Latest news with #ECHR
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Transgender campaigners call for European rights body to report on UK
A collection of groups campaigning on transgender issues have urged Europe's main human rights body to investigate the UK over the implementation of the supreme court's ruling on gender. In a joint letter to the Council of Europe, the organisations said the situation in which transgender people were likely to be barred from using toilets of their acquired sex or joining single-sex organisations placed them in an 'intermediate zone' of gender, saying this was a violation of the European convention on human rights (ECHR). The five groups, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, TransActual, Equality Network and Scottish Trans, Trans Safety Network and Feminist Gender Equality Network, have asked the council to report on trans rights in the UK, adding: 'We note that the situation is urgent and that without intervention, it seems likely to further deteriorate.' The letter follows April's landmark supreme court ruling that 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex. In its 88-page judgment, the court said that while the word 'biological' did not appear in the definition of man or woman in the Equality Act, 'the ordinary meaning of those plain and unambiguous words corresponds with the biological characteristics that make an individual a man or a woman'. If 'sex' did not only mean biological sex in the 2010 legislation, providers of single-sex spaces including changing rooms, homeless hostels and medical services would face 'practical difficulties', it said. The justices added: 'Read fairly and in context, the provisions relating to single-sex services can only be interpreted by reference to biological sex.' According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is consulting on the formal post-ruling guidance, due out later this summer, transgender people should not be allowed to use toilets or changing spaces of the gender they live as, and that in some cases they also cannot use toilets of their birth sex. The letter argues that this would leave transgender people reliant on gender-neutral facilities, which are often unavailable 'and mandating their usage may require trans people to out themselves'. It argues that this, plus the post-ruling interim advice that transgender people would not be allowed to join single sex associations of their acquired sex, would place them in an 'intermediate zone' on sex, a violation of their right to respect for private life under article 8 of the ECHR. The convention is interpreted by the European court of human rights, part of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU and to which Britain remains a member. Jess O'Thomson from Trans+ Solidarity Alliance said trans people had already experienced 'a huge rollback' of rights even before the final guidance on implementing the ruling had been published: 'We are asking for a report to be opened into the state of trans people's human rights in the UK, in the hope that this will encourage our politicians to listen and take action.' Rebecca Don Kennedy, chief executive of Equality Network, said: 'Trans people and their allies all over the UK are horrified with the recent chain of events following the supreme court ruling in April. The threat to trans people's autonomy, freedom and dignity should concern anyone who values equality and human rights. 'Trans people have a right to public life, and dignity in social interaction, they have a right to use the toilet safely, to leave their homes knowing that they can. They have a right to privacy, a right to engage with the world as themselves, to join clubs that fully celebrate and welcome them as who they are.'
Ya Biladi
a day ago
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
European Court of Human Rights condemns France for racial profiling in landmark case
On Thursday, June 26, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned France for conducting an identity check that amounted to racial profiling against Karim Touil, a French citizen of North African descent. This ruling marks a first for what is often referred to as «the homeland of human rights». Touil had been stopped three times within ten days without any «objective and reasonable justification». The judges concluded there was «a presumption of discriminatory treatment» that the French state failed to rebut, according to AFP. While the court acknowledged the challenges police officers may face in urgent situations, it stressed the importance of relying on objective criteria when conducting checks. As a result of the ruling, the State must pay Karim Touil €3,000 in moral damages for violating Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private life). Five other plaintiffs, also of African descent, did not succeed in their cases. Their legal battle, which began more than a decade ago, denounced repeated identity checks in cities such as Marseille, Saint-Ouen, and Vaulx-en-Velin. After their claims were dismissed by French courts, they turned to the ECHR in 2017. A new report by the Defender of Rights (DDD), published Tuesday, June 24, reveals that young men perceived as Arab, Black, or North African remain disproportionately targeted by such practices. In 2024, 26% of respondents said they had been stopped by the police or gendarmerie at least once in the past five years—up from 16% in 2016. Last year, they were also four times more likely to be stopped than the rest of the population, and twelve times more likely to be subjected to searches or frisks.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Europe rights court condemns France over police racial profiling
Europe's top rights court on Thursday condemned France over "discriminatory treatment" against a Frenchman who accused his country's police of racial profiling. The ruling comes after rights groups accused France of widespread racial profiling, and several prominent police brutality cases involving young men perceived as black or North African. The European Court of Human Rights found no discrimination in the case of five other French plaintiffs. But it said the government had provided no "objective and reasonable justification" for police stopping Karim Touil three times in 10 days in the eastern city of Besancon in 2011. The court said it was "very aware of the difficulties for police officers to decide, very quickly and without necessarily having clear internal instructions, whether they are facing a threat to public order or security". But in the case of Touil, born in 1991, it presumed "discriminatory treatment" that the French government was not able to refute. However, the court added that the legal and administrative framework for identity checks in France did not reveal any "structural failure". It ordered the French state to pay Touil 3,000 euros ($3,500) for breaching the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights on the prohibition of discrimination and respect for private life. Slim Ben Achour, lawyer of the six plaintiffs, called the ruling a "victory". "The French state must take responsibility and change the way it carries out identity checks," he said. - 'Widespread' profiling - France's rights ombudswoman reported Tuesday that identity checks had increased from 2016 to 2024, including for people who were older or seen as white. But, a report from her office added, young men "perceived as Arab, black or from North Africa" were four times more likely to be stopped than the rest of the population. They were 12 times more likely during the police stops to be subjected to more severe measures including being frisked, it said after a survey of more than 5,000 people. