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The UN's dispute tribunal has ruled that the decision to suspend a whistleblower who exposed the sexual abuse of children by French, Chadian and Equatorial Guinea troops in the Central African Republic was “prima facie unlawful”, and has ordered his immediate reinstatement. Anders Kompass, Director of Field Operations at the the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), was suspended for leaking an internal report containing evidence of rape and sodomy of young boys by foreign troops at a centre for internally displaced people in Bangui, the country’s capital, between December 2013 and June 2014, and for breaching protocol. Children interviewed for the report disclosed that they were sexually exploited in exchange for food and money.
As these revelations came to light, a group of civil society organisations, including CRIN, called on the UN Secretary-General to clarify measures the UN has taken in response to the reports of sexual abuse, expressing concern that the UN appears to be more concerned with finding out how the information was leaked than ensuring access to justice and support for the victims. The letter insists that the UN learn from its past institutional failures to investigate and pursue accountability for allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and foreign troops, and protect and support those who seek justice and transparency.
The French authorities have thanked Kompass for the disclosure and reported that they had begun an investigation in August last year after receiving the report. An internal management review into the handling of the case is under way.
See CRIN's transparency campaign for further information.
The next UN Secretary-General will be appointed in 2016. But the process for selecting the best person for the job is opaque and outdated. Essentially, it places the appointment in the hands of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. While States have the power to improve the appointment process and have even agreed on concrete proposals for change, it remains stuck in a time warp.
On Monday 27 April, the "Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalisation of the General Assembly" held a thematic debate on the procedures of appointment for the UN Secretary-General. Member states expressed their will to make the process more inclusive, transparent, and fair.
Get involved
Here is how you can help keep the pressure on Member States to adopt strong, specific language in the General Assembly's resolution on the issue of the appointment:
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If your country made a statement on April 27, write to the UN mission and/or foreign ministry. Thank them for taking an interest in this important issue, and urge them to actively support a better selection process. Contact [email protected] for details of where your country stands.
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Draw attention to your country’s position—positive or negative—in an op-ed or blog post.
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Endorse the 1 for 7 Billion global campaign. The campaign is supported by organisations and individuals around the world committed to securing a more open and inclusive selection process, with genuine involvement by all UN Member States.
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) has launched a new guide to the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs for those looking to 'get past the gatekeeper' and obtain UN consultative status as a means to engage effectively with its human rights system.
Getting ECOSOC status allows NGOs to participate fully in the UN system. Without it, they are confined to the sidelines - unable to submit questions, attend UN sessions or hold side events in their own name. But the process of getting ECOSOC status lacks transparency and clear accountability.
ISHR has witnessed the difficulties that many human rights organisations face in navigating this process and reported on ECOSOC's work and its lack of transparency.
As part of CRIN’s Transparency Campaign, together with other NGOs, we launched a campaign in July last year to call upon the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs to stop blocking access for legitimate human rights organisations.
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Read the open letter to the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, signed by a group of civil society organisations from around the world.
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Read more about CRIN's ECOSOC application, including all (repetitive) questions and answers by the Committee.
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Read an interview with CRINs director Veronica Yates by ISHR on transparency in the ECOSOC process.
Israel was responsible for striking seven UN sites used as civilian shelters during the 2014 Gaza war, an inquiry requested by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has found. Forty-four Palestinians died, while 227 were injured in the attacks.
This subject is particularly sensitive as the locations of all UN buildings – including schools used as shelters – are routinely provided by the UN to the Israeli military.
The Board of Inquiry also reviewed three incidents involving weapons found in schools run by UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including instances in which Palestinian armed groups may have used UNRWA school premises to launch attacks.
Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, which runs Gaza’s UN schools, said: “The inquiry found that despite numerous notifications to the Israeli army of the precise GPS coordinates of the schools and numerous notifications about the presence of displaced people, in all seven cases investigated by the Board of Inquiry when our schools were hit directly or in the immediate vicinity, the hit was attributable to the IDF. [...] The findings of the Secretary-General’s inquiry are fully consistent with the statements made by UNRWA that we did not hand any weapons over to Hamas.”
South Sudan is now the 195th State Party to the Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC).
The CRC, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989 is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in history. Somalia recently began the process of ratifying the Convention – a process which will be formalised once the government deposits the instruments of ratification with the UN in New York.
This means that the United States is the only country that has yet to ratify the CRC.
