CRINmail 127:
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The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon just returned from a six day mission in the Middle East where he failed to broker a ceasefire.
Since the start of the operation ‘Protective Edge’ by the Israeli Defence Forces in the Gaza Strip on 8 July, Israel’s death toll stands at 56, including three civilians, while 1,361 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including more than 200 children, have been killed. Schools - including UN schools, health facilities, and family homes in the Gaza Strip have been especially hard hit by Israeli rocket fire, often without warning or insufficient warning to give residents enough time to evacuate.
A second UN school serving as a shelter for 3,300 Palestinians in Gaza was hit this week by Israeli artillery according to an initial assessment by the UN, killing at least 16 civilians. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner General, Pierre Krähenbühl, called the attack “an affront to all of us; a source of universal shame.”
Failing to agree on a binding resolution, the UN Security Council adopted a non-binding presidential statement on 28 July, expressing strong support for the calls the Secretary-General and others for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire.
At the end of the special session of the UN Human Rights Council on 23 July, the 47-members adopted a resolution presented by Palestinians by a vote of 29 states in favour, one against (the United States) with 17 abstentions (including some European Union members). The resolutions called for urgent dispatch of "an independent, international commission of inquiry" to investigate "all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip". In the resolution, the Council also demanded that Israel immediately reopen the occupied Gaza Strip and called upon the international community to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance and services to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said that there is a “strong possibility” that Israel is violating international law and may be committing war crimes in Gaza, in reference to the killing of children and house demolitions. She also condemned Hamas and other armed groups, for their "indiscriminate attacks" on Israel.
A new UN report, compiled by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), covering events between 5 June and 5 July, found that the Islamic State and its allies are imposing “untold hardship and suffering” on Iraqi civilian. The report also casts doubt as to whether Iraqi security forces (ISF) and associated forces have done enough to protect civilians during hostilities.
The report documents the Islamic State and allies carrying out “large-scale killings, injuries and destruction and damage of livelihoods and property,” according to OHCHR, including in “markets, restaurants, shops, cafes, playgrounds, schools, places of worship and other public spaces where civilians gather in large numbers.”
It also documents violations committed by ISF and associated forces, including summary executions and extrajudicial killings of prisoners and detainees, “which may also amount to war crimes.”
At least 1,531 civilians were killed in Iraq last month and 1,763 were wounded, according to UN figures. Some 1.2 million Iraqis have been internally displaced as a result of the violence – including over 600,000 since the beginning of June alone.
The report also notes that children have been disproportionately affected by the conflict.
“In all conflict-affected areas, child casualties due to indiscriminate or systematic attacks by armed groups and by Government shelling on populated areas have been on the rise,” it states. “Credible information on recruitment and use of children as soldiers was also received.”
The Annual Report of the UN Secretary-General’s report on the question of the death penalty was published this month. The report recalled States’ obligation under international human rights law not to sentence children to death or life imprisonment. The report concluded that when the death penalty is abolished the alternative must not be to sentence children to life imprisonment.
The report covers the period from June 2013 to May 2014 and is based on information received from States and other relevant sources, including national human rights institutions, United Nations agencies, international and regional intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organisations. Read CRIN’s submission.
Extracts from the report:
- In September 2013, reaffirming the absolute prohibition in international human rights law of the execution of persons for crimes committed before they were 18 years of age, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 24/12 in which it urged States to ensure that, under their legislation and practice, neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment were imposed for offences committed by persons under 18. (para 58)
- The legislation of 14 States allows the application of the death penalty to children. They are India (Jammu and Kashmir), the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tonga, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. During the reporting period, at least 4 of the 14 States, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the State of Palestine (Gaza) and Yemen, executed children. (para.59)
- States that still use the death penalty on persons who committed crimes before the age of 18 must stop that practice. When the death penalty is abolished, they must avoid sentencing children to life imprisonment as an alternative punishment. States must take account of article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explicitly requires that deprivation of liberty be used only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. (para. 74)
Children living in state-run homes in Ukraine are “being used as pawns in the larger geo-political dispute”, namely through their forced abduction to Russia by pro-Russian groups, according to a report by the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in the country. The UN, as well as local organisations in eastern Ukraine, report that children’s homes in Mykolaivka, Lutugino and Donetsk are particularly affected, with armed groups attempting to send children to Russia or preventing their evacuation to safer places inside the country.
