Credit: Romano1246 via Wikimedia Commons
In the month of March 2017, various universal and regional bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, review of individual complaints, and deliberation over thematic reports. Five United Nations treaty bodies will meet to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to economic, social, and cultural rights; discrimination against women; enforced disappearances; civil and political rights; and the rights of persons with disabilities. The Human Right Council will continue its 34th session. During the session, it will consider reports from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, and the UN Secretary General and hold dialogues with UN special procedure mandate holders on a variety of topics, including freedom of religion, migrants, and the environment, among others. Four UN special procedure mandate holders will conduct country visits.
Regionally, the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, will hold sessions or hearings this month. The European Court of Human Rights will hold Grand Chamber hearings in two cases – one concerning the pre-trial detention of a former Prime Minister of Georgia and one concerning the right to a fair trial in the context of disciplinary hearings for three judges in Portugal.
UN treaty body sessions may be watched via UN Web TV . To view human rights bodies’ past and future activities, visit the IJRC Hearings & Sessions Calendar.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 60th Pre-Sessional Working Group
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) will continue its 60th Pre-Sessional Working Group in Geneva, Switzerland, which began February 27, and ends March 3, 2017. According to the programme of work, the CESCR will consider the reports of Colombia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, and Russia. At the pre-sessional working group meeting, the working group adopts lists of issues for the States parties under consideration to respond to before the next session. The meetings of the pre-sessional working group are closed. The full Committee will review these States’ reports and the States’ replies to the lists of issues as well as civil society information in September and October 2017. Civil society may submit supplemental information to the Committee on those States under review.
To view session documents, including information for civil society organizations, visit the 60th Pre-Sessional Working Group webpage.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 66th Session and 68th Pre-Sessional Working Group
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) will continue its 66th session in Geneva, Switzerland, which began February 13 and ends March 3, 2017. According to the programme of work, the CEDAW Committee conducted interactive dialogues with El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Jordan, Micronesia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine concerning their implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. After considering their reports and information from civil society, the Committee will issue concluding observations on each State, noting challenges to implementation of the Convention and positive developments. According to the agenda, the Committee also will consider follow-up information from States on the Committee’s recommendations and observations.
To view session documents, including information submitted by civil society, visit the 66th Session webpage.
The CEDAW Committee will also hold its 68th Pre-Sessional Working Group from March 6 to March 10, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the list of reports, the CEDAW Committee will consider reports from Burkina Faso, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Guatemala, Kenya, Kuwait, Monaco, Nauru, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, and Singapore during this session and adopt lists of issues for each State to respond to before the full Committee reviews their reports in October and November. Additionally, a list of issues prior to reporting concerning Liechtenstein will be considered during the 68th session.
To view session documents, including State reports, visit the 68th Pre-Sessional Working Group webpage.
Committee on Enforced Disappearances 12th Session
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) will hold its 12th Session in Geneva, Switzerland from March 6 to March 17, 2017. According to the programme of work, the CED will consider the State reports of Cuba, Ecuador, and Senegal on implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Additionally, the CED will consider lists of issues prior to reporting concerning Lithuania and Gabon. After considering their reports and information from civil society, the Committee will later issue concluding observations on each State, noting challenges to implementation of the Convention and positive developments.
According to the agenda, in its 12th session the CED will also consider individual communications and hold meetings with intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions (NHRIs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders regarding the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Civil society may attend the public sessions of the Committee. To view session documents, and information relevant to NGOs and NHRIs, including on accreditation, visit the 12th Session webpage. To follow the session online, visit the live webcast.
Human Rights Committee 119th Session
The Human Rights Committee will hold its 119th Session in Geneva, Switzerland from March 6 to March 29, 2017. According to the programme of work, the Human Rights Committee will consider the reports of Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Serbia, Thailand, and Turkmenistan on implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Human Rights Committee will also consider the country situation of Swaziland, although the Committee does not have a report from the State; it does have a civil society report on the State. After considering their reports and information from civil society, the Committee will later issue concluding observations on each State, noting challenges to implementation of the treaty and positive developments. Additionally, the task forces of the Committee will consider and adopt lists of issues for Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Mauritius, and Netherlands.
