Event: children’s rights and business – the role of States

Event: children’s rights and business – the role of States

Organized by UNICEF and the ICJ, this side event takes place on Thursday 17 September 2015, from 12:00-14:00, Room XXVII, Palais des Nations, Geneva. 

More than ever before, business enterprises have an impact on children’s lives.

Children are consumers of businesses’ products and services, workers in their factories and fields, family members of their employees,  and residents of the communities  that host their operations.

Some of these interactions can benefit children. Companies have, for instance, created new technologies that enrich children’s education, enhance medical care, and connect families around the world.

Yet at the same time, businesses can also have detrimental impacts.

Companies can make and sell unhealthy and unsafe goods to children, pollute the environments  in which children live and play, and expose them to serious dangers including in the workplace.

As children are still growing and developing, they are especially vulnerable to negative business  impacts  and can be severely  and permanently  affected  by infringements  of their rights.

Child consumers can be more easily convinced to buy and use inappropriate or  unsuitable  products,  and  children  are  much  more  susceptible  than  adults  to  the harmful  physical  effects  of  toxic  chemicals,  manual  labour  and  poor  diets.

Young workers  can  never  fully  make  up  for  time  spent  out  of  education,   and  missed opportunities are rarely restored.

Many  of these  impacts  remain  unnoticed,  and businesses  rarely  involve  or seek  the input  of  children  on  decisions  that  will  profoundly  affect  them.

Children  may  not understand  that  their  rights  are  in  jeopardy,  and,  even  when  they  do,  often  face tremendous  challenges  in making  their voices  heard.

All too frequently,  child victims lack the confidence, resources and legal authority to demand accountability  from those who violate their rights.

For these reasons, it is imperative that governments take action to protect and promote children’s  rights  in  the  context  of  business  operations.

In  February  2013,  the  UN Committee   on  the  Rights  of  the  Child  adopted  General  Comment  16  on  State obligations  regarding  the impact of the business  sector on children’s  rights to assist States  to  ensure  that  businesses   respect  children’s   rights  as  envisioned   in  the Convention  on  the  Rights  of the  Child.

The  ICJ  and  UNICEF,  at the  request  of the Committee,  have  elaborated  a Guide  to offer  to States  practical  examples  and  best practices on how to protect and ensure the realization  of the rights of the child in the context of business operations.

 

UN: ICJ welcomes principles on challenging detention, and report on forced labour in supply chains

UN: ICJ welcomes principles on challenging detention, and report on forced labour in supply chains

The ICJ today made an oral statement at the UN Human Rights Council, welcoming the presentation of UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the right to challenge detention, and a report on forced labour and slavery in supply chains.

The statement was made during an Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.

The ICJ said that the implementation of the Basic Principles and Guidelines would help prevent governments from depriving people of liberty solely for exercising freedoms of opinion and expression; peaceful assembly and association; thought, conscience and religion; or on the basis of discrimination. Such violations are often achieved by circumventing or suspending essential legal procedural protections such as habeas corpus.

The ICJ noted that the right to challenge detention is also a key safeguard against incommunicado or secret detention, enforced disappearance, and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The ICJ welcomed the attention the Working Group has given to the challenging contexts of counter-terrorism and armed conflicts, where such concerns are particularly acute.

The ICJ also welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, addressing the issue of modern slavery and forced labour in supply chains, and the Rapporteur’s emphasis on the right to an effective remedy. In addition to the international legal and policy frameworks and continuing efforts by States and businesses outlined in the report, the ICJ noted that UN treaty-bodies have produced useful guidance and recommendations, such as the General Comment adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2013, on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights.

The full statement may be downloaded in PDF format here: UN-Advocacy-Oral statementWGADandSRslavery-2015
Earlier in the week, the ICJ published a legal commentary on certain aspects of the Principles and Guidelines, related to situations of armed conflict. The commentary is available here.

Malaysia: Federal Court decision allowing trial of human rights defender inconsistent with rule of law and human rights protection

Malaysia: Federal Court decision allowing trial of human rights defender inconsistent with rule of law and human rights protection

The ICJ expressed disappointment over the decision made today by the Malaysian Federal Court to refer human rights defender Lena Hendry for trial, after dismissing the constitutional challenge on section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act 2002.

The ICJ said this provision is being applied in a manner inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to seek and impart information of all kinds.

“The decision by the Federal Court is incompatible with the commitment to the rule of law and respect for human rights which was expressed by Malaysia during its last Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2013,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

“Lena Hendry is clearly a human rights defender and Malaysia has the special duty not only to respect her right to freedom of expression, but to protect her exercise of this right through the exposure of human rights violations in Sri Lanka,” he added.

The constitutional challenge was brought by the lawyers of Lena Hendry who was charged under section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act 2002 for screening the film “No Fire Zone: the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka” on 3 July 2013.

