MINELRES: UN OHCHR Minority Update - October 2007
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Tue Nov 6 16:48:05 2007
Original sender: Ilona Alexander <[email protected]>
Minority Update N�8 - October 2007
OHCHR Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit
Minorities team members' emails:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Table of contents
� Staff at OHCHR
� Minority Fellowship 2008 in English - deadline 10 Dec 2007
� Independent Expert and Special Rapporteur against racism
� UPR review countries - deadline for NGO submissions - 20 Nov 2007
� Awards in 2007
� Indigenous Peoples and the HRC - meeting on 6 and 7 Dec 2007 in Room
XVII of PdN
� January 2008 Minorities meeting on integration with diversity in
policing
� UN Minorities Documents 1945-1996
� PrepComs in 2008 for Durban Review 2009
� Treaty Bodies and country reviews
Staff at OHCHR
Ms. Reem Mazzawi, a former Minority Fellow on the 2005 programme, joined
OHCHR's Indigenous Peoples and Minorities unit for 3 months to assist in
the planning, organization implementation and follow-up of the pilot
Arabic-Speaking Minority Fellowship Programme. Her email is:
[email protected]
Fiona Blyth-Kubota is assigned to work in the team servicing the Human
Rights Council's new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mandate. She will
be based in the Treaties and Council Branch of OHCHR. Her email remains:
[email protected]
English Minority Fellowship Programme 2008
Application forms for the English speaking OHCHR Minority Fellowship
programme for Spring 2008 is on the OHCHR web site. The Application
Deadline is 10 DECEMBER 2007
Please find application form at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/docs/applicationform2008_en.doc
Independent Expert on minority issues and Special Rapporteur against
racism and racial discrimination
Ms. Gay McDougall with Mr. Doudou Diene (Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance) are undertaking a joint country visit to the
Dominican Republic in 23 to 29 October 2007.
The press release is available at:
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/1B539E061600764FC125737A006B36
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For further information please contact:
Graham Fox: [email protected] and
Gloria Carrera: [email protected]
The Independent Expert on minority issues also addressed a genocide
prevention conference. From 11 to 13 October 2007, Ms. Gay McDougall
participated in the "Global Conference on the Prevention of Genocide" at
the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in Montreal,
Canada. The conference brought together genocide survivors with
intellectual, political and civil society leaders from around the world.
In her presentation, Ms. McDougall noted, inter alia, that "by the time
the killing begins, the viable options left open to the international
community are extremely limited. Prevention has got to happen before the
country situation gets on the agenda of the security organs of the UN".
UPR review countries Deadline for NGO submissions is 20 November 2007
The Human Rights Council has selected the countries for review under the
new Universal Periodic Review system. The deadline for NGO submissions
under the 1st session of the UPR system is 20 November 2007 and they
should be sent to the following email address: [email protected]
NGOs are being strongly encouraged to limit their submission to a 5-page
document, to which a more detailed and factual report may be attached
for reference. This information will be available on line for others to
access. Further information on NGO submissions under the UPR system is
to be found at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/upr/noteNGO_041007.htm
The countries to be considered under the first UPR session of 2008 from
7-18 April 2008 are:
Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland,
India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland,
South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.
The countries to be considered under the second UPR session of 2008 from
5-16 May 2008 are:
Benin, France, Gabon, Gambia, Guatemala, Japan, Mali, Pakistan, Peru,
Republic of Korea, Romania, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tonga, Ukraine and
Zambia.
The listing of other countries to be considered over the four years of
2008-2011 is available on the OHCHR web site at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/upr/uprlist.pdf
2007 Awards
Rafto Prize awarded to National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR)
The Rafto Foundation awarded the 2007 Rafto Prize to the National
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) of India. The prize ceremony will
take place in Bergen, Norway on 4th November 2007.
Find out more on the website of the RAFTO Foundation: www.rafto.no
2007 Max van der Stoel Award to European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) was awarded the 2007 Max van der
Stoel Award on 16 October at a ceremony in the Hague. See
http://www.osce.org/item/27361.html.
Indigenous Peoples and the HRC - meeting on 6 and 7 Dec 2007 in Room
XVII of PdN
With respect to indigenous issues, the Human Rights Council passed a
resolution for the organization of a meeting to discuss possible
arrangements for follow-up to the work of the Working Group on
Indigenous Populations. This meeting is to be held 6 and 7 of December
in Room XVII of the Palais des Nations.
For further information please contact: Mireya Pena at email:
[email protected]
Expert meeting on Integration with diversity in policing: Vienna 15-16
January 2008
OHCHR in cooperation with ILO and the UNODC as well as the Independent
Expert on minority issues are scheduled to hold an expert meeting on
integration with diversity in policing in Vienna, Austria from 15 to 16
January 2008.
Professionals in the police service from different regions and countries
of the world have been invited to participate, including from: Cameroon,
Canada, Hungary, India, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Samoa.
