Jul 12, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ joined other NGOs in an end-of-session statement, highlighting the achievements and shortfalls of the 41st Ordinary Session of the UN Human Rights Council, 24 June – 12 July 2019.
The statement, delivered by International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), reads as follows:
By renewing the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), the Council has sent a clear message that violence and discrimination against people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities cannot be tolerated. It reaffirmed that specific, sustained and systematic attention is needed to address these human rights violations and ensure that LGBT people can live a life of dignity. We welcome the Core Group’s commitment to engage in dialogue with all States, resulting in 50 original co-sponsors across all regions. However, we regret that some States have again attempted to prevent the Council from addressing discrimination and violence on the basis of SOGI.
The Council session also sent a clear message that Council membership comes with scrutiny by addressing the situations of Eritrea, the Philippines, China, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This shows the potential the Council has to leverage its membership to become more effective and responsive to rights holders and victims.
The Council did the right thing by extending its monitoring of the situation in Eritrea. The onus is on the Eritrean Government to cooperate with Council mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur, in line with its membership obligations.
We welcome the first Council resolution on the Philippines as an important first step towards justice and accountability. We urge the Council to closely follow this situation and be ready to follow up with additional action, if the situation does not improve or deteriorates further. We deeply regret that such a resolution was necessary, due to the continuation of serious violations and repeated refusal of the Philippines – despite its membership of the Council– to cooperate with existing mechanisms.
We deplore that Council members, such as the Philippines and Eritrea, sought to use their seats in this Council to seek to shield themselves from scrutiny, and those States[1] who stand with the authorities and perpetrators who continue to commit grave violations with impunity, rather than with the victims.
We welcome the written statement by 22 States on China expressing collective concern over widespread surveillance, restrictions to freedoms of religion and movement, and large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We consider it as a first step towards sustained Council attention and in the absence of progress look to those governments that have signed this letter to follow up at the September session with a resolution calling for China to allow access to the region to independent human rights experts and to end country-wide the arbitrary detention of individuals based on their religious beliefs or political opinions.
We welcome the progress made in resolutions on the rights of women and girls: violence against women and girls in the world of work, on discrimination against women and girls and on the consequences of child, early and forced marriage. We particularly welcome the renewal of the mandate of the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls under its new name and mandate to focus on the intersections of gender and age and their impact on girls. The Council showed that it was willing to stand up to the global backlash against the rights of women and girls by ensuring that these resolutions reflect the current international legal framework and to resist cultural relativism, despite several amendments put forward to try and weaken the strong content of these resolutions.
However, in the text on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, long standing consensus language from the Vienna Declaration for Programme of Action (VDPA) recognising that, at the same time, “the lack of development may not be invoked to justify the abridgement of internationally recognized human rights” has again been deliberately excluded disturbing the careful balance established and maintained for several decades on this issue.
We welcome the continuous engagement of the Council in addressing the threat posed by climate change to human rights, through its annual resolution and the panel discussion on women’s rights and climate change at this session. We call on the Council to continue to strengthen its work on this issue, given its increasing urgency for the protection of all human rights.
The Council has missed an opportunity on Sudan where it could have supported regional efforts and ensured that human rights are not sidelined in the process. We now look to African leadership to ensure that human rights are upheld in the transition. The Council should stand ready to act, including through setting up a full-fledged inquiry into all instances of violence against peaceful protesters and civilians across the country.
During the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial and summary executions, States heard loud and clear that the time to hold Saudi Arabia accountable is now for the extrajudicial killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. We recall that women human rights defenders continue to be arbitrarily detained despite the calls by 36 States at the March session. We urge States to adopt a resolution at the September session to establish a monitoring mechanism over the human rights situation in the country.
We welcome the landmark report of the High Commissioner on the situation for human rights in Venezuela; in response to the grave findings in the report and the absence of any fundamental improvement of the situation in the meantime, we urge the Council to adopt a Commission of Inquiry or similar mechanism in September, to reinforce the ongoing efforts of the High Commissioner and other actors to address the situation.
We welcome the renewal of the mandate on the freedom of peaceful assembly and association. This mandate is at the core of our work as civil society and we trust that the mandate will continue to protect and promote these fundamental freedoms towards a more open civic space.
We welcome the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus. We acknowledge some positive signs of re-engagement in dialogue by Belarus, and an attempted negotiation process with the EU on a potential Item 10 resolution. However, in the absence of systemic human rights reforms in Belarus, the mandate and resolution process remains an essential tool for Belarusian civil society. In addition, there are fears of a spike in violations around upcoming elections and we are pleased that the resolution highlights the need for Belarus to provide safeguards against such an increase.
We welcome the renewal of the quarterly reporting process on the human rights situation in Ukraine. However, we also urge States to think creatively about how best to use this regular mechanism on Ukraine to make better progress on the human rights situation.
