Rights Review
The International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (Photo credit: Pavan Setty)
STOPPING STATELESSNESS: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF STATELESSNESS IN WEST AFRICA Catherine Thomas, 3L UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Senegal)
THIS ISSUE
Health and statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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International Justice
Pictured above: Daily life in a middle class suburb of Dakar, Senegal
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Message from the IHRP DIRECTOR
leave at the end of March, just in
sense of adventure that our interns the tremendous value that our
HIV and the Law chooses to spend his or her summer
prosecution
of
war
criminals, Renu Mandhane (JD 2001) Director, IHRP
in Asia 2
From the EDITOR’S DESK is our hope that these articles will inspire others to this issue, our internships have had a transformative internships came at a pivotal moment in our careers,
and appreciate how well it prepared us for our own
3Ls
EDITORIAL BOARD
Lisana Nithiananthan
Pictured left: 2014-15 Rights Review student Editorial Board. From left to right: Catherine Thomas, Katie Bresner, Lisana Nithiananthan, Roxana Parsa, Petra Molnar Diop, Amy Tang and Alison
RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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2014 IHRP INTERNS
Emma Julian
Lisana Nithiananthan
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MIGRANTS
SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS Paloma van Groll, 3L, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (South Africa) Paloma’s internship was generously funded through the support of Goodmans LLP.
Paloma (far right) and her fellow UNHCR interns, Evelyne, Nkandu, Ben and Mireille (Photo credit: Paloma van Groll)
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees Organization of African Unity Convention Relating to the Rights of Refugees in Africa
procedures.
In
particular,
the
the domestic implementation of
introduces the implementation of
which motivated them to continue
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MIGRANTS
RESCUE AT SEA: CRISIS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN International Organization for Migration (Geneva) consensus that non-refoulement the Italian island of Lampedusa. law. In particular, non-refoulement non-refoulement wherever the state the jurisprudence on the subject, and the two issues often intersect. to reach the Italian coast alone. Non-refoulement is an important aspect of rescue at sea because to reach other European borders, of non-refoulement protects all across the Mediterranean have
would fall under the jurisdiction of
to countries where their lives are the refoulement of those rescued. subject to torture or inhuman or It is important to understand rescue at sea as part of a broader independent status review must
unsafe and overcrowded vessels claim that the individual at issue
At the same time, rescue at sea
or mistreatment if returned to their attention and resources to rescue at on rescue at sea. As an intern with
non-refoulement is often a critical issue. However, states are often hesitant to allow status determinations
on the law behind rescue at sea.
Jurisprudence on the topic reveals RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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MIGRANTS
WHAT’S IN A NAME: International Organization for Migration (Geneva) channels perpetuates incorrect and harmful assumptions. Instead
be used in public discourse on
respected, and enforced.
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MIGRANTS
children or spouse. on the basis of either jus soli sanguinis
jus
whose parents are from jus soli jus sanguinis
(Photo credit: Catherine Thomas)
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MIGRANTS
Daily life in the historic city of St. Louis, Senegal. (Photo credit: Pavan Setty)
procedures
to
prevent
statelessness,
disputes
can statelessness cause problems between nations, the prevention of new situations of statelessness are Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness communities.
Africa, there must also be a coordinated response to eliminate statelessness before it spreads to future
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EXPRESSION
CENSORING DISSENT: HOW TURKEY’S NATIONAL LAWS CONSTRAIN THE RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION Lisana Nithiananthan, 2L, PEN International (London)
enshrined in international human Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
domestic laws, in particular the Terörle Mücadele Kanunu Türk Ceza Kanunu
the content and the medium of or verbal, fall within the scope of
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who cannot continue the operation
resources will be devoted to rescue at sea operations to prevent another
Place des Nations with the United Nations with the “Broken Chair” in the foreground, a sculpture symbolising opposition to land mines and cluster
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Elephants in Pilanesberg Game Reserve (Photo credit: Paloma van Groll)
own situation. As a result of these circumstances, it
in this manner.
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EXPRESSION
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: CRIMINAL DEFAMATION AND ITS CHILLING EFFECT Brenna Nitkin, 2L, International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto Faculty of Law individual, and to ensure public tests are applied to determine whether restrictions on freedom
individuals or institutions for fear of
International, the oldest freedom of create an environment where opinions that oppose the dominant Universal Declaration of Human Rights
defamation lawsuits can be used
freedom to hold opinions without and impart information and ideas
referred to the protection of free
in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights part of criminal law ... means that interpretation of the freedoms of
of imprisonment for published or broadcast words continues to curb defamation laws. On his visit to professional journalists fear criminal sanctions for their words
for the promotion and protection of transformed from a criminal to a criminal lawsuit, even one which does not foresee a prison sentence, importance.
