Ninth Session of the Human Rights Council—09/2008
Selected news and information

There is a new High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed for 4 years, Ms. Navanetham Pillay who succeeds Louise Arbour. Ms. Pillay is a South African Indian and has been an anti-apartheid and anti-female discrimination activist, later a judge at an International Criminal Court. A new President of the Council has been elected for the next year, Martin Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, a sleek Ambassador.

The highlight of the session was  Archbishop Desmond Tutu — introduced by the President as a ‘moral voice worldwide’ — who presented the report of the Fact Finding Mission to Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip. He stated that what they saw "shocked us" and that the picture for victims remains grim, including ongoing violations of the right to physical and mental health.

There were three thematic presentations and reports concerning children:

• Children and warfare - a report has been sent to all
• Contemporary forms of slavery
• The sale of children
• Contemporary forms of slavery

Ms. Gulnara Shahinian, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, presented her first report to the Council. She stressed that slavery is a problem that impacts both genders and all age groups. She felt it was almost ‘unbelievable’ in this day and age that slavery still persists. She presented three main areas on which she intends to focus: forced labour, domestic labour, and child labour. Ms. Shahinian stressed that co-operation is key to the effective development of strategies to combat slavery at national, regional and international levels, in conjunction with raising awareness and enhancing knowledge of the modern forms of slavery. A couple of countries stressed that child labour was a priority, but that forced prostitution should also be included in her study. (from ISHR)

Sale of children

Ms. Najat M'jid Maala, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, presented her first report to the Council… Ms. Maala emphasised the importance of the participation of child victims in carrying out her mandate. She declared that in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Resolution 2001/51 of the Commission of Human Rights, she would integrate a gender and HIV/AIDS dimension into her work. Ms. Maala insisted on the importance of integrating a transnational, international and national dimension in her mandate. She also highlighted the need to consider socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors that may contribute to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Ms. Maala then presented the three thematic studies she will undertake, namely child pornography, the sale of children’s organs, and the sale of children for the purpose of adoption. (from ISHR)

Ms. Mala, a good-looking, young and dynamic Moroccan woman, met with NGOs that focussed mainly on children. She hopes to establish close contacts with grassroots NGOs and she distributed her visiting card: she can be reached at SRsaleofchildren[@]ohchr.org.

(NB: the square brackets around the "@" sign are added to prevent spam. To send an email, you must delete them from the email address.)

Racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance

Mr. Githu Muigai, the new Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, presented his report on ‘the manifestations of defamation of religions and in particular on the serious implications of Islamophobia on the enjoyment of all rights’ prepared by his predecessor Mr. Doudou Diène. The report calls for the focus to shift from the idea of ‘defamation of religions’ to the legal concept of ‘incitement to national, racial and religious hatred, hostility and violence’, which is grounded in international legal instruments… The interactive dialogue focused primarily on the concept of ‘defamation of religion’ and the relationship between the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of religion and belief.

Countries were divided between those that emphasised the need to control freedom of expression to prevent racial and religious intolerance, and others that did not accept ‘a right to have a religion free from criticism or ridicule’. There were other divisive issues and as the The Durban Review Conference approaches (20 to 24 April 2009 in Geneva) there are threats of boycott. The new High Commissioner for Human Rights has been sharply criticized by the influential US/Canada/Israel NGO UN Watch for urging countries to participate in the Conference.

Reports are available at www.ohchr.org