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The human rights of migrants on a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Unaccompanied migrant children and families with children must never be detained for reasons relating to their administrative immigration status. The detention of children, even for short periods, can have severe psychological consequences for their development. The Committee on the Rights of the Child and other human rights mechanisms have made it clear that immigration detention can never, ever, be in the best interest of a child and that the immigration detention of children, whether unaccompanied or with their families, always constitutes a violation of their rights. Consequently, both unaccompanied migrant children and families with children should always be provided with alternatives to detention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has also initiated a series of regional consultations on the impunity enjoyed by those who attack defenders. All too often, the perpetrators of such attacks are not convicted. The distress of victims and families who seek justice and reparation meets with indifference and even hostility on the part of law enforcement and judicial officers. It is therefore important to have a sharper understanding of the situation and to better identify the factors behind impunity so that specific recommendations can be made to States and other actors involved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the Court repeatedly found States to have violated their duty to protect persons from torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment by, for example, failing to provide an adequate legal framework against rape or to protect applicants from a real and immediate risk of ill-treatment at the hands of an abusive family member.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 83d
- Paragraph text
- [In terms of access to justice, prosecution and sanctions, States, in cooperation with United Nations agencies and programmes, international organizations, host countries and civil society organizations, should:] Ensure that a legal representative for all children (including families) and a trained guardian for unaccompanied and separated children are appointed as soon as possible upon arrival, free of charge;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- While these figures allow some trends to be discerned, it is important to bear in mind that they do not reflect cases not covered by the mandate. Many defenders and their families are unaware that they can contact the Special Rapporteur and, given the urgency of the situations concerned, they sometimes prefer to turn to mechanisms or organizations that provide very short-term solutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 83b
- Paragraph text
- [In terms of access to justice, prosecution and sanctions, States, in cooperation with United Nations agencies and programmes, international organizations, host countries and civil society organizations, should:] Ensure that legislation, policies, measures and practices guarantee child-sensitive due processes in all migration-related administrative and judicial proceedings affecting the rights of children or of their parents. All children, including those accompanied by parents or other legal guardians, must be treated as individual rights-holders, not criminals, their child-specific needs must be considered equally and individually and their views must be duly heard. They must have access to administrative and judicial remedies against decisions on their own situation or that of their parents that affect them in order to guarantee that all decisions are taken in their best interests. Children should be able to bring complaints beyond legal or court procedures at lower levels that should be easily accessible to them, such as those of child protection and youth institutions, schools or the ombudsperson, and they should be able to receive advice from professionals in a child-sensitive manner when their rights have been violated;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 95j
- Paragraph text
- [At the national level] [The Special Rapporteur invites all States to:] Ensure the right to information about one's origins and access to information about the rights of victims of illegal adoptions, and facilitate the work of victims' organizations in that respect, including in terms of helping them to trace biological parents and children;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Similar repression of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association has taken place in autocracies where all political power is concentrated in the hands of a single person or family and is often passed on hereditarily. Saudi Arabia, for example, bans political parties, criminalizes acts such as "breaking allegiance to the ruler" and "attempting to discredit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", and has frequently detained, imprisoned and otherwise harassed activists and organizations critical of the Government (see A/HRC/29/50, case SAU 14/2014; A/HRC/28/85, case SAU 11/2014; and A/HRC/27/72, case SAU 5/2014).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Developing the Global Compact on Migration 2016, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- The detention of children, even for short periods, can have severe psychological consequences. It has been made clear by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and reinforced by other human rights mechanisms that immigration detention can never, ever, be in the best interest of a child and that the immigration detention of children, whether unaccompanied or together with their families, constitutes a violation of child rights. Consequently, both unaccompanied children and families with children should always benefit from alternatives to detention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Good practices in the protection of human rights defenders 2016, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur proposes seven principles that, in his view, should underpin good practices by States in the protection of human rights defenders:] Principle 5: They should acknowledge that defenders are interconnected. They should not focus on the rights and security of individual defenders alone, but also include the groups, organizations, communities and family members who share their risks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are recognized in numerous international instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Developing the Global Compact on Migration 2016, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- When the age of the child is unknown, which is common when they are undocumented or coming from countries without robust birth registration systems, they are often detained until their age can be verified, which can take weeks or months. In some instances, while in detention, unaccompanied children live and sleep alongside adults, without any special accommodation made for their young age and without access to education. In others, families are separated in different sections of the detention facility according to age and gender.