UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/11/6/Add.1 26 May 2009 ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH ONLY HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Eleventh session Agenda item 3 PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk* Addendum COMMUNICATIONS TO AND FROM GOVERNMENTS** * The report was submitted late in order to reflect the most recent information. ** The report is being circulated in the languages of submission only as it greatly exceeds the page limitations currently imposed by the relevant General Assembly resolutions. GE.09-13435 (E) 090609 A/HRC/11/6/Add.1 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 - 3 4 II. OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS .......................................... 4 - 10 4 III. COMMUNICATIONS SENT AND GOVERNMENT REPLIES RECEIVED ....................................................................... 11 - 671 6 Afghanistan ........................................................................................ 12 - 24 7 Bahrain ............................................................................................... 25 - 43 8 Brazil .................................................................................................. 44 - 46 11 Canada ............................................................................................... 47 - 64 11 Colombia ............................................................................................ 65 - 70 14 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ............................................... 71 - 75 14 Egypt .................................................................................................. 76 - 89 15 Ethiopia .............................................................................................. 90 - 109 18 France (au nom de l’Union Européenne) ........................................... 110 - 165 20 Guatemala .......................................................................................... 166 - 176 29 Honduras ............................................................................................ 177 - 184 31 India ................................................................................................... 185 - 246 32 Iran (Islamic Republic of) .................................................................. 247 - 337 41 Iraq ..................................................................................................... 338 - 340 55 Ireland ................................................................................................ 341 - 353 55 Kyrgyzstan ......................................................................................... 354 - 384 57 Malaysia ............................................................................................. 385 - 388 62 Mexico ............................................................................................... 389 - 420 62 Myanmar ............................................................................................ 421 - 424 68 A/HRC/11/6/Add.1 page 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page Nepal .................................................................................................. 425 - 439 69 Nicaragua ........................................................................................... 440 - 447 71 Norway .............................................................................................. 448 - 456 73 Pakistan .............................................................................................. 457 - 554 74 Papua New Guinea ............................................................................ 555 - 559 88 People’s Republic of China ............................................................... 560 - 589 89 Philippines ......................................................................................... 590 - 598 93 Democratic Republic of the Congo ................................................... 599 - 604 94 Saudi Arabia ...................................................................................... 605 - 615 95 Somalia .............................................................................................. 616 - 619 97 Sudan ................................................................................................. 620 - 653 97 Tunisia ............................................................................................... 654 - 665 103 Turkey ................................................................................................ 666 - 670 105 United Arab Emirates ........................................................................ 671 - 676 105 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ................... 677 - 682 106 United States of America ................................................................... 683 - 686 108 Zimbabwe .......................................................................................... 687 - 715 108 A/HRC/11/6/Add.1 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 2005/41 entitled “Elimination of violence against women”, encouraged the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences (hereinafter “the Special Rapporteur”) to respond effectively to reliable information that comes before her and requested all Governments to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of her mandated tasks and duties, to supply all information requested, including with regard to implementation of her recommendations, and to respond to the Special Rapporteur’s visits and communications. 2. The present addendum to the Special Rapporteur’s annual report contains, on a country by country basis, summaries of individual allegations, as well as urgent appeals sent to Governments on individual cases and general situations of concern to her mandate. This report includes summaries of the communications sent from 5 December 2007 to 28 February 2009 (with respect to allegation letters), and from 5 January 2008 to 02 April 2009 (with respect to urgent appeals). The report also contains summaries of government replies received until 30 April 2009. 3. The Special Rapporteur recalls that in issuing urgent appeals and transmitting allegations, she does not make any judgment concerning the merits of the respective cases, nor does she necessarily support the opinions and activities of the persons on behalf of whom she intervenes. The names of individual victims and alleged perpetuators have been replaced by initials in order to protect the privacy and prevent further victimization of the former and to prevent undue judgement of the latter. In the original communications, the full names of victims and perpetuators have been provided to the Government concerned. II. OVERVIEW OF COMMUNICATIONS 1. Communications sent 4. From 5 December 2007 to 02 April 2009, the Special Rapporteur transmitted 93 communications to 34 Member States: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe. A total of 37 communications (which represents 40 %) were sent to five States alone, i.e. Iran, Pakistan, India, Mexico and Sudan. 5. A total of 51 communications are allegation letters pertaining to allegations of human rights violations that had already occurred or reflect longstanding concerns. In 42 cases, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal because a human rights violation was ongoing or imminent, and there was a need to inform the government authorities about the allegations received without any delay. A/HRC/11/6/Add.1 page 5 6. 80 out of 93 communications were sent jointly with other mandate holders of the Human Rights Council, as follows: • The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (41) • The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (30) • The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (25) • The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (14) • The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (9) • The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (8) • Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living (5) • The Special Rapporteur on the right to education (3) • Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (3) • The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (2) • The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (2) • The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people (2) • The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (1) • The independent expert on minority issues (1) • The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (1) • The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (1) • The