Corporal Punishment in Trinidad and Tobago (2003-2004)
HLS Student Advocates, together with the Brazilian NGO, Global Justice Center, filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the petition of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights arguing that Trinidad and Tobago's use of lashes with a “cat-o-nine tails” constitutes illegally proscribed torture. HLS Advocates and the Global Justice Center partnered with the law firm of Latham & Watkins LLP on this brief, submitted in Caesar v. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, pending before the Court.

The brief argues that flogging with a cat-o-nine tails – a plaited rope made of nine knotted thongs of cotton cord approximately 30 inches long – standing alone or with other abuses suffered, constitutes “torture” under the American Convention on Human Rights and other international law. The brief also agued in support of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which Trinidad and Tobago disputes.

Click here for a pdf version of the report.