Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 1388 entities
Corruption and the right to health 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The right to health is recognized in the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) and protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties which are binding on States parties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Additionally, regional human rights treaties and many domestic constitutions protect the right to health. These international treaties and domestic laws obligate States to take action to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health and to address corruption where it interferes with their right-to-health obligations. They should inform responses to corruption alongside other legal instruments, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The human rights of migrants on a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility 2017, para. 43 (Goal 2.)
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur proposes the following goals:] Goal 2. Protect the labour and human rights of all migrant workers, regardless of their status and circumstances
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women: Twenty years of developments to combat violence against women 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- One of the five priority areas of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) is ending violence against women. The efforts of UN-Women in this regard include standard setting, technical assistance, financial assistance, education, advocacy, data collection and coordination. The entity supports Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards, including in developing and implementing national action plans to end violence against women. UN-Women also participates in a number of joint programmes with partner agencies at the country level and coordinates the Secretary-General's UNiTE campaign and the COMMIT initiative. The Inventory of United Nations activities to prevent and eliminate violence against women describes the efforts of 38 United Nations entities, the International Organization for Migration and six inter-agency partnerships. UN-Women has also developed the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls, an online resource centre.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Communication and engagement with stakeholders. Trafficking in persons is a critical issue for every country, affecting many different groups and cutting across multiple areas of legal and illegal activity. The range of current and potential stakeholders is accordingly very wide. The first mandate holder recognized this aspect of her work from the outset (E/CN.4/2005/71, paras. 41-47) and made consistent efforts to extend her engagement beyond Governments and international agencies to include the full range of civil society organizations working on the issue, as well as those engaged in related areas, such as the rights of migrants and violence against women. Her participatory and collaborative approach was continued and extended by the current mandate holder, who declared an intention to "reach out, listen, learn and share good practice around the world" (A/HRC/10/16, para 62). She has put this commitment into practice through regular, broad-based regional consultations aimed at securing expert input into her work while improving the understanding of the mandate amongst interlocutors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Regional study: management of the European Union external border and the impact on the human rights of migrants 2013, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- At the outset, the Special Rapporteur recalls his doubt that detention is ever an effective deterrent for irregular migration, and that in order not to violate international human rights law, detention must be must be prescribed by law and necessary, reasonable and proportional to the objectives to be achieved. However, in the context of his country visits and his research, the Special Rapporteur has observed that, within the discourse of securitization of migration and border control, the systematic detention of irregular migrants has come to be viewed as a legitimate tool in the context of European Union migration management, despite the lack of any evidence that detention serves as a deterrent. Indeed, a notable increase in the use of immigration detention as a tool for European Union border control over the past 10 years corresponds to the development of European Union migration law in this area. In some senses, the harmonization of European Union law, and in particular the passing of the Return Directive, can be said to have institutionalized detention within the European Union as a viable tool in migration management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Outcomes and commitments on internal displacement of the World Humanitarian Summit 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The commitment to action emphasizes that new ways of working require using resources and capabilities better, improving Sustainable Development Goal outcomes for people in situations of risk, vulnerability and crisis and shrinking humanitarian needs over the long term. It requires galvanizing new partnerships and collaboration, including the private sector, local actors and multilateral development banks, to provide additional capabilities and resources to achieve collective and measurable outcomes, based on a shared understanding of sustainability, vulnerability and resilience. Operationally, it will require shared data, analysis and information, joined-up planning and programming processes and more effective leadership, as well as new financing modalities to support collective outcomes. In this new way of working, internally displaced persons must be taken fully into account by States and international partners in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as examined by the Special Rapporteur in his 2015 report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/29/34).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Outcomes and commitments on internal displacement of the World Humanitarian Summit 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Several States and organizations made specific commitments on internally displaced persons, notably as follows: the European Union committed to implement its strategic vision on forced displacement, including promoting collaboration between humanitarian and development partners at the outset of crises, to strengthen data collection and analysis and to engage with Governments to ensure the inclusion of displaced persons in national development plans; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland committed to increase multi-year humanitarian funding to protracted displacement situations; the United States of America committed to increase funding for humanitarian action and to increase financing sustainability in protracted displacement situations; Uganda committed to host a secretariat for the Kampala Convention; Somalia shared its plan to adopt a policy on internally displaced persons, in line with the Convention; the Philippines committed to adopt a national bill on internally displaced persons; and the World Bank vowed to tackle forced displacement as a high priority.