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Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention 2014, para. Preamble 10
- Paragraph text
- Noting that the effective and sustained suppression of forced or compulsory labour contributes to ensuring fair competition among employers as well as protection for workers, and
- Body
- International Labour Organization
- Document type
- International treaty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2012, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative looks forward to continuing to collaborate closely with Member States and all other stakeholders in the further strengthening of this crucial agenda to help build a world where violence has no place.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. B.
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States:] Put in place comprehensive programmes that allow identified bonded labourers to be able to access the support that they need to fulfil their right to rehabilitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, when revenue is used to finance public services, it creates conditions propitious to growth and employment in formal sectors of the economy, guaranteeing both equality of access and equality of opportunities. Public services also mitigate the impact of skewed income distribution and directly contribute to reducing inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- There are already promising initiatives in place throughout the world, including in low- and middle-income countries, which challenge the status quo. Creating the space, through strong political leadership and resources, to enable those practices to take shape in communities is a powerful means to promote and advance the changes needed.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Regional and subregional cooperation in promoting a human rights-based approach to combatting trafficking in persons 2010, para. 122
- Paragraph text
- [Regional mechanisms should carry out the activities set out in the following paragraphs, which have a specific added value:] Conduct studies and develop recommendations on how to address the challenges posed by the increasing use of communications technologies such as the Internet to channel demand and recruit victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 88d
- Paragraph text
- [Governments should also ensure that other institutions and stakeholders are appropriately resourced and trained to detect, report and prosecute cases, including by providing:] Providing victims with free legal assistance, compensation, social protection, and long-term strategies for community and labour-market reintegration, including vocational training and job placement services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Also relevant - given that unpaid caregivers are disproportionately represented in informal jobs - are State obligations to reduce to the fullest extent possible the number of workers outside the formal economy, apply labour legislation to all workers, and ensure that domestic and agricultural work is properly regulated so that domestic and agricultural workers enjoy the same level of protection as other workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Protection of minority rights in conflict prevention 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Equal access for all communities to employment in public services can become a highly contentious issue, especially in countries where such jobs form a large proportion of the available labour market. In countries where political power is seen to be concentrated in the hands of one or a few identity groups, it is common for those groups to be disproportionately represented in the public service, which can be a powerful source of tension.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950, para. 3c
- Paragraph text
- 3. For the purpose of this article the term "forced or compulsory labour" shall not include: c. any service exacted in case of an emergency or calamity threatening the life or well-being of the community;
- Body
- Council of Europe
- Document type
- Regional treaty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 1950
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950, para. 3b
- Paragraph text
- 3. For the purpose of this article the term "forced or compulsory labour" shall not include: b. any service of a military character or, in case of conscientious objectors in countries where they are recognised, service exacted instead of compulsory military service;
- Body
- Council of Europe
- Document type
- Regional treaty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 1950
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Prioritizing the most vulnerable requires acknowledging that many populations are invisible through traditional data collection methods either because they are excluded from civil registration or because they face other barriers, such as being homeless or criminalized, and never come into contact with official statistical processes. Qualitative data collection methods are a practical and powerful complement to traditional quantitative methods.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Companies should review and modify purchasing practices that could have a negative impact on the workplace conditions of their suppliers, including the setting of delivery deadlines that will expose workers to non-voluntary overtime or force suppliers to hire workers for peak periods under worse working conditions or through employment agencies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66g
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Workers are paid in legal tender and provided written, itemized pay slips or receipts in a language they understand, indicating wage rates, hours worked, total pay and any legally authorized deductions made by the employer;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- People enter the status or condition of debt bondage when their labour, or the labour of a third party under their control, is demanded as repayment of a loan or of money given in advance, and the value of their labour is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the length of the service is not limited and/or the nature of the service is not defined. Consequently, bonded labourers are often trapped into working for very little remuneration, or in some cases none, to repay the loan or advance, even though the value of their labour exceeds that sum of money.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Many States do not afford domestic workers the equal protection of labour law, which invites exploitation, leading, in extreme cases, to domestic servitude. In a number of States, domestic work is excluded from the scope of application of relevant labour laws. At best, parallel regimes are set up that provide lesser standards of protection. It is very common to exclude domestic workers from essential social benefits such as health care, compensation in case of invalidity, pensions or maternity leave and labour rights such as paid vacations, rest days or maximum work hours.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preventing and addressing violence and atrocities against minorities 2014, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- The creation of community or neighbourhood watch and early warning mechanisms that enable at-risk communities to identify threats and quickly contact law enforcement authorities is another measure that has been put in place, including in Nigeria where violence and intercommunal tensions have been present. Having local "eyes and ears" to report potential incidents offers valuable, community-based, early warning potential, although it remains reliant on a rapid response by law enforcement bodies to alerts if it is to be effective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implications of States’ surveillance of communications on the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression 2013, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Advances in technology have not only facilitated interception of and access to communications in specific cases, but have also enabled States to conduct widespread, even nationwide, filtering of online activity. In many countries, Internet filtering is conducted under the guise of maintaining social harmony or eradicating hate speech, but is in fact used to eradicate dissent, criticism or activism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integration of a human rights-based approach in measures to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, and which leads to human trafficking 2013, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Even businesses which invest significant amounts in checking their supply chains suffer from the fact that there is no internationally recognized standard for the process of checking whether minimum labour standards and human rights standards are respected in the workplace. It is challenging for other businesses and individual consumers to assess whether the cheap cost of a product was due to good business management or due to abuse in the production process. It is the responsibility of the State (in addition to being the responsibility of employers, business owners and investors) to ensure that keeping production costs and wage bills to a minimum is not achieved by illegal or abusive means.