Transcript 2013 ICCPR Timeline - US Human Rights Network

Implementing the ICCPR:
The Human Rights Committee’s 2013
Review of the U.S.
Jamil Dakwar
The International Human Rights Framework: Opportunities
For Social Justice & Civil Rights Advocates
June 11, 2013
What is the ICCPR?
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) came into effect in 1976.
• The United States has been a State Party to the ICCPR
since 1992. Currently, there are 167 State Parties to the
treaty.
• The ICCPR is part of the foundational documents of
international human rights law, together with the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR) form the Int. Bill of Rights.
ICCPR Key Protections
• The right to self-determination for peoples. (article 1)
• Application to all persons in a state’s territory or under
its jurisdiction without distinction as to race, color, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status. (article
2)
• Gender equality. (article 3)
• Inherent right to life and protection from arbitrary
deprivation of his life. (article 6)
ICCPR Key Protections
• Death penalty may be imposed for most serious crimes
but not on children. (article 6)
• The right to seek pardon or commutation if sentenced
to death by the State. (article 6)
• Protection from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment. (article 7)
• Prohibitions on slavery and servitude. (article 8)
• The right to liberty and security of persons. (article 9)
• Due process protections in arrest and detention and
freedom from arbitrary detention. (article 9)
ICCPR Key Protections
• Right of persons deprived of liberty to be treated
with humanity and with respect for the inherent
dignity of human person. (article 10)
• The right of movement and choice of residence.
(article 12)
• Equality and recognition before the law. (articles 14,
16)
• Fair trial rights and procedural guarantees. (article
14)
• No ex post facto application of the law. (article 15)
ICCPR Key Protections
• Freedom from arbitrary or unlawful interference with
privacy, family or correspondence. (article 17)
• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion. (article 18)
• Freedom of speech, right to hold opinions, and freedom to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.
(article 19)
• Prohibition of propaganda to war, advocacy of national,
racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to
discrimination, hostility or violence. (article 20)
• The right of peaceable assembly. (article 21)
• Freedom of association. (article 22)
ICCPR Key Protections
• Marriage and family rights. (article 23)
• Protection of children rights including right to a
nationality for children. (article 24)
• The right to participate in civil life, especially through
voting and public service. (article 25)
• Rights of ethnic, religious, or linguistic minorities to
enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their
own religion or use their own language. (article 27)
Optional Protocols to the ICCPR
• The First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR establishes the
ability of individuals to bring qualifying claims against
ICCPR State Parties to the Human Rights Committee
(HRC) based on alleged violations of the ICCPR.
o There are currently 114 State Parties to the First Optional
Protocol, excluding the United States.
• Under The Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, State
Parties agreed to abolish the death penalty within their
jurisdictions.
o There are currently 76 State Parties to the Second Optional
Protocol, excluding the United States.
U.S. Reservations, Understandings, and
Declarations (RUDs)
• Upon ratifying the ICCPR in 1992, the United States entered
5 reservations, 5 understandings, and 3 declarations.
• Reservations included:
o Protection of free speech under the U.S. Constitution.
o Right to impose capital punishment on any person
(other than pregnant women), including juveniles.
o Limiting the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment to the
constitutional prohibition under 5th, 8th, and 14th
Amendments .
o Limits on the treatment of juveniles as adults in the
criminal justice system.
U.S. Reservations, Understandings, and
Declarations (RUDs)
• Understandings included:
o The treaty “shall be implemented by the Federal
Government to the extent that it exercises
legislative and judicial jurisdiction over the
matters covered” by the treaty, “and otherwise
by the state and local governments” but with
support from the Federal Government for the
fulfillment of the Covenant.
U.S. Reservations, Understandings, and
Declarations (RUDs)
• Declarations included:
o "That the United States declares that the
provisions of articles 1 through 27 of the
Covenant are not self-executing.”
o Intended to limit the ability of litigants to sue
in court for direct enforcement of the treaty.
o Congress has not passed enabling legislation
to effectuate ICCPR treaty obligations.
F
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
U
N
T
B
Courtesy of
The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),
Patrick Mutzenberg
F
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
U
N
T
B
Courtesy of
The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),
Patrick Mutzenberg
F
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
U
N
T
B
Courtesy of
The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),
Patrick Mutzenberg
R
e
p
r
o
t
t
i
n
g
P
r
o
c
e
s
s
Courtesy of
The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),
Patrick Mutzenberg
R
e
p
r
o
t
t
i
n
g
P
r
o
c
e
s
s
Courtesy of
The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre),
