National Human Rights Institutions Info Note October December 2010

IINFO NOTE No. 23

National Human Rights Institutions

October-December 2010

10^th International Conference of NHRI
The 10^th International Conference on “Business and Human Rights: the Role of National Human Rights Institution”, was held from 8 to 10 October, in Edinburgh, hosted by the Scottish Parliament and co-organised by the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC).

The Conference was attended by more than 250 delegates from NHRIs, business, NGOs, academia and intergovernmental organizations.

The keynote speakers were Prof. John Ruggie, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, Ms. Mary Robinson, President of Realizing Rights: Ethical Globalization Initiative, former President of Ireland, and Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Prof. Olivier Maurel, author of the 2 volume study “La responsabilité des enterprises en matière des droits de l’homme”. The speakers, highlighted the role of NHRIs through their experience, knowledge and authority, in ensuring that governments act on their obligation to protect against corporate human rights abuses and that corporations fully understand their responsibilities to respect human rights.

The agenda of the conference included four thematic working groups, one from each Region, focusing on particular thematic issues identified as of high relevance by the regional networks. Africa: Child Labour; America: Environmental Degradation; Asia Pacific: Human Trafficking; and Europe: Privatisation and Public Procurement.

The main outcome of the conference was the “Edinburgh Declaration”, in which NHRIs are encouraged to work under their mandates of promoting and protecting human rights, to strength and expand their scope of work in the context of business activities. NHRIs were called upon to; apply the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and working collaboratively with NGOs and civil society, in the realization of NHRIs strategies on business and human rights.
On 7^th October, the conference was preceded by a NGO Forum on building a strategic partnership between NGOs and NHRIs on business and human rights”, that gathered some 50 NGOs from all around the world. Most of them have had previous engagement with NHRIs in areas relevant to the interface between business activities and human rights.

The conference adopted the Edinburgh Declaration which outlined key priorities for NHRIs and presented a detailed list of recommendations to NHRIs and regional coordinating bodies of NHRIs and the ICC:

Key priorities for NHRIs

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  Reinforce the states’ duty to protect while addressing the links between the three pillars.
  
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  Empower the victims of corporate abuses and protect human right defenders, including women human rights defenders and indigenous peoples.
  
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  Strengthen the interaction with civil society organisations.
  

NHRIs are urged to:

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  Be more proactive in interpreting their mandates to include human rights and business;
  
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  Enhance their capacity to address human rights and business;
  
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  Contribute to binding companies to human rights standards, e.g. through public procurement, or public financing;
  
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  Deal with cross-border issues (companies or harm crossing borders);
  
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  Promote guidance to states;
  
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  Promote properly conducted human rights impact assessment;
  
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  Consider and investigate individual complaints, including by fact-finding missions;
  
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  Consider non-judicial mechanisms for effective remedies;
  
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  Include business and human rights into human rights education activities.
  

Regional Groups should

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  Consult with all stakeholders in adopting and implementing regional plans;
  
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  Coordinate their activities;
  
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  Interact with regional systems for human rights protection;
  
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  Implement recommendations by regional bodies.
  

The ICC should

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  Establish an annual reporting framework for all NHRIs on the implementation of commitments made in the Edinburgh Declaration .
  
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  Support the adoption and operationalization of the recommendations of the UN SRSG, including support for follow-up processes at the UN level.
  

9th Session of the UPR Working Group – 1-12 November 2010

Sixteen States were reviewed: Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Panama, Maldives, Andorra, Bulgaria, Honduras, United States of America, Marshall Islands, Croatia, Jamaica, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Micronesia, Lebanon and Mauritania.

The following NHRIs submitted parallel reports on the situation of human rights in their respective countries: Office of the Ombudsman of Croatia, National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia, Defensoría del Pueblo de Panamá, and The Human Rights Commission of Maldives.

OSCE’s Review Conference in Warsaw, Poland – 4 October
On the sidelines of the OSCE’s Review Conference, informal consultations on NHRIs in the European region and Central Asia took place between OHCHR/NIRMS, the European Group of NHRIs and OSCE/ODIHR.
OSCE/ODIHR confirmed that they attached high importance to the Paris Principles and were guided by these principles in their activities regarding NHRIs. The follow up to the recommendations of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation was in the focus of these activities at the country level through the current 17 OSCE field operations.
Since 2007, a focal point on NHRIs in ODIHR has been facilitating the exchange of information and capacity building of European NHRIs through legal advice and seminars on thematic issues, like gender and human rights. Legal advice provided to NHRIs was regularly posted on www.legislationline.org
East Africa workshop on NHRIs on the implementation of standards to prevent torture and other ill treatment
A workshop for East African NHRIs on the implementation of standards to prevent torture and other ill-treatment was held from 18-20 October 2010 in Nairobi Kenya. The workshop was organised by the University of Bristol UK –Human Rights Implementation Centre. The main purpose of the meeting was to explore practical ways in which collaboration and communication between the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and NHRIs can be strengthened in relation to the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment.
OHCHR’s contribution consisted in a presentation focused on NHRIs interaction with the international human rights system and how it can lead to effective ways of targeting torture practices in States, and the potential role of NHRIs as national preventive mechanism under the OPCAT. OHCHR also identified some good practices of NHRIs on torture prevention and related activities.
Presentations were made by NHRIs and NGOs, analyzing the problem of torture in their respective countries, analyzing risks and solutions. They focused on the legal systems and the loopholes therein, including the absence of laws criminalizing torture in the various countries and a lack of trained personnel, i.e. police and prison staff.
A presentation was made by the APF on the practical use of the OHCHR/APT/APF Manual on Torture Prevention.

7th Annual Meeting of the South East Asia National Human Rights Institutions Forum (SEANF)
The meeting was hosted by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 15-16 November 2010.
The objective of the meeting was to further strengthen the cooperation between SEANF members and other human rights institutions to promote and protect human rights at the national, regional and international levels.
The meeting was attended by representatives from he National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia (Komnas HAM), the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP), the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) and the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice of Timor Leste (PDHJ), as well as representatives from the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF), the European Union (EU), the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW), the ASEAN Commission on the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Regional Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.
Among the main highlights of the meeting were the admission of the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice of Timor Leste as the fifth member of SEANF as well as the handing over of SEANF’s chairmanship from SUHAKAM to CHRP. The Meeting also identified a way forward for SEANF in supporting regional and international mechanisms and further agreed to develop a Five-Year Strategic Plan which would serve as a roadmap for SEANF in pursuing its role to promote and protect human rights in the coming years.
 ICC Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA): 11 – 15 October 2010.
SCA reviewed NHRIs from the following countries:

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  New accreditation: Congo
  
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  Re-accreditation: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Slovakia.
  
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  Special Review: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Honduras, Jordan, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Morocco, Qatar, and Senegal.
  

Parallel Event: the Role of the Defensoría del Pueblo de Panamá in the Universal Periodic Review

On the sidelines of the 9th session of the UPR, on 2 November, the Defensoría del Pueblo de Panama co-organized with the OHCHR a public event on the role of the NHRIs in the UPR process.

The Defensor, Mr. Ricardo Vargas, Panama’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva, Mr. Alberto Navarro, the Chief of Branch, America, Europe and Central Asia, Mr. Gianni Magazzeni, the Chief of National Institutions and Regional Mechanism Section, Mr. Vladlen Stefanov, and Mr. Roland Chauville from the NGO UPR- Info participated as panellists in the event.

The active role of the Defensoría in the process of the UPR, included activities such as dissemination of materials and information on the UPR process, regular meetings with Government authorities, workshops held in cooperation with the OHCHR country office in Panama and civil society. This process included the contributions by more than 70 civil society organizations to the UPR process, as well as the signing of OPCAT by the Republic of Panama.

The Defensor, also raised critical developments in Panama in relation to freedom of expression and association, as well to the incidents in the Boca del Toro district in July 2010, which the Defensoría has investigated and provided recommendations to the Government on the need of investigation, accountability and reparation.

OHCHR Sub-Regional Seminar for Parliamentarians on the Role of Parliament in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
On 22-24 November 2010, in Monrovia, Liberia, OHCHR organised a seminar for West African parliamentarians. The principal objective of the seminar was to empower Parliament, as a key democratic and representative institution, to perform a more active role in the protection of human rights, as well as to ensure that States uphold their obligations under international and regional human rights treaties.
The seminar was hosted by the government of Liberia, in conjunction with the Rule of Law and Democracy Section of OHCHR, which partnered with the National Institutions Section of OHCHR, and the human rights section of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The seminar attracted participation at the highest levels of regional parliaments and national human rights institutions in the region.

