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The CRIN team

Human Rights Council - 31st session

The UN Human Rights Council is holding its 31st session in Geneva from 29 February to 24 March 2016. The session will feature the annual day on the rights of the child under the theme 'Information and communications technology and child sexual exploitation' on Monday, 7 March. CRIN, along with a number of NGO partners, made a joint submission to the day. During this session of the Human Rights Council, a number of special rapporteurs will present their annual reports to the Council, including the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children. Reports will also be presented by the the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict and on violence against children.

CRIN will be reporting live from the event from 7 to 10 March, providing daily round-ups of discussions through a daily UN CRINmail. You can also follow our live, to-the-minute coverage on Twitter at @CRINwire and the hashtag #HRC31.

You can download the programme here.
 

Annual day on the rights of the child

The theme of this year’s annual day on the rights of the child is “Information and communication technology and child sexual exploitation". The full-day meeting will constitute an important opportunity to discuss different national, regional and international initiatives to empower children through information and communications technologies (ICTs). The meeting will discuss the need for children to be protected against child sexual exploitation online and offline, while ensuring their digital rights are upheld. The annual day will explore:

• The relationship between ICTs and the rights of the child, including opportunities and challenges to the realisation of these rights;

• Good practices and lessons learnt aimed at promoting regional and international cooperation on this issue;

• Strategies to empower children to make better use of the internet, and to contribute to their online protection;

• Recommendations to guarantee safe and equal access for children to ICTs and to ensure the criminalisation of online child abuse and exploitation.

You can watch the event live and archived on http://webtv.un.org.
 

Child rights events at the Human Rights Council

Monday - 07/03/2016

• Side event organised by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography: "Tackling the demand for the sexual exploitation of children" - 12:30 until 14:00 in room XXIV of the Palais des Nations.

• Annual full day on the rights of the child - 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, Room XX.

• Mega Sporting Events and Human Rights - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Palais des Nations, Room XVIII, Geneva.

• Side event organised by La Francophonie on the presentation of a Guide on accompanying children victims of sexual abuse -12:00 pm - 2:00 pm tbc

• Root causes of attacks against persons with albinism: witchcraft and health - 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Palais des Nations, Room XXIII, Geneva

• Monitoring Places where Children Are Deprived of Liberty - launch of European Guide - 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm tbc

Tuesday - 08/03/2016

• Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

• Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and armed Conflicts - Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

• Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children - Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

• Side event organised by the Group of Friends on children and armed conflict “born in battle” - Geneva, Geneva.

• "Born in Battle" Movie 1:15 pm - 3:00 pm, Room XXIV, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Wednesday - 09/03/2016

• Side event organised by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children: "High Time to End Violence against Children", from 4 to 6 pm, Room XVIII, , Palais des Nations, Geneva. 

Thursday - 10/03/2016

• Side event on the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty - tbc

• Side event on: Working Together Towards a Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Palais de Nations, Room XXIII, Geneva
   

Special rapporteur reports at the Human Rights Council

Special procedure mandate-holders are requested by the Human Rights Council to present annual reports in which they describe their activities undertaken during the previous year. The annual reports discuss general issues concerning: working methods, theoretical analysis, general trends and developments with regard to their respective mandates and may contain general recommendations. Reports on country visits are usually presented as addenda to the annual reports.

The following reports will be presented at this year's Human Rights Council:

• A/HRC/31/19 - Annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

• A/HRC/31/20 - Annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children.

• A/HRC/31/29 - Report of the Secretary-General on the impact of the arbitrary deprivation of nationality on the enjoyment of the rights of children concerned, as well as on the existing laws and practices on accessibility for children to acquire nationality, inter alia, of the country in which they are born, if they otherwise would be stateless.

• A/HRC/31/33 - Follow-up report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on investment in the rights of the child.

• A/HRC/31/34 - Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on information and communications technology and child sexual exploitation.

• A/HRC/31/35 - Study of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of migrants in transit, including unaccompanied children and adolescents, as well as women and girls.

• A/HRC/31/37 - Annual report on Protection of the family: contribution of the family to the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living for its members, particularly through its role in poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development. Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• A/HRC/31/58/Add.2 - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography on her mission to Armenia.

• A/HRC/31/80 - Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on technical cooperation and capacity-building to promote and protect the rights of all migrants, including women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

News update

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children

In light of this year’s annual day on the rights of the child, and speaking on the occasion of Safer Internet Day last month, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, renewed her call to ensure that the empowerment of children is at the heart of building a safer and more inclusive Internet. She noted that rather than curtailing children’s natural curiosity and sense of innovation, it is critical to tap into their resourcefulness and enhance their capacities to use the internet with confidence and safety.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children and the start of efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including goal 16.2 on ending all forms of violence against children. The annual report of the Special Representative reviews key developments and initiatives she has promoted. This year’s annual report addresses the SDGs, the Global study on the deprivation of liberty, regional processes for the protection of children from violence and a special note of concern drawing attention to the serious impact on children of cyberbullying and challenges to their digital rights.