According to the agenda, the Human Rights Committee will meet with representatives from UN organizations and agencies, consider individual communications, and review follow-up information concerning the Committees’ concluding observations on State party reports. According to the programme of work, the Committee will also discuss the General Comment on Article 6.
According to the NGO Information Note, organizations wanting to attend the Session needed to register by February 24. To view session documents, including information relevant to NGOs and NHRIs and to the procedural aspects of interactive dialogues with States, visit the 119th Session webpage. To follow the session online, visit the live webcast.
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 7th Pre-Sessional Working Group and 17th Session
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), will hold its 7th Pre-Sessional Working Group from March 13 to March 20, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the session webpage, the CRPD will consider the State reports of Haiti, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The pre-sessional working group adopts lists of issues for each State to respond to before the full Committee considers their State reports. The full Committee will consider these State reports in August and September 2017. Civil society may submit additional information ahead of that review.
To view session documents, including State reports, visit the 7th Pre-Sessional Working Group webpage.
The CRPD will also hold its 17th Session from March 20 to April 12, 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the programme of work, the CRPD will consider the State reports of Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Cyprus, Honduras, Iran, Jordan, and Republic of Moldova on implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. After considering the States’ reports and supplemental information from civil society, the Committee will adopt concluding observations on each State, noting areas of concern and of improvement and providing recommendations. Furthermore, according to the agenda, the CRPD will consider and adopt lists of issues concerning El Salvador, Hungary, Peru, and Spain.
Additionally, according to the agenda, the CRPD is scheduled to discuss how to strengthen cooperation between the CRPD and UN entities, specialized agencies, and non-governmental organizations to promote rights protections for persons with disabilities; to review progress regarding a general comment on the right to live independently and to be included within the community; to consider the implementation of General Assembly resolution 68/268 on enhancing the functioning of the treaty body system; and to consider complaints under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
To view session documents, including the agenda, State party reports, and information from civil society, visit the 17th Session webpage. To follow the session online, visit the live webcast.
Human Rights Council 34th Session
The Human Right Council will continue its 34th session in Geneva, Switzerland, which began on February 27, and ends March 24, 2017. According to the programme of work and the agenda, the Human Rights Council will host panels, forums, or dialogues on human rights mainstreaming, the death penalty, climate change, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights of the child, access to medicines, maternal mortality, the human rights situation in the Syria, and racial profiling and incitement to hatred.
Additionally, numerous thematic interactive dialogues will take place during the 34th session with special procedure mandate holders on the issues of foreign debt, adequate housing, human rights defenders, torture, terrorism, cultural rights, albinism, disabilities, truth and justice, freedom of religion, violence against children and children in armed conflict, privacy, sale of children, the environment, food, and minorities.
The Human Rights Council will also consider a number of reports during the 34th session, including reports from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, the UN Secretary General, and special procedures mandate holders; appoint mandate holders for the special procedure positions of UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, and a member of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances; and hold elections for members of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.
Those who are not able to attend are encouraged to participate via video message. More information regarding NGO accreditation information and NGO participation is available on the Human Rights Council’s 34th session webpage.
UN Special Procedures
Four UN special procedure mandate holders will conduct country visits in March.
The Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is scheduled to visit Argentina from March 1 to 10.
The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is scheduled to visit Indonesia from March 22 to April 3.
The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples is scheduled to visit the United States from February 22 to March 3, 2017.
The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons is scheduled to visit Namibia from March 2 to March 13, 2017.
The Special Rapporteur on the right to food was scheduled to visit Argentina in March, but the visit has been postponed.
During country visits, special procedures mandate holders assess the overall human rights situation of a country as well as issues specific to their thematic focus. Experts often meet with members of civil society, government officials, and representatives of national human rights institutions in that country. Following each visit, experts prepare and submit reports to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly. See OHCHR, Country and Visits of Special Procedures.
To view the full list of forthcoming country visits, visit the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights website. For more information about each special procedure, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights 44th Ordinary Session
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) will hold its 44th Ordinary Session from March 6 to March 24, 2017 in Arusha, Tanzania. During its sessions, the African Court holds hearings on the admissibility and merits of pending complaints alleging violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and any other international human rights treaty.
The AfCHPR is a regional human rights tribunal with both advisory and contentious jurisdiction. Generally, the AfCHPR holds four ordinary sessions a year and additional extraordinary sessions when the President of the Court calls for one. Individuals and non-governmental organizations with observer status before the African Commission may bring cases directly to the Court, provided the relevant State has accepted the Court’s jurisdiction over individual complaints; eight States – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda (although Rwanda has communicated its withdrawal from this jurisdiction), and Tanzania – have accepted this jurisdiction. The AfCHPR may also hear cases on the merits referred by the ACHPR or brought by a State party to the Protocol to the African Charter on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights against any of the 30 States that have accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.
For more information on the AfCHPR, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber Hearings
In March, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will hold Grand Chamber hearings in two cases. See ECtHR, Calendar of Hearings. The first concerns the pre-trial detention of a former Prime Minister of Georgia, and the second concerns the right to a fair trial of three judges subjected to disciplinary hearings in Portugal.
Merabishvili v. Georgia
The ECtHR will hold a hearing on the case Merabishvili v. Georgia on March 8, 2017. See ECtHR, Calendar of Hearings. In its Chamber judgment, the ECtHR found that the pre-trial detention of Ivane Merabishvili, a leader in the opposition party and a former Prime Minster of Georgia, violated his right to liberty and security, specifically the right to a trial within a reasonable time. [ECtHR Press Release] Although the Court found that Merabishvili had at his disposal the possibility to request review of the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention, that the relevant law imposed a maximum length of time on detention, and that the domestic court’s ruling to place Merabishvili in pre-trial detention was justified as he was a flight risk, the Chamber judgment held that the superficial nature of the domestic court’s review of his detention violated his right to liberty and security. The domestic court, the ECtHR noted, did not issue a written decision or provide justifications for its decision. [ECtHR Press Release]
Additionally, the Chamber judgment held that the State violated Article 18 of the European Convention (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) because the detention was used to obtain leverage in an unrelated investigation and to conduct an enquiry into the finances of the former President of Georgia. According to Article 18, restrictions to the rights enumerated under the Convention may only be used for the purposes prescribed. The case was referred to the Grand Chamber on October 17, 2016. [ECtHR Press Release]
Ramos Nunes De Carvalho e Sá v. Portugal
The ECtHR will hold a hearing on the case Ramos Nunes De Carvalho e Sá and Others v. Portugal on March 22, 2017. See ECtHR, Calendar of Hearings. The case concerns three judges from Portugal who were all subjected to disciplinary proceedings that they allege violated their rights to a fair hearing. In its Chamber judgment, the ECtHR found violations of the right to a fair trial. In one instance, a majority of the High Council of the Judiciary conducting the proceedings were non-judicial authorities and there were no requirements regarding those members’ qualifications. Therefore, the Court found that the High Council of the Judiciary was not necessarily impartial and independent. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Justice’s review of the disciplinary proceedings was insufficient, the European Court determined, because it failed to review disputed facts and because it refused to review the High Council of the Judiciary’s proceedings more broadly. Finally, the Supreme Court of Justice also refused to hear from one witness, denying the applicant’s right to defend herself, and the Supreme Court of Justice should have, the European Court determined, held a public hearing to guarantee a fair proceeding. The case was referred to the Grand Chamber on October 17, 2016. [ECtHR Press Release]
The ECtHR is a regional human rights judicial body based in Strasbourg, France. The ECtHR serves a complementary role to the European Committee of Social Rights, which oversees European States’ respect for social and economic rights. The Court has jurisdiction to decide complaints submitted by individuals and States concerning violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, which principally concerns civil and political rights.