Regional Seminar on Establishing and Strengthening of National Human Rights Institutions in Southern Africa
On 7-9 December 2010, OHCHR organized, in cooperation with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), a seminar on the establishment and strengthening of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Southern Africa.
The objective of this meeting was to strengthen the capacity and encourage the establishment of NHRIs in Southern Africa, through engagement with representatives of NHRIs, Governments, civil society, especially from countries where no NHRIs exist.
Prominent human rights practitioners from the region shared their expertise on the Paris Principles, including matters of independence, pluralism, the procedure for accreditation of NHRIs and the mandates and functions of NHRIs.
Capacity assessment of NHRIs

OHCHR, in cooperation with UNDP and the Asia Pacific Forum of NHRIs (APF) supported the National Centre for Human Rights of Jordan (2-15 October) and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (1-12 November) to carry out their respective capacity needs assessments.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Africa

Burundi: On 24^th December 2010, the Senate of the Republic of Burundi adopted the Law on the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in Burundi.
Central Africa Republic: A workshop on the draft law for the establishment of a national human rights commission took place in Bangui, Central African Republic from 15-16 December 2010. It was organised by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Good Governance of Central Africa, together with the Human Rights Section of BINUCA and OHCHR. Parliamentarians, civil servants, regional prefects and members of Civil Society Organisations participated at the workshop. Various presentations were made on the Paris Principles and on the important role that NHRIs can play at the national, regional and international levels. The participants had the opportunity to provide their input to the draft law. At the end of the workshop, a new draft was prepared to be submitted to the Parliament.
Liberia: OHCHR in conjunction with the United Nations Mission in Liberia’s Human Rights and protection section organised a three day workshop (24-26 November 2010) for members of the newly created Liberia Independent National Commission on Human Rights.

NHRIs representatives from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, shared best practices and practical experiences on the functional nature of NHRIs.

Zimbabwe: The Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) facilitated the study tour for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) to South Africa from 8 to 12 November. The study tour was organized in cooperation with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), and included briefings at the SAHRC with various officials, along with meetings in Pretoria and Johannesburg with a number of SAHRC’s key interlocutors in the government, civil society and other national institutions. The study tour was organized under the auspices of an ongoing joint UNDP-OHCHR project to build the capacity of the ZHRC Commissioners.

Asia and the Pacific




Afghanistan:  On October 18, the Government of Afghanistan decided to include the budget of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in the State's budget. It instructed the Ministry of Finance to create a separate budget unit for 2011 that guarantees the Commission's full independence. The AIHRC welcomed this decision as a first step by the Government in fulfilling its commitment to provide political and financial support to the AIHRC as an independent state mechanism.



Oman: From 30 October to 3 November 2010, OHCHR organized in Muscat a workshop on the Paris Principles for members of the Oman Human Rights Committee
Thailand: On 23 and 24 November 2010, OHCHR and UNDP organized in Bangkok a regional consultation on NHRIs and civil society organizations’ engagement with the international human rights system.

New Zealand: From 29 November to 3 December 2010, OHCHR and the NHRI of New Zealand organized a sub-regional consultation in Auckland on the operationalization by NHRIs of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Europe




Ireland: A new initiative was launched in March 2010 by the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) focussing on human rights education and training for civil and public servants.

One of the aims of the 16-month Project is to provide information and materials which other NHRIs could modify for use in their own national contexts.

Contact Fiona Murphy, Project Coordinator at [e-mail] or Kirsten Roberts, Director of Research, Policy and Promotion at [e-mail]
UPCOMING EVENTS

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  16th session of the Human Rights Council Geneva, 28 February - 25 March 2011
  

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  10^th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR Working Group). 24 January – 4 February 2011. Countries under review: Australia, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Sao Tome and Prince. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx
  

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  101st session of the Human Rights Committee. 11 March to 1 April 2011, New York. Countries under review: Dominican Republic, Iran, Malawi, Mongolia, Norway, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Togo, and Yemen. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs101.htm
  

• 
  78^th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 14 February – 11 March 2011. Countries under review: Armenia, Bolivia, Cuba, Ireland, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Rwanda, Serbia, Spain, and Uruguay. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds78.htm
  

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  48^th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. 17 January – 4 February 2011. Countries under review: Bangladesh, Belarus, Israel, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws48.htm
  

• 
  56^th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 17 January – 4 February 2011. Countries under review: Afghanistan, Belarus, Denmark, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mexico New Zealand, Singapore, and Ukraine. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs56.htm
  

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  Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the ICC, 23 – 27 May 2011. National Human Rights Institutions under review:
  
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    New accreditation: Bangladesh, Sweden, Romania, Argentina.
    
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    Re-accreditation: Australia, Austria, Canada, El Salvador, India, Mauritania, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, and Slovakia
    
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    Special reviews: Azerbaijan, and Senegal
    

• 
  24th session of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). Geneva, 16 – 20 May 2011.