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Extra-custodial use of force and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Mandate holders have consistently maintained that, conceptually, the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is not confined to acts carried out against persons deprived of their liberty, but also covers excessive police violence, such as during arrest and the policing of assemblies, or even torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by acquiescence, namely, when States violate their due diligence obligation to combat ill-treatment at the hands of non-State actors, including harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation, domestic violence and trafficking in human beings (A/HRC/13/39, summary. See also A/HRC/28/68/Add.4, para. 27 (protests); A/HRC/31/57, paras. 51-53 (sexual violence); E/CN.4/2006/6, para. 38 (police powers); A/HRC/13/39, para. 61 (arrests); and E/CN.4/1997/7, paras. 122-123 (police brutality)). Similarly, in reference to extra-custodial settings, the Human Rights Council has expressed concern about the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against persons exercising their freedoms of peaceful assembly, of expression and of association in all regions of the world (see Human Rights Council resolution 25/38).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 74d
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to harmful practices, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Ensure that victims of honour-based violence have equal access to justice and remedies, including appropriate long-term social, psychological, medical and other appropriate specialized rehabilitation measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72h
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Adopt transparent and accessible legal gender recognition procedures and abolish requirements for sterilization and other harmful procedures as preconditions;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The present report will focus on the aspect of witchcraft relating to the ritual killing of persons with albinism for the use of body parts (also referred to as muti or juju), for the ultimate goal of obtaining an advantage or causing harm, or for any other purpose which necessitates the attribution of supernatural powers to the body parts.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 72f
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to abuses in health-care settings, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Effectively monitor and regulate practices by public and private actors in health-care and educational settings to ensure the eradication of prohibited practices including, inter alia, the denial of maternal health care and compulsory medical examinations such as forced pregnancy and virginity testing, and investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Probably the greatest challenge in combatting stigma is the fact that it is deeply entrenched in sociocultural norms and attitudes. Tackling it requires raising awareness of stigmatizing practices that are pursued under the umbrella of culture, religion and tradition. The interpretations of culture on which such practices are based are neither immutable nor homogenous and must therefore be challenged, including by questioning the legitimacy of those who perpetuate stigmatizing practices in the name of culture and uncovering the underlying power dynamics (E/CN.4/2006/61, para. 85).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 39
- Paragraph text
- Accusatorial models of questioning tend to be confession driven and characterized by a de facto presumption of guilt and the use of confrontation and psychological manipulation. Common manipulative techniques are coercive in nature and likely to impair the free will, judgment and memory of interviewees. Threats, inducements, misleading practices, protracted or suggestive questioning and the use of drugs or hypnosis are examples of problematic practices. Demeaning or condescending comments or accusations based on individual qualities or cultural identities are also of concern.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur calls upon all States to repeal any law allowing intrusive and irreversible treatments, including forced genital-normalizing surgery, involuntary sterilization, unethical experimentation, medical display, "reparative therapies" or "conversion therapies", when enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned. He also calls upon them to outlaw forced or coerced sterilization in all circumstances and provide special protection to individuals belonging to marginalized groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Under the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, all forms of forced marriage are defined as practices similar to slavery, which reduce a spouse to a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised. International law has further reiterated and reinforced the provisions within the Convention that prohibit forced and early marriages. Over the years, however, the idea that forced and early marriages are forms of slavery and, therefore, servile marriage has been lost.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Stigma manifests itself in different ways, combining ostracism, abandonment, shunning, rejection, isolation, exclusion, bullying, discrediting, blaming, harassment, physical violence, among many others, but fundamentally all these manifestations relate back to the process of devaluing and dehumanizing individuals in certain groups and creating an "us and them" divide. Different people experience stigma in different ways, and the extent to which certain manifestations apply differs. The examples mentioned are for illustrative purposes only. They are not meant to imply that particular groups experience stigma exclusively in one way or another, or that other manifestations would relate only to other groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Stigma relates closely to power and inequality, and those with power can deploy it at will. Stigma can broadly be understood as a process of dehumanizing, degrading, discrediting and devaluing people in certain population groups, often based on a feeling of disgust. Put differently, there is a perception that "the person with the stigma is not quite human". Stigma attaches itself to an attribute, quality or identity that is regarded as "inferior" or "abnormal". Stigma is based on a socially constructed "us" and "them" serving to confirm the "normalcy" of the majority through the devaluation of the "other".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 74b
