News & Reports
Reports and analysis on torture prevention, OPCAT ratifications, UN treaty body sessions, and human rights documentation, sourced from OHCHR, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Coalition monitoring work.
Court Orders Release and Reinstates Supervision After ICE Gave No Reasons for Re-Detention
A federal court in California ordered the release of a man re-detained after years on an order of supervision, finding the notice he was given stated no reasons for the revocation. The government told the court it had no opposition argument to present.
Withholding and CAT Deferral: What the Protection Covers, and What It Does Not
Withholding of removal and deferral under the Convention Against Torture are findings about one named country. Understanding that limit is essential when a transfer to a different country is proposed.
Convention against Torture, art. 3; 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(2)-(3); 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16, 208.17, 208.18; Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, § 2242; American Immigration Council, third-country removals fact sheet.
Constructive Refoulement: When a Return Recorded as Voluntary Is Not a Free Choice
International law prohibits achieving by pressure what a state may not order directly. Where detention, destitution or indefinite limbo leave a protected person no real alternative to returning, the departure is not voluntary in law.
International Law Commission, Draft Articles on the Expulsion of Aliens (2014), art. 10(1); UNHCR, Voluntary Repatriation: International Protection; Committee against Torture, general comment on the implementation of article 3; EJIL:Talk!, 'Does international law prohibit constructive refoulement?'; International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 35, no. 4, p. 419.