UN Treaty Watch

Newman: "UN Dictators Club" Criticizes U.S. Rights Record

May 20, 2015

Alex Newman writes that a "Dictators Club" of autocratic, repressive regimes have taken advantage of the UN's Universal Periodic Review ("UPR") process recently to condemn the U.S. for alleged violations of nontraditional economic and social rights and refusals to submit to UN tribunals.
UN Committee: Australia Deportation Decision Violated Rights

April 30, 2015

The Guardian reports that the UN Human Rights Committee has declared Australia's decision to expel, on undisclosed national security grounds, a man who had lived in the country for 16 years but had not received permanent resident status contrary to international human rights law.
AI: Ireland Will Adopt Economic, Social, Cultural Rights Protocol

April 15, 2015

Amnesty International ("AI") has praised the Irish Government for its announcement that it will adopt the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which establishes a mechanism for individual complaints regarding nontraditional rights.
Australia PM Criticizes UN Torture Report

March 16, 2015

Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbot has criticized a recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture alleging that the country's migration policy has violated the human rights of asylum seekers and accused the report's author of bias.
Activist Initiative Seeks Local "Ratification" of CEDAW Treaty

February 04, 2015

The "Cities for CEDAW" initiative is seeking to bypass ratification of the Convention to Ellminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW") in the U.S. Senate by securing adoption of the treaty's principles by local governments around the country.
Posner and Roth Debate Usefulness of Human Rights Treaties

December 31, 2014

In The New York Times, Professor Eric Posner and Human Rights Watch's Kenneth Roth debate whether international human rights treaties are helpful or whether they are vague, ambitious, and impossible for many countries to follow.
UN Committee Criticizes U.S. Police Practices

December 03, 2014

In its review of the U.S. record of preventing torture, the UN Committee Against Torture expressed concern over alleged "frequent and recurrent" police violence and called for an independent investigation of every instance of alleged excessive use of force.
Analysis Indicates Pressure from UN Human Rights System on Abortion

December 03, 2014

New analysis of the UN's Universal Periodic Review process finds that several countries are using these reviews of country commitments to UN human rights treaties to place pressure on governments to loosen restrictions on abortion.
HRW Criticizes Limited U.S. Shift on UN Torture Treaty

November 19, 2014

Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has criticized the Obama Administration, which has expanded its interpretation of the UN Convention Against Torture, for not fully adopting the UN Committee Against Torture's position that the treaty applies in any area of the world where the U.S. has "effective control."
UN Committee Criticizes Israel Rights Record

November 05, 2014

The flow of accusations of Israeli human rights violations from the UN continues as the organization's Human Rights Committee has criticized the country for alleged transgressions in the recent conflict in and continuing blockade of the Gaza Strip.