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and prevents respectful and informed debate on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Universal Declaration of Human Rights freedoms listed in the declaration, without distinction
perceptions of what is acceptable and appropriate
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HEALTH
THE RIGHT TO HEALTH: A TRADEABLE COMMODITY? Catherine Deans, LLM 2014, Lawyers Collective (India)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
General Comment No. 14 (Photo credit: Catherine Deans)
“in a manner conducive to social and economic
protection for all new, inventive and useful products,
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HEALTH
CEHURD: CONFRONTING MATERNAL MORTALITY IN UGANDA Rebecca Carr, LLM 2014, 2013-2014 CIHR Fellow in Health Law, Ethics and Policy Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (Uganda) violated as a result of the acts and omissions of the state-run hospital
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
imminent birth of their child. What
that would result in both her death, and the death of their unborn child.
hour period, to provide Irene with
to be met, such as the provision of, and access to, health facilities,
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Kiboga countryside, home to some of the communities CEHURD works with (Photo credit: Rebecca Carr) RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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actual involvement in or incitement of violence.
threat of incarceration pushes journalists to self-
Mayor of Girona Carles Puigdemont and the author following the TLRC welcome reception at City Council (Photo credit: Lisana Nithiananthan)
its laws and practices with international freedom of
in the nation has deteriorated.
violation of its commitment to provide and protect free Pictured above: The author pictured with her supervisors Paul Finegan and Sarah Clarke (Photo credit: Lisana Nithiananthan) RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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ALUMNI CORNER
MY IHRP EXPERIENCE AND THE RETURN TO SUDAN
Rebecca Sutton
A similar impulse led me to immerse
leave of absence from law school that I felt law school would not teach me. I had followed the situation
to assist vulnerable populations, this part of the world to do some
debates about whether the acts complaint, conduct prison research, prepare a submission areas attract far less international precedents of international human dispute that the violence was
the initial bursts of violence had in the mainstream news media. somewhere between crisis and an appreciation of the power of rest of the world. to respond, and on a personal level interest of a broader population
are central to international human (Continued on page 26) RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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NON-DISCRIMINATION
HIV AND THE LAW: HUMAN RIGHTS ARE THE ONLY WAY FORWARD Evan Rankin, 2L,
(Thailand)
National Legal Services Authority v Union of India and Others NLSA
(Continued on page 23)
Evan Rankin in Bagan, Myanmar, home to 3000 temples (Photo credit: Sadaf Raja) RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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NON-DISCRIMINATION
RIGHTS ON PAPER VS RIGHTS IN PRACTICE Shannon More, LLM 2014,
(Kenya)
. While
Tsavo East National Park, Kenya (Photo credit: Tiberio Frascari, Creative Commons)
failures to collect evidence, visit the crime scene, and
protection.
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INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IN MEXICO: A WORK IN PROGRESS Katie Bresner, 2L,
(Geneva) DefenseWiki
the number of countries that have and passed domestic laws to often still used in certain countries,
resources, such as penal and procedural codes, that we are used DefenseWiki provides such resources to
innocence, criminal accused are
of crimes. practitioners and professionals, law students, and law professors
implementation and enforcement
confessions.
DefenseWiki
people from the violation of their problems with its criminal justice protected from cruel and unusual
criminal procedure, drawn from civil law, to an adversarial model,
accused persons have professional
education-based. As an intern
codes and procedures, with the (Continued on page 21)
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Novartis battle,
ten times more for some new medicines than patients
other states.
Novartis AG v Union of India Novartis health.
economic welfare of a state, it is imperative that states health.
much with too few resources in an unrealistic
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CONFRONTING MATERNAL MORTALITY IN
Pictured right: His Worship visits Nakaseke Hospital during the course of a Constitutional Court Case that CEHURD is undertaking. Media (the majority of the others pictured) were interested in the fact that a judge was visiting the locus in a socio-economic human rights case which is something that - at least to everyone’s knowledge - had never been done before. (Photo credit: Matthias Heilke)
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which entitles them to additional
access means less education and empowerment, which can lead to
in educational institutions, under In the second decision, Koushal v Naz Foundation Naz Foundation Indian Penal Code
attract criminal sanctions in India. In contrast to NLSA Naz Foundation
will infect other members of the
the provision, and rejected the similar provisions unconstitutional. available. In both cases, a violation
populations. In the case of anti-
NLSA these
decisions
impact
HIV epidemics in a number of places,
the forceful social disapproval that compels people to hide their
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INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
LIMITS TO THE RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED AT THE ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague) A cornerstone of a just and
Almost two months later, the in the interests of justice. In the
of the law undermines due process
individuals for war crimes included limited protections for those who
to provide relevant material in a
appealed. concerns related to the translation attempted to ensure an impartial and fair process that protects and
all
appellate
submissions
(Continued on page 26)
in other international treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights facilities for the preparation of his However, the law continues to evolve and new issues continue to
himself and receive translations of Glenn Gibson in the lobby of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague during the trial of General Ratko Mladic (Photo credit: Ullic Egan, ICTY Appeals Intern) RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
REDISCOVERING CANADA’S WARTIME EXPERIENCE IN ASIA Toronto Association for the Learning and Preservation of the History of WWII in Asia (Canada, China)
War. fatal disease rampant, forced labor demanded, and (Continued on page 27)
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the accused with broader considerations of justice and
Front view of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in the Hague, the Netherlands.
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Convention prisoners
were
transferred
to hand, Japanese defendants were
forced to manufacture Japanese was unclear whether Japanese On the other hand, defendants had the
war,
Japan
had
War, a series of war crimes trials were convened around the world.
ad
assured hoc
and violence. under the terms mutatis mutandis formal assurances to the Allies that of the Far East concluded, was
shares deep-rooted historical ties of these war crimes trials were not accused was another central issue in the trials. When a victorious
towards a more peaceful future. Canadian graves in Stanley Military Cemetary, Hong Kong
Asia.
war development of international criminal law. A crucial issue in the trials was whether Japanese defendants could be prosecuted for Geneva RIGHTS REVIEW October 2014
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ADVISORY BOARD Louise Arbour
Harold Koh
Ken Wiwa
FACULTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Karen Knop
Rights Review