Germany’s Abortion Policy: A Product of Domestic Concerns, not of International Human Rights

| Beitrag von Gabriel Armas-Cardona

My final project before leaving Armenia was to research and write a report on Armenia’s human rights obligations vis-à-vis abortion. Sex-selective abortion is a notable problem in Armenia and as a “solution”, the government amended the relevant laws to restrict access to abortion generally.

When I moved to Germany, I was surprised to learn how restrictive the abortion law is. Below is a simplified version of the analysis that I did in the report for Armenia: I review Germany’s laws for compliance with Germany’s international human rights obligations. Naturally, this blog post won’t be as thorough as a report, and I encourage future blog posts to dive into the details that I will gloss over.  Weiterlesen

The PILP (Public Interest Litigation Project) case against arms trade

| Beitrag von Jelle Klaas and Merel Hendrickx

Can the Dutch government license a Dutch arms trader to ship EUR 35 million worth of arms to Egypt, knowing these arms will most likely be used by the Egyptian navy in the blockade of Yemen? What human rights and international law criteria apply here? How has the Dutch state implemented these criteria and how could this have resulted into licensing the arms trade? Furthermore, do human rights and peace organisations have the right to fight this shipment and the trade license in court? Weiterlesen