American Convention on Human Rights

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State and Corporate Homophobia: A Commentary on the Olivera Fuentes v. Peru case

August 21, 2023

On 11 April 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) published its long-awaited ruling in the Olivera Fuentes v. Peru case. The decision holds personal significance to Crissthian Olivera, a pioneering defender of LGBTIQ+ rights in Latin America, as it was the culmination of a 19-year journey to deliver justice following discrimination he faced due to his sexual orientation and gender expression. The case addressed three pivotal issues under the American Convention on Human Rights (“the American Convention”): (i) the use of homophobic stereotypes in domestic rulings, (ii) the burden of proof for victims of discrimination by private actors, and (iii) the scope of anti-discrimination obligations for corporations. It should also be noted that this is the first of the Court’s ten decisions on the subject to adopt the expanded acronym LGBTIQ+. Prior to this case, the Court’s preferred acronym was LGBTI. The facts On 11 August 2004, Olivera and his partner were seated in a supermarket cafeteria in…

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25 Years after the Adoption of the ILO 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: What is New in the Human Rights Turn in Labour Law?

July 4, 2023

June 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the ILO 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (the Declaration). The Declaration has been a catalyst for intense discussions and has wielded significant influence, within and beyond the ILO. This post explores the most notable impacts of the Declaration, spanning from its…

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Manuela et al. v. El Salvador: The Pitfalls of a Landmark Case for Reproductive Justice from a Torture Perspective

June 27, 2023

On November 30, 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) published its judgment in Manuela et al v. El Salvador. ​​The case concerned El Salvador’s responsibility for the arbitrary detention, torture, and conviction of a woman who experienced an obstetric emergency and lost her pregnancy in 2008. The dispute took place in the context…

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What’s at Stake in the Abortion Case Before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights?

March 16, 2023

El Salvador’s punitive treatment of women through its absolute criminalization of abortion will come under scrutiny by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the “Court”) on March 22-23, in a case involving the state’s treatment of a woman in need of a life-saving abortion. Beatriz was a young woman from the impoverished state of Usulután,…

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Another Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency? The Added Value of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

March 2, 2023

The highest human rights tribunal in the Americas, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), sits in Costa Rica’s capital San Jose, part of a region significantly exposed and vulnerable to climate impacts. If the global temperature continues to rise due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that remain trapped in the atmosphere, enjoying the whole…

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