DOCSLIB.ORG

2 0 0 9 R E P O R T O N a C Tivities a N D R Es U

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
2 0 0 9 R E P O R T O N a C Tivities a N D R Es U 2009 REPORT on Activities and Results Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights s ht g Ri TS n L a U S um RE H r D fo N r A ne S o IE si IT is V m TI m C o A C N h O ig H T R e th PO f o RE 9 ce 0 ffi 0 2 O 2009REPORT Activities and Results Contents Foreword by the High Commissioner ............................................................................................................. 5 I. Summary of Results....................................................................................................................................... 7 II. OHCHR 2009 Report...................................................................................................................................... 15 About OHCHR .................................................................................................................................................. 16 Support for the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures................................................................... 22 Support for International Human Rights Treaty Bodies................................................................................. 37 Thematic Human Rights Challenges and Human Rights Mainstreaming...................................................... 42 Outreach............................................................................................................................................................ 61 Programme Planning, Management and Support........................................................................................... 69 OHCHR in the Field.......................................................................................................................................... 72 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 72 Africa ............................................................................................................................................................. 75 The Americas ................................................................................................................................................ 109 Asia and the Pacific...................................................................................................................................... 125 Europe and Central Asia .............................................................................................................................. 142 Middle East and North Africa ...................................................................................................................... 158 Rapid Response and Support for Peace Missions ...................................................................................... 166 Supporting National Human Rights Institutions and Regional Mechanisms ............................................ 169 III. Humanitarian Funds ..................................................................................................................................... 173 IV. Financial Statements for Year Ending 31 December 2009.................................................................... 179 V. Funding and Donor Profiles........................................................................................................................ 187 Annexes 1. Organizational Chart..................................................................................................................................... 223 2. OHCHR’s Expected Accomplishments for 2008-2009 – Results Table ..................................................... 224 OHCHR 2009 REPORT 3 Foreword by the High Commissioner This report, my second as High Commissioner for Human Rights, presents in all its diversity the work carried out in 2009 by UN human rights officers in Geneva and around the world. It spells out many of the specific activities implemented during the course of the year, the results achieved and the challenges encountered along the way. The report is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the almost 1,000-strong staff of my Office and other UN staff working with us to support international human rights bodies and mechanisms, to monitor and draw attention to human rights problems, and to strengthen human rights institutions, laws and policies at national level. Over the past year, OHCHR has responded to a series of new and emerging challenges while maintaining its efforts to counter long-standing and chronic human rights conditions. The cataclysmic earthquake that struck Haiti and its aftermath illustrated the multiple and deeply rooted vulnerabilities that leave so many unprotected in the wake of a natural disaster. We were able to swiftly deploy a team to Haiti, where we were tasked to lead the UN protection cluster, and fielded seven other rapid response missions following unfolding crises, including three in Africa, three in the Middle East and one in South America. We added to our existing network of field presences with the opening of the new UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South West Asia and the Arab Region in Qatar; a Regional Office for South America in Santiago de Chile (upgrading of a former liaison office); and a new Regional Office for Europe, in Brussels, which became operational in late 2009. An agreement with the Government of Mauritania was signed in September 2009 to establish a country office that will become operational in 2010. In Geneva, in a busy year at the inter-governmental level, we lent our support to the effort to find a consensus among countries on one of the great human rights issues of our age: racial discrimination. The Durban Review Conference, held in Geneva in April, showed that it is possible for States to come together and debate and agree to steps to tackle an issue that undermines the rights of people in every country in the world. After a lengthy and at times tense preparatory process, 182 States agreed on a common document, called the Outcome Document, enshrining a common aspiration: to defy intolerance in all its manifestations and work to stamp it out. Discrimination was also the theme of a global public information campaign that I launched in South Africa on Human Rights Day in December under the slogan “Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination.” Finally, 2009 also saw considerable effort applied to the preparation of