CRINMAIL 71:
HRC 17th Session
In this issue:
To view this CRINMAIL online, click here
17th Session
The 17th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) is currently being held from 30 May to 17 June 2011 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. See: CRIN's 17th session page for details.
Latest news
Business Principles and Human Rights
The UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, also known as the 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework, were presented at the current session of the Human Rights Council by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises, Professor John Ruggie. The Guiding Principles address the risk of adverse human rights impacts linked to business activity and seek to ensure a socially sustainable globalization by outlining what States and business enterprises should do in practice.
With the belief that children's rights must be given far greater attention in the Guiding Principles, CRIN issued its own comments on the draft in January 2011 in which we correspondingly issued suggestions for amendments.
To read a joint statement by other human rights organisations on the Guiding Principles following their issuance, click here.
Complaints Mechanism
Negotiations on a draft Resolution requesting the HRC to formally adopt the Optional Protocol to the CRC to create a complaints mechanism for children are underway. We will bring you updates as soon as they are available. More here.
State repression
Thirteen Arab human rights organisations issued a statement at the HRC calling on the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions to urgently address the killings of pro-democracy protestors across North Africa and the Middle East, where the civilian death toll has reached 31 in Bahrain, 50 in Yemen, and between 1,000-1,200 in Syria.
The statement suggests compiling a report to “provide…a preliminary analysis of the international legal implications of any alleged extrajudicial killings.” The coalition also calls on the HRC to recommend that the UN Security Council refer the situation in Yemen and Syria to the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes that may amount to crimes against humanity. More details here.
Freedom of expression and children
The events spreading through the Middle East and North Africa have also brought to the forefront new debates about freedom of expression, access to information, freedom of assembly and the potential of social media like Facebook in helping people organise themselves, including young people.
At CRIN, we have tried to relate how all these issues affect children, namely through weekly updates on the regional situation as well as producing a special editorial on children’s right to freedom of association.
In their annual Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and the Internet, the four international special rapporteurs on freedom of expression call on governments to respect citizens’ rights to access electronic communications and freedom of expression on the Internet, reminding them of their international obligations on the issue. The declaration sets out principles in key areas of internet policy including filtering and blocking of web sites, criminal and civil liability, network neutrality, and access to the internet.
Further, CRIN has also conducted an analysis of the work of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression since 2008, identifying the extent to which children's rights have featured (and in particular, which children's rights), together with an assessment of the broader issues being addressed. The report also provides links to reports and statements made by the Special Rapporteur, together with details of country visits undertaken. Access it here.
Other discussions involving children's rights
- Panel discussion on Human Rights of Women
The panel will focus on violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, paying particular attention to good practices and reports on the subject. The panel session's objective is to develop practical recommendations to the Council. Read more on the HRC Extranet (see password below).
See also the following reports:
Special Procedures
A number of reports will be presented by Special Procedures during the course of the 17th Session. More here.
CRIN has compiled children's rights references from selected reports. Click on the links below to access these (where the report is solely child focused, the full report is attached).
Visit CRIN's main Special Procedures page, which features:
NGO Statements / Side Events
A full list of statements and side events can be found also on the HRC Extranet (see username and password above)
Key side events include:
- 31 May - “Access to remedies for trafficked persons” - event hosted by Philippines
- 1 June - "Child workers"- event hosted by Philippines
UPR Adoptions
The following States will have their Universal Periodic Review reports adopted during the 17th session. Click on the individual links below to view CRIN's children's rights extracts from the pre-review reports submitted by States, UN bodies, and NGOs.
Nauru / Rwanda / Nepal / Saint Lucia / Oman / Austria / Myanmar / Australia / Georgia / St. Kitts and Nevis / Sao Tome and Principe / Namibia / Niger / Mozambique / Estonia / Paraguay
Further Information:
Follow the Session
There are several ways to follow the 17th Session:
Read all past CRINMAILs on children's rights in the Human Rights Council, here.
OTHER NEWS / EVENTS
Human Rights Council Review 2011
On 25 March, after many months of discussions and negotiations, the Human Rights Council adopted a text on the review of the work and functioning of the Council.
The agreed text has been passed to the General Assembly, the Council's parent body, to be endorsed and is currently being discussed in New York.
CRIN has covered the review and outcomes. Read the following:
CRIN will provide an update on discussions at the General Assembly in due course.
UPR Session 11 Concludes
Sixteen States were reviewed at the Council from 2 - 13 May, in the penultimate session of the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review. Sierra Leone, Greece, Sudan and Somalia were amongst the States to be reviewed.
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) have been closely following the reviews.
Session 12, the final session in the first cycle of the UPR, will take place from 3 - 14 October this year. CRIN will be extracting children's rights from the pre-review reports submitted by States, UN bodies, and NGOs. Visit our main UPR page to read these reports.
Business Principles and Children's Rights
On 24 June 2010, UNICEF, the United Nations Global Compact and Save the Children launched a process to develop a set of principles that would seek to outline the full range of actions that business can take to respect and support children's rights.
An extensive consultation process is currently being carried out to develop the Principles, with a final set of Principles due to be launched around 20 November this year.
How you can contribute
There are a number of ways you can contribute to the process:
- Contribute research
- Case studies / lessons-learned
- Participate in online consultations
- Assist in co-organising consultations at the country level
The Steering Committee has produced a questionnaire [DOC] to receive input on the draft principles. The deadline for the completion of questionnaires is 30 June 2011. Please send to: [email protected].
In addition, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre are hosting an online forum. You can find further details on their website.
For further information on the Initiative, contact Ms Elizabeth Abeson at: [email protected] or [email protected].
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