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Outcomes and commitments on internal displacement of the World Humanitarian Summit 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Secretary-General's Agenda for Humanity lays out innovative and creative approaches: States should invest in political solutions to end the causes of displacement and in the return, integration or resettlement of the displaced; develop national legislation, policies and capacities for the protection of displaced persons and their integration into national social safety nets, education programmes, labour markets and development plans; recognize displaced people as socioeconomic assets rather than "responsibilities" and incentivize the development of local markets and private sector activity; direct appropriate national resources and international financing towards national and local systems that address their needs and those of host communities; ensure that humanitarian and development actors, local authorities and private sector enterprises work collectively, across institutional divides and mandates and in multi-year frameworks, to end aid dependency and promote self-reliance; and adopt and implement regional and national legal and policy frameworks on internal displacement.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Governance structures for internal displacement 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In some cases displacement can be predicted to result from actions taken by Governments, which should therefore put appropriate measures in place. For example, development projects have displaced millions of people in all regions. Development-induced displacement requires careful management and consultation with the internally displaced persons and other affected communities. However, this is rarely done, resulting in violations of human rights, including forced displacement and violence. International standards must be adhered to, notably the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization, which requires obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples regarding issues affecting them and their ancestral lands and territories. The basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement (A/HRC/4/18, annex I) developed in 2007 by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living provide valuable guidance to assist States in the development of policy and legislation to prevent forced evictions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Durable solutions for internally displaced persons: advancing the agenda: addressing the role of humanitarian and development actors in achieving durable solutions for internally displaced persons through peacebuilding in the aftermath of conflict 2013, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Various ad hoc initiatives to link emergency and development assistance followed the two international conferences, including IASC Working Group deliberations that led to the establishment of a reference group on post-conflict reintegration, convened by UNDP. In 1999, UNHCR and the World Bank co-sponsored two round tables on the gap between humanitarian assistance and long-term development in post-conflict, forced displacement contexts (known as the Brookings Process). Under the leadership of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the President of the World Bank, the round tables identified opportunities to improve institutional and financial arrangements to overcome the gap and field-level partnership initiatives to tackle the problem.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Evolution, challenges and trends in internal displacement 2012, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Further areas in need of strengthened and more focused attention include preparedness, prevention and mitigation frameworks relating to internal displacement; norms relating to appropriate compensation of or reparation to internally displaced persons; climate change and approaches for addressing displacement in slow onset disasters; and bridging of the humanitarian/development gap, which continues to be both structural and operational. The need for greater support can also be envisaged in order to strengthen the role and capacity of national human rights institutions in the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons; to assist States in addressing the administrative and structural challenges faced by central and local authorities that impede effective responses to situations of internal displacement; and to assist regional institutions and States in the development of policy and legal frameworks on internal displacement, in line with international standards. While not exhaustive, the above list is representative of some of the opportunities and challenges in addressing internal displacement in coming years.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Constitutional Court of Colombia has also made important advances in that area. In 2004, in a ground-breaking ruling on the economic, social and cultural rights of internally displaced persons, the court ruled that there was an "unconstitutional state of affairs" as a result of the internal conflict. The Court also held the deteriorating housing conditions of internally displaced persons to be prima facie contrary to the Constitution. The national Government was ordered to implement a number of measures, including a housing plan that ensured local institutions provided equal benefits for displaced persons. In a follow-up ruling in 2006, the Court ordered relevant municipalities to organize a working group to review the housing policies in each jurisdiction, and to develop plans and programmes with direct participation of displaced persons, and with representatives of the National Human Rights Institution. The Court remained seized of the case, receiving trimestral reports from the different levels of government.