international human rights law — Online Journal — Columbia Undergraduate Law Review

The Migration Crisis on the Poland-Belarus Border: How Prejudice and Nationalism Lead to Grave Violations of International and Human Rights Law

For over a year, tensions at the Poland-Belarus border have been rising at an unprecedented rate. The resulting humanitarian crisis has inspired discussion about the legal status of refugees, shedding light on Poland’s shameful reaction to the eviction of Middle Eastern refugees by Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko in June of 2021. Polish authorities regularly subjected thousands of fugitives camping in the village of Usnarz Gorny without food, sanitation, and heating to water cannons or tear gas, and then, ultimately, pushed them back into Belarus. [1] Such state of affairs is dictated both by the ruling party’s - PIS- historically nationalist and Catholic agenda and by public sentiment. This anti-refugee policy is not only ethically questionable, but also legally untenable. Under several international acts, notably the European Charter of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Geneva Convention, Poland has the obligation to provide Middle Eastern refugees with temporary asylum and respect their right to apply for foreign protection.

Federal and International Legal Implications of the History of Indigenous Boarding Schools in the United States and Their Current Impacts

Today, there are over 40,000 graves of Native American children around the United States on properties that operated as boarding schools for Indigenous youth. [1] These gravesites reveal a fraction of the impact of the mistreatment at these federally sanctioned schools, and of the number of Indigenous youth harmed emotionally and physically that led to diminished populations and resources, little culturally relevant schooling, and increased mental and physical illnesses in Indigenous communities.

Tess AronsonJanuary 16, 2023international human rights law, indigenous rights, education, children’s rights

Current Events | Upholding CEDAW: The Fight for Gender Equality in Kenyan Marriage Law

Over the last decade, Kenya has implemented new legislation to ensure legal equality between men and women in marriage. However, there is still a lack of equality between spouses, particularly in reference to matrimonial property and custody. This stands in conflict with Kenya’s obligations as a ratifying party to the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which requires that member states ensure that men and women be treated equally during, after, and outside of marriage. In order to comply with the standards of international human rights law laid out in CEDAW, Kenya must revise its 2013 Matrimonial Act and the 2014 Marriage Act and amend the 2016 Legal Aid Act to guarantee women legal equality.