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Contemporary challenges to freedom of expression 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Closely related to these grounds are charges under lese-majesty laws and both criminal and civil defamation. Thailand, for instance, regularly detains and prosecutes people on the grounds of criticizing the royal family, imposing sentences that may reach to decades. The Government argues that the law "gives protection to the rights or reputations" of members of the royal family "in a similar way libel law does for commoners", without acknowledging the high value placed on expression directed towards matters of politics, governance and public life. National laws also allow such prosecutions in other societies with royal families, such as in the Netherlands. Just as such laws that criminalize criticism of government officials or royalty are manifestly inconsistent with freedom of expression, and unjustifiable under article 19 (3), so too are laws that criminalize insults or criticism of foreign officials. In 2016, the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe urged Governments to repeal laws that shield foreign leaders from criticism solely because of their function or status. I share the concern of the Human Rights Council with respect to the "abuse of legal provisions on defamation and criminal libel" (see Council resolution 12/16) and believe that any criminal penalties or excessive civil penalties for defamation are generally inconsistent with article 19 and should be repealed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Developing the Global Compact on Migration 2016, para. 46b
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights must be a cross-cutting issue that informs all discussions at the High-level Dialogue, and, as outlined in the 2013 report of the Special Rapporteur (see A/68/283), States should consider raising issues such as:] Development and implementation of rights-based alternatives to detention, especially for children and families with children;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In some jurisdictions, structural and resource deficiencies in the criminal justice system create conditions conducive to the proliferation of mistreatment. When Governments do not invest sufficient resources in the administration of justice, judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials lack the necessary training and are overworked, underpaid and more prone to corruption (see A/HRC/13/39/Add.5). Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for law enforcement officials to resort to torture or threats of torture to extract money from detainees or their relatives during investigations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Minority victims may be reluctant to report the crime to police, owing to a history of negative experiences with the authorities, lack of faith in the justice system, or lack of knowledge of their rights or lack of practical information such as on where and how to make a complaint. They may fear that bringing themselves to the attention of the authorities will generate more suspicion and result in persecution of themselves, their family or their community. They may have a fear of reprisals from the perpetrators of the crime owing to a lack of confidence that authorities will protect them, pursue the investigation or take the perpetrators into custody. Some may fear deportation, particularly if they do not have recognized legal status in the country.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The protection of sources and whistle-blowers 2015, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Without protection against retaliation and the possibility of redress, few would disclose wrongdoing. Protection should be detailed explicitly in law, providing whistle-blowers and others with clarity about the nature of the protection that they may seek. In particular, whistle-blowers must be protected against coercion or harassment of themselves or their families, discrimination, physical harm to a person or property, threats of retaliation, job loss, suspension or demotion, transfer or other hardship, disciplinary penalty, blacklisting or prosecution on grounds of breach of secrecy laws, libel or defamation. In the event of investigation or prosecution, whistle-blowers should be permitted to raise all of the principles identified above in their defence, especially that the disclosure was to protect a specified public interest that outweighed harm to a governmental interest. Whistle-blower laws should provide a mechanism to redress wrongdoing and prohibit those forms of retaliation, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- International instruments recognize the right of all prisoners to communicate with and receive visits from the outside world, including family, friends and lawyers. As affirmed by the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Mandela Rules): "The treatment of prisoners should emphasize not their exclusion from the community, but their continuing part in it." These rights may have additional significance for members of minorities, for whom access to outside religious representatives or cultural groups may be as important as access to family and lawyers. Such contact may also be important with respect to the State's obligation to protect and promote the minority identity. The requirement that there be an attempt to place each prisoner in a facility near his or her home takes on particular importance for