Authorities allege that she violated section 6(1)(b) of the law for showing a film that had not been approved by the Board of Censors.

The lawyers of Lena Hendry are now preparing for the trial before the Magistrate’s Court.

The ICJ calls on the Government of Malaysia to drop all charges against Lena Hendry and to undertake steps to make its laws consistent with the country’s obligations and commitments under international law.

Background:

Section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act 2002 states that “No person shall circulate, exhibit, distribute, display, manufacture, produce, sell, or hire any film or film publicity material, which has not been approved by the Board [of Censors].”

On 14 September 2015, the Federal Court of Malaysia dismissed the constitutional challenge on Section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act 2002. The question posed to the Federal Court was: “Whether section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act 2002 read together with section 6(2)(a) violates Article 10 read together with Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution and therefore should be struck down and void for unconstitutionality.”

The Federal Court answered the question in the negative and ordered that the case be sent back to the High Court. The High Court, in turn, will transfer the matter back to the Magistrate’s court for trial. The Magistrate’s Court is where the matter initially originated.

If convicted, under section 6(2)(a) Lena Hendry could be fined up to RM30,000 (approximately US$6,900) and/or sentenced to up to three years imprisonment.

The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia under Section 10(1)(a), which states that “every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression.”

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders also affirm the duty of all states to respect and facilitate freedom of expression, particularly as regards information or opinions about human rights.

Contact:

Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser of ICJ for Southeast Asia, t: +66 840923575 ; e: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org

 

ICJ written statement highlights the urgent need for Maldives to implement UN recommendations on human rights

ICJ written statement highlights the urgent need for Maldives to implement UN recommendations on human rights

In advance of the UN Human Rights Council’s adoption of the outcome of its review of the Maldives’ human rights record as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, the ICJ has submitted a written statement.

It highlights the Maldives’ failure to accept and implement a number of member states’ UPR recommendations.

In particular, the ICJ pointed out the urgent need for Maldives to accept and implement recommendations regarding the following issues, among others:

  • Strengthening the independence and impartiality of the judiciary;
  • Strengthening the independence and impartiality of the Judicial Service Commission;
  • Strengthening the National Human Rights Commission, in accordance with the Paris Principles;
  • Strengthening women’s representation in the judicial profession;
  • Immediately releasing former president Mohamed Nasheed and other political prisoners, and ensuring the fairness of any further legal proceedings in such cases; and
  • Safeguarding freedom of expression and media, association and peaceful assembly by investigating cases of human rights abuse and violations against journalists, civil society and human rights defenders, and taking effective measures to prevent further abuses

The Council will consider member states’ UPR recommendations for the Maldives during its 30th session on 24 September 2015, ahead of which the Maldives government will be expected to formally respond and indicate which of the recommendations it will commit to implement.

Event at UN: Judges, lawyers, prosecutors and human rights – 30 years of UN action

Event at UN: Judges, lawyers, prosecutors and human rights – 30 years of UN action

Judges, lawyers, prosecutors and human rights: 30 years of UN action

Side event, Tuesday 15 September 2015, 1600 – 1800

Room XXII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Followed by a drinks reception hosted by the IBA’s Human Rights Institute
in Bar Serpent, Palais des Nations

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) are organising a side event at the Palais des Nations to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and the 25th Anniversary of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors. This side-event, taking place during the 30th session of the Human Rights Council, will look back on the progress that has been made in the protection of judges, lawyers and prosecutors over the past 30 years and the continuing challenges for implementation of the UN standards.

Side Event, 1600-1800

Opening remarks:

  • Her Excellency Zsuzsanna Horváth Ambassador of Hungary

Speakers:

  • Monica Pinto Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
  • Anne Ramberg Secretary General, Swedish Bar Association
  • Irene Petras Executive Director, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
  • Nazir Afzal Former Chief Crown Prosecutor, North West England

 

Drinks Reception, 1800

The IBA’s Human Rights Institute will host a drinks reception in Bar Serpent, Palais des Nations, with a number of high-level speakers to follow the side event to the 30th session of the Human Rights Council.

Speakers:

  • Her Excellency Patricia O’Brien Ambassador of Ireland
  • His Excellency Mothusi Bruce Rabasha Palai Ambassador of Botswana
  • Monica Pinto Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers

 

Side event co-sponsors include, in addition to the IBAHRI and ICJ:
Australian Permanent Mission to the UN, Permanent Mission of Hungary to the UN, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN, Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Botswana to the UN, Council of Europe
Association pour la Prévention de la Torture, Avocats Sans Frontières, Colombian Commission of Jurists, Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, International Legal Assistance Consortium, Judges for Judges, Lawyers for Lawyers

 

Attendance at this side event is open to individuals who have access to the UN grounds at Palais des Nations in Geneva.

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