International Human Rights Law

Stellar panel looks at challenges but remains ‘cautiously optimistic’

By Nita Khare, 1L

Imprisoning people for long periods of time without trial is a violation of the Uganda Constitution and international human rights law, the International Human Rights Program (IRHP) and Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) found in a joint report released June 15, 2011.  The report, Presumed Innocent, Behind Bars: The Problem of Lengthy Pre-trial Detention in Uganda, was authored by two University of Toronto law students enrolled in the IHRP clinic, Sonja Pavic and Joanna Kyriazis.

On Friday, November 19, 2010 the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, the International Human Rights Program and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association co-hosted a half-day symposium: UN Security Council Resolution 1267:
Impact of targeted anti-terrorist sanctions on human rights.

Two U of T law students, Chris Evans and Megan Strachan, are volunteering with organizations working on human rights law, both on the west coast, thanks to internships from the Asper Centre together with the International Human Rights Program. The funding comes from the John and Mary A. Yaremko Programme in Multiculturalism and Human Rights.

REVISED June 10, 2011.

(June 3, 2011) In a report, Corruption, Impunity, Silence: The War on Mexico’s Journalists, the Faculty of Law's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and PEN Canada expose the Mexican government’s repeated failure to protect the human rights of journalists, its complicity in a number of rights violations against them, and the web of Mexican laws that limit freedom of expression and effectively gag journalists who seek to expose government corruption.

By: Renu Mandhane

Director, International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

This commentary was first published in The Vancouver Sun on May 17, 2011.