minority prisoners in the case where a particular minority is geographically concentrated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Governance structures for internal displacement 2015, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Framework sets out eight benchmarks to help determine the extent to which a durable solution has been achieved. Working groups or task forces on durable solutions should use these criteria to monitor progress towards achieving durable solutions. The benchmarks are the following: safety and security; adequate standard of living; employment and livelihoods; restoration of housing, land and property; access to documentation; family reunification; participation in public affairs; and effective remedies, including access to justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- An important safeguard against torture and other forms of ill-treatment is the support given to children in detention to maintain contact with parents and family through telephone, electronic or other correspondence, and regular visits at all times. Children should be placed in a facility that is as close as possible to the place of residence of their family. Any exceptions to this requirement should be clearly described in the law and not be left to the discretion of the competent authorities. Moreover, children should be given permission to leave detention facilities for a visit to their home and family, and for educational, vocational or other important reasons. The child's contact with the outside world is an integral part of the human right to humane treatment, and should never be denied as a disciplinary measure.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- Children deprived of their liberty and their parents or legal representatives should have avenues of complaint open to them in administrative systems, and should be entitled to address complaints confidentially to an independent authority. Upon admission, children should be given information on lodging a complaint, including the contact details of the authorities competent to receive complaints, as well as the address of any services that provide legal assistance. In this context, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the establishment of independent, local, socio-legal defence centres that provide children with the effective opportunity to have access to justice and subsequently to obtain remedies and advocate for systematic training in children's rights for professionals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- In many instances, the worst situations for children arise at the time of arrest by the police, and during transportation or subsequent questioning in police custody (see A/HRC/16/52/Add.5, para. 43 and A/HRC/22/53/Add.1, para. 73). During the period immediately following apprehension, children are at particularly high risk of physical, verbal and psychological violence, such as verbal abuse, threats and beatings, and they are too often not provided with information on their human rights and the allegations brought against them in a manner that they can understand. Following their arrest, children often do not have prompt and private access to legal assistance or notification of their parents or caregivers, which makes them even more vulnerable and subject to a higher risk of being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Human rights defenders are often exposed to the same threats and attacks, but some are more exposed or more threatened, or are subjected to particular attacks, in the form of smear campaigns, intimidation, stigmatization, threats to their families, defamation, accusations, ridicule or red tape.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur believe that there should be a formal obligation to notify a relative or another adult trusted by the child about his or her detention regardless of whether the child has so requested, except if this would not be in the best interests of the child. Parents or adults trusted by the child should furthermore be allowed to be present with the child during interrogation and any court appearances. An essential issue is the manner in which children are questioned. Interrogation should be age-sensitive and individualized, and undertaken by authorities that are skilled in interviewing children. Video recording should be given due consideration in certain circumstances, to avoid causing distress to children because of repeated questioning, and numerous visits to courts. Children should also have immediate access to a lawyer and a health professional. A specific information sheet setting out the above-mentioned safeguards should be given to all children taken into custody immediately upon their arrival at a law enforcement establishment, and this information should be verbally explained to children in terms that they understand.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 86h
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to conditions during detention, the Special Rapporteur calls upon all States:] To facilitate contact to the outside world, in particular with families and legal representatives;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Minorities in the criminal justice system 2015, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- States must ensure full compliance with the requirements of proportionality and strict necessity in any use of force against persons belonging to ethnic, national and other minorities, with intentional use of lethal force being restricted to situations where it is strictly unavoidable to save life. Victims, families and others who allege unlawful use of force must have access to impartial, independent and effective complaints mechanisms, and police officers involved must be held accountable, including criminally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Lawyers are attacked and threatened both in their capacity as defenders and for the part they play in defending defenders. Their offices are ransacked, their communications are intercepted by the authorities or third parties, and they are sometimes victims of intimidation campaigns that may even include the withdrawal of their license to operate. These lawyers, and in some cases their families, also pointed out that they were regularly the object of attacks, harassment campaigns, arbitrary detention, or acts of