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Commissions of inquiry 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The purposes of a commission of inquiry warrant a more flexible approach to rules of evidence, including the credibility of witness testimony. In assessing the credibility of evidence, a commission of inquiry should give special weight to corroborated testimony and to testimony subjected to cross-examination. A commission should also apply general rules in their assessment of the credibility of witnesses, including demeanour, subject to cultural and gender sensitivities. A commission should always accept testimony that is not subject to cross-examination, and should also avail itself of testimony that, if rendered in court, would be excludable as hearsay.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Solitary confinement 2011, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Solitary confinement is also known as "segregation", "isolation", "separation", "cellular", "lockdown", "Supermax", "the hole" or "Secure Housing Unit (SHU)", but all these terms can involve different factors. For the purposes of this report, the Special Rapporteur defines solitary confinement as the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined to their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day. Of particular concern to the Special Rapporteur is prolonged solitary confinement, which he defines as any period of solitary confinement in excess of 15 days. He is aware of the arbitrary nature of the effort to establish a moment in time which an already harmful regime becomes prolonged and therefore unacceptably painful. He concludes that 15 days is the limit between "solitary confinement" and "prolonged solitary confinement" because at that point, according to the literature surveyed, some of the harmful psychological effects of isolation can become irreversible.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- In Nepal, a debt bondage system, the labourers of which are known as Haliyas, can be found in the agricultural sector. Haliya means "one who ploughs". Ploughing land is considered to be dirty and unskilled work that only lower-class citizens should perform, making it the work of "untouchables" or Dalits. Haliyas are either paid very little for their work or paid only in small amounts of food. Debt quickly accrues as workers take out loans for personal expenses, while landowners take advantage of them by charging exorbitant interest rates. According to a Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice report, "such discrimination is intentionally designed to keep alive a system of debt bondage".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In post-conflict and post-disaster situations mechanisms should be put in place to monitor violations of the right to adequate housing, including forced evictions. Victims of such violations should be entitled to legal remedies and have access to justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Fifth, the implementation of positive judicial outcomes and the search for more creative remedies have been "an analytical and practical blind spot".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- In Nepal, in the agricultural sector, Haliyas ("ones who plough") are labourers effectively caught in a debt bondage system. They plough the land, a task considered dirty. They are often forced to take out loans from landowners to cover personal expenses and are charged exorbitant rates of interest, making their debts extremely difficult to pay back and effectively trapping them in a never-ending cycle of submission. According to civil society reports, despite criminalization by the Government in 2010, the practice still persists and there is currently no legislation in place for the rehabilitation of Haliyas.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- This rigid and stratified allocation of work results in Dalits having not only limited job opportunities, but also lower wages, particularly in rural areas.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) provides data on "slums", the word it has adopted to define such settlements. One UN-Habitat study estimated that 924 million people were living in slums in 2001; an estimate for 2010 placed the number at about 828 million. However, by 2010 tenure security was not taken into account in the UN-Habitat measurements of slums, hence the latter figure offers only a very small insight into the current extent of tenure insecurity in urban areas. Similarly, the revised indicator for the Millennium Development Goal target of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers (7 (d)) does not include security of tenure. While this particular target was reached, the question remains as to whether this result reflects the real situation of slums and informal settlements worldwide. Developing effective ways to measure tenure (in)security is an urgent imperative, including for the Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The free market fundamentalist ideology opposes the very existence of trade unions in general, with one author arguing that they are viewed as "monopolist agents manipulating the price of labour to the advantage of some (a minority) and to the disadvantage of others (the majority, including non-unionized workers and consumers)". The Special Rapporteur views anti-unionism as an inherently troubling aspect of free market fundamentalism, as the right to organize in the workplace is protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and through various conventions of the International Labour Organization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Global supply chains are putting downward pressure on wages and working conditions, and distancing workers from their rights to freedom of association because workers fill permanent jobs but are denied permanent employee rights. These arrangements - found in both formal and informal work, including part-time, short-term or temporary contracts, on-call schedules, multilayered subcontracts or franchises, and bogus self-employment schemes - are designed to drive down costs. As a result of the widespread use of this practice, 1.5 billion people - 46 per cent of the world's total number of workers - are working in so called "precarious employment". In both Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, more than 70 per cent of workers are employed that way.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through the Internet 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- At the same time, as noted by the Working Group on Countering the Use of Internet for Terrorist Purposes, one of the nine working groups of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, the available means to suppress content deemed to be incitement to terrorism are often "clumsy or ineffective, or both", and thus it may be more effective to devise strategies that work with the Internet rather than against it, including the dissemination of rapid counter-narratives to extremist messages which constitute incitement to terrorism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph