CRINMAIL 1230:
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Human Rights Council adopts complaints mechanism for children
The UN Human Rights Council last week adopted the draft text of a complaints mechanism for children. The new mechanism, also referred to as 'communications procedure' finally brings children's rights and its Convention on the par with other human rights treaties. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was the only such treaty without a complaints procedure.
This follows almost four years of campaigning by the children's rights community. Over 600 organisations from around the globe had joined a call for the CRC to be strengthened through the adoption of a complaints mechanism.
Speaking from Geneva, Anita Goh, Advocacy Officer for the NGO Group campaigning for this instrument said: "We can only applaud this decision, despite some regrettable omissions in the final text, such as the deletion of the collective communications procedure, this is a unique opportunity to translate into international law States’ commitments to protect and respect children’s rights.” Full press release.
Shortcomings
Back in February, the Chairperson coordinating the drafting group had come under pressure from a number of States to reach consensus. This resulted in a rushed process during which a draft text was adopted with oral amendments. Key decisions included the deletion of the provision for collective communications and the possibility for States to enter reservations, among others. Read the full story.
Representatives of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a number of States from Latin America and Europe, civil society groups and independent human rights institutions were unhappy with the outcome lamenting it was the weakest treaty of its kind. Read more.
Read about the drafting process here.
How the CRC complaints mechanism is different
Some critics have argued the CRC did not need its own mechanism because other complaints procedures under other treaties are available to children already. However these have hardly been used by children or their representatives. Furthermore, this new mechanism under the CRC is uniquely adapted to children. Among other things, it specifies that:
- In reviewing communications, the Committee on the Rights of the Child must follow the principle of the best interests of the child and have regard to the rights and views of the child;
- The Rules of Procedure for using the complaints mechanism are to be child-sensitive;
- Safeguards must be introduced to prevent the potential manipulation of children, and the Committee can decline to consider communications found not to be in a child's best interests;
- The identity of any individuals involved in submitting a complaint, including child victims, cannot be revealed publicly without their express consent; and
- Communications must be submitted with the child victim's consent, unless the person submitting the complaint can justify acting on the child's behalf without that consent.
What happens next?
Now that the text has been adopted by the Human Rights Council, it is referred to the UN General Assembly (GA), where another Resolution needs to be drafted and adopted. If a resolution is adopted by the HRC by consensus, which was the case here, it tends not to be reopened for negotiations at the GA. Once the GA Resolution is adopted, a signing ceremony is planned, after which the treaty opens up for ratification. It enters into force after its tenth ratification.
In the meantime, the NGO community will soon begin preparing for the next stage of the campaign: getting States to commit to ratification as soon as possible.
Further information
- To read the full text of the CRC complaints mechanism as adopted by the Human Rights Council in June 2011, click here.
- Read CRIN's toolkit on 'Using mechanisms of the UN to submit complaints alleging violations of children's rights' in [html] or [pdf].
- Background on the campaign
Contact
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Anita Goh (in English, French or Spanish) at the NGO Group for the CRC on +41 76 358 1222 or [email protected].
Or contact CRIN on [email protected]
Setting new precedents
June has also brought us several other momentous adoptions of new human rights standards setting new precedents in the field.
Domestic workers’ rights
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a landmark treaty on 16 June that extends key labour protections to between 50 and 100 million domestic workers worldwide, the vast majority of whom are women and girls. The Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers thus establishes new global standards for domestic workers’ labour rights. Read more.
Business and Human Rights
Also on 16 June, the Human Rights Council (HRC) in its 17th Session endorsed the new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights for the Implementation of the United Nations’ 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework. The new standards outline how States and businesses should work to prevent and address the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.
However, civil society organisations (CSOs) issued a joint statement criticising the final guidelines, saying that they do not fully embody the core human rights principles in the UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” Framework, and that they do not provide for accountability mechanisms in the event of business-related human rights abuses.
CRIN issued its own statement on the guidelines for their lack of reference to children and recognition of their unique vulnerability. Read it here.
Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
And on 17 June, the Human Rights Council also passed the first ever resolution on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “The Human Rights Council has taken a step forward in history by acknowledging that both sexual and gender non-conformity make lesbian, gay, trans and bi people among those most vulnerable and indicated decisively that States have an obligation to protect us from violence,” said Justus Eisfeld, Co-Director of GATE. Read more.
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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS
State neglect
Authorities in China in provinces with high rates of industrial pollution are restricting access to lead testing, withholding and falsifying test results, and denying treatment to children with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood and returning them home, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. In its report, HRW documents how despite stronger regulation and sporadic enforcement targeting polluting factories in Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Hunan provines, local authorities are ignoring the urgent and long-term health consequences of a generation of children continuously exposed to life-threatening levels of lead which can leave them with mental and physical disabilities. While parents, journalists, and community activists who have dared to speak out have been detained and harassed. Download the report.
Discrimination against Tsunami evacuees
Many Japanese from outside the area affected by radiation remain wary in their dealings with Fukushima locals out of fear of being contaminated by them. For example, evacuees and their children have been denied access to petrol stations because their cars have Fukushima number plates. In another incident, a mother and her children were warned by other children: ‘You are contaminated. Don’t come near me.’ The effects of this discrimination on children becomes more serious when experienced at school because, aside from their homes, that is where they spend most of their time. More public awareness on the issue is urged, as this discrimination is based on misunderstandings and prejudice. Full story.
The right to remain silent
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a child’s age should be taken into account when deciding if they should be informed of their right to remain silent when questioned by police in school. The issue has questioned the coercive effect of the schoolhouse setting on children who may feel pressured into responding to police questioning. The issue generally hinges on whether it is reasonable for the child suspect to believe she/he is free to leave an interrogation. The case in question involved a 13-year-old boy who was questioned by police in the presence of an assistant principle who urged him to “do the right thing”. The boy confessed to a series of neighbourhood thefts, after which the police officer told him he didn’t have to talk and was free to go, yet the child’s statements were used against him in court, where he was found guilty. Full story.
Evicting the homeless
One-thousand Haitians left homeless after the January 2010 earthquake have been unlawfully evicted from their displacement camp with little or no prior warning, and no opportunity to consult with authorities regarding their relocation, with those opposing the eviction being shot at, beaten and arrested. Now, families with small children, have no shelter and nowhere to live just as hurricane season begins. This incident, however, is only a snapshot of a larger epidemic of forced evictions that began shortly after the earthquake, and which the International Organisation for Migration estimates has resulted in 233,941 Haitians being left homeless. Full story.
An excessive resort
More than 53,000 children under the age of 16 were held overnight in police cells for minor offences during 2008 and 2009, including 13,000 children aged between nine and 13, according to figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform from half the police forces in England and Wales. Frances Crook, director of the organisation, argues that children are being unnecessarily arrested and detained, with only one third of those held in prison cells in 2010 being sentenced to court or custody. Anita Dockley, research director at the Howard League, says that police cells are not appropriate places for children, and deprivation of liberty should only be a measure of last resort. Full story.
Corporal punishment
A new handbook to support faith-based approaches to ending corporal punishment has been published jointly by Churches’ Network for Non-violence, the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children and Save the Children Sweden. It aims to help those working with and within religious communities to harness faith-based support for reform in their efforts to end corporal punishment of children, and includes positive examples and links to useful resources. Download the report.
THE LAST WORD:
**Good & bad practice vs. (just) Good Practice**
Organisations never hesitate to proudly publicise successful campaigns, policies and actions as examples of good practice to follow, but rarely do they ever admit to less effective or altogether unsuccessful ones.
“Good practice” refers to efficient and effective ways of achieving a desired quality result. But this is often the culmination of a process of trial and error, from which arise failed and flawed practices that in future should be avoided. So when devising a new campaign, policy or course of action, is it not equally useful to be aware of examples of “bad practice”?
After all, looking at good practice alone can be considered as a blind practice because, as one blogger has put it, “we don't know what we don't know.” And consequently, we don’t know what to avoid.
Organisations and advocates with similar goals can help prevent the spread of bad practices by identifying their own and learning from each other. This can be done on websites and in newsletters, as well as in annual reports. By openly sharing all experiences – not just victories – organisations and advocates can help themselves avoid going down the (same) wrong path.
On this basis, CRIN wants to know YOUR examples of campaigns and lobbying, both general, regional or country-specific, that have failed, and why? Please note that contributors will remain anonymous should they wish.
Send your examples to us at: [email protected]
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