Juvenile prisons in Bangladesh are effectively torture cells for teenage offenders. Known as juvenile development centres (JDC), the facilities of these institutions are chronically insufficient: overcrowded and understaffed, with poor...
Ecocentrism and the Right to a Healthy Environment: To What Extent Can Human Rights Protect Non-Human Life?
In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the human right to a ‘clean, healthy, and sustainable environment’. Before the General Assembly resolution expressly recognized this right, other sources of...
Jus Cogens and the Lack of a Universal Gender Equality Norm
What is ‘Jus Cogens’? Within international law, the principle of jus cogens has been used to solidify certain human rights that are seen as universal. A highly protective form of...
OxHRH Publishes Workbook on the Right to Education
The Oxford Human Rights Hub has published its first Human Rights Workbook on the topic of the Right to Education. The OxHRH Workbook is designed to provide an introduction to...
Hostage Diplomacy: Russia’s Detention of a US journalist as State Hostage-taking
On 30 March, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of the Wall Street Journal’s Moscow Correspondent, Evan Gershkovich, on “suspicion of espionage in the interests of the American...
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act and its Human Rights Limitations
At the end of 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted its common position or ‘general approach’ to the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), paving the way for...
Uganda’s Draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023
After an unsuccessful attempt to propagate the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, the Ugandan Parliament yet again decided to reintroduce the Bill in March 2023. The Ugandan Parliament, led by...
Kenya’s Landmark Supreme Court Decision on Non-Discrimination for Sexual Minorities
Kenya’s Supreme Court has entrenched the right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in a landmark decision affirming freedom of association for LGBTIQ persons. This decision is particularly...
Zambia’s Human Rights Project is Political
Zambia’s death penalty can be traced back to the colonial era, with the administration led by former president Frederick Chiluba (1991-2002) being the last post-independence government to sign an execution...
International Women’s Day 2023: What Inspires You to ‘Embrace Equity’?
Every year, 8 March marks International Women’s Day – a global day to celebrate progress in the realisation of women’s rights, and to take stock of challenges yet to be...
Gender Inequality and Gender Discrimination of Girls under the Justice System in Bangladesh
Bangladesh ratified the United Nations’ 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1990 and committed to ensuring the protection of children and their best interests in all...
Life-Saving At a High Cost: The Case for Provision of Rare Disease Treatments Being a Human Right
Earlier this year, Brazilian authorities added Zolgesma, once “the world’s most expensive medical treatment to date,” to the country’s mandatory coverage list. The medication treats Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare...
