Table of Contents CHAPTER 6 ............................................................................................................................. 194 Human Rights ....................................................................................................................... 194 A. GENERAL ..................................................................................................................... 194 1. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices ................................................................ 194 2. UPR Working Groups ................................................................................................. 194 3. Human Rights Council ................................................................................................. 195 a. Overview ................................................................................................................... 195 b. Actions regarding Eritrea ......................................................................................... 197 c. Actions regarding Syria ............................................................................................ 198 d. Actions regarding South Sudan ................................................................................. 198 e. Actions regarding Burundi ........................................................................................ 199 B. DISCRIMINATION ...................................................................................................... 200 1. Race ............................................................................................................................. 200 Human Rights Council ..................................................................................................... 200 2. Gender.......................................................................................................................... 202 a. General Assembly ..................................................................................................... 202 b. U.S. Actions on Women, Peace, and Security ............................................................ 204 c. Human Rights Council .............................................................................................. 210 3. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ........................................................................ 211 Human Rights Council ..................................................................................................... 211 C. CHILDREN .................................................................................................................... 212 1. Rights of the Child ....................................................................................................... 212 a. Periodic Report on the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child……….. .................................................................................................................... 212 b. Human Rights Council .............................................................................................. 214 c. UN General Assembly ............................................................................................... 215 2. Children and Armed Conflict ........................................................................................ 218 a. Child Soldiers—South Sudan..................................................................................... 218 b. Child Soldiers Prevention Act ................................................................................... 218 D. SELF-DETERMINATION ............................................................................................ 219 E. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ................................................. 222 1. Food ............................................................................................................................. 222 2. Housing ........................................................................................................................ 224 3. Water, Peace, and Security ........................................................................................... 226 4. Education ..................................................................................................................... 228 F. RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT ..................................................................... 228 G. INDIGENOUS ISSUES ................................................................................................. 229 1. EMRIP Reform ............................................................................................................ 229 2. Enhanced Participation ................................................................................................. 240 3. American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples .......................................... 251 4. Annual Thematic Resolutions at the HRC and UN General Assembly .......................... 252 H. TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT ............................................................................................................... 253 I. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION ................................................... 253 J. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ..................................................................................... 254 K. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .......................................................................................... 255 1. Designations under the International Religious Freedom Act ........................................ 255 2. U.S. Annual Report ...................................................................................................... 255 3. U.S. Congressional Hearing .......................................................................................... 256 4. New U.S. Legislation on International Religious Freedom ............................................ 259 5. Human Rights Council ................................................................................................. 260 L. OTHER ISSUES ............................................................................................................ 260 1. Protecting Human Rights While Countering Terrorism ................................................. 260 2. Privacy in the Digital Age............................................................................................ 262 Cross References ................................................................................................................ 263 CHAPTER 6 Human Rights A. GENERAL 1. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices On April 13, 2016, the Department of State released the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The Department submits the reports to Congress annually in compliance with §§ 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (“FAA”), as amended, and § 504 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. These reports are often cited as a source for U.S. views on various aspects of human rights practices in other countries. The reports are available at State.gov/humanrightsreports and HumanRights.gov/reports. Secretary of State John Kerry’s remarks on the release of the reports are available at http://2009- 2017.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2016/04/255799.htm. Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor provided a briefing on the country reports, available at http://2009- 2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/04/255802.htm. A media note on the reports is available at http://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/04/255793.htm. 2. UPR Working Groups As discussed in Digest 2015 at 175-78, the United States submitted its second Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”) report and made its presentation in Geneva on that report in 2015. The United States received 343 recommendations from other UN Member States during its UPR cycle. The United States accepted, in whole or in part, 260 of those recommendations, or approximately 75 percent. To follow-up on the accepted UPR recommendations, the U.S. government organized six interagency UPR Working Groups, each of which conducted civil society consultations during 2016: 1) Civil Rights and Non- Discrimination; 2) Criminal Justice; 3) Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Indigenous 194 195 DIGEST OF UNITED STATES PRACTICE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW Issues, and the Environment; 4) National Security; 5) Immigration, Labor, Trafficking, Migrants, and Children; and 6) Domestic Implementation and International Treaties and Mechanisms. See 2016 Year-End Summary of the U.S. UPR Working Groups, available at https://www.humanrights.gov/dyn/2017/01/2016-year-end-summary-of-the-u.s.- universal-periodic-review-working-groups. 3. Human Rights Council a. Overview The United States was not a voting member of the UN Human Rights Council in 2016 because of a mandatory one-year hiatus after completing two three-year terms on the Council. However, the United States attended and remained engaged at the Council’s three regular sessions in 2016. The key outcomes of each session for the United States are summarized in fact sheets issued by the State Department. The key outcomes at the 31st session are described in a March 25, 2016 fact sheet, available at http://2009- 2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/03/255182.htm. They include: resolutions on the human rights situations in South Sudan, Burma, Iran, North Korea and Syria; resolutions on human rights defenders