Position paper 2008 relating to substantive and other aspects of attacking the root cause of violence
As part of a wider project funded by the
European Union and other donors, from 23 to 27 June 2008, OMCT hosted its
second international seminar in Geneva on “Addressing the economic, social and
cultural root causes of violence through the UN Special Procedures System”.
This seminar is an important element of OMCT’s three-year project on
“Preventing Torture and Other Forms of Violence by acting on their Economic,
Social and Cultural Root Causes.”
The OMCT project, now in its second year,
focuses on developing concrete measures to address the economic, social and
cultural root causes of violence, particularly torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment, including violence against women and
children.
This document
contains expert papers and NGO case studies developed during the 2007 OMCT
Special Procedures Seminar. We believe that this information is very relevant
to the UN Special Procedures System, and its Mandate Holders.
During the five-day
seminar, 14 NGO representatives from around the world focused on developing
concrete recommendations to address the root causes of violence in specific
cases. The substantive framework for the
discussions was provided by presentations from two invited experts (reproduced
in Section I): Mr. Yves Berthelot, member of the OMCT Scientific Council and
former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe, and Mr.
Pierre de Senarclens, Professor of International Relations at the University of
Lausanne, also a member of OMCT’s Scientific Council and former Human Rights
Director of UNESCO.
Participants also
submitted case studies highlighting specific links between violations of economic,
social and cultural rights and violence in their countries (summarised in
Section II). Seminar participants met and discussed these issues with mandate
holders responsible for Human Rights Defenders, Adequate Housing, Minority
Issues, Indigenous People, the Right to Food and the Human Rights of Migrants.
The
European Union, through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights,
provides substantial support for this project, which is also generously
supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Karl
Popper Foundation, the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation and
the Foundation for Human Rights at Work.