Position paper 2007 relating to substantive and other aspects of attacking the root cause of violence

As part of a wider project funded by the European Union and other donors, OMCT organised an international seminar in Geneva on “Addressing the economic, social and cultural root causes of violence through the UN Special Procedures System” from 18 to 22 June 2007. This seminar, attended by representatives of national human rights NGOs from 14 countries, was an important element of OMCT’s three-year project on “Preventing Torture and Other Forms of Violence by acting on their Economic, Social and Cultural Root Causes.”

 

This OMCT project is intended to develop concrete measures to act upon this link and reduce levels of violence associated with socio-economic conditions. The Special Procedures mechanisms represent a significant element in this regard. It is, therefore, important that national NGOs addressing both human rights and development issues are aware of how to interact most effectively with these mechanisms.

 

This document contains expert papers and NGO case studies developed during the 2007 OMCT Special Procedures Seminar. We believe that this information is very relevant to the UN Special Procedures System, and its Mandate Holders.

 

Presentations (reproduced in Section II) by two invited experts, Mr. François Beaujolin and Mr. Yves Berthelot, examined the macro-economic and political policies that need to be addressed to reduce inequality and the resulting violence and illustrated the ways that national NGOs, with international collaboration, can effectively act against government policies that risk increasing poverty.

 

The NGO representatives - from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Egypt, Gambia, Georgia, India, Liberia, Nepal, South Africa and Zambia - presented case studies (summarised in Section III) discussing the specific economic, social and cultural root causes of torture and violence in their countries, and discussed what national NGOs needed to do to help make the special procedures effective. They also held in-depth discussions with special procedures mandate holders responsible for issues relating to torture, indigenous peoples, the right to health, arbitrary detention, protection of human rights defenders and violations of human rights by private security forces.

 

The participants in the seminar concluded that in order to fight violence it is crucial for NGOs to identify and address its economic, social and cultural root causes; that NGO action can be effective in this regard, that the United Nations procedures can be of significant assistance if NGOs provide reliable and targeted information, and that it is important for OMCT to continue to develop its capacity to support national NGOs in this area.

 

OMCT is grateful to the European Union, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Karl Popper Foundation, the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation and the Foundation for Human Rights at Work for their financial support for this project.