CRINMAIL 72:
HRC 17th session concludes
In this issue:
To view this CRINMAIL online, click here
HRC 17th session
The 17th session of the Human Rights Council closed last week with the adoption of several important Resolutions, including on a complaints mechanism for children and the first ever UN Resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity.
This CRINMAIL summarises the key outcomes of the session, highlighting the inclusion of children's rights in the discussions, as well as providing practical tips on how to engage with the various UN mechanisms.
Latest developments
Complaints Mechanism
The Council adopted the final draft Optional Protocol on a communications procedure for children's rights violations. The new protocol will enable the Committee on the Rights of the Child to examine communications from children and their representatives alleging violations of their rights.
For further information on the adoption, together with NGOs' response and what it means for children's rights:
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
In a groundbreaking achievement for upholding the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations Human Rights Council (the Council) passed a resolution on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (L9/rev1).
It is the first UN resolution ever to bring specific focus to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and affirms the universality of human rights, as well as drawing on concerns about acts of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) said the commitment of the Human Rights Council sends an important signal of support to human rights defenders working on these issues, and recognises the legitimacy of their work.
What next?
A study, to be completed by December 2011, will both document discriminatory laws, practises and acts of violence against individuals all over the world based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, and assess how international human rights law could be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation gender identity.
Based on the study, a panel discussion will take place during the 19th session of the Council.
Business and Human Rights
On 16 June, the Council endorsed a new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights designed to provide - for the first time - a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.
NGO criticism
The Guiding Principles were criticised by many NGOs, with Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch, saying: "In effect, the council endorsed the status quo: a world where companies are encouraged, but not obliged, to respect human rights. Guidance isn't enough - we need a mechanism to scrutinize how companies and governments apply these principles."
CRIN also criticised the Guiding Principles, lamenting the absence of children's rights. "We cannot see how the adopted Principles are consonant with the 'special attention' envisioned for children in the Special Representative's mandate", CRIN stated.
"Given this failure, we now call on those responsible for monitoring and implementing the Principles to revisit the issue of business and children's rights and ensure that the newly adopted Principles in practice genuinely respect children's rights, fully address children's unique vulnerability, and provide thorough and thoughtful direction on the subject of business and children's rights to States and business enterprises alike."
What next?
A Working Group will be established, consisting of five independent experts with a balanced geographical representation. The experts, who will take on the role for a period of three years, will be appointed at the 18th session of the Human Rights Council in September.
Other Discussions at the 17th Session
Children featured in a number of key discussions:
Joy Ngozi Ezello, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, presented her report which focused on the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons, as adequate and effective remedies were often out of reach of the victims despite the human rights violations they had suffered.
In a side event on access to justice and compensation organised by Anti-Slavery International, Ms Pillay, UN Human Rights Chief, called for better access, saying it was "one of the greatest challenges to human rights protection". Read more.
Ms Ezello also spoke on behalf of Jorge Bustamante, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and said children were part of the migration process and constituted a particularly vulnerable group that required a high level of protection, as they were at risk from organised crime and trafficking and exploitation networks. Read the report and more on the discussions.
On the issue of migrants, the UN Committee on Migrants hailed the new International Convention on Domestic Workers, established to protect domestic workers, millions of whom are migrants.
Kishore Singh, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, noted in his report that ensuring equality of opportunity in education was a continuing challenge that States faced and it was limited by marginalisation and exclusion, with progress uneven across regions and among population groups. He highlighted the important role NGOs play when assessing and monitoring activities, during a side event organised by DCI. Read more.
Other key discussions
Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, addressed in his report two dimensions of the right to freedom of expression and the Internet: access to online content and access to Internet connection and the necessary infrastructure. Reacting to recent clampdowns on the internet in the Middle East, he said one of the gravest forms of restriction to the right to freedom of expression was the existence and use of criminal law to sanction legitimate expression. Read more.
- Read CRIN's editorial on children and freedom of expression
To read about other discussions that took place during the session, including on racial discrimination, health, summary executions and violence against women, visit our 17th session page.
