CRINMAIL 100:
May at the UN
In this issue:
To view this CRINMAIL online, click here.
Introduction
The international human rights community is gearing up for a busy time, as both the Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Rights of the Child will hold sessions from 27 May in Geneva. This CRINmail gives a preview of what to expect at these sessions, as well as impending deadlines for NGOs to get involved. There are also a number of upcoming treaty body sessions, as well as country visits by UN experts.
The past month has also delivered a number of interesting children's rights developments at the UN. The Committee Against Torture has come down hard on rights abuses in juvenile justice, while UN experts lament a lost opportunity to tackle sex crimes in India. A UN report has unearthed children’s rights violations during the unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, and experts warn Russia and Egypt against clampdowns on civil society.
We hope you enjoy this month’s edition of Children’s Rights at the UN. You can look up previous editions here, as well as sign up to receive other CRINmails. As always, if you’ve got any feedback please email us at [email protected]
ISSUES ON THE AGENDA
1. Torture - juvenile justice and corporal punishment
A number of children’s rights issues have come up during the Committee Against Torture’s (CAT) 50th session (6 - 31 May) in Geneva, where Bolivia, Estonia, Guatemala, Japan, Kenya, Mauritania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have come under scrutiny. Of particular interest is the CAT’s discussions linking torture to corporal punishment and children’s rights violations in juvenile justice.
Juvenile justice
A theme coming from the CAT’s latest session is a progressive move linking children’s rights abuses in justice systems to torture. The United Kingdom and Mauritania have come under particular scrutiny, with the Committee criticising the very low minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in both States (10 years in the United Kingdom (England and Wales) and seven in Mauritania). In response, the United Kingdom said the Government has no plans to change the MACR because 10 year olds are “old enough to differentiate between bad behaviour and serious wrongdoing”.
The United Kingdom was also criticised for the high numbers of children in prison and a reported increase in the use of restraints against children in detention. The delegation went on to add that to combat very high juvenile re-offending rates (over 70 per cent of children who have been in custody re-offend within a year in England and Wales), the Government plans to set up “secure colleges” in what it says is an effort to put education at the centre of rehabilitation. While welcoming the Government’s reform efforts, national NGO the Howard League for Penal Reform is concerned that “confusion is at the heart of these plans”. “We should never send children to prison to get an education”, said Frances Cook, Chief Executive, adding “almost all the children who end up in custody could be dealt with in the community and that is the way to get them back into school, college or training”.
Further information:
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The International NGO Council on Violence against Children is preparing a report on violence in juvenile justice. Click here for more.
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You can also read CRIN’s paper, Stop Making Children Criminals.
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Click here for more on the CAT’s 50th session, where we will post the Committee’s concluding observations when published.
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CAT’s 50th session page.
Corporal punishment
The CAT also asked the United Kingdom about a lack of willingness by the Government to protect children from physical punishment in the home. The delegation gave its usual response: “The United Kingdom Government does not wish to criminalise parents for giving their child a mild smack.”
This approach illustrates a lack of understanding around children's rights, as allowing children to be hit cannot be reconciled with respect for children's dignity and viewing them as rights holders. Interestingly Kenya mentioned during discussions that its Government has proposed changes to national law to prohibit corporal punishment and “any cultural practices which dehumanised the child”.
Further information:
2 . Violence against women and girls
Lost opportunity
Laws recently passed in India to prevent and prosecute rape and other sex crimes “do not go far enough,” Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, said after her recent visit to the country. “The opportunity to establish a substantive and specific equality and non-discrimination rights legislative framework for women, to address de facto inequality and discrimination, and to protect and prevent against all forms of violence against women, was lost,” she added.
While reforms were commendable, Ms Manjoo said they didn’t fully reflect the recommendations in the report produced by the Verma Committee – named after former Chief Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma – which was set up in the wake of the death of a 23-year-old woman whose gang-rape in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests. More here.
Children on the frontline
A new UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo has uncovered the scale of human rights violations committed in November 2012. The investigation documented 135 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) elements in and around the town of Minova as units retreated from the front lines. Victims included 33 girls aged between 6 and 17. FARDC soldiers entered houses, looted them, and raped the women and girls they found inside, and in many cases committed additional acts of physical violence. More here.
Upcoming UN discussion
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women will present her report at the next Human Rights Council session (details below), which will include a whole day discussion on women’s rights. This HRC session will also include a discussion on a UN report that examines ways to link the mechanisms of the Council with other relevant intergovernmental processes on the issue of violence against women and girls. Amongst other recommendations, the report notes the importance of ensuring that violence against women is adequately addressed in Council resolutions, both country specific and thematic. More here.
Further Information:
3. Civil society clampdown
UN experts urged Russian authorities to revise a law that is having “obstructive, intimidating and stigmatising effects” on civil society organisations in the country. Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and of association, said: “Since the law was passed, we now witness an unprecedented wave of inspections some of which have led to administrative cases against NCOs [non-commercial organisations], including severe penalties.” More here.
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay, urged the Egyptian Government to take steps to ensure that the current version of the draft law on civil society organisations is laid open to careful examination by Egyptian and international human rights experts, and, based on their advice, is brought into line with international standards before it is adopted by the Shura Council. She said the country risks drifting away from human rights ideals that drove the revolution. More here.
Have your say!
There is still time to contribute to a UN report on reprisals against human rights defenders cooperating with the UN system. The deadline is 15 June. Find out how to contribute here. You can also read about the recent landmark resolution to protect defenders, and find out about CRIN’s transparency campaign on the restriction of children’s rights defenders.
