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the OP-ICESCR Campaign!
I. Background
on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic
Social and Cultural Rights
As economic,
social and cultural rights activists, we know that when people are
denied human rights, they should have access legal structures capable
of providing redress. The problem is that many of our governments
resist the idea that economic, social and cultural rights are human
rights; that they are justiciable (that they can be adjudicated
or claimed through a domestic judicial process).
Presently, at
the United Nations, our governments are discussing whether they
will support the creation of an international legal mechanism dedicated
to address violations of economic, social and cultural rights, an
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). The Optional Protocol would not
establish new substantive rights, it would provide a mechanism for
establishing remedies and redress for ESCR rights violations that,
until now, have never been recognised.
It is about
time. Violations of civil and political rights have been considered
by the Human Rights Committee since 1976. Getting an Optional Protocol
is about getting the recognition that economic, social and cultural
rights are as much a part of the human rights system as civil and
political and non-discrimination rights. Furthermore, an Optional
Protocol to the ICESCR could help promote rights in an inter-dependent
and comprehensive manner.
In the last
thirteen years, the justiciability of ESCR has been recognised at
the national, regional and international levels. In this connection,
at minimum, the OP-ICESCR will establish an individual complaints
mechanism that would:
1) Strengthen
processes of claiming ESCR at the international level: by allowing
men and women whose rights have been denied at the national level
to have their claims reviewed by the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights.
2) Contribute
to the further realisation of these rights at the national level:
by promoting the adequate mechanisms for redress and remedies for
violations of ESCR domestically.
The OP-ICESCR
will bring the UN human rights system up to date with developments
in regional and domestic human rights. It would also build upon
positive precedent established by other treaty systems. Regionally,
Europe, the Americas and Africa have all recognised individual and
collective complaints mechanisms for social and economic rights.
The European Social Charter has a group complaints procedure that
came into force in 1999. An Optional Protocol to the African Charter
on Human and Peoples Rights was adopted in 1998, establishing the
African Court on Human and Peoples Rights which will have the power
to enforce all the rights in the African Charter, including economic
and social rights. Recently the Organization of American States
adopted the San Salvador Protocol to the Inter-American Convention
on Human Rights to provide a complaint mechanism for certain social
and economic rights.
II. The Open-Ended Group for the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
Geneva, September 29th to October 10th, 2003
The 2002 59th
session of the Commission on Human Rights provided the newly created
ICESCR/Optional Protocol Working Group with a mandate to consider
options regarding the elaboration of an Optional Protocol and to
make specific recommendations back to the next session of the Commission
on Human Rights on its course of action concerning the question
of an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. From September 19th to October
10th of the current year, governments will come together in an Open-Ended
Working Group to discuss the possible options for ensuring the economic,
social and cultural rights are legally equal to all other human
rights in the UN system. It is important to be aware of the fact
that, despite positive developments, many governments are dedicating
great efforts to defeating the initiative that would see the OP-ICESCR
become a reality.
Efforts to promote
the adoption of economic, social and cultural rights are critical
to the ESCR movement. States which oppose the Optional Protocol
have a broader agenda to undermine the concept that economic, social
and cultural rights are human rights. They argue that ESCR are not
rights, rather that they are programmatic objectives. As such, they
argue vehemently against the legal claiming and provision of remedies
to ESCR violations, through either domestic, regional or international
processes.
Contrary to
the well-established principle that all human rights and universal,
indivisible and interdependent, within the current political climate,
States opposed to the OP-ICESCR may attempt to subordinate economic,
social and cultural rights to civil and political rights. Australia,
Canada, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, India, the United States
and a few other States, possess the political resolve to derail
a process that has gradually gained international momentum.
RIGHT NOW, YOU
CAN TAKE ACTION TO MAKE THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE ICESCR A REALITY
BY:
a) Joining
the OP-ICESCR NGO Coalition; and
b) Contacting your department/ministry of foreign affairs to find
out whether they support the development of an Optional Protocol
to the ICESCR.
III. Strategies towards the adoption of an Optional Protocol
to the ICESCR: A Working document for NGOs
Who We Are
Although some
of us have already been working together in an ad-hoc manner towards
the promotion of an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, after meeting
held during the ESCR-NET Conference, we are proposing to establish
a Coalition for the OP-ICESCR. We hope to be able to establish a
structure that will enable us to work together towards a common
goal and vision.
The Coalition
will be a network of national, regional and international Non-Government
Organisations and interested individuals, working together to support
the development the OP-ICESCR. We will work in partnership with
each other to mobilise resources and expertise, to share information,
and to advocate in strategic sites for the expeditious development
of an effective OP-ICESCR.
The current
members of the Coalition include: FIAN, ICJ, IWRAW-Asia Pacific,
COHRE, OMCT, Migrant Watch, CERA, Social Rights Advocacy Centre,
APWLD, Amnesty International, the Inter-American Platform for Human
Rights, Observatorio DESC and others.
