Mar 6, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council, the ICJ today urged States to decriminalize consensual sexual relations, including between people of the same sex.
The statement, delivered during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, read as follows:
“The ICJ welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on privacy, particularly the recommendation to repeal laws criminalizing consensual sexual activity, cluding between people of the same sex.
The ICJ agrees that criminalization of consensual same-sex relations violates international law and standards, including the rights to privacy, non-discrimination and equal protection.
The ICJ advocates for the abolition of laws that criminalize consensual sexual relations – including between people of the same sex – that still exist in many countries around the world.
In Indonesia, for example, a draft Penal Code currently includes a provision that would criminalize “extramarital” sexual acts between consenting persons, including persons of the same sex. We note that the draft provision may superficially appear to be gender neutral because it would penalize both men and women, but studies have shown that, in practice, criminalization of “adultery” and extramarital sexual relations typically results in disparate, discriminatory impacts against women and girls. Malaysia and other States that are former British colonies in Asia, likewise, have similar provisions in their criminal laws penalizing consensual sexual relations.
Like the Special Rapporteur, the ICJ in urges States to repeal laws that criminalize consensual sexual activity – including between people of the same sex.”
Mar 5, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today expressed concern at violations of human rights perpetrated in the name of countering violent extremism, and at attempts by some States at the Human Rights Council to dilute its focus on human rights while countering terrorism and the human rights of victims of terrorism.
The statement, delivered during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes your report on “Human rights impact of policies and practices aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism” (A/HRC/43/46).
The ICJ shares concern at the growing range of measures that restrict human rights, adopted in the name of the opaque and contested concepts of countering or preventing violent extremism. At the Council, certain States push for agreed language on suppression of terrorism to be cut-and-pasted to apply to “violent extremism”, and then eventually to all “extremism” whether violent or not, without definitions. As your report documents, at the national level this translates into overbroad, unjustified, arbitrary, and discriminatory measures, with particular impacts on civil society, especially human rights defenders, and from a gender perspective.
We also share the view expressed at para 51 of your report, that the current draft report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on “the negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights”, remains fundamentally flawed. Any discussion of “effects of terrorism” at the Council should exclusively focus on a human-rights based approach to victims of terrorism, consolidating work already undertaken by successive Special Rapporteurs and other UN and regional entities, as collected in a compilation published recently by the ICJ.[1] The Council must not allow its attention and limited resources to be diverted away from the human rights of victims of terrorism and protecting human rights while countering terrorism, to more diffuse questions of a macro-economic or budgetary character or duplicating work of other bodies.”
[1] See https://www.icj.org/victimsofterrorism2019/ and https://www.icj.org/icj-highlights-rights-of-victims-of-terrorism-to-un-delegations/
Feb 25, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today spoke at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting issues of access to justice for women in the context of religious and customary law.
The statement, delivered during a High Level Panel discussion commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes this opportunity to celebrate the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 25 years after its adoption and to address the remaining challenges to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
We have indeed seen an expansion in many countries of women’s legal entitlements and protection of their rights. However, there is also a growing trend to push these advances back and violate women’s human rights, invoking as justification religion, tradition, culture, and custom. This came out clearly when ICJ, UN Women and the OHCHR hosted a consultation for the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief last year, where women human rights defenders from all over Asia raised concerns about the resurgence of intersecting forms of discrimination by religion and culture based on patriarchal attitudes. They specifically narrated how women and girls were denied their sexual and reproductive rights.
Recalling the vision of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we reiterate the obligation of States not to invoke, “any custom, tradition or religious consideration”, to avoid their obligations to combat gender-based violence and discrimination against women. The Human Rights Committee also provides that “State parties should ensure that traditional, historical, religious or cultural attitudes are not used to justify violations of women’s right to equality before the law and to equal enjoyment of [ICCPR] rights[1].”
We therefore urge the Council to foster an open and inclusive discourse with Member States on the regressive interpretations of religious and customary laws that discriminate against women, and to acknowledge the voices and the diversity of women in that process. We urge States to ensure the full implementation of the human rights of women as an inalienable part of all fundamental freedoms.”
[1] Para 5, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.10
Feb 17, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ has urged expert members of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee to focus on the most direct and acute human rights issues, including a human-rights based approach to victims of terrorism, as the Committee prepares a report on “effects of terrorism on all human rights”.
In an oral statement to the Advisory Committee’s ongoing 24th session in Geneva, the ICJ expressed grave concern about the content of the latest draft of the report, and the potential negative consequences for human rights protection of the report in its current form, and urged the Advisory Committee:
- To substantially revise and refocus the report to include a clear recommendation to the Council that the exclusive focus of the Council’s work should remain on the most acute issues from a human rights perspective: violations in countering terrorism and a human-rights based approach to victims of terrorism, along the lines already established by successive holders of the Special Rapporteur mandate.
- To recommend against the Council entering into more diffuse macroeconomic issues such as diverting foreign direct investment, reducing capital inflows, destroying infrastructure, limiting foreign trade, disturbing financial markets, and negatively affecting certain economic sectors and impeding economic growth.
- To avoid making recommendations that simply repeat already-existing obligations or commitments to counter terrorism under various UN or other instruments.
- To affirm that the existing and longstanding normative and institutional framework on counter-terrorism and human rights is already sufficient to address relevant impacts of terrorism from a human rights perspective.
Prior to the session, the ICJ together with other NGOs had filed a written statement alerting the Advisory Committee to the highly sensitive context into which its report would be delivered at the Council, and urging the Committee to guard against its work being instrumentalized by Egypt and other States who seek to distort, distract and divert the limited resources and attention of the Council and its Special Rapporteur, away from the longstanding focus, achieved by years of Mexican leadership with consensus support of the Council, on human rights in countering terrorism, and the human rights of victims of terrorism.
The Advisory Committee’s report was requested by a 2017 resolution led by Egypt, which was not a matter of consensus, and is being drafted by a former Ambassador of Egypt who is now a member of the Committee.
Earlier at the session, several States including the EU, Switzerland, and Mexico had expressed concern or otherwise questioned particular aspects of the current draft of the report, and urged the Committee to substantially review and revise the draft. Egypt, China, Russia and several other States expressed satisfaction with the draft and urged the Committee to quickly finalize the report and send it to the Council.
The Advisory Committee report is due to be presented to and considered at the September 2020 session of the Human Rights Council, although some Committee members expressed the wish to finalize the report at the current Committee session.
Jan 16, 2020 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ has submitted information and recommendations for the upcoming review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, emphasising the need to strengthen the role of human rights in the framework and implementation of the strategy.
The submission was prepared in response to a call for civil society input, from the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).
It summarizes recent ICJ activities relevant to implementation of the strategy, and urges among other things:
- removal of impediments to civil society participation in certain UN or other global policy-making processes;
- recognition that not only is violation of human rights in the context of countering terrorism, whether through arbitrary application or deliberate abuse, in itself unlawful and unacceptable, it also undermines the credibility and effectiveness of the struggle against terrorism;
- better recognition and implementation of the human rights of victims of terrorism;
- mainstreaming of human rights throughout the text and implementation measures for the Strategy as a whole;
- establishment of an independent human rights oversight entity within the UN counter-terrorism architecture;
- creation of a Civil Society Unit within UNOCT;
- increased resources for the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;
- increased engagement of the UN counter-terrorism architecture with OHCHR and with other UN Special Procedures;
- benchmarks and indicators for assessing States’ compliance with human rights obligations in implementation of the GCTS.
The complete submission can be downloaded in PDF format here: UN-Advocacy-GCTStrategy-2019
For more information contact un(a)icj.org