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Roadmap for the next three years: thematic priorities of the new mandate-holder 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- At the regional level, the Kampala Convention, the only legally binding regional standard on internal displacement, was adopted in October 2009. The Special Rapporteur will continue to support the African Union by promoting implementation of the Convention, including through the Conference of States Parties, and attended the historic first meeting of the Conference, held in Harare from 3 to 5 April 2017. She emphasized that its establishment was an essential next step towards promoting and monitoring implementation of the Convention. She will engage closely with African States — those visited by her predecessors, and other States — to initiate and extend dialogue and to offer technical cooperation to assist them to fulfil commitments under the Convention. She issued a press release in which she noted that States must adopt concrete measures to ensure that this innovative and comprehensive agreement translates into real gains for internally displaced persons. In view of the positive example set by the African Union, she will continue to advocate for regional standards for the protection of internally displaced persons to be adopted in other regions, as relevant.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Irregular migration and criminalization of migrants, protection of children in the migration process and the right to housing and health of migrants 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- For decades, many States have responded to persistent irregular migration by intensifying border controls. These measures have often been targeted at wide geographic areas on the borders or coast of a main receiving country or region. In recent years, in an effort to further curb irregular migration and simultaneously address issues of national security, some States were seen as employing techniques in order to "externalize" border controls to countries of origin and transit, whereby utilizing bilateral agreements and/or aid in order to transform these targeted countries into a potential buffer zone to reduce migratory pressures on receiving States. The concern was that these policies, while legitimately aimed at reducing irregular migration, and often incorporated into bilateral agreements that can have positive aspects, have contributed to the criminalization of irregular migration insofar as they treat migration violations as a criminal rather than administrative offence without the proper human rights protections afforded to migrants in the process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Achieving durable solutions for internally displaced persons in urban settings 2014, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Such complexities do not serve as excuses for not undertaking profiling, given that the failure to do so complicates planning and programming regarding durable solutions and may actually render such solutions unsustainable. Rather, the complexities point to the need for and importance of specialized and knowledge-based services in the field of profiling, such as those provided by the Joint IDP Profiling Service. Georgia, Serbia and Sri Lanka offer examples of recent profiling exercises in the context of durable solutions. The Special Rapporteur insists on the absolute necessity of profiling exercises to ensure that policies and programmes effectively respond to the evidence-based durable solution needs of internally displaced persons. In many contexts, the lack of cross-thematic profiles of the experience and intentions of displaced persons makes programming and policies less adapted and accurate. As often emphasized by the Special Rapporteur, the profiling exercise should, to achieve its goal, remain participatory and respectful of the anonymity required for the protection of those concerned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Evolution, challenges and trends in internal displacement 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- This humanitarian reform process, and the cluster system currently in place, seeks to render the humanitarian response (including in internal displacement situations) more predictable, through a system by which different organizations assume lead responsibility for specific sectors of the response. The system has introduced significant improvements with regard to predictability, clearer lines of responsibility and improved coordination. It has also raised a number of challenges, including the challenge of coordination between a large number of diverse actors with different organizational mandates, tools and approaches. The ongoing work being done to streamline some of those approaches and tools, to enhance coordination and information sharing systems, and to learn from the ongoing evaluation of the work of cluster teams in various parts of the world, and the wider efforts to strengthen humanitarian system structures (such as through the current "transformative agenda"), are essential to the evolution of a system challenged not only by its own structural complexities but also by complex and changing humanitarian environments and needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The causes of homelessness and inadequate housing are multifarious, interrelated and complex. They include not only forced evictions and conflict, but also many other structural issues, such as inadequate services and infrastructure; barriers to access to credit; land speculation and zoning; displacement and migration; environmental degradation; and rapid urbanization and the development of megacities. Tackling the causes of homelessness often requires a multifaceted approach that relies on comprehensive and coordinated strategies, and is implemented in a collaborative fashion with various levels of government and relevant stakeholders. What is needed, as a starting point, is the articulation of key principles through which multiple policies and programmes can achieve a unified purpose and a coherent approach. The Special Rapporteur believes that a human rights approach to adequate housing and homelessness has much to offer in this regard and, if implemented, can be transformational, resulting in real change rather than a temporary fix.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Another aspect of States’ failure to protect children in the context of humanitarian responses is the alarming practice of child detention owing to their irregular migration status. The Committee on the Rights of the Child and other human rights mechanisms have underscored that immigration-related detention of children can never be in their best interests and that, no matter whether they are unaccompanied or with their families, their detention constitutes a violation of their rights that, at times, may amount to “torture and ill-treatment”. The reasons invoked by States to resort to immigration-related detention of children include health and security screening, identity verification, protection and the facilitation of removal from the country. Alternatives to child detention should be sought. Children should be allowed to reside in a community-based context while their immigration status is being resolved. Good practices of such alternatives include the child-sensitive community assessment and placement model.