Long Term
Vision
To ensure that
economic, social and cultural rights are legally recognised as claimable
human rights, on the same level as civil and political rights. The
Optional Protocol should contain, at a minimum, the following elements:
- A communications
procedure allowing the CESCR to receive complaints by or on behalf
of individuals, groups of individuals and groups;
- An inquiry
procedure that enables the CESCR to investigate violations of
ESCR in States that ratify the OP-ICESCR;
- Inclusion
of the full range of economic, social and cultural rights enumerated
in the ICESCR;
- Inclusion
of all levels of obligations (respect, protect and fulfil) of
economic, social and cultural rights enumerated in the ICESCR;
and
- There should
be no reservations allowed to any part of the Optional Protocol
to the ICESCR.
Short Term
Goals: Strategies for July-December 2003
The inaugural
session of the ICESCR/Optional Protocol Working Group scheduled
in Geneva from 29th September to 10th October 2003 will consider
options regarding the elaboration of an Optional Protocol. Given
State efforts organised against the Optional Protocol, there is
a substantive threat that the global community will not be afforded
the opportunity to provide input and participate in the OP-ICESCR
process. For this reason, the OP-ICESCR NGO Coalition has considered
the following strategies:
- Strengthen
the OP-ICESCR NGO Coalition and Build the Capacity of members
to engage in the processes leading to the OP-ICESCR:
- Adapt,
translate and disseminate existing pro-ICESCR/Optional Protocol
materials and a campaign kit to promote the drafting of the
proposed complaints mechanism before State representatives
and civil society;
- Identify
new partners and outreach in regions not represented in the
OP-ICESCR NGO Coalition;
- Build
the capacity of national and regional and non-governmental
organisations and human rights institutes to advocate for
an Optional Protocol on the national and regional levels;
- Coordinate
and compliment the pre-existing activities of non-governmental
organisations
- Coordinate
the production of a document that maps government positions
(or other resources as required), to ensure that there is
consistency and transparency between the positions of capitals
and Geneva based missions; and to enable the Coalition to
develop targeted and effective lobbying strategies.
- Coordinate
advocacy efforts on behalf of the OP-ICESCR NGO Coalition:
- Ensure
that non-governmental organisations and human rights institutes
speak with one voice before the Working Group towards a common
goal;
- Launch
a media campaign promoting the Optional Protocol, involving
NGOs and regional and domestic NGOs;
- Facilitate
the participation of pro-ICESCR/Optional Protocol civil society
experts in the OP-ICESCR Working Group(s);
- Consider
strategies for networking and facilitating exchanges of information
with other Friends of the OP: UN agencies, the OHCHR, UN Special
rapporteurs/CESCR members, government delegations and representatives.
Workplan
1. Resources
- Fund Raising:
coordination staff, communications, travel 15th July
- Identifying
Campaign Coordinators 15th July
- Set-up Working
teams 1st August
2. Outreach
- Roles and
responsibilities 25th July
- Identifying
members/networks 1st August
- Activating
Networks 1st August
- Network information
sharing On-going
- Identifying
necessary expertise to promote Coalition objectives 15th July
3. Development
of cohesive multiple focused strategies and Advocacy Tools for
- NGOs, Press
and State 15th July (drafts)
- Translations
and Distribution 1st August
4. International
Advocacy for an Effective and Expeditious OP to ICESCR
- UN Human
Rights Commission On-going
- State Delegations
On-going
- Identify
and support a coalition of a Geneva-based group which includes
pro-OP Governments, UN and other experts On-going
5. National
Advocacy Campaigns:
- Mapping stakeholders
within your government 30th July
- Implementing
the Media Strategy 15th August
- Strategising
presence of pro-OP experts on delegations 15th August
- Encourage
presence of pro-OP NGOs and facilitate information sharing On-going
IV. A CALL FOR ACTION: INVITATION TO JOIN THE NGO COALITION ON
THE OP-ICESCR
Please note
that at the moment, a small group of us is coordinating the Coalition
on the volunteer basis. For this reason and until we are able to
raise funds to hire coordinators for the Coalition, we may not be
able to respond to your requests for assistance and inquiries immediately.
We are asking
you to please take the time to fill the information requested below
and send it to <op_icescr_group@yahoo.com>.
We need your response in order to add you to the listserv of the
Coalition and add your contacts to the list of organisations joining
this initiative.
REQUIRED
INFORMATION FOR ALL MEMBERS
Name:
Organisation:
Contact Information:
Joining the Coalition as:
[ ] individual
[ ] organisation
Interested in
information on:
[ ] how to participate in the open-ended working group and interventions
at the UN level;
[ ] national level advocacy for the promotion of the OP-ICESCR
OPTIONAL INFORMATION
I would like to actively participate in the working group on:
[ ] Resources
[ ] Outreach
[ ] Activating your own network on this issue
[ ] Advocacy Tools
[ ] Media Strategy
[ ] National Advocacy Campaigns
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This
page was last updated on November 1, 2004
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Asia Pacific is an independent, non-profit, NGO in Special consultative
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