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International last year said racial profiling was "widespread throughout the country and deeply rooted in police practices". HRW said young men and boys perceived as black or Arab, some as young as 10, were often subjected to "abusive and illegal identity checks". The ECHR is Europe's top human rights court and serves as a court of last resort in cases where all domestic avenues are exhausted. The plaintiffs in Thursday's ruling were part of a group of 13 men from different parts of France who had gone to court more than a decade ago in their home country. They accused police of unjustified stop-and-searches, sometimes including being patted down, talked to disrespectfully or insulted. A lower court threw out their case in 2013, but the Paris appeals court in 2015 found in the favour of five of them. France's highest court, in a historic first, condemned the state in three cases. Six others then lodged a case with the ECHR, leading to Thursday's ruling. - Police violence cases - Several police brutality cases have made headlines in France in recent years. A French court earlier this month said a policeman would be going on trial next year over the 2023 killing of a teenager at point-blank range in a Paris suburb, which sparked days of protests against police brutality and riots. The police initially said Nahel Merzouk, 17, had driven his car at the officer and his life was in danger. But a video showed two officers standing next to a stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at its driver. In another rare case of police brutality making it to court, a judge last year gave suspended jail sentences to three officers after a black man suffered irreversible rectal injuries during a stop-and-search in 2017. The officer who was found guilty of delivering the truncheon blow that injured Theo Luhaka received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and was banned from working on the streets as a police officer for five years. pau-ah/ekf/js
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Europe's top rights court rules against France in racial profiling case
FILE PHOTO: The building of the European Court of Human Rights is seen in Strasbourg, France, September 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/ File Photo PARIS - Europe's top human rights court ruled on Thursday that French police had carried out discriminatory checks on a Frenchman of African descent, the first such verdict in a case of racial profiling brought against France. The French government "failed to provide objective and reasonable justification" for the police carrying out three identity checks on Karim Touil within the space of 10 days in 2011 in the city centre of Besancon, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said in its ruling. The court ordered France to pay Touil 3,000 euros ($3,512) for violating articles 14 and 8, on discrimination and the right to a private life, of the European Human Rights Convention. However, for five other applicants in the case, also young men of African descent, the court found there was no discrimination due to lack of evidence, noting that the ID checks had mostly taken place "against a backdrop of tension". While welcoming Touil's successful claim, Lanna Hollo, a rights advocate with French organisation RECLAIM, who has been involved in the case for 13 years, said the court's reasoning risked reinforcing discrimination in certain zones. "It fails to sufficiently protect all people in all parts of the territory - especially those living in France's poorer neighbourhoods with high visible minority populations," she said. In recent years the court has issued rulings against Germany and Switzerland over discriminatory police checks. A study published on Tuesday by France's human rights watchdog found that young Black men or those perceived as Arab or North African were four times more likely to be stopped by police and 12 times more likely to undergo "extensive" checks, involving being body-searched or taken to the police station. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Europe's top rights court rules against France in racial profiling case
PARIS, June 26 (Reuters) - Europe's top human rights court ruled on Thursday that French police had carried out discriminatory checks on a Frenchman of African descent, the first such verdict in a case of racial profiling brought against France. The French government "failed to provide objective and reasonable justification" for the police carrying out three identity checks on Karim Touil within the space of 10 days in 2011 in the city centre of Besancon, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said in its ruling. The court ordered France to pay Touil 3,000 euros ($3,512) for violating articles 14 and 8, on discrimination and the right to a private life, of the European Human Rights Convention. However, for five other applicants in the case, also young men of African descent, the court found there was no discrimination due to lack of evidence, noting that the ID checks had mostly taken place "against a backdrop of tension". While welcoming Touil's successful claim, Lanna Hollo, a rights advocate with French organisation RECLAIM, who has been involved in the case for 13 years, said the court's reasoning risked reinforcing discrimination in certain zones. "It fails to sufficiently protect all people in all parts of the territory - especially those living in France's poorer neighbourhoods with high visible minority populations," she said. In recent years the court has issued rulings against Germany and Switzerland over discriminatory police checks. A study published on Tuesday by France's human rights watchdog found that young Black men or those perceived as Arab or North African were four times more likely to be stopped by police and 12 times more likely to undergo "extensive" checks, involving being body-searched or taken to the police station. ($1 = 0.8542 euros)
