Litigation
Justice Initiative lawyers have represented scores of individuals and groups before domestic and international human rights courts and tribunals around the world. These cases seek not only to vindicate individual claims, but to establish and strengthen the law’s protection for all.
Hospital Attacks in Syria
Russia’s air force deliberately attacked Kafr Nabl hospital in Syria in 2019. A legal filing, brought on behalf of victims and survivors, seeks a ruling from the UN Human Rights Committee on the attack—part of a wider pattern of attacks against health care facilities in Syria by Russian forces.
Last update: May 02, 2024IACHR Advisory Opinion on Climate Emergency and Human Rights
This submission argues for an ambitious and expansive approach to the protection of the rights of people displaced by the climate emergency, as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights prepares an Advisory Opinion that will shape future regional law and policy in the region.
Ramy and Céline Shaath v. Arab Republic of Egypt
This case was filed before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on behalf of Ramy Shaath, an Egyptian-Palestinian national and a prominent human rights defender who was an active participant in the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and his wife, Celine Lebrun-Shaath.
Achbita v. Belgium
This complaint filed against Belgium with the UN Human Rights Committee, pertaining to a receptionist who was dismissed for intending to wear a headscarf in the workplace, argues that religious dress restrictions are discriminatory against Muslim women.
Zhao v. Netherlands
In the UN Human Rights Committee's first ever decision on the right of children to acquire nationality, it determined that by registering a child as “nationality unknown”, Dutch authorities violated his right to international protection and to seek a nationality.
Last update: December 29, 2020Yenina Esther Martínez Esquivia v. Colombia
Former Colombian delegate prosecutor Yenina Esther Martínez Esquivia has filed a petition before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights concerning her removal in 2004 after Martínez Esquivia ignored her superior’s orders to prematurely close a corruption investigation.
Freedom FM v. Cameroon
This case concerns a current-affairs radio station that was denied a broadcasting license in Cameroon.
Last update: October 02, 2019Askarov v. Kyrgyzstan
Human rights defender Azimjan Askarov was detained and tortured by police in Kyrgyzstan after documenting human rights violations committed during inter-ethnic conflict in 2010. Askarov was given a life sentence after being denied a fair trial and died in July 2020.
Last update: October 01, 2019