4. International human rights justice - UN complaints mechanism update
People can now seek international justice where their rights to food, adequate housing, education, health and other economic, social and cultural rights are violated. The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) came into force on 5th May when Uruguay became the tenth country to ratify it, creating an international complaints mechanism for the treaty. The Committee on ESCR - the body of UN experts charged with monitoring the covenant - can now examine complaints from individuals or groups of individuals who have exhausted all attempts to access justice for ESCR violations in their country.
In addition to Uruguay, so far Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain have all ratified the Protocol. More here.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is now the only international human rights treaty without an active international mechanism for people to seek justice. Optional Protocol 3 to the Convention (OP3) will allow this, but it still needs a further seven States to ratify before it can come into force. You can find out more about the campaign to get States to ratify here.
To help get children’s rights advocates ready for the complaints mechanism, CRIN has produced a plain language guide on how to best use it. You can download it for free in English and Arabic. Versions will soon be ready in French, Spanish and Russian.
Upcoming events and advocacy opportunities
Committee on the Rights of the Child - 63rd session
The Committee will hold its 63rd Session from 27 May to 14 June. This will be the first session for eight new members who were elected by the General Assembly in December last year, and you can read CRIN's interviews with all the new members here. During this session the Committee will also be electing a new Chairperson.
The following States are set to be examined under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the two Optional Protocols (OPSC / OPAC):
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CRC: Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Rwanda, Slovenia, Uzbekistan
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OPSC: Armenia, Rwanda, Uzbekistan
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OPAC: Armenia, Rwanda, Uzbekistan
- Visit the 63rd session page to view all the alternative reports submitted by NGOs and complied in collaboration with Child Rights Connect (the new name of the NGO Group for the CRC).
- View the Committee’s past recommendations in our Children’s Rights Wiki
Human Rights Council - 23rd Session
The Council opens its second session of the year on 27 May in Geneva. While the March session is the main one for children’s rights (read about the recent session here), a number of discussions will be relevant, including those on sexual orientation, the impact of business on human rights, and gender-based violence. And, as always, the human rights record of a range of countries will be in the spotlight, most notably Syria.
High on the agenda will be how the Council should follow up its 2011 resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity. Since its adoption, a series of regional workshops have taken place to identify challenges faced by LGBT persons and what tools are most effective for advocates to combat these. The findings, including the need for the UN to create a mechanism systematising LGBT rights violations, were brought together at a meeting in Oslo last month.
Special Procedure visits
The UN Working Group on discrimination against women is currently on its first mission to Iceland. Watch our Special Procedures page on our website for the outcome.
Upcoming visits
- South Korea - Special Rapporteur (SR) on human rights defenders (29 May - 7 June)
- Brazil - SR on water and sanitation (10 - 18 July)
- Madagascar - SR on sale of children (15 - 26 July)
- For the full list, visit our 2013 schedule
Further Information
Committee on NGOs
In New York, States are currently meeting to consider new NGO applications for ‘ECOSOC status'. ECOSOC status provides NGOs with access to not only ECOSOC, but also to its many subsidiary bodies, various human rights mechanisms including the Human Rights Council, and to a number of other fora including special events organised by the President of the General Assembly.
The deadline for new applications for ECOSOC status is 1 June 2013.
More information on the application process is available here. Information for participants is available here.
Treaty body meetings
The Human Rights Committee (the main body that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) will hold its next session from 8-26 July. Countries to be reviewed are: Albania, Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Tajikistan and Ukraine. More here. Note that the deadline for submissions has now passed.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women will meet from 8-26 July. The countries to be reviewed are Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Serbia and United Kingdom. More on the session can be found here. The deadline for submission of NGO reports is 24 June 2013.
The Expert Mechanism (EM) on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) will hold its 6th session from 8 to 12 July. The EM provides the Human Rights Council with thematic advice, in the form of studies and research, on the rights of Indigenous peoples as directed by the Council. More here.
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Children’s rights at the Universal Periodic Review
The UPR’s 16th session closed on 3rd May, and the substantial list of children’s rights mentions that we covered in last month’s CRINmail were added to.
Highlights include:
In its recommendations to Djibouti, the Human Rights Council (HRC) urged the Government to increase public awareness-raising and training of officials on female genital mutilation, and to take all necessary steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls.
When it came to Canada, the HRC recommended the Government to take further steps to prevent violence against indigenous women and girls; to ensure access to education for all Aboriginal girls; and to address the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s concerns on the lack of child sexual exploitation prevention and to consider establishing a children’s ombudsperson.
To Bangladesh, the Committee urged the Government to tackle early marriages; intensify efforts to eliminate human trafficking and provide support to victims; continue its efforts to prevent violence against children; and to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (currently set at 9 years).
The HRC recommended Azerbaijan adopt and implement laws on child protection and prohibiting corporal punishment of children.
On Cuba, the HRC recommended the Government continue to prioritise the rights of women and children and to strengthen measures to assist children with disabilities.
The HRC urged Tuvalu to decriminalise homosexuality and support the repeal of provisions of the national Penal Code criminalising consensual sex between adult males.
Upcoming sessions
During the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council, the following States will have their UPR reports adopted. You can read about their reviews by clicking on the links.
NGOs with ECOSOC status can now make oral interventions during the plenary sessions. Find out how here.
Further Information:
You can view the full set of States under review during this UPR session here.
Useful resources and contacts
Useful Resources
Contacts and Organisations
As always, you can keep up to date with all our coverage of children’s rights at the UN by clicking on the following links:
If you have any feedback on our new CRINMAIL, please write to us at [email protected]
The Last Word
Marking the 2013 International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia on 17th May, Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said:
It was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who first coined the term “rainbow nation” to describe a country that draws strength, not suspicion, from the differences among its people; pride, not fear, from its diversity.
The world we want really is rainbow coloured. It is a world of brilliant diversity, where each one of us is free and equal, and where everyone is treated with the same measure of respect and dignity.
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