the Office’s principal planning document for the new biennium: the High Commissioner’s Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2010-2011. The new SMP, which builds on the biennial programme of work approved by the General Assembly in December 2008, reflects my determination for the Office to develop a OHCHR 2009 REPORT 5 sharper strategic focus and a better definition of those areas where we expect to see measurable progress being made by the end of the biennium. For planning purposes we have selected six thematic priorities on which we will concentrate our efforts going forward. Of these, one relates to strengthening the effectiveness of the wider human rights system, especially the Human Rights Council, treaty bodies, special procedures and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism; the remaining five reflect age-old human rights challenges – impunity, discrimination, conflict and poverty – as well as one more contemporary, emerging challenge, that is posed by unprecedented levels of migration in a globalized world. These thematic priorities have been integrated into the work of all parts of the Office – from the field to headquarters. They will help us to better organize our interventions and better measure our impact. In closing, allow me to thank all those who have contributed to our work over the past year and continue to support us in our current efforts. In this I include, of course, our staff, partners within the United Nations system, Member States, national human rights institutions and civil society. Our appreciation goes in particular to our donors – new and old, large and small – without whose voluntary contributions only a fraction of the work presented here would have been possible. It was a considerable relief that last year, with the world economic crisis at its height, donors were able to maintain their funding for our work. We count on continued support in this new biennium, as we work to identify and develop potential new sources of funding to reinforce the support provided by our regular donors. Navanethem Pillay High Commissioner April 2010 6 OHCHR 2009 REPORT SUMMARY OF RESULTS Summary of Results Key initiatives in 2009 situation in all 192 UN Member States is reviewed on a rolling basis. With the end of the first cycle of reviews approaching in 2012, the focus is shifting to After several years of rapid growth in staffing and implementation of recommendations, an area where spending, the Office of the United Nations High OHCHR stands ready to assist and is already active. Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) focused OHCHR also provided support to the April 2009 in 2009 on consolidating its programmes at Durban Review Conference, tasked with assessing Headquarters and in the field. Particular emphasis implementation of the Durban Declaration and was given to strengthening linkages between work Programme of Action agreed at the 2001 World in Geneva, including support for setting international Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, human rights standards and monitoring compliance, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. OHCHR and the protection and technical
Load more

Recommended publications
  • National Assembly
    February 23, 2016 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL REPORT Tuesday, 23rd February, 2016 The House met at 2.30 p.m. [The Speaker (Hon. Muturi) in the Chair] PRAYERS COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHAIR DISCHARGE OF MEMBERS FROM COMMITTEES Hon. Speaker: Hon. Members, I want to encourage you to pay attention to what is happening. Hon. Members, I have this Communication from the Chair which is on discharge of Members from Committees. I wish to report to the House that I am in receipt of a letter dated 16th February 2016, from the Minority Party Whip notifying me that the CORD Coalition has discharged the following Members from Committees: (i) Hon. Khatib Mwashetani, MP, who is discharged from the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. (ii) Hon. Salim Idd Mustafa, MP, who is discharged from the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social welfare and the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library. He is the Vice-Chairperson of the latter Committee. (iii) Hon. Gideon Mung’aro, MP, who is discharged from the Departmental Committee on Lands. Hon. Members, the letter which is written pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order No. 176 also intends to discharge Hon. Khatib Mwashetani, MP, from the House Business Committee (HBC) and the Budget and Appropriations Committee. However, it is a fact that the Member for Lungalunga Constituency is not a Member of the HBC which was constituted by this House on 9th February 2016. You are also aware that the Budget and Appropriations Committee is yet to be reconstituted. This, therefore, implies that the intended discharge of the Member for Lungalunga from these two Committees was inadvertent.
    [Show full text]
  • High Commissioner's Strategic Management Plan 2010-2011
    High Commissioner’s Strategic Management Plan 2010-2011 High Commissioner’s Strategic Management Plan 2010-2011 The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mission Statement The mission of the Office of the United Nations High General Assembly in resolution 48/141, the Charter Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is to work of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of for the promotion and protection of all human rights Human Rights and subsequent human rights for all people; to help empower people to realize instruments, the 1993 Vienna Declaration and their rights and to assist those responsible for Programme of Action, and the 2005 World Summit upholding such rights in ensuring that they are Outcome Document. implemented. In carrying out its mission OHCHR will: u Give priority to addressing the most pressing Operationally, OHCHR works with governments, human rights violations, both acute and chronic, legislatures, courts, national institutions, civil society, particularly those that put life in imminent peril. regional and international organizations, and the u Focus attention on those who are at risk and United Nations system to develop and strengthen vulnerable on multiple fronts. capacity, particularly at the national level, for the u Pay equal attention to the realization of civil, promotion and protection of human rights in cultural, economic, political, and social rights, accordance with international norms.