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The role of digital access providers 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The industry’s human rights impacts are frequently global, affecting users even in markets beyond those served by the company concerned. For example, surveillance of a single Internet exchange point in the United States may capture large streams of communications among Americans and foreigners, and even those entirely among foreigners. Similarly, security vulnerabilities in network design affect all users who rely on the compromised network for digital access, including users located far away from the network. Accordingly, companies should identify and address the broader implications of their activities for freedom of expression generally, in addition to their impacts on customers or rights holders in the markets they operate. To be sure, the manner in which they account for their impacts may vary according to their size, resources, ownership, structure and operating context (Ibid., principle 14). For example, all providers should vet user data requests for compliance with a minimum set of formalities, regardless of the origin of the request or the user affected. But while a multinational provider may have dedicated teams vetting requests, a small or medium-size provider may task its legal or public policy teams to perform the same function.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Existing legal standards and practices regarding violence against women in three regional human rights systems and activities being undertaken by civil society regarding the normative gap in international human rights law 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Convention requires States to adopt comprehensive and coordinated policies that place the rights of victims at the centre of all measures and to involve all relevant actors, including government agencies, national, regional and local authorities, civil society organizations and other relevant entities. In chapter II, the Convention explicitly calls for an integrated approach and requires the establishment of a dedicated governmental coordinating body to oversee the implementation of policies and measures, including disaggregated data collection. Other sections include chapter III, on the specific legislative, policy and other measures in the field of prevention; chapter IV, on protection and support issues; chapter V, on substantive law aspects; chapter VI, on investigation, prosecution, procedural law and protective measures; chapter VII, on migration and asylum issues; and chapter VIII, on international cooperation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, States should establish or adapt existing mechanisms and procedures designed to ensure victim protection for the purpose of detecting trafficking cases or the risk of trafficking in all locations where there are large influxes of migrants and refugees, including hotspots, reception centres and administrative detention centres for migrants. While existing referral mechanisms are generally based within or related to police operations, detection and protection of trafficking victims or people exposed to a high risk of trafficking as a result of their attempts to flee conflict should rather be based on procedures established in close cooperation between social authorities and civil society organizations. States have an obligation to detect cases of trafficking and to ensure the full implementation of national legislation providing victims with assistance and support, and such support should not be made conditional on the initiation of criminal proceedings, the legal qualification of the crime or victims' cooperation with law enforcement authorities. Moreover, States should consider extending a number of measures, especially by providing assistance in securing employment, to people at risk of trafficking and exploitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The first decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Procedural components of the right to a remedy. The procedural obligations may be conceived as the range of measures needed to guarantee access to an effective remedy, including access to information, legal assistance and regularization of residency status, which contribute to the realization by trafficked persons of the substantive components of the right to an effective remedy. The Special Rapporteur has come to appreciate that certain preconditions must be fulfilled if the right to a remedy for victims of trafficking is to be realized in practice. For example, failure to identify victims in the first place will inevitably operate to deny those persons access to remedies. In too many countries, trafficked persons, including those who have been identified as such, are detained or deported without being given any opportunity to claim compensation. Improvements in identification procedures; the institution of a "reflection and recovery period", during which victims can receive legal and other assistance; and a review of any legal obstacles to access are therefore critical to effective realization of the right to a remedy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- It is well established that the term "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" must be interpreted to extend the widest possible protection against abuses (see the Body of Principles). When persons are deprived of liberty, the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment overlaps with and is supplemented by the principle of humane treatment of detainees (see A/68/295). The European Court of Human Rights, in Bouyid v. Belgium, has highlighted the inherent link between concepts of degrading treatment or punishment and human dignity, finding that treatment that "humiliates or debases an individual, show[s] a lack of respect for or diminish[es] his or her human dignity, or arouses feelings of fear, anguish or inferiority capable of breaking an individual's moral and physical resistance" may be characterized as degrading. Any act by law enforcement that diminishes a person's human dignity, including the use of physical force when not strictly necessitated by his or her conduct, violates the prohibition of torture and 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
