CRINMAIL 90:
December at the UN
In this issue:
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- New members elected
- CRC 62nd Session
- Complaints mechanism
Other UN Treaty Bodies
Human Rights Council
- Latest news
- Country updates
- International Days
- Universal Periodic Review
- Special Procedures
UN General Assembly
Useful Resources and Contacts
To view this CRINMAIL online, click here.
Welcome to our final CRINMAIL of the year. In January’s edition, we will be reviewing 2012 and looking ahead to the coming year.
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Elections
On 18 December, States met in New York to elect nine members to serve on the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The successful candidates will replace those whose term will expire on 28 February 2013.
The nine successful candidates were: Ms Renate Winter, from Austria; Mr Benyam Dawit Mezmur (Ethiopia); Ms Sara DE JESÚS OVIEDO FIERRO (Ecuador); Peter Guran (Slovakia); Ms Amal Aldoseri (Bahrain); Mr Wanderlino Nogueira Neto (Brazil); Ms Maria Rita Parsi (Italy); Ms Yasmeen Muhamad Shariff (Malaysia); and Ms Olga A Khazova, from Russia.
You can find the CVs of each of the new Committee members and, where available, interviews conducted prior to the elections here.
Upcoming session
Nine States will be reviewed by the Committee during its 62nd Session, scheduled to take place from 14 January to 1 February 2013 in Geneva. The United States - who have yet to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child - will be reviewed on the steps it is taking to comply with the two Optional Protocols (OPSC and OPAC).
You can click on the links below to access the previous Concluding Observations issued by the Committee (as detailed in our Children’s Rights Wiki).
The following States will be reviewed on their compliance with:
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC)
The Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC)
Further Information
CRC Complaints mechanism
The end of February will mark the one year anniversary of the signing ceremony of the third Optional Protocol to the CRC establishing a complaints mechanism for children or their representatives - yet we are still seven ratifications away from its entry into force.
Thailand and Gabon were the first two countries to ratify the new treaty in September. Germany will be third once its Upper House confirms ratification and the president signs the Act. Another 32 countries have signed but actual ratification could be some way away.
NGOs continue to campaign globally, hoping that the treaty will enter into force on the first anniversary of its opening for signature. You can visit the website of the international campaign for ratification for updates, campaign ideas, and other useful materials.
Meanwhile, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the body that will eventually be considering complaints is working on its Rules of Procedures.
While we await their publication, we have prepared a comparative table that looks in detail at all other existing complaints mechanisms, including issues of admissibility, confidentiality, who can bring a case, and more.
You can also read about cases that have been taken to the other complaints mechanisms by or on behalf of children here.
- Anita Goh at [email protected]
- Davinia Ovett Bondi at [email protected]
Other UN Treaty Bodies
Call for contributions
The Committee on Migrant Workers is seeking comments on its draft General Comment on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families. The deadline for submissions is 13 January. More details here. Read also about the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion on “The Rights of All Children in the Context of International Migration” here.
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
On 30 November, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights closed its 49th session, issuing Concluding Observations to seven States, including the Republic of Congo and Tanzania.
The Committee also released its rules of procedure for the new Optional Protocol (complaints mechanism). Read about them here. See our comparative table.
Torture
On 4 December, Austria became the latest State to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, granting the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) access to places where persons are deprived of their liberty. See if your country has ratified the Protocol here, and view the schedule of upcoming visits here. You can also read about all previous visits here.
Finally, the Committee against Torture closed its 49th session on 23 November. You can view all the Concluding Observations, including for Qatar and Senegal, here.
Coming up in 2013
Russia and Algeria are among seven States set to be examined during the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s 82nd session taking place from 11 February to 1 March. More here.
Six States, including Angola and Peru, will be reviewed during the Human Rights Committee’s 107th session, taking place from 11 - 28 March. More here.
In April, Australia, Austria, El Salvador and Paraguay will be examined by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during its 9th session. More here.
To keep informed of all current and future treaty body sessions, visit our advocacy calendar.
Information by country
To find out what other treaty bodies are saying - or not - about children’s rights in your country, visit our Children's Rights Wiki. You can also view our country pages by typing the name of the country at the end of www.crin.org/ ; for example, for India, type: www.crin.org/india.
Human Rights Council
The draft programme for the Council’s 22nd session, taking place in Geneva from 25 February to 22 March, has been released. The Annual Day on the Rights of the Child - this year focusing on the right to health - is scheduled to take place on 7 March.
Furthermore, the Council’s annual programme of work for 2013, listing the discussions scheduled to take place across all three of the Council’s regular sessions, has also been released.
Finally, on 10 December the Council elected Mr Henczel of Poland as president-elect. Mr Henczel, who will serve from 1 January to 31 December 2013, replaces Ms Lasserre of Uruguay. More here.
Country updates
A new 10-page report on Syria, released by the Commission of Inquiry, paints a bleak picture of the devastating conflict and continuing international human rights and humanitarian law violations taking place in the country. The report describes unrelenting violence, arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances. It further warns of the likely deterioration in the coming months due to shortage of food, water and widespread displacement. More here.
Meanwhile, a new report by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), in cooperation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), warned that, despite some key legislative and institutional reforms, the respect and protection of human rights remains fragile. The report documents how children continue to face varying degrees of discrimination in the full enjoyment of their basic rights. More here.
International Days
“Inclusion and the right to participate in public life” provided the theme for this year’s Universal Human Rights Day, a fitting focus at a time when civilians around the world have revived demands for participation to an unprecedented scale. A series of events in Geneva and New York marked the day, which celebrates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Read CRIN’s special edition CRINMAIL on children’s right to participate in public life here.
Three other international days were also observed recently: World Aids Day on 1 December, the International Day of the Abolition of Slavery on 2 December, and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December.
Universal Periodic Review
The build up to the 15th session of the UPR has been dominated by Israel’s refusal to engage with the mechanism (as well as all mechanisms), challenging for the first time the universality of the UPR. Since it was introduced in 2008, no State has refused to participate in the UPR. More here.
States under review
Thirteen States, including France and Mali, are still set to be examined during the session taking place from 21 January to 1 February 2012.
Click on the links below to access CRIN's children's rights extract reports from the first cycle, the upcoming reviews and, where applicable, mid-term reports by States and NGOs. (what are mid-term reports?) You can also access our Wiki page on each country.
Further Information
Special Procedures
Round up
“Truth, justice and accountability are key in upholding the human rights of women and their right to a life free from violence”, said the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Rashida Manjoo, in a joint statement with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura. The statement was made to mark the “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign”, this year running from November 25 to 10 December. More here.
Our recent Violence CRINMAIL focused on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which took place on 25 November.
Refering to her report on servile marriages, the Special Rapporteur on slavery said: “Nothing can justify these forms of slavery; not traditional, religious, cultural, economic or even security considerations.” Ms Shahinian went on to say such marriages should be criminalised.
In a recent visit to Madgascar, Ms Shaninian noted that despite the national legislation which sets the minimum age for marriage to 18 years, many girls and boys are being forced to marry against their will as young as 10 year old. More here.
To read all the latest news, including the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia’s recent mission, visit our Special Procedures page here.
2013 visits
A number of visits have already been confirmed for next year. Here is a taster for January:
- Panama: Working Group (WG) on People of African descent (14 - 18 January)
- Venezuela: Special Rapporteur (SR) on the right to food (15 - 22)
- Spain: SR on racism (21 - 28)
- United States: WG on business and human rights (28 Jan - 1 Feb)
- United Kingdom: SR on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (14 - 23)
Further Information
Business and Human Rights
On 3 December, around one thousand people took part in the largest global discussion to date on how governments and businesses are moving to address the impacts of business activities on human rights. The UN Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay, addressed the forum saying that enhancing legal standards “may be necessary” at national, regional or international levels. More here. The key outcomes will be included in our January CRINMAIL.
The Business and Human Rights Resource Center has published the latest edition of its Bulletin on Children and Business. The bulletin includes entries from 12 organisations and a round-up of recent developments worldwide. You can also view their Business and Children portal here.
Further Information
General Assembly
The 67th session of the Third Committee, the body at the General Assembly dedicated to human rights, closed on 28 November in New York.
This year’s resolution on the Rights of the Child was adopted at the close of the session, with a key inclusion being the three-year extension of the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. Importantly, the mandate will be funded from the regular budget starting at the biennium 2014-2015. More here.
Indigenous children was the focus of the resolution, which called on States to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that indigenous children are protected against all forms of discrimination.” It also recognised the importance for indigenous children to learn and transmit their cultures. More here.
Sexual orientation and gender identity were included for the first time in a resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; meanwhile, the first ever draft resolution aimed at ending the harmful practice of female genital mutilation was hailed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a major step forward in protecting millions of women and girls. More on harmful traditional practices here.
As we reported previously, resolutions were adopted on the death penalty, and also on the administration of justice; whilst, the President of the Human Rights Council stressed the importance of civil society contributions to the Council and condemned continuing reprisals against human rights defenders.
Several country issues were also in the spotlight, including the granting of Palestine’s “Non-Member Observer State” Status; the Special Rapporteur on Iran called once more for access to the country; the expert on Myanmar welcomed progress, but said there was much more to be done; and the Special Rapporteur on North Korea requested a more detailed mechanism of inquiry.
For a full list of discussions and coverage, visit our 67th Session page. You can also visit the website of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) who are covering the session extensively and will be providing a summary review in due course.
Further Information
- Read more about children’s rights at the General Assembly here.
- Visit the webpage of the General Assembly 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}
Night cap?
To mark Human Rights Day on 10 December, the Spanish hotel chain, Room Mate Hotels, placed copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in all its hotel rooms worldwide.
“When I was in the hotel [in New York], I realized that I had nothing to read. At that moment I began to think about which publication would be interesting enough for the whole world,” said Kike Sarasola, President and founder of Room Mate Hotels.
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