This past March, eight working group members—Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), Amnesty International, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, Dejusticia, FIAN International, International Women’s Rights Action Watch - Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), and Minority Rights Group International (MRG)—submitted an amicus brief (in Spanish) in the case of the Indigenous Communities of Lhaka Honhat vs. Argentina before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The members urged the Court to build on its emerging ESCR jurisprudence and apply autonomous rights to a healthy environment, cultural identity, food, and water under Article 26 of the American Convention on Human Rights. Members situated their shared analysis in the context of indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination and development, recalling state duties to seek indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent concerning activities that could harm their rights, including in relation to land and natural resources. The Lhaka Honhat case is being litigated by member Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS). In August of last year, the UN Human Rights Committee issued a favorable decision in Toussaint vs. Canada, recognizing the positive obligation of States to ensure that everyone has access to essential health care necessary to prevent foreseeable risks to life, regardless of migration status. The case was litigated by member Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC). Member Amnesty International provided a legal opinion on the case, as did members Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), Section 27, and Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI). In June of last year, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) announced a positive ruling in the case of Marcia Cecilia Trujillo Calero (MCTC) vs. Ecuador. The case concerned the state’s unjust denial of the author’s pension despite her numerous years of unpaid care work and voluntary good faith contributions to the social security system. The Committee found violations of article 9 (right to social security) as well as articles 2(2) (non-discrimination) and 3 (equality between women and men) in conjunction with article 9 of the International Covenant on ESCR. CESCR took into account the gender equality-focused third party intervention prepared collectively by the following members of the Strategic Litigation and Women and ESCR Working Groups: Amnesty International, Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Economic and Social Rights Centre – Hakijamii, Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos (FOCO), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP), Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC) and individual members Lilian Chenwi and Viviana Osorio Pérez. Next StepsFor opportunities for member engagement in the enforcement of the MCTC decision, please see below under “Implementation efforts.” Please let us know if you identify a case that could be strategic for a next collective case intervention by writing to SLWG Coordinator Fernando Delgado at fdelgado@escr-net.org.
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