The continued delay in the release of the UN database of businesses engaged with Israeli settlements established pursuant to Council resolution 31/36 in March 2016 is of deep concern. We join others including Tunisia speaking on behalf of 65 states and Peru speaking on behalf of 26 States in calling on the High Commissioner to urgently and fully fulfil this mandate as a matter of urgency and on all States to cooperate with all Council mandates, including this one, and without political interference.
Numerous States and stakeholders highlighted the importance of the OHCHR report on Kashmir; while its release only a few days ago meant it did not receive substantive consideration at the present session, we look forward to discussing it in depth at the September session.
Finally, we welcome the principled leadership shown by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, in pursuing accountability for individual victims of acts of intimidation and reprisals under General Debate Item 5, contrasting with other States which tend to make only general statements of concern, and call on States to raise all individual cases at the interactive dialogue on reprisals and intimidation in the September session.
(text in italics was not read out due to the limited time)
Signatories:
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- Amnesty International
- ARTICLE 19
- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
- Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
- DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
- Franciscans International
- Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Human Rights House Foundation
- Human Rights Watch
- International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)
[1] States who voted against the resolution on Eritrea: Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Philippines and Pakistan.
States who voted against the resolution on the Philippines: Angola, Bahrain, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Hungary, Iraq, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and the Philippines.
Jul 1, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today highlighted the negative impacts of criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission, on human rights, as well as an ongoing initiative to develop a set of relevant principles, at the UN Human Rights Council.
The oral statement, delivered during the General Debate under Agenda Item 3, was titled “Developing principles to address the detrimental impact on health, equality and human rights of criminalization with a focus on select conduct in the areas of sexuality, reproduction, drug use and HIV” and read as follows:
“The ICJ welcomes the High Commissioner’s report (A/HRC/41/27) on human rights in the response to HIV.
Unjust criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission is a barrier to the realization of human rights – fostering stigma, discrimination, violence and abuse.
Last year, the ICJ – supported by UNAIDS, OHCHR and UNDP – convened a meeting of jurists to address the harmful effects of misuse of criminal law in relation to HIV and other issues.
The meeting endorsed civil society’s call for jurists to elaborate a set of principles to assist legislatures, the courts, administrative and prosecutorial authorities, and advocates address the deleterious impact on health, equality, and human rights of criminalization in a range of areas. In addition to HIV, jurists concluded the principles should address criminalization of sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including abortion; criminalization of consensual sexual conduct, including sex work, sex outside marriage, same-sex relations, and adolescent sexual activity; and criminalization of drug use and of possession of drugs for personal use.
To ensure the jurists’ principles are effective and protect the most at-risk individuals, the process for developing them is as important as the content of the principles themselves. Thus, broad consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including national and international civil society organizations, UN human rights mandate holders and UN agencies, is ongoing.”
Jun 27, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ highlighted the role of women in ensuring respect for human rights in relation to businesses, in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council today.
In an oral statement made during an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the ICJ stated as follows (check against delivery):
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and agrees that despite years of progress, women continue to experience multiple forms of discrimination. Women’s voices continue to be unheard and they face insurmountable challenges as they use these voices to access justice on behalf of their communities.
We have seen numerous cases where women lead their communities in protesting abuses committed by business enterprises. Many of these communities are located in remote areas, far from courts or other mechanisms that could be used by them to seek justice. The women who lead these communities often do not identify as women human rights defenders. They see themselves as mothers protecting the health of their families or the land from which they grow their food and earn their living. Because of where these communities are located, local government authorities play a significant role on whether or not these women are heard or are able to access justice.
The women farmers of Kendeng in Indonesia, for instance, have been protesting the operation of a cement factory in their area, which contaminate their water and land. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Indonesia had already ruled in favor of these women farmers and their community, and ordered the revocation of the cement factory’s permit. To this day, however, the cement factory continues to operate, ignoring the final order of the Supreme Court. The Kendeng women farmers have raised the non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s order with the Governor of Central Java and the Indonesian government, but their voices remain unheard.
In the Philippines, the women community leaders of Pio V. Corpus, Masbate, have been protesting plans to establish a cement factory and a coal-fired power plant in their town. They allege that their local government leaders approved plans for this factory and power plant without consultation and in blatant disregard of the disastrous impact these would have on the environment and people’s health.
Mr. President, we join the Working Group in urging States and business enterprises to ensure meaningful participation of potentially affected women in all stages of human rights due diligence. We also urge States to take measures to ensure that women – wherever they may be located – are able to access justice for abuses committed by business. Finally, we recommend that local government authorities be made aware of the Guiding Principles and able to integrate the gender framework and guidance in discharging their human rights responsibilities.
Thank you.