For more information on the ECtHR, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
The European Committee of Social Rights 291st Session
The European Committee of Social Rights will hold its 291st Session from March 21 to March 24, 2017 in Strasbourg, France. See Council of Europe, Sessions: calendar, agendas and synopsis. The ECSR assesses States’ compliance with the European Social Charter, which protects economic and social rights. During its sessions, the ECSR reviews collective complaints, examines national reports, and follows up on the Turin process, which aims to improve implementation of the Charter at the continental level.
According to the ECSR’s calendar for national reporting, in the year 2017, it will consider State reports concerning the Charter rights on health, social security, and social protection from France, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Finland. The ECSR will consider simplified reports on the same topic from the Netherlands, Sweden, Croatia, Norway, Slovenia, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic. Simplified reports focus on areas of non-conformity identified in the Committee’s previous conclusions. The States’ reports were due in October 2016. The Committee adopts and publishes conclusions at the end of the calendar year on each State’s compliance with the relevant provisions of the European Social Charter. The Committee’s conclusions may also include recommendations. See IJRC, European Committee of Social Rights.
The European Committee of Social Rights is a regional human rights body that oversees the protection of certain economic and social rights in most of Europe. In addition to the reporting system, the Committee also receives collective complaints against States on violations of the European Social Charter. Fifteen States have accepted the jurisdiction of the collective complaints procedure. See IJRC, European Committee of Social Rights.
Information, including a session agenda and synopsis, will be available on the ECSR’s sessions webpage.
For more information on the European Committee of Social Rights, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 161st Regular Session
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold its 161st Regular Session from March 15 to March 22, 2017 in Washington, D.C. See IACHR, Calendar. During the session, the IACHR will hold public hearings on the human rights situations in the region and will conduct working meetings aimed at following-up on precautionary measures and friendly settlements. [IACHR Press Release: 161]
Public hearings will take place on March 17, 20, 21, and 22; working meetings will take place on March 18. See IACHR, Calendar. According to the session’s hearings calendar, the IACHR will hold 40 hearings on Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Chile, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Cuba, the United States, El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana as well as thematic issues that span across the region. The Commission is holding several ex officio hearings, convened at the IACHR’s own initiative, and is accepting requests from civil society organizations to participate in those hearings. Requests must be submitted by March 1, 2017. Additionally, the IACHR will consider reports on cases and will meet with human rights organizations from the region. [IACHR Press Release: 161; IACHR Press Release: Hearings]
The IACHR is a regional body in the Americas that promotes and protects human rights violations in the Member States of the Organization of American States. The IACHR has announced that it will hold five sessions this year in the United States, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, and one additional location that is yet to be determined. [IACHR Press Release: 2017 Sessions] Individuals and NGOs may submit requests for thematic hearings prior to sessions. The IACHR also accepts individual complaints on specific alleged human rights violations to the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the American Convention on Human Rights, and other regional human rights treaties.
For more information on the IACHR, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights 57th Special Session
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) will hold its 57th Special Session from March 20 to March 28, 2017. See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Session Dates. During its sessions, the IACtHR typically holds public hearings on the merits of individual complaints and deliberates on contentious cases alleging human rights violations.
The IACtHR is the judicial organ of the Inter-American human rights system that deliberates on cases referred to it by Sates parties or the IACHR. The cases reviewed by the Court are always first processed by the Commission. Cases before the Court may only be against Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) that have specifically accepted the Court’s contentious jurisdiction. There are 20 OAS members that have opted into the IACtHR’s contentious jurisdiction, which are Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay. See IJRC, Inter-American System.
For more information on the IACtHR, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.
Additional Information
For more information on UN treaty bodies; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women; the Committee on Enforced Disappearances; the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the Human Rights Council; UN special procedures; the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; the European Court of Human Rights; the European Committee of Social Rights; the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights or for upcoming sessions and hearings, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.