    [Show full text]
  • Justice Under Siege: the Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law University at Buffalo School of Law Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 2001 Justice Under Siege: The Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya Makau Mutua University at Buffalo School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles Part of the Judges Commons, and the Rule of Law Commons Recommended Citation Makau Mutua, Justice Under Siege: The Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya, 23 Hum. Rts. Q. 96 (2001). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/569 Copyright © 2001 The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article was first published in Human Rights Quarterly 23.1 (2001), 96–118. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Justice Under Siege: The Rule of Law and Judicial Subservience in Kenya Makau Mutua* I. INTRODUCTION Constitutionalism and the rule of law are the central features of any political democracy that respects human rights. An independent judiciary,
    [Show full text]
  • Catalysts for Rights: the Unique Contribution of the UN’S Independent Experts on Human Rights
    Foreign Policy October 2010 at BROOKINGS Catalysts for for Catalysts r ights: The Unique Contribution of the UN’s Independent Experts on Human Rights the UN’s of Unique Contribution The Catalysts for rights: The Unique Contribution of the UN’s Independent Experts on Human Rights TEd PiccoNE Ted Piccone BROOKINGS 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20036 www.brookings.edu Foreign Policy October 2010 at BROOKINGS Catalysts for rights The Unique Contribution of the U.N.’s Independent Experts on Human Rights Final Report of the Brookings Research Project on Strengthening U.N. Special Procedures TEd PiccoNE The views expressed in this report do not reflect an official position of The Brookings Institution, its Board, or Advisory Council members. © 2010 The Brookings Institution TABLE oF CoNTENTS acknowledgements . iii Members of Experts advisory group . v list of abbreviations . vi Executive summary ....................................................................... viii introduction . 1 Context . 2 Methodology . 3 A Short Summary of Special Procedures . 5 summary of findings . 9 Country Visits . .9 Follow-Up to Country Visits..............................................................19 Communications . 20 Resources . 31 Joint Activities and Coordination . .32 Code of Conduct . 34 Training . .34 Universal Periodic Review...............................................................35 Relationship with Treaty Bodies . 36 recommendations..........................................................................38 Appointments . 38 Country Visits and Communications .......................................................38 Follow-Up Procedures . 40 Resources . .41 Training . .41 Code of Conduct . 42 Relationship with UPR, Treaty Bodies, and other U.N. Actors . .42 appendices Appendix A HRC Resolution 5/1, the Institution Building Package ...........................44 Appendix B HRC Resolution 5/2, the Code of Conduct . .48 Appendix C Special Procedures of the HRC - Mandate Holders (as of 1 August 2010) .
    [Show full text]
  • Third Committee Subject to Change – Status As of 20/10/08
    GA63 Third Committee Subject to change – Status as of 20/10/08 Interactive dialogues with Special procedure mandate-holders, Chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies or Chairpersons of Working Monday, 13 October (am) • Ms. Dubravka SIMONOVIC , Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (oral report) Wednesday, 15 October (pm) • Ms. Yanghee LEE, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (oral report) Wednesday, 22 October (pm) • Ms. Asma JAHANGIR, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief • Mr. Martin SCHEININ, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism • Ms. Maria Magdalena SEPULVEDA, Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty Thursday, 23 October (am) • Mr. Tomas OJEA QUINTANA , Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar • Mr. Vitit MUNTARBHORN, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea • Mr. Richard FALK, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 Thursday, 23 October (pm) • Mr. Manfred NOWAK, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment • Ms. Raquel ROLNIK, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living Friday, 24 October (am) • Ms. Yakin ERTÜRK, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (oral report) • Ms. Margaret SEKAGGYA, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders • Mr. Leandro DESPOUY , Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Friday, 24 October (pm) • Mr. Philip ALSTON , Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions • Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • The International Criminal Court's Cases in Kenya