Research and Analysis of individual Special Procedures
We are starting to conduct more comprehensive research into individual Special Procedures, to identify the extent to which children's rights are being addressed, and which particular children's rights are not being fully addressed.
A more thorough analysis will follow this initial research and further research on other Special Procedures will be posted on our Special Procedures page in due course.
Special Procedures (what are they?)
Special Procedure Appointments
The following new appointments were made:
The following mandates were extended:
Upcoming visits in July / August
For the full list of 2011 Special Procedure visits (thematic and country focused), click here.
How to engage with Special Procedures
- Is a Special Rapporteur visiting your country or covering an issue you are working on? See CRIN's calender of visits, here.
- Contact the the appropriate Special Rapporteur. Mandate-holders and contact details available, here.
- Submit information on violations / make a complaint. Follow guidelines, here.
- Visit CRIN's main Special Procedures webpage, here.
Special Procedure Annual Meeting 2011
The 18th Annual Meeting of Special Procedures will take place from 27 June to 1 July in Geneva. On 30 June, a session will be dedicated to an exchange of ideas between Mandate Holders and NGOs / NHRIs. CRIN will be reporting on the outcomes of the meeting.
Universal Periodic Review (what is this?)
States, including Rwanda and Nepal, had their outcomes adopted. CRIN will document the children's rights accepted and rejected by each of the States reviewed as soon as the reports become available.
- Side-event on implementation progress
Delegates from five States spoke during a side-event, reporting on the methods they have taken to follow-up the review and drawing upon recommendations that have been implemented.
1. Jordan reported a new law to be endorsed raising the age of criminality from 7 to 12 years
2. Senegal reported the Launch of a campaign against female genital mutilation
3. Mauritius reported their ratification of the CRC 's Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC)
- Read the full coverage of the event
- States also shared implementation progress in a general debate.
1. Press your government to produce and share a mid-term report. See what a report entails and which States have already submitted, here.
2. Read CRIN's "Guide to using the UPR", which includes practical tips on reporting, lobbying and follow-up, based on NGOs' experiences.
3. Read CRIN's children's rights reference reports, which include extracts of children's rights mentions throughout the UPR process. You will be able to see what the government is saying about children's rights, what UN bodies are saying and what NGOs are saying.
4. See which NGOs are reporting to the UPR, and which coalitions already exist in your country. (Page 79 of CRIN's report)
- Contribute to UPR follow-up Study
UPR Info is conducting research into the follow-up stage of the UPR process, to present information on the effective implementation of the recommendations issued to States during their reviews.
Both States and NGOs / NHRIs are being approached to provide information on the steps being taken, and progress made, in implementing recommendations which were accepted. NGOs could include information on whether changes in law / practise have been administered following the various recommendations, or on the extent to which the government has kept civil society informed about their implementation plans and generally engaged them in consultation.
The success of the study will be determined by the level of contributions by NGOs / NHRIs and States, so please contribute by e-mailing information to [email protected], or contact Ed Renshaw at CRIN at [email protected].
- Latest on the UPR in the HRC Review
- Read UPR-Info's latest update
CRIN will be providing updates on the HRC Review in general as soon as developments occur.
- Final session in first cycle
The final session of the UPR's first cycle is schedule for October, when 16 States will be reviewed.
What you can do?
- The deadline for submitting NGO reports has passed, however you can still lobby UN Member States to issue statements and make recommendations. Read our guide to find out how.
Next at the Council
The next session of the Human Rights Council (18th regular session), will take place from 12 - 30 September 2011.
We will be regularly updating our 18th session page with news on the upcoming session, including the programme of work (as soon as it is published), details on discussions and side events, and all reports as soon as they are released.
{THE LAST WORD}
“The new Protocol sends a strong signal from the international community that children, too, are rights holders, and that they have the right to complain internationally when no effective remedies are available to them in their country”
Anita Goh, NGO Group for the CRC, on the new complaints mechanism for children.
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