Topic: Discrimination and Equality
European Union Must Address Widespread Ethnic Profiling by Police
Heightened concerns over both migration and the threat of terrorism are fueling discriminatory policing practices in Europe.
Dutch Nationality Laws Leave Six-Year Old in Legal Limbo
More than 13,000 children in the Netherlands are classed as being of "unknown" nationality. One of them is taking his case to the UN Human Rights Committee.
Azimjan Askarov Takes His Torture and Unfair Trial in Kyrgyzstan to Human Rights Committee
The case of Azimjan Askarov, a 61-year old human rights defender, is a litmus test for the administration of justice in Kyrgyzstan.
Czech Government Flouts Court Ruling on Roma Education
The Czech Republic has failed to comply with European law and integrate Romani children into mainstream schools, said the Open Society Justice Initiative in a complaint filed this week.
Groundbreaking Decision on Statelessness in Europe
The European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the need to avoid making people stateless in its decision on Kuric and Others v. Slovenia.
Survey Data Highlights Police Ethnic Bias in Spain
A new national survey released today in Madrid indicates that members of ethnic minorities in Spain are twice as likely to be stopped and checked by police than members of the majority population.
Dominican Republic Court Ruling Raises Mass Statelessness Threat
The Dominican Republic must ensure that none of its citizens is rendered stateless, after a court ruling that strips nationality from hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent.
UN Rapporteur Highlights “Pervasive Problem” of Ethnic Profiling by Police in Spain
A report to the UN Human Rights Council urges Spain to ensure that its laws specifically prohibit racial profiling.
Thousands Stripped of Citizenship in the Dominican Republic
A case challenging the Dominican Republic's treatment of its citizens of Haitian ancestry was filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Center for Justice and International Law.
Europe's Highest Court Rules Roma School Segregation by Language Illegal
The European Court of Human Rights held in the case Oršuš and Others v. Croatia that the segregation of Romani children into separate classes based on language is unlawful discrimination.
Paris Court Accepts Appeal on French Police Ethnic Profiling Case
The Paris appeals court made a landmark decision in favor of five young men of Arab and African descent who were discriminated by the French police on the basis of racial and ethnic grounds.
Lack of Citizenship Rights a Major Cause of Conflict in Africa
The lack of citizenship rights generates conflict and undermines democracy in many countries in Africa, according to two new studies by the Open Society Institute.
UN Human Rights Committee Finds Discrimination in Racial Profiling
The UN Human Rights Committee became the first international tribunal to declare that police identity checks motivated by race or ethnicity run counter to the international human right to nondiscrimination, in a case filed by the Open Society...
New Evidence Reveals Police in Europe Target Minorities Excessively
Pervasive use of ethnic and religious stereotypes by law enforcement across Europe is harming efforts to combat crime and terrorism, according to a report released by the Open Society Justice Initiative.
European Court of Human Rights Confirms Racial Discrimination in Landmark Bulgarian Case
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights yesterday affirmed in substantial part its first-ever finding of racial discrimination in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Inter-American Court Should Affirm Right to Nationality Without Discrimination
The Open Society Justice Initiative submitted an amicus curiae brief with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to uphold the international prohibition on racial discrimination in access to nationality.
Historic Deliberations in Roma Rights Cases at Europe's Premier Human Rights Tribunal
This week, the European Court of Human Rights will hear arguments in two of the most important cases in its history concerning racial violence and discrimination against Roma, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Justice Initiative Hails German Court Judgment on Religious Discrimination
The Open Society Justice Initiative welcomed the recent judgment from Germany's Hamburg Labor Court that a Christian organization which aids immigrants engaged in discrimination when it refused to hire a non-Christian.
Europe's Highest Court Finds Racial Discrimination in Czech Schools
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that segregating Roma students into special schools is a form of unlawful discrimination that violates fundamental human rights.
Open Society Justice Initiative Hails Mauritania's New Antislavery Law
The passage of an antislavery bill in Mauritania is an encouraging sign, but the Open Society Justice Initiative notes that it contains weaknesses that could undermine enforcement efforts.