The main background paper of the meeting, prepared by Mr. Tom Hadden, is
to be found at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/docs/12/2006-wp1.doc
For further information please contact: [email protected]
Preparatory Committee (Prep-Com) for Durban Review: 21 April-2 May 2008
PrepCom dates in 2008
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Durban Review Conference
decided on 21 April to 2 May 2008; and 6 to 17 October 2008 as the
dates for the first and second substantive PrepCom sessions to be held
in Geneva.
NGO Participation
The first PrepCom decided on NGO participation in the preparatory
process of the Durban Review Conference as well as in the conference
itself. These will be:
1. NGOs with ECOSOC status
2. NGOs that were accredited for the WCAR (pending individual objections
from Member States which would be discussed during the PrepComs).
3. NGOs new to the process that have been approved after sending to the
Secretariat application forms which shall shortly be available at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/prep_committee_durban/index.ht
m#docs.
For a full text of the decision regarding the participation of NGOs and
all other decisions, see the draft report of the first PrepCom at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/prep_committee_durban/docs/pre
pcomdraft.doc.
UN Minorities Documents 1945-1996
Attached is a list of some of the major UN documents referring to
minorities issues prepared during the years 1945-1996. These are
separate from those generated under the work of the former WG on
Minorities. Most of the documents are available in an electronic version
and are to be placed on the OHCHR web site in the future for ease of
reference for researchers and others.
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[From MINELRES moderator: will be posted separately. Boris]
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Treaty Bodies and country reviews
15 October - 2 November 2007 - CCPR
The 91st session of the Human Rights Committee meets from 15 October to
2 November 2007 in Geneva. The following State reports are scheduled for
examination: Georgia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Austria, Costa Rica and
Algeria. Additionally, lists of issues will be considered and adopted
concerning the reports submitted by San Marino, Panama, Tunisia and the
United Kingdom.
Further information may be obtained from:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs91.htm
5 - 23 November 2007 - CESCR
The Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights will hold its 39th
session from 5 to 23 November 2007. The following State reports are
scheduled for consideration: Costa Rica, Ukraine, San Marino, Belgium
and Paraguay.
For further details on how to submit information see:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/cescrs39.htm
26 to 30 November - Pre-Sessional WG of CESCR
The Pre-Sessional Working Group of the Committee on Economic Social and
Cultural Rights will be held from 26 to 30 November 2007. The following
State reports are scheduled to be considered: Sweden, The Philippines,
Kenya, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Organizations wishing to submit information should do so by 1 November
2007. For further details on how to submit information see:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/cescrwg39.htm
5 to 23 November 2007 - CAT
The Committee Against Torture will hold its 39th session from 5 to 23
November 2007. The Committee is scheduled to consider the State reports
of: Australia, Benin, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Norway, Estonia and Portugal.
Further information is to be found at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats39.htm
26 - 30 November 2007 - CMW
The Committee on Migrant Workers will hold its 7th session from 26 to 30
November 2007.
The Committee is scheduled to consider the report of Ecuador.
January to February 2008 - CRC
The Committee on the Rights of the Child will hold its 47th session
January to February 2008. The following State reports are planned to be
considered: Dominican Republic, Georgia, Timor-Leste and Bhutan. Under
the Optional Protocol to CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution
and Child Pornography, the following State reports are expected to be
considered: Chile, Kuwait and Timor-Leste. Under the Optional Protocol
to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict the
following State reports are expected to be considered: Chile, Germany,
Ireland, Kuwait and Timor-Leste.
For further information please visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs47.htm
14 January to 1 February 2008 - CEDAW
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
is scheduled to hold its 40th session from 14 January to 1 February
2008. The following is a list of States parties reports provisionally
scheduled to be examined during the next session: Saudi Arabia, Bolivia,
Burundi, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden.
More information at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/40sess.htm
18 February to 7 March 2008- CERD
The next session of the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) is scheduled to take place from 18 February to 7
March 2008 in Geneva. The Committee will consider the following reports
during the session: Republic of Moldova, Italy, Republic of Fiji
Islands, Belgium, Russian Federation, Dominican Republic, United States
of America and Nicaragua. Under the Committee's review procedure,
whereby it considers country situations in the absence of a State party
report, the following are tentatively listed for review: Gambia, Monaco,
Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates and Panama.
For more information please refer to:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds72.htm
NEW - OPCAT's Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture's (SPT) first
visits 2007-8
OPCAT's Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) undertook its first
country visit to Mauritius.
The press release of that visit is available at:
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/3035F318C56594A5C1257378007070
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The SPT consists of 10 independent expert members carrying out
preventive visits to places of detention in all States Parties to the
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Further information is available at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/index.htm
*****
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Ilona Klimova-Alexander
Associate Human Rights Officer
Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Unit
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Avenue Giuseppe-Motta 48, Office 2-09
Geneva - Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 928 9845; Fax +41 22 928 90 66
E-mail:
[email protected]
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