WUNRN
THE MULTIPLE UN COMMITTEES MONITORING THE
HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY FOR NGO'S AND
GENDER PROGRAMS TO SUBMIT SHADOW/ALTERNATIVE REPORTS.
The example that follows is for the
UN Committee Against Torture, and a gender-focused Shadow Report.
Press Resease - World Organisation
Against Torture - OMCT & Association for the Emancipation, Solidarity &
Equality of Women in Macedonia - ESE
"During the discussion with the
government delegation and again in its Concluding Observations, the Committee
strongly expressed its concern over “the persistence of violence against women
and children, including domestic violence” as well as over “trafficking in
women and girls, especially for the purpose of sexual exploitation”. NGOs are
particularly satisfied about the wide range of recommendations made by the
experts in order to “prevent, combat and punish violence against women and
children, including domestic violence”, “to provide recovery and reintegration
services to victims” of trafficking and finally to raise awareness and train
officials who are in close contact with the victims as well as the public at
large.
OMCT and ESE consider that the comprehensive dialogue with the government delegation and the detailed Concluding Observations of the Committee clearly show that major steps remain to be taken so that the FYROM fully comply with the Convention Against Torture. Measures implementing the Committee’s recommendations should be taken appropriately and without delay. OMCT and ESE remain deeply concerned and will scrutinize the government’s action."
______________________________________________________________
Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture (advance unedited version): http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/co/CAT-C-MKD-CO5.pdf
The Committee against Torture: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/index.htm
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm
Second Periodic Report of Macedonia to the UN Committee Against Torture:
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G06/437/43/PDF/G0643743.pdf?OpenElement
UN Website Link: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats40.htm
______________________________________________________________________
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
THE
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
**************
Shadow Report
UN Committee Against Torture
40th session
May 2008
Researched and written by:
Violence
against women: Orlane Varesano ov@omct.org
(OMCT), Jasminka Friscik (ESE)
Child rights:
Cécile Trochu-Grasso ct@omct.org (OMCT)
TABLE
Violence against women: implementation of the Convention against
Torture towards women
1. The
Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of women- ESE
2. Overview of
the women human rights situation 3
3. Legal
framework for the protection of women’s rights
4. Practice of
torture and other CIDTP
5. Definition
and criminalisation of torture (articles 1 & 4)
6. Measures to
prevent acts of torture (Article 2 §1)
7.
Non-refoulement (Article 3)
8. Education
and information (article 10): Gender sensitive training
9. Arrest,
detention or imprisonment (Article 11)
10.
Investigation (Article 12):
11. Right to
remedy (Article 13)
12. Redress
and compensation (Article 14)
Violence against children: implementation of the Convention against Torture towards children
3. Occurrence
of torture or other CIDTP against children
4. Definition
and criminalisation of torture (articles 1 and 4)
5. Preventing
torture and other CIDTP against children (Article 2 §1)
6. Education
and information on child rights’ safeguards (article 10)
7. Review of
arrest and detention rules and facilities (Article 11)
8. Right to
remedy (Article 13)
Violence
against women: implementation of the Convention against Torture towards women:
Violence
against children: implementation of the Convention against Torture towards
children:
Violence against women: implementation of the Convention against Torture towards women
1. The Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of women- ESE
Since
1994, the Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of women- ESE -
has been continuously active in the field of promotion of women’s
rights and gender equality. The ESE Association has been proved to be a high
profile organization, which expertise has been consulted in developing and
preparing important strategic policy documents, plan of action, studies and
laws on national level. The
ESE Association has dedicated its professional expertise in improvement of the
position of women in the society, particularly women who face discrimination on
one or several grounds. Working
with women coming from different ethnical, religious, economic or social
background and assessing the obstacles in fulfilling their human rights gives
ESE ground base for further exploring the root causes of discrimination, gender
based violence, risks factor and constrains in accessing women human rights in
different fields of the society (access to the legal, social, health and
educational system, labor market, decision making process and etc.). In order
to improve the status of women, ESE privileges the active involvement and
participation of both women and men to lead to a factual and depart from
declarative gender equality. ESE’s motto is: For equal opportunities, For
equitable distribution of power, For factual, not declarative equality. In
addition to this comprehensive scope of research activities, ESE provides women with professional high quality services –
free of charge –including: advice, counseling, support and information on
domestic violence and health issues; ESE also works for developing and strengthening
the capacities of NGOs related to women and health issues. Every efforts aim at
strengthening the capacity of women in political parties to recognize and
facilitate the elaboration of gender-related concepts and policies at the
national and local levels and of legal and factual analysis of issues related
to women, followed by the engendering of relevant legislation.
2. Overview of the women human rights situation
If there have been some changes in urban areas to that
respect, rural areas and some ethnic communities (Albanian, Roma) conserve
patriarchal patterns of relationship, especially within the family context. For
example, even if both parents are equally entitled to parental rights and responsibilities
according to the legislation in the country, in practice women are those
responsible for upbringing the children.
The lack of women participation
in the political life
Women are not sufficiently involved in the political
life and do not reach high decision-making positions. This is also true for
women within political parties; they are involved to a lesser degree than men
in the development of political party platforms, since they are less
represented than men at the decision level.
Women participation in the political life is still
looked negatively by some communities, which has not been addressed by the
State. Women engaged in politics suffer from negative attitude; they are for
example disadvantaged regarding the media presentation during the elections
process.
With the introduction of the new Electoral Code from
The difficulties in accessing to
education
The legislation provides equitable access to education
for both the male and female population. However, it is not always the case in
practice and girls tend to complete only fourth or eighth grade and are kept at
home once they finish school, to work in the agriculture or to take care of the
household. The phenomenon of drop out of the educational process is also a
particular problem.
Girls from certain ethnic groups are especially at
risk to have a limited access to school. The traditions and stereotypes make
that boys are prioritized regarding to education. It is a burning question in
the Roma and Serb communities.
The following
are obstacles preventing girls from attending or completing schooling:
- Inaccessibility of schools in
certain regions where children walk for a few hours to arrive to school;
parents fear to let the girls alone over mountains
- Economic barriers, in cases
when the parents may only afford the education of one child, they chose the boy
In the past, female children were deprived of access
to certain educational institutions - such as the military and police
academies; but this has changed over the years. The only exceptions are the
religious schools, which are male or female only. In any case, women who have
obtained a degree at these faculties are not allowed to give religious
services, in accordance with the canonical rules. In some traditional families,
the girls are still encouraged to choose certain “female” professions or a
school that is located in the immediate vicinity.
Employment
From a formal aspect, men and women have the right to
equal employment opportunities including the use of equal criteria. However,
there are deviations in practice, especially in the private sector. Indeed,
there is a difference in practice between the state and the private sector. In
the private sector, legislation is not observed with regard to the issue of
entering employment and the enjoyment of the rights arising from employment in
general.
The State lacks an incentive mechanism that would
provide equal treatment of men and women at work. The only tool is the Labour
Inspection that oversees the application of the Labour Relations Act and of the
Law on Employment.
It must be noted that in certain ethnic communities,
such as the Albanian, there are cases where women are not allowed to have a
job.
The persistence of stereotypes makes that women are
best represented in some specific sectors such as the health and social welfare
sectors followed by the financial brokerage and education sector, while they
are still excluded from others.
Finally, women remain more at risk of falling in
precarity (in term of wages, temporary contract, and right to benefits). Unpaid
family workers are in a particular situation of vulnerability and are mostly
women.
3. Legal framework for the protection of women’s rights
Legal
Protection against Discrimination
The
Constitution of the