All posts by mmillard

Requests for info: Searching for CAT decisions / jurisprudence

Blogs

From: Chris Strawn <chris@nwirp.org>

I was wondering if anyone might be able to point me in the direction of an easily searchable database for UN CAT jurisprudence, if one exists? I’m talking at the national AILA conference (American Immigration Lawyers Association) about CAT claims in the U.S., and while this is mainly focused on U.S. law, I’d like to point people to international materials. As far as I can tell, there is no easily searchable database for CAT jurisprudence (like westlaw or lexis for those of us in the U.S.). Below is a basic set of links I’m planning to give to attendees, and I’d be happy to include any other materials that are useful. Thanks for any suggestions.

Select international materials on CAT

Books, treatises, and guides

Manfred Nowak and Elizabeth McArthur, The United Nations Convention Against Torture: A Commentary (2008)

J. Herman Burgers & Hans Danelius, The United Nations Convention Against Torture: A Handbook on the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PUnishment (1988).

Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Torture in International Law, a guide to jurisprudence (2008) http://www.apt.ch/content/files_res/JurisprudenceGuide.pdf

Finding UN CAT materials: country reports and individual complaints under Art 22 of the CAT (jurisprudence)

UN Committee Against Torture (starting place for reports and publications) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/

Special Rapporteur on Torture (useful for country reports) http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/SRTortureIndex.aspx

Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (useful for country reports) http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/index.htm

Finding jurisprudence

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/jurisprudence.htm
(recent decisions – decent descriptions)

http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx
(poor search but should be comprehensive)

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher/CAT.html
(UNHCR database, individual complaints generally up to 2011- good for country research as well)

http://www.worldcourts.com/cat/eng/index.htm
(Individual complaints to 2011)

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/decisions/cat-decisions.html
(Individual complaints to 2009)

http://www.bayefsky.com/
(private site on UN decisions and reports)

Request for information: Inter-agency research on reintegration

Blogs

The Inter-agency Group on Children’s Reintegration is currently carrying out desk based research on reintegration.  The group is headed by Family for Every Child and others members include representatives from BCN, UNICEF, USAID, the CPC Learning Network, World Vision, IRC, UHI Centre for Rural Childhood, Save the Children and Maestral International. 

We are seeking published and unpublished research reports on reintegration or evaluations of reintegration interventions spanning the full range of separated children, including those affected by emergencies, in alternative care, and trafficked/ migrant children. 

We are also requesting practitioners to complete a short survey on reintegration to complement this literature review.  The survey should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.   It aims to: identify commonalities and differences in reintegration programming for children in different contexts; draw out unpublished literature; identify major areas of concern for those working to improve practice in reintegration, and identify potential participants for key informant interviews. 

Please send all relevant literature by 15thof March to: laura.crosby@familyforeverychild.org

Please complete the survey by 15th of March following this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3VSCY2W
 
 
Emily Delap
Head of Policy
Family for Every Child

Harvard and M.I.T. Team Up to Offer Free Online Courses

Blogs

In what is shaping up as an academic Battle of the Titans — one that offers vast new learning opportunities for students around the world — Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday announced a new nonprofit partnership, known as edX, to offer free online courses from both universities.

View the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/education/harvard-and-mit-team-up-to-offer-free-online-courses.html?_r=1&hp

Lecture: An Italian Renaissance: Jewish Refugees in Postwar Europe

Blogs

The Fourth Annual Howard Adelman Lecture was recently held in Toronto, Canada on November 1, 2011 with guest speaker Robert Rubinstein, author of  An Italian Renaissance: Choosing Life in Canada, Winner of the 2011 Canadian Jewish Book Award, in the category of Holocaust Literature.

A beautifully delivered talk on being a Jewish refugee in an Italian camp after the Second World War. As you listen, you realise that not much has changed over the last 60+ years in how camps are run, camp inhabitants treated, and how people try to cope in bureaucratic and sometimes unwelcoming administrations.

View the video HERE

 

Historic vote extends EU asylum standards to transgender people

Blogs

Today the European Parliament formally adopted a new set of asylum rules for the European Union. The binding rules now include gender identity as a ground of persecution, which EU Member States must take into account. Governments have already agreed to the changes, which are final.

For more information, visit: http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/historic-vote-extends-eu-asylum-standards-to-transgender-people/