CRINMAIL 103:
CRIN at the Human Rights Council - Day 2

In this issue:

Day 2 of the Human Rights Council featured some very interesting discussions, including a passionate condemnation from the Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism directed at the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in secret prisons around the world. Every State must abide by all human rights, “including the most powerful countries in the world,” he said.

But disappointingly children’s rights got very few mentions despite opportunities to do so. We hope that Thursday’s Annual Day on the Rights of the Child makes up for this and includes discussions on some of the more controversial issues on children’s right to health.

Harmful medical treatment without consent is torture

Yesterday’s lively dialogue with the Special Rapporteur (SR) on Torture, Juan Mendez, continued this morning, with States including Pakistan, Egypt, Russia and the United States arguing that the definition of torture should not extend to include abuse by the medical profession. Statements from other countries, such as France, Denmark, Australia and Mexico, were in direct contrast offering full support to the extended definition of torture. France and Denmark specifically mentioned invasive and irreversible ‘treatments’ for members of the LGBT community as amounting to torture.

But while these discussions were provocative, they did not go far enough on children’s rights. Tunisia stated that a Bill currently before the national parliament will extend torture to cruelty in children’s homes. But if harmful medical treatment without consent amounts to torture, this must include male circumcision without consent and forced medication of children diagnosed with ADHD.

Sentencing

Fresh from the debate in the Human Rights Council, Mr Mendez joined a side event on extreme sentencing hosted by Human Rights Advocates Inc. Much of the debate revolved around abolition of capital punishment, including speculation on the part of the Special Rapporteur that international customary law may have reached the stage that renders the death penalty illegal under international law.

Many speakers were keen to talk about what forms of sentencing take the place of the death penalty in abolitionist States- the shift to sentences in excess of 60 years in response to the recent restrictions on the death penalty in Uganda was a popular example - but the broad range of life imprisonment sentences that can take the place of death sentences did not feature prominently in the debate.

See our joint submission on the UN Secretary-General on the moratorium on the use of the death penalty for more information.

Human rights defenders

Last year’s report by the Special Rapporteur (SR) on human rights defenders paid particular attention to the rights of youth and student human rights defenders, but a children’s rights focus is missing in this year’s report. Nonetheless, several interesting issues were raised during the debate, not least in relation to the Rapporteur’s position that national human rights institutions could be considered human rights defenders and need to be able to enjoy immunity from civil proceedings in carrying out their work.

The EU also took the opportunity to raise the issue of the criminalisation of human rights defenders and the United Kingdom highlighted the problems that can be caused by restricting foreign funding for human rights defenders.

At a side event organised by the International Service for Human rights (ISHR), the SR on human rights defenders questioned whether public morals can ever be a justification for human rights violations. This was in the context of a discussion about ‘anti-gay propaganda’ laws in Russia and Ukraine making the work of LGBT activists virtually impossible.

Enforced disappearances- a children’s rights focus

In a move welcomed by the European Union, Peru and the United States, the annual report of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances presented today contains a section directly addressing the effect of disappearances on children. The report recognises the particular vulnerability of children which gives rise to enhanced obligations of States as well as the specific vulnerabilities of girls, boys, refugee children, internally displaced children and children affected by armed conflict.

The Working Group's refusal to differentiate between direct and indirect victims of disappearances, recognising the harm caused by the disappeared person and those who suffer harm as a result of the disappearance, was also popular.

This welcome focus on the rights of children in carrying out its mandate follows on from the adoption last year of the Working Group's General Comment on children and enforced disappearances.

Freedom of religion – the right of the parent or the child?

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion in his address to the Council this afternoon said that parents have the right to educate their children on their religion. This is part of a worrying trend in which children’s rights to freedom of religion and expression are so often pushed aside, and indeed ignored, in favour of the rights of adults. It was disappointing that no country or NGO made statements about this today, although the session continues tomorrow. Watch out for an update in tomorrow’s CRINMAIL.

Who will have the last word...

The day ended with a hard fought battle between the Republic for Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the last word. Despite the ROK’s remark that the DPRK’s criticism was not worthy of reply, both States did just that, before doing so again. And again.

Coming up tomorrow

Plenary sessions:

• Joint Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
• Joint Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on human rights and the Environment and the Independent Expert on Foreign Debt
• Joint Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children

Side events:

• “Impact of violence against children on the right to health” (1pm, 6 March / Room XXIV)

• “Child HIV and health rights” (2pm, 6 March / Room XXV)

• “Legislation affecting human rights defenders” (4pm, 6 March / Room XXI)

IGNORED AT THE HRC: CONSENT

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