, DRCYear: 2016
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: Communication No. 2465/2014; UN Doc. CCPR/C/118/D/2465/2014
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Hospitals, Prisons, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of association, Right of access to information, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to participation
Eugène Diomi Ndongala Nzo Mambu was a national of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and president of the opposition political party in the State, challenging the legitimacy of an election. He alleged that he was abducted in 2012 and held incommunicado for three months and 13 days while being interrogated about his ties with …Read more
Zogo Andela v. Cameroon
Country: CameroonYear: 2016
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: CCPR/C/121/D/2764/2016
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a treaty by which its parties commit to preserving certain human and political rights. The First Optional Protocol of the Covenant allows for individuals to bring complaints, referred to as communications, against state parties to the Protocol that have allegedly violated articles of the ICCPR. …Read more
Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee on Behalf of Ionel Garcea v. Romania
Country: RomaniaYear: 2015
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 2959/11
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Infectious diseases, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to life
The applicant was a Romanian NGO known as the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (“Association”), representing a deceased party, Ionel Garcea. Garcea was a mentally ill prisoner who died in prison. During his sentence, he made a number of complaints about his treatment, with the Association representing him. In June …Read more
Attorney General, et al. v. Dickson Tapela, et al.
Country: BotswanaYear: 2015
Court: Court of Appeal of the Republic of Botswana at Gaborone
Health Topics: Health care and health services, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to health, Right to life
Case 1: Tapela and Piye, two Zimbabwean nationals imprisoned in Botswana, both contracted HIV in prison. They were refused antiretroviral treatment for their condition based on a internal directive issued by the national government to all public medical institutions and personnel on March 26, 2004, indicating that testing, assessment, and treatment with antiretroviral and highly active …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
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
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
Tali v. Estonia
Country: EstoniaYear: 2014
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 66393/10; [2014] ECHR 294
Health Topics: Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Mr. Tali, an Estonian sentenced to life in prison, claimed he was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“Convention”). On July 3 2009, Tali was told he would be taken to a punishment cell. The guards used defensive equipment …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