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to provide an effective remedy applies "irrespective of who may ultimately be the bearer of responsibility for the violation", which is essential to ensuring that all persons, including migrants and non-citizens, are afforded their fundamental rights without discrimination. States' obligations to provide redress are both substantive and procedural, wherein States must establish judicial or administrative bodies capable of determining a torture victim's right to redress, awarding such redress and ensuring accessibility of these forums to victims (A/69/277). In the case of migrants, the recommended principles and guidelines on human rights at international borders developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights note States' obligation to afford remedies against removal orders where there are substantial grounds for believing that the persons removed would be at a risk of torture or other ill-treatment if "returned to, readmitted, or subject to onward return to a place where they might be at such risk" (guidelines 9), and further to ensure that torture and ill-treatment survivors are referred to proper rehabilitation services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment from an extraterritorial perspective 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The European Court of Human Rights, in El-Masri, held that a State was responsible for acts performed by foreign officials on its territory with the "acquiescence or connivance of its authorities", imputing to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia harmful conduct that was "carried out in the presence of [its] officials" and within its jurisdiction". The Court further found that Poland had an obligation to do more than refrain from collaborating with and facilitating the Central Intelligence Agency rendition programme when it knew or ought to have known that detainees would be subject to extraordinary rendition and exposed to a risk of torture or other ill-treatment upon transfer. Even when the Polish authorities did not "know exactly or witness what was happening in the facility", they were required to take measures to ensure that individuals within their jurisdiction were not subjected to mistreatment, including harm administered by private individuals (Abu Zubaydah v. Poland). The State should have taken steps to "inquire into whether [the activities of the Agency] were compatible" with the international legal obligations of Poland and indeed acted to prevent the activities in question (Al Nashiri v. Poland).
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Solitary confinement 2011, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur asserts that social isolation is contrary to article 10, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states that "The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation" (General Assembly resolution 2200 (XXI), annex). Long periods of isolation do not aid the rehabilitation or re-socialization of detainees (E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.4, para. 48). The adverse acute and latent psychological and physiological effects of prolonged solitary confinement constitute severe mental pain or suffering. Thus the Special Rapporteur concurs with the position taken by the Committee against Torture in its General Comment No. 20 that prolonged solitary confinement amounts to acts prohibited by article 7 of the Covenant, and consequently to an act as defined in article 1 or article 16 of the Convention. For these reasons, the Special Rapporteur reiterates that, in his view, any imposition of solitary confinement beyond 15 days constitutes torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, depending on the circumstances. He calls on the international community to agree to such a standard and to impose an absolute prohibition on solitary confinement exceeding 15 consecutive days.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism 2013, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In Thailand, the Ministry of Justice has established practice guidelines for organizations related to the prosecution of foreign offenders who have allegedly committed acts of sexual harassment against children in Thailand are based on existing practices of each organization, and prescribe cooperation for effective law enforcement. Significant aspects of these guidelines are: (a) coordination with foreign Governments, in relation to the arrest and prosecution of foreigners, whereby a notice shall be sent to the embassy, consulate and the national central office of Interpol of the country in which the alleged offender is a national, for the purpose of exchanging information and the creation of a network; (b) prevention of absconding on bail, whereby the inquiry officer or the public prosecutor shall prepare complete and precise information for the opposition to the bail request, and may suggest an increase in the amount of bail; and (c) close coordination between the inquiry officer and the Department of Social Development and Welfare under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, for the care and protection of child victims, and for compliance with the law governing inquiries and the taking of evidence from child witnesses.
- 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The impact of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements on the human rights of migrants 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that strengthening access to justice for migrants to pursue judicial remedies directly is essential to combat asymmetry in the trade regime (see sect. V below).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Developing the Global Compact on Migration 2016, para. 114
- Paragraph text
- IOM already works very closely with the United Nations, including as a member of the Global Migration Group, and in many countries IOM is part of United Nations country teams. Integrating IOM into the United Nations would thus allow the United Nations to benefit from its vast experience and expertise.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Developing the Global Compact on Migration 2016, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- Owing to the lack of a comprehensive framework, global migration governance is fragmented with different institutional approaches and normative frameworks relating to specific aspects of migration, such as the human rights of migrants, the smuggling of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and labour migration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph