Special Procedures Seminar Report 2009

OMCT'sthird international seminar on "Addressing the economic, social andcultural root causes of violence through the UN Special Procedures System"took place from 29 June to 3 July 2009 in Geneva. Fourteen representatives ofnational human rights NGOs from Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, the Gambia,Georgia, India, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Syria, Uganda,Uruguay and Zimbabwe discussed and prepared complaints for submission to UN SpecialProcedures mechanisms. The seminar is an important component of OMCT's projecton "Preventing Torture and Other Forms of Violence by acting on theirEconomic, Social and Cultural Root Causes," now in its third year. The project seeks to address torture and other formsof violence by building the capacity of NGOs to impact the economic, social andcultural root causes of that violence through both national and internationalinstruments. The UN Special Procedures mechanisms are a valuable resource inthis regard, and it is important that national NGOs can effectively utilize them. The Special Procedures Seminar built on theknowledge gained from the previous two seminars. The first Special ProceduresSeminar, held in 2007, focused on analyzing and understanding the links betweenthe violation of economic, social and cultural rights and violence. The secondseminar, in 2008, focused on developing concrete recommendations to address theroot causes of violence in specific cases. The 2009 seminar continued thisemphasis on developing concrete responses to specific issues by identifyingpractical steps to aid NGO participants in developing interventions and/oralternative reports for submission to UN Special Procedures mandate holders. To achieve these objectives, prior to theSeminar participants each submitted a five to ten page paper detailing theeconomic, social and cultural rights issues and the link to violence in theirrespective countries, with a focus on specific case studies. During the Seminar,participants first came together in a plenary session to introduce themselvesand their cases studies, and to understand the various ways violations ofeconomic, social and cultural rights are linked to violence and how acting onthose root causes can reduce violence. In smaller working groups of four orfive, participants then discussed their individual case studies in depth andworked to identify how action on the root causes of violence could relate tothe specific circumstances of the participants’ countries. Each then drafted anoutline of an Action File, press release or other intervention, and a plan fordissemination to government bodies, international organisations and relevantmandate holders. To facilitate interaction with UN Special Proceduresmandate holders, the Seminar was held in parallel with their 15thannual meeting. National NGO representatives attended a session of the annualmandate holders meeting, and met with mandate holders responsible for issuesrelated to Water and Sanitation, Violence Against Women, Poverty, Human RightsDefenders and Violence Against Children, as well as the Special Representativeof the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and formerChair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Mr.Yves Berthelot, former Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commissionfor Europe, and Mr. François Beaujolin,President of the Foundation for Human Rights at Work, provided a theoreticalframework for the discussion. Mr. Berthelot drew attention to practicalhurdles, such as impunity, misinformation and lack of accessible informationamong the public, that NGOs face in addressing violations of economic, socialand cultural rights and torture. Mr. Beaujolin provided an analysis of theeconomic link between corruption, demographic growth, and discriminatorycultural practices and violations of civil and political rights, includingtorture. Ms. Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy, OMCT Director of Operations,discussed the EU Guidelines on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingpunishment or treatment, and how NGOs might use the guidelines to addressrights violations in their countries. Finally, a paper by Dr. Michael Miller,OMCT Director of Research and Development, addressed the issue of economicrelativism as an obstacle to addressing human rights violations. Two Seminar participants also gave presentationsregarding their work. Mr. Luis Emmanuel Barbosa Cunha presented information onthe Human Rights Monitoring Project, a collaboration between national NGOs tomonitor and facilitate implementation of Special Procedures and UN treaty bodyrecommendations for Brazil. Mr. Kirity Roy screened a short film produced byhis organisation regarding inadequate forensic practices and the difficulty indetermining a reliable cause of death for victims of violence in West Bengal,India. In the final session, participants discussed thecross-cutting issues that were common to many of their cases. Access to landand forced evictions, violence against women, children and other vulnerablegroups, corruption and impunity, poor implementation of existing legislationand international obligations, an ineffective judiciary, and flawed criminaljustice practices were an issue for a majority of the participants. The NGOrepresentatives also discussed the support they would need in the future, andagreed on the next steps to continue the work begun at the Seminar. Overall, as the results of the final evaluationsummarised in Appendix IV show, 85% of participants found the content andorganisation of the Seminar to be good. In addition, they made a number ofvaluable comments and suggestions that OMCT will take into account in itsfuture work. Theproject is funded by the European Union, the Karl Popper Foundation, theInterchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), and the Foundationfor Human Rights at Work. OMCT wishes to thank the participants and presentersfor their contributions, and Ms. Lisa Knox for the preparation of this positionpaper.