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to harmful practices, the Special Rapporteur calls upon States to:] Implement legislation that prohibits all forms of female genital mutilation at all levels, including in State-run and private medical facilities; prosecute and hold accountable health-care professionals, community leaders and other public officials who perpetrate or condone the practice or refuse to implement relevant laws; and concomitantly raise awareness and mobilize public opinion against female genital mutilation through community-based programmes and educational campaigns;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Numerous reports document that users of illicit drugs who are detained in such centres undergo painful withdrawal from drug dependence without medical assistance, administration of unknown or experimental medications, State-sanctioned beatings, caning or whipping, forced labour, sexual abuse and intentional humiliation. Other reported abuses included "flogging therapy", "bread and water therapy", and electroshock resulting in seizures, all in the guise of rehabilitation. In such settings, medical professionals trained to manage drug dependence disorders as medical illnesses are often unavailable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- On 22 February 2008, in Prosecutor v. Brima et al, the Special Court for Sierra Leone recognized forced marriage as a crime against humanity under international criminal law for the first time. The Court confirmed that forced marriage involved a perpetrator compelling a person by force or threat of force, through words, or conduct of the perpetrator, or anyone associated with him, into a forced conjugal association resulting in great suffering or serious physical or mental injury on the part of the victim. It concluded that forced marriage might also include one or more international crimes such as enslavement, imprisonment, rape, sexual slavery and abduction.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Victims of servile marriage are often unable to escape because their families and/or the societies in which they live will not support them, whether for economic reasons or for traditional, cultural and religious beliefs. Such beliefs and practices cannot, however, be used to justify servile marriage. Under the Supplementary Slavery Convention, States parties are to bring about the complete abolition or abandonment of slavery-like institutions and practices, such as servile marriage. It does not provide for any exceptions in which slavery may continue to exist. Evolving international law has confirmed that slavery is a crime against humanity and, as such, no culture, tradition or religious practice can be used to justify servile marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- In the public interest, it is also important that States ensure adequate standards for traditional medicine. There must be minimum requirements for all practitioners, regardless of whether they are affiliated with an organization. The standards must be in line with established human rights norms, without compromising the core principles of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of goods and services. The obligation on States also extends to ensuring that practitioners do not conduct harmful practices, including the use of body parts of persons with albinism for muti or juju.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- It is important to reiterate that although witchcraft per se should not be criminalized, any killing of persons for the use of body parts in witchcraft-related practices such as muti or juju should be prosecuted. To do so, it is necessary to ensure that legal provisions criminalize a broad range of attacks and assaults, as well as criminalize the possession and trafficking of body parts. Linking such a criminal action to muti and juju would be challenging, given the difficulty in establishing objective evidentiary standards. Nonetheless, where evidence substantially supports the proposition that muti and juju were the purpose of the criminal activity, States could consider including that factor as an aggravating circumstance leading to a heavier sentence and ultimately deter crime incentivized by witchcraft. Non-legal tools such as public education and sociocultural interventions with stakeholders would also be necessary to complement such legal practice in dissuading muti, juju and all crimes related to witchcraft.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Although belief in, and practice of, witchcraft can be associated in certain cases with empowerment, healing and cleansing, attacks and use of body parts of persons with albinism, regardless of the purpose for which they are used, cannot under any circumstances be considered an elemental part of any legitimate practice, whether linked to witchcraft or to traditional medicine, because such acts inherently constitute criminal activity and other human rights violations. Consequently, they cannot be justified on the basis of tradition, traditional medicine, or any other ground.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The appearance that ensues in albinism, in particular the lack of melanin in the skin, eyes and hair, exposes tens of thousands of persons to stigma and discrimination across the world. It is reported that, in Africa, attacks directed at persons with albinism are usually carried out with machetes, resulting in severe mutilation or death. In most cases, the persons attacked are dismembered; body parts such as fingers, arms, legs, eyes, genitals, skin, bones, the head and hair have been severed from the body and taken. In several of those cases, body parts have been hacked off while the person was alive. Reportedly, there is a corollary witchcraft belief that it is preferable to harvest body parts from live victims because screams increase the potency of the potion for which the parts are used. Possible human sacrifices of persons with albinism have also been reported, including through immolation.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
19 shown of 19 entities