Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 28

9 May 2007 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 28

 

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- SPECIAL PROCEDURES: Appeal from 147 countries to support system of independent and effective experts [news]

- NEW YORK: 2007 elections for Human Rights Council members [event]

- CHILD RIGHTS: Children's Rights at the Human Rights Council [update]

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Children Have Rights Too!
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SPECIAL PROCEDURES: Appeal from 147 countries to support system of independent and effective experts
[news]

On Wednesday 9 May, Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International's Canadian Section, will present a global petition signed by more than 12,500 individuals to the President of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, Luis Alfonso de Alba at a public event.

This global petition was launched on 6 March 2007 by 17 international and regional NGOs in response to developments in the Human Rights Council's review of the Special Procedures.

Signatories include victims of human rights violations, human rights defenders, human rights experts, parliamentarians, national human rights commissioners, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from every region in the world. The petition, which is available at http://www.actforspecialprocedures.org, calls on the Council to maintain and strengthen its system of independent human rights experts known as the "Special Procedures."

Speakers at the event will be: Roberto Garretón, former Special Rapporteur on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Golden Misabiko, human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ms. Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. A video message will be delivered by Sunila Abeysekera, Executive Director, INFORM, Sri Lanka and recipient of the UN Human Rights Award in 1998.

Among the supporters of the initiative are Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi; Senator Dick Marty (member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe); Thomas Hammarberg (Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe), Anders Johnsson (Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union); Sonia Picado (President, Inter-American Institute of Human Rights) and several former Special Procedure mandate-holders, including Diego Garcia Sayan, Sir Nigel Rodley, Peter Leuprecht and Theo van Boven.

To coincide with the presentation of the petition, a collection of testimonials will be published. This is a collection of testimonials from victims, their family members and human rights defenders, including that about Mr Garretón's meeting with Mr. Misabiko, detailing the importance of the Special Procedures in their lives. The testimonials are a timely reminder to governments that the negotiations taking place in Geneva have a very direct bearing on the enjoyment of human rights by individuals across the world.

Further information:

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13299

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NEW YORK: 2007 elections for Human Rights Council members [event]

The next election for Human Rights Council members will be held in New York on 17 May 2007. Fourteen of the current members' terms will expire in May, and their seats will be filled with other States from the region. Candidates will be elected directly and individually by a majority of the Members of the General Assembly and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

The following countries have declared their candidacies (the P is for countries which have made a voluntary pledge):

  • African States (4 vacant seats): Angola - Egypt (P) - Madagascar - South Africa
  • Asian States (4 vacant seats): India (P) - Indonesia (P) - Philippines (P) - Qatar (P)
  • Eastern European States (2 vacant seats): Belarus (P) - Slovenia (P)
  • Latin America and Caribbean States (2 vacant seats): Bolivia (P) - Nicaragua (P)
  • Western European and Other States (2 vacant seats): Denmark (P) - Italy (P) - Netherlands (P)

The terms of 14 members of the Council end in 2007:

  • African Group: Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia
  • Asian Group: Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Philippines
  • Eastern European Group: Czech Republic, Poland
  • Latin American and Caribbean Group: Argentina, Ecuador
  • Western and Others Group: Finland, Netherlands

General Assembly resolution 60/251 which created the Human Rights Council provides that Member States, when electing members of the Council, “shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments”. To read the pledges, visit the UN website at: http://www.un.org/ga/61/elect/hrc/

Further information

Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11735&flag=event

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CHILD RIGHTS: Children's Rights at the Human Rights Council [update]

Under the umbrella of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the subgroup for the Human Rights Council brings together NGOs willing to promote the rights of the child in the work of the Human Rights Council. The subgroup advocates for the Council to address the specific rights and situations of children worldwide in its regular work and sessions on human rights.

To this end, the subgroup issued a number of statements to the Council, both oral and written, including:


Further information

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

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