Yesterday, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) hosted a live Facebook discussion with ICJ Commissioner, Justice Qinisile Mabuza (Eswatini), to discuss access to abortion care in Eswatini. The conversation focused on Swazi women’s reproductive health rights and the path to legalizing abortion in the country.
The ICJ and 108 other organizations are deeply concerned by relentless attempts to roll back sexual and reproductive rights in Poland.
On 15 and 16 April Poland’s Parliament will again debate two draft bills that would severely limit access to safe abortion care and would criminalize the provision of sexuality education.
If enacted into law these bills would place women’s and adolescents’ health and well-being at risk and violate Poland’s international human rights obligations.
Full statement, in PDF: Poland-COVID-19 Abortion bill-Advocacy-2020-ENG)
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.”
The ICJ has opened a call for written submissions on the misuse of criminal law in the areas of sexuality, reproduction, drug use and HIV.
In 2016 the UN Secretary General called for the removal of punitive laws, policies and practices that violate human rights, stating that the misuse of criminal law often negatively impacts on health and human rights, particularly in areas of sexuality, reproduction, sex work, drug use and HIV.
Recognizing a need for greater guidance to achieve such law reform, ICJ is seeking inputs for the development of principles to address the detrimental impact on health, equality and human rights of criminalization with a focus on sexuality, reproduction, drug use and HIV.
This is an important opportunity for civil society, academics, law makers, human rights experts, community groups and persons affected by the relevant criminal laws, to provide input, including on the effect of such criminal laws, when and how criminal law should be used, what reforms are needed and what role criminal law should play in the relevant areas.
A background paper providing further information is annexed to the call for written submissions.
The deadline for submissions is the 31st of March 2019.
These submissions will feed into the development of a set of 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.
Please send your submissions, as well as any questions or clarifications, to [email protected]
CallforSubmission-DecriminalizationProject-ICJ-2019-2-eng (download the call in English)
CallforSubmission-DecriminalizationProject-ICJ-2019-2-fra (download the call in French)
CallforSubmission-DecriminalizationProject-ICJ-2019-2-esp (download the call in Spanish)
CallforSubmission-DecriminalizationProject-ICJ-2019-2-rus (download the call in Russian)