Italy becomes the 26th State party to ratify the OP3 CRC

On 4th February, 2016, Italy became the 26th State to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure. Italy joins Peru, France, and Luxembourg in ratifying the Protocol this year. OP3 CRC was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19 December, 2011 and entered into force on 14 April, 2014. The Protocol allows children to bring complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child about  violations of their rights. The Committee is also able to launch investigations into grave or systematic violations of children’s rights and States are able to bring complaints against each other, if both have accepted the procedure.

Find a list of States parties that have ratified the OP3 CRC.
Read CRIN's toolkit on OP3 CRC.
 

Women's rights

Nearly a decade after the UN Human Rights Committee stated that the rights of a Peruvian woman were violated when she was denied an abortion aged 17 at the time, Peru has said it will pay compensation, in line with the Committee's recommendation. It marked the first time that a UN human rights body held a government accountable for failing to ensure access to legal abortion services. The Committee stated that Peru had violated the victim’s rights under several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) including the right to an effective remedy, prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, right to private life and right of minors to measures of protection.

In Sierra Leone, a group of human rights experts from the UN and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have urged the President, Ernest Bai Koroma, to sign the 2015 Safe Abortion Bill and ensure its entry into force without further delay. Reluctance to decriminalise abortion by some parties, including religious organisations, has resulted in delays in signing the Bill. The 2015 Safe Abortion Bill, passed by Parliament last December, is aimed at ensuring women’s and adolescents’ access to safe services regarding abortion and authorises the termination of a pregnancy under any circumstances up to 12 weeks and in cases of incest, rape, fetal impairment as well as when the woman’s health is at risk, up to 24 weeks. “Sierra Leone has a great opportunity to save hundreds of women’s and adolescents’ lives by adopting the bill […] Sierra Leone would become one of the leading African nations to take effective measures to reduce maternal mortality and reaffirm women’s human rights,” they said.
 

Special procedure forthcoming visits

*To find out how you can support the visits, please contact the respective mandate-holder - their email addresses can be found in this directory:http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/VisualDirectoryJune2015_en.pdf

General Assembly

Secretary-General election

The contest to be the next Secretary-General is beginning to take shape, as six candidates - three women and three men -have been officially nominated by their governments. The President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft recently announced that he will hold a series of informal dialogues and meetings with all potential candidates from 12 to 14 April 2016. Each candidate will be offered a two-hour slot to present his or her candidature, and UN Member States will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with each person. “I think this is quite historic and potentially game-changing for the way the Secretary-General is appointed,” said Lykketoft.

See the President of the General Assembly’s website for the CVs of each candidate.
Visit CRIN's transparency campaign and the special page for the election of the Secretary-General.

Special Session on Drugs

In April 2016 the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs will have a thematic focus on youth. A key issue in need of attention is that children who use drugs continue to be dealt with in the criminal justice system instead of through health services. 
Registration to attend the UNGASS is now open for representatives of organisations actively working on drug-related matters from ECOSOC and non-ECOSOC accredited NGOs, civil society, the scientific and academic communities, youth groups and other relevant stakeholders.  All organisations wishing to attend UNGASS 2016 will need to register by applying here: http://bit.ly/UNGASS-2016. Applications for general registration are being accepted from 1 February - 28 March 2016.

UN treaty bodies

CRC

The Committee on the Rights of the Child recently held informal meetings with States to discuss new working methods and other issues, including the introduction of a simplified reporting procedure. It is estimated that such a simplified procedure may take several years to implement. The simplified reporting procedure followed the treaty body strengthening process and will mean the Committee issues a list of questions to States parties before they submit their report, which would then be based on answers to those questions. Read more.
 

Upcoming NGO submission deadlines

CERD

The committee will consider the following State reports at its 89th session (25 Apr 2016 - 13 May 2016): Azerbaijan, Georgia, Namibia, Oman, Rwanda, Spain. Read  more.

The deadline for NGO submissions is 4 April 2016.

CMW

The committee will consider the following State reports at its 24th session (11 Apr 2016 - 22 Apr 2016): Lesotho, Mauritania, Senegal, Turkey. List of issues: Bangladesh. List of issues prior to reporting: Guyana, Indonesia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines. Read more.

The deadline for NGO submissions is 17 March 2016.

Call for submissions

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has made a call for submissions on its General Comment on Children in Street Situations. The Committee is seeking submissions from States parties, civil society and other interested bodies, in all regions and from a wide range of perspectives, to inform the drafting process. Submissions should address one or more of the following questions:

• The right to freedom of association and assembly (CRC article 15)

• The right to special protection and assistance for children deprived of a family environment (article 20)

• The right to an adequate standard of living (article 27)

• Developing rights-based, holistic, long term strategies to prevent children developing strong street connections and to support children in street situations

The submission must not exceed 1500 words and must be received by 12 April 2016. The outline of the General comment can be found here:

The UN is also calling for submissions to contribute to the quinquennial report on capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The call for submissions, directed at governments, specialised agencies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, is paying special attention to the imposition of the death penalty on persons younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offence, on pregnant women and on persons with mental or intellectual disabilities. You can send send your submissions (maximum 1500 words, WORD format) covering developments since 1 April 2015 by 15 April 2016 to: [email protected], [email protected].

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