Meanwhile, the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine almost two weeks ago, which killed 298 passengers, including 80 children, may amount to a war crime given the prevailing conflict situation, according to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria, the Security Council adopted a resolution on 14 July aimed at increasing access to civilians in difficult-to-reach areas by authorising the delivery of assistance across borders and conflict lines.
By the terms of the resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the 15-member Council, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners are authorised to use routes across conflict lines as well as four additional border crossings – Bab al-Salam, Bab al-Hawa, Al Yarubiyah and Al-Ramtha.
The text comes five months after the Council adopted resolution 2139, in which it demanded unhindered humanitarian access to those in need inside Syria, where the conflict has raged for over three years.
In her most recent report on the implementation of that resolution, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos told the Council that relief agencies continue to face obstacles to aid delivery while the needs continue to grow and are now outpacing response efforts. Read the full press release.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held a half-day general discussion on girls’ and women’s right to education, in view of receiving inputs and contributions for its draft General Recommendation on the issue. This meeting was held during CEDAW’s 58th session (see below for further information).
In an opening statement, Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that despite the progress made in education for girls, the continuing imbalance of power between the sexes in the public domain underscored the fact that education had not significantly addressed the strategic needs of women as a group, partly due to entrenched patriarchal systems and harmful gender stereotypes. The primary concern must now be to advance the right to education, and continue the drive to enable all girls to attend school; currently, 35 million girls did not. The education sector should embed human rights in all its processes and personnel and girls should be learning personal and leadership skills that promoted their effective participation in public life.
Barbara Bailey, Chair of CEDAW’s Working Group on girls’ and women’s right to education, said that the interpretation of provisions under article 10 of the Convention (right to education) was very narrow, and the information provided in States parties’ reports focused primarily on the right to education; they were totally silent on ways in which the gender regime of schools, marked by entrenched patriarchal ideologies, practices and structures, shaped the daily experience of girls in school, exposing them to an environment which could be physically, emotionally and sexually abusive.
CEDAW’s 58th session took place between 30 June and 18 July, with the following States’ women’s rights records reviewed:
- Central African Republic: Concluding Observations.
- Georgia: Concluding Observations.
- India: Concluding Observations.
- Lithuania: Concluding Observations.
- Mauritania: Concluding Observations.
- Peru: Concluding Observations.
- Swaziland: Concluding Observations.
- Syrian Arab Republic: Concluding Observations.
All official documents can be found on the website of the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR).
The 59th session will be held from 20 Oct 2014 - 07 Nov 2014 and will review women’s rights records of Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, China, China (Hong Kong), China (Macau), Ghana, Guinea, Poland, Solomon Islands, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
The deadline for civil society submissions is 6 October 2014.
The Human Rights Committee reviewed six States’ compliance under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) during its 111th session, including for:
- Chile: Concluding Observations.
- Georgia: Concluding Observations.
- Ireland: Concluding Observations.
- Japan: Concluding Observations.
- Malawi: Concluding Observations.
- Sudan: Concluding Observations.
In addition, the CCPR drew up the list of issues (what States will be expected to report on, and be reviewed on in a future session) for the following States: Cambodia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, France, Russian Federation, Mexico and Poland.
The 112th session will be held from 07 to 31 October 2014 and will review civil and political rights’ records of Burundi, Haiti, Israel, Malta, Montenegro, Sri Lanka.
The deadline for civil society submissions is 12 September 2014.
- The Universal Periodic Review (UPR): 15 September 2014 for the review of Belarus, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Panama, Maldives, Andorra, Bulgaria, Honduras, United States of America, Marshall Islands, Croatia, Jamaica, Libya.
- The Human Rights Committee: 12 September 2014 for the review of Burundi, Haiti, Israel, Malta, Montenegro, Sri Lanka.
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 26 September 2014 for the review of Finland, Guatemala, Montenegro, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Viet Nam
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: 6 October 2014 for the review of Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, China, China (Hong Kong), China (Macau), Ghana, Guinea, Poland, Solomon Islands, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
- The Committee Against Torture: 22 August 2014 for the review of Australia, Burundi, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Ukraine, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
- The Committee on Migrant Workers: 15 August 2014 for the review of Belize and Ghana.
LAST WORD
“All these dead and maimed civilians should weigh heavily on all our consciences. I know that they weigh heavily on mine. All our efforts to protect them have been abject failures. More powerful entities, such as the Security Council, and individual States with serious leverage over the parties to this dreadful and interminable conflict, must do far more than they have done so far to bring this conflict to an end once and for all.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay during the emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council on 23 July.
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