    AUGUST 2012 No. 237 Institute for Security Studies PAPER The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact INTRODUCTION Kenya’s new Constitution was promulgated in August On 23 January 2012, the fate of the six Kenyans accused 2010 after almost two decades of demands for by the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s Office of the constitutional change. These demands gained new Prosecutor (OTP) of committing crimes against humanity impetus as a result of the Kenya National Dialogue and was made known by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II (PTC Reconciliation (KNDR), the African Union (AU)-based II).1 Four of the six will be proceeding to trial in April 2013 in mediation process which ended the violence that followed two cases.2 The defence teams for all four accused the 2007 general elections.7 It is the KNDR that also requested leave to appeal from the PTC II on 30 January – eventually and indirectly – resulted in the cases being 2012. Leave was granted but their appeals were denied on brought before the ICC. Beyond creating the Grand 25 May 2012.3 Coalition Government, the KNDR aimed to address both The PTC II’s confirmation of the charges against the four the causes and consequences of the flawed presidential accused is particularly significant in that it represents the elections as well as the violence that followed.8 first ICC cases that will proceed to trial as a direct result of With that in mind – and in the context of the other legal, the OTP’s exercise of its own mandate4 – rather than on policy and institutional reforms either set in motion or the basis of a state referral or a UN Security Council ushered in by the KNDR to lessen the intensity of resolution as has previously been the case.5 competition for the presidency, and increase accountability Three scenarios pertained in advance of the PTC II’s for the political mobilisation of ethnicity in that competition decisions: The PTC II could have confirmed all charges and thus reduce elections-related violence – it is useful to against all six persons in the two cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Makau Task Force Report
    Seattle University School of Law Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation II. Pre TJRC Documents Commission of Kenya 8-26-2003 Makau Task Force Report Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc-pre Recommended Citation Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, "Makau Task Force Report" (2003). II. Pre TJRC Documents. 6. https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/tjrc-pre/6 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya at Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in II. Pre TJRC Documents by an authorized administrator of Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Republic of Kenya Report of the Task Force on the Establishment of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission Chairperson Prof. Makau Mutua Presented to Hon. Kiraitu Murungi The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs August 26, 2003 PRINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, NAIROBI 1 Report of the Task Force on the Establishment of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW
    [Show full text]
  • General Assembly Distr.: General 10 March 2020
    United Nations A/HRC/43/64/Add.1 General Assembly Distr.: General 10 March 2020 English only Human Rights Council Forty-third session Agenda items 2 and 5 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human rights bodies and mechanisms Facts and figures with regard to the special procedures in 2019* * Reproduced as received, in the language of submission only. GE.20-03747(E) A/HRC/43/64/Add.1 Contents Page I. Fact sheet on special procedures 2019 ............................................................................................. 3 II. Statistics on current mandate holders (as at 31 December 2019) ..................................................... 4 III. Overview of standing invitations ..................................................................................................... 5 IV. Statistics on standing invitations ...................................................................................................... 9 V. Overview of country and other official visits conducted in 2019 .................................................... 10 VI. Statistics on country visits conducted in 2019 ................................................................................. 16 VII. Overview of States not yet visited by any mandate holder .............................................................. 17 VIII. Status of country visits from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019 ...............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Access to Justice Programme Resource 2012
    ACCESSTO JUSTICE Programme Resource This programme resource has been produced by Trócaire, the Irish Catholic Agency for World Development. The resource was commissioned by the Governance and Human Rights Unit and researched and written by Lorna Hayes. Thanks to those Trócaire Programme Officers who inputted with suggestions, case-studies and photos. Thanks also to Louise Beirne B.L. for her advice on technical aspects of the resource. Trócaire Access to Justice Programme Resource 2012. Cover Image - Martha Julia Lopez holds a picture of her dead husband, Seriseo Munoz, close to her heart. Seriseo (50), was shot dead last year when gunmen, hired by a rich landowner, opened fire on a group of farmers as they worked. This community is one of thousands throughout Honduras whose legal challenge for land has been met with the murder of innocent farmers. Photo: David Stephenson for Trócaire. Contents FOREWORD 5 1.Trócaireandaccesstojustice 6 2.Contemporaryhumanrightsideasandpractice 10 3. Human Rights and justice 16 4. Trócaire’s access to justice work 22 5. Strategy 1: empowerment of poor and vulnerable groups to promote and protect human rights 24 6. Strategy 2: redress for human rights violations through access to informal and formal justice 31 7. Strategy 3: national advocacy to demand accountability and compliance with domestic and international law 39 8. Strategy 4: international advocacy to demand accountability and compliance with international law 44 9. A programme approach to access to justice 48 Resource sheet 1: the international