torture. Lawyers working for defenders have been slandered and accused of treason or of having ties to terrorism. Their work is continually obstructed and there, too, defenders have to contend with the lack of an independent judiciary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Within the context of administrative immigration enforcement, it is now clear that the deprivation of liberty of children based on their or their parents' migration status is never in the best interests of the child, exceeds the requirement of necessity, becomes grossly disproportionate and may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of migrant children. Following the advisory opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the rights and guarantees of children in the context of migration and/or in need of international protection in 2014, the Special Rapporteur recalls the different procedural purposes between immigration and criminal proceedings, and that, in the words of the Court, "the offenses concerning the entry or stay in one country may not, under any circumstances, have the same or similar consequences to those derived from the commission of a crime." The Special Rapporteur therefore concludes that the principle of ultima ratio that applies to juvenile criminal justice is not applicable to immigration proceedings. The deprivation of liberty of children based exclusively on immigration-related reasons exceeds the requirement of necessity because the measure is not absolutely essential to ensure the appearance of children at immigration proceedings or to implement a deportation order. Deprivation of liberty in this context can never be construed as a measure that complies with the child`s best interests. Immigration detention practices across the globe, whether de jure or de facto, put children at risk of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the detention of children who migrate to escape exploitation and abuse contravenes the duty of the State to promote the physical and psychological recovery of child victims in an appropriate environment. Therefore, States should, expeditiously and completely, cease the detention of children, with or without their parents, on the basis of their immigration status. States should make clear in their legislation, policies and practices that the principle of the best interests of the child takes priority over migration policy and other administrative considerations. Also, States should appoint a guardian or adviser as soon as the unaccompanied or separated child is identified, and maintain such guardianship arrangements until the child has either reached the age of majority or has permanently left the territory and/or jurisdiction of the State (A/HRC/20/24, para. 41). While the Special Rapporteur acknowledges that, in certain circumstances it is possible for States to place children in a shelter or other accommodation when it is based on the purpose of child care, protection and support, this should not become a proxy for expanded unnecessary restrictions to the liberty of child migrants and families. States are required to favour measures that promote the care and well-being of the child rather than the deprivation of liberty. Facilities that grant accommodation for migrant children should have all the material conditions necessary and provide an adequate regime to ensure comprehensive protection from ill-treatment and torture, and allow for their holistic development. Migrant children should be separated from children who have been accused or convicted of criminal offences and from adults. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, that separating child migrants from unrelated adults can sometimes itself result in harm by depriving children of important interactions; ample opportunities for broader human interaction and physical activity must therefore be given to unaccompanied migrant children. When children are accompanied, the need to keep the family together is a not sufficient reason to legitimize or justify the deprivation of liberty of a child, given the prejudicial effects that such measures have on the emotional development and physical well-being of children. The Special Rapporteur shares the view of the Inter-American Court of Human
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The use of encryption and anonymity to exercise the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age 2015, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Encryption and anonymity provide individuals and groups with a zone of privacy online to hold opinions and exercise freedom of expression without arbitrary and unlawful interference or attacks. The previous mandate holder noted that the rights to "privacy and freedom of expression are interlinked" and found that encryption and anonymity are protected because of the critical role they can play in securing those rights (A/HRC/23/40 and Corr.1). Echoing article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights specifically protects the individual against "arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence" and "unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation", and provides that "everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks". The General Assembly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and special procedure mandate holders have recognized that privacy is a gateway to the enjoyment of other rights, particularly the freedom of opinion and expression (see General Assembly resolution 68/167, A/HRC/13/37 and Human Rights Council resolution 20/8).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The right of the child to freedom of expression 2014, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- More research is needed to clarify the role of the Internet in the exercise of the rights of the child, in particular with regard to how children use the Internet, how they can learn to do so safely and how the Internet can be viewed as a positive rather than a destructive tool by parents, caregivers and States. It is also important that current restrictions on Internet use be looked at carefully and critically in order to uncover potentially negative consequences for children and adults, encourage practical solutions to Internet safety concerns and maximize opportunities for children on the Internet.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph