Child Rights and the New Human Rights Council 3

8 May 2006 - Child Rights and the New Human Rights Council - 3

 

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- NGO Subgroup on Human Rights Council Calls for Council to Address Specific Needs of Children

- ELECTIONS: General Assembly to Elect New 47-Member Human Rights Council Tomorrow 

- ASIA: Human Rights Group Urges UN Member States to Vote for Candidates Based on Specificity of Pledges and Human Rights Record

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NGO Subgroup on Human Rights Council Calls for Council to Address Specific Needs of Children

The NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Subgroup on the Human Rights Council is calling on the Human Rights Council to act on four specific child rights issues: violence against children - sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - children affected by armed conflict and displacement - children in conflict with the law.

They presented a call for action to all Permanent Representatives at the United Nations in Geneva on 28 April 2006.

The NGOs, members of subgroup, wholeheartedly welcome the establishment of the new Human Rights Council as an important step forward for the protection of victims of human rights violations. They look forward to working alongside the Council to strengthen human rights and child rights standards worldwide.

Whilst conscious of the need to mainstream children’s rights into the entire human rights system, they feel that children have specific needs and concerns that necessitate the adoption of an explicit children’s rights focus by the Council. The World Conference on Human Rights, in its 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, reiterated the principle of “first call for children” and stated that “the rights of the child should be a priority in the United Nations system-wide action on human rights” (A/CONF.157/23, paras. 21 and 45). Thus the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) should be highlighted in the work of the Council. They very much hope that the Council will assert its commitment to child rights in its first session by ensuring that the agenda includes a separate point dealing with child rights.

This letter is their call for action by the Council on four specific child rights issues. The areas of grave concern include 1) violence against children, 2) sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, 3) children affected by armed conflict and displacement and 4) children in conflict with the law. They are strongly encouraging the Council to implement the call for action by the subgroup on HRC.

They are urging the Human Rights Council to ensure meaningful and substantive participation of children’s rights NGOs and other independent human rights institutions for children’s rights in the work of the Council including consultations during the universal periodical review. They also look forward to the innovative creation of a specific space to allow children themselves to participate in the work of the HRC.                                                                                                          

They feel it is vital that the special procedures are maintained and strengthened and include the CRC and its Optional Protocols in their mandates. They urge all states to make pledges including an explicit commitment to children’s rights. 

Contact person in Geneva: Roberta Cecchetti ([email protected])

CALL FOR ACTION: Read the document in full

The following NGOs signed the call for action:

NGO Members of the Subgroup on the Human Rights Council:
Arigatou Foundation
Associated Country Women of the World
Association for the Protection of All Children – APPROACH
Baha’i International Community
Child Rights Information Network
Defence for Children International
ECPAT International
Friends World Committee for Consultation
Human Rights Watch
International Alliance of Women
International Catholic Child Bureau (BICE)
International federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
International Save the Children Alliance
International Social Service
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture
Plan International
Save the Children Lithuania/Human Rights Monitoring Institute
Save the Children Sweden
Save the Children UK
SOS-Kinderdorf International
Women’s World Summit Foundation
World Mouvement of Mothers
World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations
World Vision International

Visit: http://www.crin.org/docs/HRC_Call_for_Action_2006.doc

For more information, contact:
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
1 rue Varembé, 1202 Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 740 47 30
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC

For more information on the new Human Rights Council, visit CRIN's news page

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ELECTIONS: General Assembly to Elect New 47-Member Human Rights Council Tomorrow 

Date: 9 May 2006
Location: Geneva

The much-criticised United Nations Human Rights Commission ended its last session on 27th March after adopting a Resolution to transfer all its work to the recently created and stronger Human Rights Council. Sixty-six Member States have announced their candidacies for election to the new 47-member Human Rights Council. The elections are scheduled to take place tomorrow in the General Assembly. The Council will hold its first meeting on 19 June.

The 66 countries to have announced their candidacies are:

  • African States (13 seats): Algeria, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia
  • Asian States (13 seats): Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand
  • Eastern European States (6 seats): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Ukraine
  • Latin American and Caribbean States (8 seats): Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic)
  • Western European and Other States (7 seats): Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United States, which voted against the Human Rights Council Resolution, have not submitted their candidacies, unhappy with the fact that the new membership modalities still allow human rights abusers to be elected to the Council. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month said he hoped the US would continue to play an active role in defending universal human rights and support the new Council, despite its decision not to take part in the elections. Mr. Annan’s spokesman told reporters that the Secretary-General was “disappointed” by the US decision but said he hoped that Washington would take part in elections for the 47-member Council next year, a move that General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said the US was already considering.  

More information

View country pledges on the ReformtheUN website

List of countries that have announced their candidacies

UN Looks for US Backing for Human Rights Council Despite Election Decision (UN press release)

Human Rights Council website

Human Rights Watch Website Details Candidates Records

Amnesty International's Guide to UN Human Rights Council Candidates

CRIN's news page on the reform of the Commission 

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ASIA: Human Rights Group Urges UN Member States to Vote for Candidates Based on Specificity of Pledges and Human Rights Record

[8 May 2006] - Tomorrow, the first historic step may be taken towards better implementation of human rights standards worldwide. The election of the 47 inaugural members of the newly established United Nations Human Right Council will take place at 10:00am in the UN General Assembly Hall in New York.

“These members will not only determine the legitimacy of this new international human rights body, but will also play an influential role in enunciating the working methods of the Council and the ways that it responds to situations of human rights violations globally”, said Anselmo Lee, Executive Director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).

FORUM-ASIA has been monitoring and analysing the pledges by eleven Asian candidates, which includes four countries from South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka; four countries from South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand; and three countries from North East Asia: China, Japan and South Korea.

To objectively compare the commitments contained in the eleven Asian candidates’ pledges, FORUM-ASIA has created three simple tables that provide comparative information on (1) who submitted the most number of specific commitments; (2) which pledges have been most commonly supported by Asian candidates; (3) what specific pledges the eleven candidates have made at national and international levels.

“Our research has shown that Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and China rank as the bottom four among the eleven Asian candidates, with the lowest number of specific commitments they have made in their pledges”, said Lee. “In particular, China has obtained a full house score of zero on this matter”, he added.

The inaugural members of the Council are supposed to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”. In order to demonstrate their suitability as a potential member of the Council, all of the candidates have submitted voluntary pledges to elaborate on the ways that it will promote and protect human rights domestically and internationally.

“However, we are disappointed by the vague and paltry pledges made by the Asian candidates”, said Lee.

“When the pledges are stripped of the rhetoric and we look at the actual commitments that have been made, it becomes clear that there are four main commonalities between the Asian candidates—they are adverse to vigilant human rights mechanisms, non-governmental organisations, scrutiny of their human rights record, and are disinterested in establishing a regional human rights mechanism”, stated Lee.

FORUM-ASIA appeals to all Member States to examine the pledges objectively and consider the human rights situation of the country as a basis of their voting decision tomorrow.

The results of FORUM-ASIA’s research and analysis of the Asian candidates’ pledges are available at http://forum-asia.org/hrc/?p=152 in its briefing paper for the United Nations’ Member States.

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8185

For more information, contact UN Advocacy Programme focal point, Momoko Nomura at [email protected]

For more information, contact:
Forum-Asia
111 Sutthisarnwinichai Road
Samsennok, Huaykwang,
Bankok, 10320 Thailand
Email: [email protected]

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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 Commission on Human Rights. 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 CRIN, c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK [email protected]

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