Download International Protection of Human Rights: Violations and Legal Cases - Sultan and more Exams Law in PDF only on Docsity! Sultan - International Protection of Human Rights - Spring 1989 SULTAN International Protection of Human Rights Spring 1989 (50 points) On October 24, 1983 United States military aircraft bombed the Richmond Hill Insane Asylum in Grenada, West Indies. The bombs killed l6 patients and injured six others. Disabled Peoples' International (DPI), an international nongovernmental organization, filed a complaint with the Inter- American Commission of Human Rights in November, 1983, on behalf of "unnamed, unnumbered residents, both living and dead of the Richmond Hill Insane Asylum. . . . " The complaint alleged unjustified violationof Article I of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, which provides, "Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person." The DPI also alleged that Article XI (right to health) of the American Declaration had been violated in that the remainder of the patients were compelled to live in the ruins of the bombed hospital. In addition, DPI alleged a general violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. The United States responded in September 1984 by seeking to have the petition dismissed for failure to identify the patients who had been killed or injured. In December 1984 representatives of DPI traveled to Greneda and corrected the defect in the original petition by obtaining the names of the patients. The United States also argued in September 1984 and again in August 1985 that the petitioners had failed to exhaust domestic remedies. The United States had established a procedure whereby Grenadans could present claims for compensation arising out of the U. S. military action. Over $1.5 millions were distributed to some 600 file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Joe/Desktop/past%20exams/IPHRSpr89.htm (1 of 4)7/6/2006 3:02:19 PM Sultan - International Protection of Human Rights - Spring 1989 Grenadan claimants; the U.S. also has considered plans for reconstruction of a new mental hospital. The Inter-American Commission ruled on April 17, 1986, that "domestic remedies were not provided by the legislation of Grenada or the United States; given the ad hoc nature of the U.S. compensation program, the evident failure of the U.S. Government to contact these incapacitated victims, and the unwilligness of the U.S. Government to compensate these victims subsequent to the expiration of the ad hoc compensation program, lead the Commission to conclude that the domestic remedies could not be invoked and exhausted" consistent with due process, so as to require the dismissal of the complaint. This April 17, 1986, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruling only decided that the application against the United States was admissible in alleging facts which consitute a prima facie violation on a human right recognized in the American Declaration. The Commission still must consider whether the facts actually establish violations. For example, the United States has asserted that the mental hospital was located in a compound that included two military forts and that there were no markings which identified the hospital as a medical facility. You are an attorney with the Inter-American Commission assigned the task of writing a memo on the question whether the facts establish violations of human rights. Looking up the documents you find that the American Declaration is quite simplistic in its protection of the "right to life" without any qualifications. The American Convention, which the United States has signed but not ratified, is a bit more nuanced in stating, "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life". You have also been requested to state the issue(s) at the beginning of your memo. PART II file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Joe/Desktop/past%20exams/IPHRSpr89.htm (2 of 4)7/6/2006 3:02:19 PM
