Date
Type
Case No
Country
Mandate(s)
Summary of the allegation transmitted
Reply
GBR 2/2015
01/04/2015 United Kingdom
JAL
of Great Britain
and Northern
Ireland
Discrimination
against women;
Health; Torture;
Violence against
women;
15/07/2015
Allegations concerning the persistence of provisions in North Irelands’ domestic
legislation relating to abortion which restrict women and girls’ right to health and
physical integrity under international human rights law. According to the information
received, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and the 1945 Criminal
Justice (Northern Ireland) Act, women or those who help a woman to have an
abortion, may face life imprisonment. Furthermore, the 1967 Abortion Act does not
apply in Northern Ireland. Abortion is only acceptable when there is a risk to the
physical or mental health of the woman or existing children in the family, and
abnormalities that could lead to a child being “seriously handicapped”. After the
Ministry of Justice announced in December 2013 their intention to prepare a
consultation document to review abortion laws in Northern Ireland, the Northern
Ireland Human Rights Commission was granted leave to pursue a judicial review of
these laws on 2 February 2015, the next stage of this legal challenge being a three-day
hearing in June 2015.
KAZ 1/2015
02/04/2015 Kazakhstan
JUA
Arbitrary
detention;
Freedom of
expression;
Freedom of
peaceful assembly
and of association;
Human rights
defenders;
Alleged arbitrary arrest and detention of an environmental civil society activist in
relation to the exercise of his rights to freedom of association and of opinion and
expression. According to the information received, on 7 March 2015, Mr. Saken
Baikenov, a human rights defender from the Antigeptil human rights movement,
which works on environment related issues, was arrested by officers of the National
Security Committee in the city of Almaty and taken to Astana by plane the same day.
On 9 March 2015, Saryarkinskiy District Court No. 2 in Astana charged him with
“incitement to social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious discord” under Article
174 of the Criminal Code, an offence punishable by 12 to 20 years of imprisonment.
Mr. Baikenov is reportedly to serve a two-month pre-trail detention period pending
investigation. It is alleged that the arrest of Mr. Baikenov and the subsequent charges
brought against him may be linked to a post he wrote on his Facebook page.
22/05/2015
A/HRC/30/27
21
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