    [Show full text]
  • General Assembly Distr.: General 18 March 2019
    United Nations A/HRC/40/38/Add.1 General Assembly Distr.: General 18 March 2019 English only Human Rights Council Fortieth session Agenda items 2 and 5 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human rights bodies and mechanisms Facts and figures with regard to the special procedures in 2018* * Reproduced as received, in the language of submission only. GE.19-04072(E) A/HRC/40/38/Add.1 Contents Page I. Fact sheet on special procedures 2018 ............................................................................................. 3 II. Statistics on current mandate holders (as at 31 December 2018) ..................................................... 4 III. Overview of standing invitations ..................................................................................................... 5 IV. Statistics on standing invitations ...................................................................................................... 9 V. Overview of country and other official visits conducted in 2018 .................................................... 10 VI. Statistics on country visits conducted in 2018 ................................................................................. 16 VII. Overview of States not yet visited by any mandate holder .............................................................. 17 VIII. Status of country visits from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2018 ...............................................
    [Show full text]
  • M Ultiparty Pülitics in Kenya
    REVISTA CIENCIA POLITICA / VOLUMEN XXI / N' 1 / 2001 MULTIPARTY PüLITICS IN KENYA PREETI PATEL RESEARCH FELLOW LoNOON ScHOOL OF HYGIENE ANO TROPICAL MEDICINE lt is now widely recognized that in the late 1980s and early 1990s a combination of inter­ national and domestic forces were responsible for establishing multi-party elections in Kenya. lnternational forces, particularly ones associated with the donor community, were concerned to attach political conditionality as well as economic conditionality to future aid to Kenya. The end of the Cold War caused the strategic importance of Kenya to decline. Domestic forces representing the disillusioned wananchi (or ordinary people) believed that opposition parties would add an element of pressure on the government, by providing checks and balances in all areas of public expenditure. Together they pressed for greater accountability in Kenyan politics. Corruption and mismanagement had by now entered most areas of public life. Now, a decade after these pressures first were exerted, what have been the consequences of establishing this form of democracy? This article exam­ ines the naturr of both the 1992 and 1997 multiparty elections, befare proceeding to analyze the politics of ethnicity in this particular East African country, during the last ten years. After raising hopes of a major political renewal, Kenya's wave of democratization seems to 1 be running out of steam • The euphoria over the so-called 'second revolution' or Samuel Huntington's third wave of democracy in Kenya, as in other African states, is dying some­ what2. While sorne form of political liberalization is taking place, the underlying dynamic of the process has not resulted in a radical restructuring of the context and content of politics.
    [Show full text]
  • Facts and Figures 2010
    Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights | www.ohchr.org United Nations Special Procedures FFAACCTTSS AANNDD FFIIGGUURREESS 22001100 Communications · Country visits · Coordination and joint activities Reports · Public statements and news releases· Thematic events United Nations Special Procedures – Facts and Figures 2010 Published by: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva, April 2011 Pictures on front cover: The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Ms. Najat Maalla M’jid, addressing the Human Rights Council at the fourteenth Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Mr. Githu Muigai, speaking at the Human Rights Council (UN-Photo / Jean-Marc Ferre). The Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, speaking during a fact-finding mission to a Korean community representative; the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Mr. Walter Kälin, with UNAMI staff in Baghdad; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of indigenous peoples, Mr. James Anaya, with the Prefect of the Likouala District, during a visit to Congo (OHCHR-Photo). TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction …………………………………. 1 List of mandates and mandate-holders …... 2 Developments in 2010……………………… 5 Communications …………………………… 8 Country visits …………………………….... 11 Positive developments…………………….. 13 Reports …………………………………….. 15 News releases ……………………………... 24 The Special Procedures Facts and Figures 2010 provides a general overview of the main activities of the Special Procedures mandates of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2010.
    [Show full text]