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ESCR / Events / 2009 / April

OMCT’s Special Procedures Seminar, 2009: call for nominations

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​Working with the United Nations Special Procedures System to fight torture and other forms of ill-treatment by acting on their economic, social and cultural root causes

An invitation to submit nominations to participate in OMCT’s

Special Procedures Seminar

29 June-3 July 2009, Geneva, Switzerland

 

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) invites nominations for participation in the Special Procedures Seminar 2009 that will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 29 June to 3 July 2009 at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of the University of Geneva.

The purpose of this five-day seminar is to support national NGOs in using the United Nations Special Procedures System to address the economic, social and cultural root causes of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. OMCT research has demonstrated the strong links between failure to respect economic, social and cultural rights and violence, including torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, summary or arbitrary executions, forced disappearances, violence against women and violence against children. And it has also shown that acting on those root causes can reduce violence.

OMCT seeks to address torture and other forms of violence by strengthening the capacity of national NGOs to address their economic, social and cultural root causes through national and international instruments, including interventions (complaints) addressed to UN Special Procedures mandate holders, governments, development institutions, the private sector and the institutions of the European Union.

This is the third Special Procedures Seminar. The first two seminars took place in June 2007 and June 2008. During those seminars, NGO representatives held in-depth discussions with leading UN Special Procedures mandate holders responsible for issues relating to torture, indigenous peoples, the right to health, arbitrary detention, protection of human rights defenders, violations of human rights by private security forces, adequate housing, minorities issues, right to food, and human rights of migrants. The 2007 seminar report is available at www.omct.org . 

Objectives of the seminar

The principal objective of the Special Procedure Seminar is to help NGOs to prepare interventions (complaints) for submission to the UN or other organisations and/or alternative reports for submission to UN Treaty Bodies calling for practical action to stop or prevent torture and other forms of violence by dealing with their economic social and cultural root causes. An important objective for OMCT is to build partnerships with NGOs to work together on these issues over the long term. The seminar, in particular, will seek to:

  • Work together to understand the various ways violations of economic, social and cultural rights are linked to violence and how acting on those root causes can reduce violence;
  • Work together to develop their own capacity to address the economic, social and cultural root causes of violence;
  • Identify how action on the root causes of violence could relate to the specific circumstances of the participants’ countries;
  • Discuss proposals for  interventions (complaints) presented by participants;
  • discuss proposals from participants for including in alternative reports to UN Treaty bodies and in submissions to other institutions (for example the European Union) of information on the link between the denial of economic, social and cultural rights and torture along with recommendations for specific action; and
  • Identify new and emerging issues for attention.


Methods of work

The seminar’s work will be built principally around a discussion and refinement of the potential interventions or alternative report elements to ensure that the participants leave the seminar with practical action to take on returning home. Participants will be encouraged to exchange experiences and challenges and describe the methods that they have used to address the seminar’s issues. 

Fifteen NGO representatives will be invited to take part in the seminar to work with international experts and UN Special Procedures mandate holders[3] to:

-       Identify specific situations and concrete case studies in their country where government policy and projects risk to lead to violations or denials of economic, social and cultural rights, and this in turn lead to violence.

-       Identify concrete and viable actions to be taken at national and international level as well as identify key actors to address the economic, social and cultural root causes of torture.

To facilitate exchanges with UN Special Procedures mandate holders, the seminar is held in parallel with their annual meeting.

 



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Date: April 22, 2009
Activity: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Type: Events
Subjects: Discrimination, Inequality, Poverty, Torture and violence

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