UN Treaty Watch

UN Body: Ireland Violated Woman's Right to Abortion

June 20, 2016

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Ireland's constitutional prohibition on access to abortions except when the pregnant woman's life is in danger violated a woman's right against "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" by restricting her from having an abortion when the fetus had a fatal abnormality.
UN Agents Praise UPR Support of Reproductive Rights

May 25, 2016

A group of officials from the UN Population Fund has published an article praising the rise in recommendations to governments on sexual and reproductive health rights, which they interpret to include abortion rights, under the UN's Universal Periodic Review process.
UN Committee: Abortion Is "Indivisible" from Human Rights Agenda

March 10, 2016

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published a "legal commentary" explaining that sexual and reproductive health rights, which they interpret to include "safe abortion care," are an "indivisible" part of the UN's human rights agenda and that violation of such rights could amount to torture.
UN Committee Links Climate Change to Gender Discrimination

March 03, 2016

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW") joined the array of international organizations and activists in seeking to advance the global climate agenda by holding a session on how gender equality can reduce the disproportionate impact climate change has on women and girls.
UN Committee Criticizes Canada on Nontraditional Rights

February 29, 2016

A press release from the nongovernmental organization Canada Without Poverty praises the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights for "grilling" Canadian officials on issues including a reduction in social spending, increased homelessness, and the failure of the federal government to coerce provincial governments into enforcing nontraditional "human rights."
AI Recommends Climate Action by UN Women's Rights Committee

February 24, 2016

A submission from Amnesty International ("AI") to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women ("CEDAW") applauds CEDAW's scrutiny of government action on global warming due to "the disproportionate impact it has on women and girls" and recommends a broad CEDAW review of states' obligations to counter climate change.
UN Committee: Australia Violated Rights of Guantanamo Detainee

February 22, 2016

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Australia violated international human rights law by imprisoning former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks following his trial by US military commission and his return to Australia to serve out the remainder of his prison term.
UN Committee Questions Australia Ruling on Refugee Children

February 10, 2016

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has voiced concern regarding a ruling by the Australian High Court that the Government's detention of asylum seekers at offshore facilities is legal, questioning whether the decision complies with Australia's treaty obligations to prioritize "the best interests of the child" in any decision regarding children.
UN Committee: Prioritize Public over Private Education

February 10, 2016

In its observations on child rights in Kenya, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Kenyan government to "prioritize free primary quality education at public schools over private schools and informal low cost schools" in order to guarantee the right to education in the country.
Windschuttle: Global Governance Threatens Australian Institutions

February 10, 2016

Author Keith Windschuttle writes that academics and judges are seeking to use the tools of global governance and international treaties to take power from the people of Australia in shaping Australian policies such as the treatment of refugees and the recognition of legal interests held by the Aboriginal people.