Patrick Mutzenberg
2013 ICCPR
Timeline
U.S. review before the UN Human Rights
Committee
U.S. Fourth Periodic Report
•
The U.S. submitted its last periodic report in December 2011, after its prior
review by the Human Rights Committee in 2006.
•
The almost 450 page report demonstrated improvement in many issue
areas since its 2006 review, especially in the areas of LGBT rights and DoJ
civil rights enforcement, but:
o Lacked concrete information on state and local compliance with the
treaty;
o Ignored serious ICCPR violations such those associated with Occupy
protests across the country; and
o In some areas, even failed to respond to prior recommendations made
by the Committee.
A summary of the report is available here:
http://www.ushrnetwork.org/resources-media/ushrn-iccpr-taskforcesummary-us-4th-periodic-report.
The ICCPR Task Force
• June 2012: The U.S. Human Rights Network created
a special Task Force to coordinate U.S. civil society
participation and advocacy in the U.S. ICCPR
review process.
• Task Force members represent different geographic
regions, issue areas and constituencies.
• The Task Force promotes the engagement of
diverse constituencies and multiple perspectives in
as inclusive and transparent a fashion as possible, to
hold the U.S. accountable to its ICCPR obligations.
ICCPR Task Force Members
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Katrina Anderson - Center for Reproductive Rights
Lauren Bartlett - Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
at American University
Mary Gerisch - Vermont Workers Center
Chief Gary Harrison - Chickaloon Village, Alaska
Latrina Kelly-James - Junta for Progressive Action
Kimi Lee - United Workers Congress
Tina Minkowitz - Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors
of Psychiatry
Efia Nwangaza - Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination
Jennifer Prestholdt - Advocates for Human Rights
Alissa Escarce - Rights Working Group
Sarah Paoliti – Transnational Legal Clinic, University of
Pennsylvania Law School
Nasrina Bargzie - Asian Law Caucus (co-chair)
Jamil Dakwar – ACLU (co-chair)
Pre-Adoption of the List of Issues
• December 2012: NGOs submitted briefing
materials to the Human Rights Committee.
• March 2013: Several NGOs attended the
Committee’s 107th session in Geneva and
participated in informal briefings as well as
lobbied Committee members.
Adoption of the List of Issues by
Human Rights Committee: Geneva
• March 20: Human Rights Committee
adopted a list of issues for the U.S.
review.
• April 28: List of Issues officially sent to
U.S. Government.
• June 28: U.S. Government replies
due.
The List of Issues
• The List of Issues covers key human rights issues,
including:
o Immigration detention and enforcement, including
racial profiling and shooting deaths on the U.S.-Mexico
border
o The use of the death penalty and solitary
confinement, especially on children and persons with
mental disabilities
o Racial disparities in the criminal justice system
o The targeted killing program
The List of Issues
o Lack of accountability for torture
o Rights for detainees at Guantanamo Bay
o Criminalization of homelessness
o Gun violence
o Trafficking and domestic violence
o Measures restricting the right to vote
o NSA surveillance program
Post-Adoption of the List of Issues
•
May 30: Consultation with U.S. State Department
o Members of civil society shared their perspectives regarding the
List of Issues in order to influence U.S. replies to the Committee in
advance of the review in October.
•
June/July: Advocacy, public education and media campaign to
publicize List of Issues in preparation for U.S. review
o Coordinated letter writing campaigns to state legislators and
policy makers and bring the List of Issues and US review to
attention of state and local governments.
•
June: Letter to Administration re: consultations pre-U.S. review
o Letter to the Administration suggesting improvements for civil
society consultations towards the U.S. review and preparation of
the U.S. written reply to the List of Issues.
Shadow Reporting
• June 6: Training call I
o Basic overview of the shadow reporting process. (recorded)
• Early July: Training Call II
o More detailed training and discussion of lessons learned from prior
shadow reports.
• August 23: Human Rights Network deadline for
submission of shadow reports or updated submissions
• September 6: Suggested Human Rights Committee
deadline for submission of shadow reports or updated
submissions
o Shadow reports submitted, including updated versions of List of
Issues submissions and other advocacy documents.
Shadow Report Template
•
The following is a suggested template for NGO shadow reports to
the Human Rights Committee. This report can either be an initial
submission to the Committee or an update to the List of Issues
Submission.
•
This submission should be a short summary of an issue that you
recommend the Human Rights Committee address during its
review of the U.S. Government’s compliance with the ICCPR in
October 2013. The submission should be no longer than 3-5
pages, and should include links to existing materials, reports, and
other resources that further elaborate on the topic. If your
submission covers an issue that was not included in the list of
issues and/or was not covered in an NGO list of issues report, feel
free to exceed the 3-5 page limit in order to adequately brief
your issue.
•
Note that even if you did not submit a list of issue report in
December, it is not too late to submit a shadow report.
Shadow Report Template
I. Title
II. Reporting Organization(s)

