11 December 2006 - Child Rights and the new Human Rights Council 16
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- Latest: Human Rights Council concludes 3rd session
- Lebanon:Â Report of the Commission of inquiry shows children are one third of the victims
- Children and armed conflict discussed at Human Rights Council under 'other issues'
- Universal Periodic Review: Interactive dialogue - child rights perspective
- CRIN quiz on the Human Rights Council
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Latest: Human Rights Council concludes 3rd session
[GENEVA, 8 December 2006] - The Human Rights Council concluded its third regular session, which was held from 29 November to 8 December. During the session, which started immediately following the conclusion of the second session, the Council heard an address delivered on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and heard the report of High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. The Council also adopted six Resolutions and one Decision, as well as its Annual Report to the General Assembly.
Interactive debates and dialogues were also held with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon. Discussions took place on missions to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and with the four facilitators from the Working Group on the implementation of General Assembly Resolution 60/251 on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, the review of mechanisms, the complaint procedure, and the Expert advice body. The Council also debated methods of work and rules of procedure for the future work of the body.
During the session, the President of the Council, Luis Alfonso de Alba, announced that the High-Level Fact-Finding Mission to Beit Hanoun would be led by Desmond Mpilo Tutu, former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Christine Chinkin of the United Kingdom was named as a member of the mission, and would accompany Archbishop Tutu.
Ambassador de Alba also announced a request from Finland, on behalf of 29 countries, for the Council to hold a special session immediately after the conclusion of the third session on the situation of human rights in Darfur.
In his message, the Secretary-General said that since their first session in June, the Human Rights Council had been very active â holding three special sessions as well as two regular ones. The Council had focused especially on the Arab-Israeli conflict, which indeed had escalated during these months in ways that caused deep concern to all. He hoped, however, that the Council took care to handle this issue in an impartial way, and did not allow it to monopolise attention at the expense of others where there were equally grave or even graver violations. There were surely other situations, besides the one in the Middle East, which merited scrutiny by a special session of this Council. The Secretary-General suggested that Darfur was a glaring case in point.
Ms. Arbour offered an overview of the missions that she had undertaken since the second session of the Council as well as updates and thoughts on countries and themes that continued to engage her attention and work. Her missions had taken her to Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Germany and Canada. On Haiti, Ms. Arbour said the general human rights situation [and that of children in particular] was a matter of serious concern with regard to all rights. The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was grave and worsening, within a general climate of impunity. The High Commissioner also spoke about recent developments in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Darfur.
The Council adopted six Resolutions and one Decision during the session, including on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Preparations for the Durban Review Conference; Global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive follow-up to the World Conference and the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; regional cooperation for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region; the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon; and implementation of General Assembly Resolution 60/251.
The fourth special session of the Council will be on Tuesday, 12th December 2006, when the Council will consider the situation in Darfur, Sudan. The fourth regular session will be held from 12 March to 5 April 2007.
[Source: UN]
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Lebanon:Â Report of the Commission of inquiry shows children are one third of the victims
[GENEVA, 1 December 2006] - The Human Rights Council today took up the issue of follow-up to its decisions, discussing among others the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon, mandated: â(a) to investigate the systematic targeting and killings of civilians by Israel in Lebanon; (b) to examine the types of weapons used by Israel and their conformity with international law; and (c) to assess the extent and deadly impact of Israeli attacks on human life, property, critical infrastructure and the environment.â
Stelios Perrakis, Commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon, said the conflict, which lasted 33 days, inflicted serious damages and losses on Lebanon. It had exacted a heavy human toll, with 1,191 people reported dead, 4,409 injured, and 900,000 people fleeing their homes; roads, factories, water sources, cultural and economic infrastructure and homes were affected, among many others. It would take a long time before Lebanon could rebuild the country, and the help of the international community would be required in this regard. Basic humanitarian principles were absent throughout the conflict, and there had been indiscriminate use of force against Lebanese civilians. Human rights had not been respected.
Mr. Perrakis said the use of some weapons was illegal, such as the use of cluster munitions, which were mainly fired during the last 72 hours of the conflict. Their use was excessive and not justified by military necessity, and went beyond the arguments of proportionality. They were a flagrant violation. There had been violation of the right to life and property. Israel had violated obligations following from international law and humanitarian law, and it had disregarded its international and individual responsibility.
In the context of the interactive dialogue, a number of speakers commended the report for its timely presentation and highlighting the impact of the conflict while some delegations said it lacked impartiality and was one-sided.
The report submits a number of recommendations to the Human Rights Council, including that the Council should promote initiatives and call for the mobilisation of the international community to assist Lebanon and its people; the Council should encourage the UN system (UNESCO, UNEP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO), and the Bretton Woods institutions in their multi-sectoral programmes and projects to promote and undertake precise and concrete actions, including with professional and technical expertise in the necessary reconstruction efforts (buildings, bridges, cleaning of areas affected by clusters, environment, archaeological sites (Byblos); and the Council should give careful attention to the fate of child victims of the armed conflict. National institutions and specialised international agencies should work together to effectively assist the Government of Lebanon in the implementation of health programmes, rehabilitation projects and mental health care initiatives for children; the Council should promote and monitor the obligation to ârespect and ensure respectâ of international humanitarian law by all parties in a conflict, including non-State actors; and the Council should take the initiative to promote urgent action to include cluster munitions to the list of weapons banned under international law.
The conflict inflicted serious damages and losses on Lebanon. It had exacted a heavy human toll, with 1,191 people reported dead, 4,409 injured, and 900,000 people fleeing their homes; roads, factories, water sources, cultural and economic infrastructure and homes were affected, among many others. It would take a long time before Lebanon could rebuild the country, and the help of the international community would be required in this regard. Basic humanitarian principles were absent throughout the conflict, and there had been indiscriminate use of force against Lebanese civilians. Human rights had not been respected. The policy of assimilating each person to a potential enemy had caused violations of human rights, and amounted to collective punishment. There were attacks on civilian convoys, including on health personnel and ICRC ambulances. One third of victims were children, and also women and migrant workers. There had been attacks on observers, and there was no justification for the thirty direct attacks that took place, including that that ended in the deaths of United Nations personnel.
Joao Clemente Baena Soares, Commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon, said the strict implementation of the recommendations at the national level was essential. The children of Lebanon had suffered most and the existing instruments concerning children should further be improved to protect innocent childhood from the dire consequences of conflicts. He was most disquieted by the use of cluster bombs. The issue of cluster bombs should be dealt with properly in order to ban their use.
[Summary of UN press release]
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Children and armed conflict discussed at Human Rights Council under 'other issues'
[GENEVA, 1 December 2006] - The Council discussed a range of human rights issues under the item of âother issuesâ in the afternoon session. Finland (on behalf of the EU) stressed that an essential function of the Council was to address the rights of the most vulnerable, especially to protect children in all circumstances. They drew attention to violations experienced by children in armed conflict. They welcomed the Secretary-Generalâs report on this issue and the recent debate at the Security Council. They also emphasised the need for continued reporting by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict to the General Assembly and the Council on progress made and future challenges.
Finland drew attention to the recruitment of children in hostilities and abductions of children from their families in Sri Lanka. They urged the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately cease recruitment of children and expressed concern that the Karuna group is also abducting children âin areas under governmentâs controlâ. They called on the Government to initiate âcredible investigationsâ. The International Commission of Jurists also urged the Council to explore with Sri Lanka a full-fledged field operation and called for a special session of the Council at an early date.
Sri Lanka responded that they had reservations to the attempts by some States and NGOs to associate the Government with the Karuna group, which they stated was a breakaway faction of the LTTE. They informed the Council that a high-level investigation was currently underway into allegations of abductions.
Finland stated that reliable reports confirmed a continuing practice of ethnically targeted sexual violence against women and girls, particularly in areas of displaced populations and violence against women and girls in Darfur. They re-iterated that it was the primary responsibility of the Sudanese Government to protect all individuals against violations and to adequately address the situation in Darfur.
They also spoke about the General Assembly Resolution calling for an end to the recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar (Burma). They stated that the declared willingness of the Government of Myanmar to cooperate was welcomed by the Resolution but that only a few days ago the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had reported that the Government had ordered the closure of their field offices. The EU called on Myanmar to re-establish dialogue with the ICRC so that it may resume its activities.
Algeria responded to the EU statement by taking exception to the fact that Lebanon was not mentioned in the EUâs list of countries, though one third of all deaths in the recent conflict were of children. The Algerian Ambassador declared that the Council had been challenged by the head of the Commission of Inquiry to respond to these actions, and that members should âexpress their humanityâ in a more non-selective manner.
Sweden and the Netherlands offered a joint statement adding that the High Commissioner plays a crucial role in the rights of children, for example with regards to the work of OHCHR field offices in Colombia and the reports of sexual violence against girls that the offices have highlighted.
New Zealand mentioned its hope that the Council would dedicate time to discuss the work of the Independent Expert for the UN study on violence against children, and further wished to see time set aside to discuss the report of the Secretary-General on violence against women.
[Source: ISHR]
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For more information, contact:
International Service for Human Rights
Rue de VarembĂŠ 1, P.O. Box 16, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 733 51 23; Fax: + 41 22 733 08 26
Email: gtc@ishr-sidh.ch
Website: http://www.ishr.ch
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Universal Periodic Review: Interactive dialogue - child rights perspective
[GENEVA, 4 December 2006] - A discussion took place on Tuesday, 4th December, at the Human Rights Council, on the basis for the Universal Periodic Review. Children's rights featured prominently in the debate, as child rights NGOs presented a statement suggesting the inclusion of child rights instruments in the basis for the review.
Uruguay, on behalf of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, stated that the inclusion of voluntary commitments in the basis of the review was positive, but called for the additional inclusion of international humanitarian law and international customary law in order to provide a more substantial review. Uruguay also encouraged a review process that incorporated a victims-based approach whilst taking into consideration gender and children's rights-based approaches.
Finland (on behalf of the EU and others) stated that the basis of the review should include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and treaty body obligations. Finland asserted that the information from the treaty bodies, as an independent, authoritative and impartial assessment of human rights obligations, should be used as a source for the review process. Nevertheless, using treaty body information does not mean that the UPR would be a second substantive review of treaty body obligations. Rather, the UPR should focus on implementation of the recommendations. In situations where a county has little interaction with treaty bodies or special procedures, information could be gathered from OHCHR, UN country teams, NHRIs and NGOs. Additionally, Finland stated that international customary law and international humanitarian law could be included in the review process.
Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) stressed that the basis for the UPR should be the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other instruments ratified by a State. They also included voluntary commitments, but stated that these should not be given the same status as legal obligations. Pakistan also supported the proposition of including international humanitarian law as a source for the UPRâs standards, but was not convinced of the validity of using domestic and customary law as sources for the UPR. Pakistan also proposed that the basis of review should take into consideration the level of development of a stateâs religious and cultural specificities.
Malaysia highlighted their reservations concerning international customary law as a universal guide for the standards of all nations. They continued to stress that the basis of review should not interfere in the domestic laws of States under review, particularly those States which practice Sharia Law.
Chile doubted whether existing information, such as the work of treaty bodies and special procedures, should be considered in the findings and recommendations of the UPR. Iran argued that any information from treaty bodies as well as thematic special procedures could be included in the work of the UPR. Denmark supported the idea that the basis of review should derive from existing information, including the conclusions and recommendations of treaty bodies, special procedures and the country in question.
Human Rights Watch stressed the importance of including common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and international customary law. A joint statement from International Save the Children Alliance, on behalf of nine NGOs, recommended that human rights in general and particularly the rights of children, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocol, as well as conclusions of the treaty bodies, should form the basis of review. The International Federation of University Women emphasised the rights of women, including the importance of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the programmes of work of Beijing, Copenhagen and Cairo.
[Source: ISHR]
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CRIN quiz on the Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council was established earlier this year and is replacing the Commission on Human Rights as the principal UN body in charge of monitoring and promoting human rights worldwide.
The Council just concluded its 3rd session in Geneva, Switzerland. During its first year, the new body is focusing on institution building: reviewing procedures of the Commission and setting up new mechanisms.
Take the quiz to test your knowledge on the work of the Human Rights Council.
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11808
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This update has been produced by CRIN, in collaboration with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Subgroup for the Human Rights Council. To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
Further information about the Human Rights Council is available on the CRIN website at: www.crin.org/chr. To submit information, contact Isabelle Guitard on iguitard@crin.org. CRIN, c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
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