Meanwhile, Argentina has become the latest State to ratify the UN’s complaints mechanism for children. In doing so, it became the 17th ratifying State of the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, one year after its entry into force.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will be able to accept complaints under the Protocol in relation to violations occurring in the ratifying States.
To mark the Protocol’s first anniversary, UN experts and a coalition of NGOs - Ratify OP3 CRC - have released a joint statement urging States to ratify.
Full list of countries that have signed or ratified the Optional Protocol.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has published the report of the 2014 Day of General Discussion (DGD) on Digital Media and Children's Rights, held in September last year.
Download the report at the bottom of this page.
Read CRIN’s overview of the day’s discussions.
Visit CRIN campaign page: Protect children, end censorship.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) reviewed eight States’ compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women during its 60th session, including:
Azerbaijan: The Committee expressed concern over forced child marriage, internally displaced girls vulnerable to domestic violence, trafficking of girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labour, and the low secondary school attendance rate among girls in rural areas.
Denmark: The Committee expressed concern over the continued prevalence of stereotypical educational choices by women and girls, as well as men and boys, resulting in women and girls’ under-representation in traditionally male dominated fields of study.
Ecuador: The Committee expressed concern over the high incidence of various forms of violence against girls, in particular sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment, the low number of prosecutions of perpetrators of sexual violence in schools, and the provisions of the Civil Code which allow for marriage of girls from the age of 12.
Eritrea: The Committee expressed concern over the forcible recruitment of girls into the national service for an indefinite period of time and without formal pay, under conditions which amount to forced labour, the numerous obstacles faced by women and girls in gaining access to justice - including the lack of independence, professionalism and gender sensitivity of the judiciary at all levels and the limited access of rural girls to education, health and employment.
Gabon: The Committee expressed concern over the persistent practice of enslaving indigenous people, including women and girls, reports of trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of domestic servitude, forced and servile marriages, forced begging, sexual exploitation and prostitution, and the very high drop-out rate in primary and secondary levels of education.
Kyrgyzstan: The Committee expressed concern over the persistence of child and forced marriages, despite the setting of the minimum age of marriage at 18 years, the lack of information on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions related to trafficking in women and girls, and the limited access of women and girls to health care in rural areas.
Maldives: The Committee expressed concern over the growing trend in conservative interpretations of religion which encourage stereotypical patterns which negatively impact women and girls, the fact that marital rape is not explicitly criminalised and the restricted access, in practice, to sexual and reproductive health services, for unmarried women and girls.
Tuvalu: The Committee expressed concern over the dismissal of pregnant girls from school and the absence of re-entry policies after giving birth and the lack of preventive sexual and reproductive health services.
Go to the Committee’s session's page for more information.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reviewed three States’ compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during its 54th session, including:
Gambia: The Committee expressed concern over the persistence of harmful practices, including polygamy, child marriage and domestic violence, the reported high unemployment rate disproportionately affecting women and youth, and that Gambia remains a source and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking for the purpose of labour and sexual exploitation.
Paraguay: The Committee expressed concern over the issue of child labour, particularly in the agricultural sector and in domestic work, the high rates of teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality, a situation due, in part, to the lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health services and the high rates of undernutrition in the general population and of malnutrition in children.
Tajikistan: The Committee expressed concern about the overall weak labour market in the State party, characterised by a high rate of unemployment, especially among women, young people and persons with disabilities, the high number of children involved in child labour and a lack of family- or community-based care for children with disabilities and children without parental care, which results in their being placed in institutional care.
Go to the Committee’s session's page for more information.
During the Council’s session, the UPR reports of 14 States were adopted (from the 20th session of the UPR held from 27 October to 7 November 2014). CRIN compiled the children’s rights extracts for the countries below and will soon finalise extracts for the remaining reports (hyperlinks go to the children’s rights extracts on our website):
Italy was urged to take action to combat all forms of discrimination against Roma children, introduce legislation to ensure assistance and protection for unaccompanied children seeking asylum and explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children in the home.
Kazakhstan was urged to ensure equal access to education for all children, establish a separate Office of the Ombudsman on the Rights of the Child, enact legislation to end all forms of violence against girls, enhance adolescent’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, and provide comprehensive education on sexuality.
Angola was urged to adopt a new law to end all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment, protect children accused of witchcraft from ill-treatment and abuse and ensure equal access to education for women and girls.
Iran was urged to combat violence against children, prevent discrimination against girls, ban executions of juvenile offenders and abolish the practice of forced and early marriage.
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