May 30, 2019 | News
On May 29 2019, the ICJ facilitated a workshop with a number of justice sector officials and stakeholders who are active in the implementation of the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Act (SODVA).
Building on previous engagements in 2018 and 2019, the participants decided on a clear plan of action for further coordination towards the eradication of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in Eswatini.
Participants in the meeting included representatives from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the police, correctional services, the judiciary and the Medical and Dental Association of Eswatini.
The meeting, was opened by ICJ Commissioner and Principal Judge of the High Court of Eswatini, Justice Qinisile Mabuza.
“For too many years, the clamour for this law has been loud; now that we have it, we have to interrogate how efficiently we are using it and check for the gaps that we need to address. Its implementation is in our hands, and we cannot allow ourselves to fail those that need our protection; we cannot fall foul of failing in our duty,” said Judge Mabuza.
A draft report, commissioned by the ICJ, was presented by Nonhlanhla Dlamini, the Director of Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA).
The report, provided participants with a contextual analysis of challenges faced by survivors of SGBV in accessing the justice system in Eswatini.
ICJ Legal Adviser Timothy Fish Hodgson discussed key provisions of the SODV Act and the need for their interpretation and application consistently with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
SWAGAA’s draft report revealed that despite the enactment of the SODV Act significant barriers to access to justice for survivors of SGBV remain.
These include:
- Underreporting of SGBV;
- Stereotyping and discrimination faced by survivors when reporting;
- Partial application of SODV Act due to lack of knowledge on the part of key justice sector actors;
- Under-resourcing, lack of infrastructure and services presupposed by SODV Act which prevents full implementation;
- Continued stereotype-driven assumptions made by courts despite the outlawing of such approaches in the SODV Act;
- Lack of due diligence in the collection of medical evidence;
- A perception on the part of survivors that perpetrators are better taken care of in the prosecution process than survivors; and
- A growing and inaccurate perception of the SODV Act and its purposes, which has been facilitated by misleading media reports.
Participants made practical recommendations of how challenges could be addressed in their particular environments. Stressing the need to ensure continued collaboration and momentum in the implementation of the SODV Act, ICJ Africa Director Arnold Tsunga observed that: “Whether this process actually builds towards better protection from SGBV for the marginalized in Eswatini and the SODV Act’s impact is dependent on how participants in this platform and other officials are able to adopt practical measures and implement them effectively.”
Apr 1, 2019 | News
On 31 March, Mikiko Otani, ICJ’s Commissioner and a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, spoke to Filipino lawyers at the bi-annual National Lawyers’ Conference of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), which took place at the Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo City.
Mikiko Otani, who had been Chair of the Committee on International Human Rights of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) remains active in the JFBA, talked about the importance of advancing gender equality in the legal profession and the important initiatives of the JFBA on eliminating gender discrimination.
She noted that “female lawyers experience many forms of discrimination in the workplaces, practices, court rooms and bar associations.”
In countries all over the world, many formal barriers women used to face in entering the legal profession, including admission to law schools, the bar, have been eliminated.
However, women continue to face barriers, some of which are specific to the legal profession, but others common to women who work more generally.
Mikiko Otani noted that when she started practice as a lawyer in 1990, women applicants for jobs at law firms would often be asked during the interview whether they planned on getting married or having children.
Law firms preferred to hire male lawyers as they were thought to be unencumbered with looking after household matters, such as housekeeping and child care.
She recalled, “My colleagues questioned my decision to get married and have children almost immediately after becoming a lawyer while also continuing my practice as this was an unusual for women lawyers in Japan to do at that time. They felt that my decision to start a family at that point would be a hindrance to my career.”
She also talked about the bias observed in case assignment, where only male lawyers would be assigned to cases that required extensive traveling, while female lawyers would be often assigned to family cases, which are considered to be easy, unpopular or low-profile cases.
There was also frequent bias against female lawyers in promotion or offering partnership in law firms, contributing to a major gender gap in income between male and female lawyers.
In 2008, the JFBA formulated a Basic Plan which included the study of inequalities between male and female lawyers in Japan, finding ways to ensure a work-life balance for women, creating complaint handling bodies, and hosting trainings and educational activities in order to promote gender equality.
Mikiko Otani’s remarks resonated among many female lawyers in the Philippines, who shared in the discussion that followed that they face the same challenges.
“As lawyers, it is our responsibility to assist everyone, including women, in accessing justice,” said Marienne Ibadlit, a member of the Board of Governors of the IBP.
“We cannot be faithful to this responsibility if within our profession, we perpetuate gendered relationships and social inequalities that discriminate against women. A bar association that is committed to gender equality is a prerequisite to a justice system that does not discriminate against women and ensures the full enjoyment of women of their human rights.”
Contact:
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, t: +662 619 8477 (ext. 206) ; e: emerlynne.gil(a)icj.org