Note whether this is an individual or coalition submission. List and briefly
describe the organization or coalition of organizations and advocates
authoring and/or endorsing this submission, including the geographic scope of
the organization(s), focus issues, location and mission. If the coalition is large,
include the full list of organizations and individual signatories as a footnote or
annex.
III. Introduction and Issue Summary

Note whether this is an update to a prior submission. Briefly summarize (1-2
paragraphs) the human rights issue your submission addresses. Focus on
providing updates since your previous submission (if applicable). In particular,
highlight the following aspects: roles played by federal, state and local
government in your issue; legislation that could remedy the human rights
situation; relevant data; charts; and stories from victims and survivors.
IV. Relevant Question in List of Issues

If issue was included in the List of Issues, note which question in the list your issue
pertains to. If the language in the question did not sufficiently address the issue,
suggest modified language and other suggested questions to be raised during
the US review.
Shadow Report Template
V. U.S. Government Response

If the U.S. government submits its replies on time (expected by June 27th),
reference the U.S. position in respect to your issue. If the U.S. government has
not submitted its report, reference the U.S. position based on outside
information (if you feel comfortable). Explain how the U.S. position comports
with its obligations under the ICCPR, keeping in mind Committee’s questions,
prior concluding observations, and (if applicable) general comments.
VI. Recommended Questions

List, in order of priority, 2-3 questions you recommend the Human Rights
Committee ask the U.S. Government during the review.
VII. Suggested Recommendations

List, in order of priority, 2-3 recommendations you suggest the Human Rights
Committee provide to the U.S. Government upon its review.
Recommendations may include changes to law, policy, or practice at the
local, state, or federal level. Recommendations should include specific
policies, laws and even legislation or programs that you want the Committee
to include in the concluding observations. For example, if you are working on
fighting racial profiling it would be important to recommend the passage of
the End Racial Profiling Act which was recently re-introduced in U.S. Congress.
Pre-U.S. Review
• September 23: Day of Action in several states in
advance of U.S. review highlighting issues covered in
shadow reports and updated submissions
o Coordinated events in several states highlighting the ICCPR
submissions.
• September/Early October: Pre-Geneva Review
strategy call
o Strategy call to prepare for the U.S. review before the Committee
in Geneva for individuals who submitted List of Issue submissions
and/or shadow reports.
U.S. Review by Human Rights
Committee: Geneva
• October 14-November 1: 109th Session of the Human
Rights Committee
o U.S. Review dates TBD; will consist of six hours over
two days during this session. U.S. review to be
livecast for those not attending the session in
Geneva.
Post-U.S. Review
• Early November: Post-review report back
• December 6-8: ICCPR report back and
implementation workshop at USHRN National
Conference in Atlanta.
Questions?
To join the U.S. Human Rights Network ICCPR listserv, email:
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
Comments/Suggestions?
Feel free to email me at: [email protected]
For additional resources, visit: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/iccpr-newsletter-3.