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	UN rights experts call for decisive measures to protect ‘fundamental freedoms’ in China by United Nation News, agencies   June 2020 (UN News)   The repression of “fundamental freedoms” by the Chinese Government has prompted nearly 50 UN independent experts to express their concerns, urging the country to “abide by its international legal obligations”.   After having “repeatedly communicated” their concerns to the Chinese Government, they highlighted the repression of protests and democracy advocacy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR); impunity for excessive use of force by police; the alleged use of chemical agents against protesters; the alleged sexual harassment and assault of women protesters in police stations; together with the alleged harassment of health care workers.   The experts also raised their “grave concerns” on issues ranging from the collective repression of specific communities – “especially religious and ethnic minorities, in Xinjiang and Tibet” – to the detention of lawyers and prosecution - in addition to disappearances - of human rights defenders across the country.   Moreover, they expressed alarm over allegations of forced labour in both formal and informal sectors of the economy, as well as arbitrary interferences with the right to privacy, cybersecurity laws that authorise censorship; and anti-terrorism and sedition laws, applicable in Hong Kong.   The independent experts also voiced their concern for journalists, medical workers and those speaking out about COVID-19 online inside China, who have allegedly faced retaliation from the authorities, including being charged with “spreading misinformation” or “disrupting public order.”   Most recently, say the experts, and without meaningful consultation with the people of Hong Kong, China has drafted a national security law that would undermine the right to a fair trial, and open the door to a “sharp rise in arbitrary detention”, undermining the “one country, two systems” governance framework that was introduced at the end of British rule; enabling the Chinese Government to establish “agencies” in Hong Kong “when needed.”   If adopted, the law would “violate China’s international legal obligations and impose severe restrictions on civil and political rights in the autonomous region”, according to the independent experts.   “The draft law would deprive the people of Hong Kong…the autonomy and fundamental rights guaranteed them under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration”, they maintained. The experts urged China to "withdraw the draft national security law for Hong Kong”.   After actions taken by the Government towards Hong Kong, Xinjiang minorities, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and rights defenders across the country, the independent experts are calling for “renewed attention on the human rights situation in the country”.   They urged China to invite civil and political rights monitors to conduct independent missions “in an environment of confidentiality, respect for human rights defenders, and full avoidance of reprisals” and encouraged the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to urgently monitor Chinese human rights practices. http://bit.ly/2Nva4Ae   * Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based HRC to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation: Visit the related web page
	Poland should not withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, says COE Secretary General by Council of Europe, agencies   26 July 2020   Poland should not withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, says Secretary General. (COE)   Following recent news of Polish intentions to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric made the following statement:   “Announcements by government officials that Poland should withdraw from the Istanbul Convention are alarming. The Istanbul Convention is the Council of Europe‘s key international treaty to combat violence against women and domestic violence - and that is its sole objective. If there are any misconceptions or misunderstandings about the Convention, we are ready to clarify them in a constructive dialogue. Leaving the Istanbul Convention would be highly regrettable and a major step backwards in the protection of women against violence in Europe.”   July 2020   European Women’s Lobby rejects any attempt to backtrack on women’s and girls safety in Poland   The European Women’s Lobby is deeply concerned and appalled by the recent initiatives in Poland considering withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.   “This Convention is an essential stepping stone in establishing legally binding standards for the elimination of violence against women and girls. It is the most comprehensive instrument we have in Europe preventing violence against women and protecting them from this widespread breach of their fundamental rights”, says Gwendoline Lefebvre, President of the European Women’s Lobby.   “We cannot accept that an EU Member State decides to withdraw from its obligations to protect women’s rights and to reach the highest standards possible to ensure women can live a life free from violence and from the fear of it”.   The European Women’s Lobby stands in solidarity with the Polish Women’s Lobby (Network of East-West Women Poland) and all women’s organisations in Poland who are working unstintingly to support victims and to promote legislative changes to prevent violence against women and girls, in many occasions with very little or no public funding. We also rise up in solidarity with women in Poland, who are raising their voices loudly against this decision; joining demonstrations all across the country, to sound the alarm that this decision will put women and girls in Poland in a more vulnerable position to male violence.   The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women was ratified by Poland in 2015 and since then it has triggered several positive changes in legislation. As recently as April 2020, after intense advocacy work from women’s organisations, a new law on eviction orders was adopted as a way to align with the standards of the Convention on the protection of victims.   “It is disgraceful that the Government is now considering withdrawing from the Convention when we have so much to do to meet its standards”, says Malgorzata Tarasiewicz, President of Network of East-West Women Poland and EWL Board member. “Male violence against women and girls is very prevalent in Poland and we cannot turn a blind eye to it. 400-500 women are murdered by their partners each year. We need to honour their memory and step up our efforts to protect other women whose lives and security are also at risk. Even more so, when 62% of citizens in Poland support the Istanbul Convention.   After years of intense awareness raising work by women’s organisations, all EU member States and the EU have signed the Convention, indicating a clear political commitment to end violence against women in Europe. The vast majority of EU member States (21) and Council of Europe member states have also ratified the Istanbul Convention. In all these countries, there have been positive developments in policies, protection and prevention of violence against women and domestic violence. There is no evidence that in any of these countries, that the Convention is being used for anything other than protecting women, their children and other family members from violence..   http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/poland-should-not-withdraw-from-the-istanbul-convention-says-secretary-general http://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/ http://www.womenlobby.org/EWL-rejects-attempt-to-withdraw-Poland-from-Istanbul-Convention http://www.dw.com/en/poland-protesters-slam-plans-to-withdraw-from-domestic-violence-convention/a-54312965 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20200712IPR83209/rule-of-law-in-poland-meps-point-to-overwhelming-evidence-of-breaches http://www.wave-network.org/2019/12/30/wave-country-report-2019/ http://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2014/violence-against-women-every-day-and-everywhere http://www.osce.org/secretariat/440093 http://www.osce.org/secretariat/449515 http://www.osce.org/odihr/gender-equality http://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence   25 July 2020   Mass resignations at Hungary’s biggest news site as fallout from editor’s sacking continues, by Vlagyiszlav Makszimov for EURACTIV.   More than 70 journalists have resigned from the about 90-member editorial team of Index, Hungary’s leading independent media outlet, in what is being described as a devastating blow to the country’s free press and media plurality.   Deputy lead editors Veronika Munk and Janos Haasz, as well as managing editor Attila Toth-Szenesi, along with a majority of journalists, all left the company on Friday (24 July), after Laszlo Bodolai, Chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation that owns Index, refused to rehire the editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull.   Yesterday the editorial staff unanimously asked to reinstate Dull after he was sacked on Wednesday (22 July).   Dull was booted off Index’s management board for publicly warning a month ago of a planned overhaul that would jeopardize editorial freedom, setting the website’s internal independence barometer to amber alert.   The editor of Hungary’s most popular news website warned Sunday (21 June) that a planned overhaul would jeopardise its freedom to publish stories critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government.   Hungary ranks 89 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’s press freedom index, trailed only by Bulgaria in 111th place in the EU. Hungary occupied rank 23 when the ruling Fidesz party at the helm with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010.   European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, earlier this month expressed concern and solidarity with Index. “I have been following the situation of Index with concern. I would like to express my solidarity with the staff of Index who have been working under very difficult conditions”.. “I want to tell you: ‘What you are doing, the values you are fighting for, media freedom and pluralism, are essential for democracy, and for Europe – and all the supporting messages of your readers testify of the importance of your work,’ Jourova said in a letter published on Index. “You can count on my support,” she added.   “Jourova should put her words into action and if the EU Commission is serious about protecting common values in member states, it needs to step up its efforts to ensure that Hungarian journalists can do their work without political pressure or editorial influence,” Lydia Gall, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher said in the statement.   The International Press Association expressed solidarity with the journalists, including a number of Brussels-based reporters who were among those who left Index today.   Stefania Kapronczay, executive of director of the prominent civil rights organization Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) said “Index has been a source of information for many hundreds of thousands of people, many of us are seriously sad that it is over.”   “At the same, the joint resignation of the journalists is a stance that gives hope the spirit of the independent press will live on,” she said.   http://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/mass-resignations-at-hungarys-biggest-news-site-as-fallout-from-editors-sacking-continues/ http://rsf.org/en/news/hungary-urgent-eu-response-needed-leading-independent-news-sites-demise http://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/24/hungary-editors-sacking-blow-press-freedom http://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/budapest-jourova-expresses-solidarity-with-index/ http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/how-covid-19-threatens-independent-journalism http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices http://en.unesco.org/news/press-freedom-covid-19-journalism-faces-new-challenges-says-unesco-report http://en.unesco.org/covid19   15 July 2020   Women’s organizations in Turkey say “no” to amnesty for perpetrators of sexual abuse of children and to child marriage, report from the European Women’s Lobby (EWL)   Women’s organizations in Turkey are resisting a draft amendment that would let perpetrators of child sexual abuse walk free if they marry their victims.   The amendment to Article 103 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) is expected to come before the Turkish Parliament by July 15. In 2016, a similar version of the amendment was withdrawn as women’s organizations mobilized against it and it failed to generate support from the opposition parties.   According to the recent draft amendment, a man who has been charged, tried, and convicted of child abuse will be released if he marries the victim provided that: the victim was at least 13 years old at the time of the incident, the age difference between the victim and the perpetrator is not more than 15 years, the marriage was officiated before the date the law is enacted, and the marriage continues for a period of at least five years.   The rationale of the draft amendment is that a one-time amnesty for men who are prosecuted for sexual abuse of a minor under the guise of “religious marriage” and/or the tacit consent of the girl’s parents, which was subsequently endorsed officially when the girl came of age, would solve the problems encountered by such families.   Whitewashing child sexual abuse under the label of marriage as proposed in this draft amendment, would attest to a failure to protect children, and the girl child in particular.   The most important and likely danger posed by the draft amendment is that, if and once it passes in the Parliament, Turkey’s Constitutional Court can later annul any of the above ‘specifying’ criteria, as they may be seen to counter to the constitutional guarantee of ‘equality’. This would turn a “one-time” amnesty into a general practice that would pressure all female survivors of rape to marry their abusers.   Per Article 90 of its Constitution, Turkey is bound to act in accordance with international human rights conventions to which it is a party.   These include:   * Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which obliges state parties to uphold “the best interests of the child” (Article 3)   * Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which prohibits child marriages, and specifies that everyone should have “the right to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent” (Article 16)   * The Lanzarote Convention, which obliges states to “criminalize sexual activity with children below the legal age of consent, regardless of the context in which such behavior occurs” (Article 18)   * The Istanbul Convention, which highlights the need to promote gender equality for preventing and combating violence against women, and which obliges state parties to criminalize “the intentional conduct of forcing an adult or child into marriage” (Article 37)   In accordance with the underlying principles of these conventions, child and early marriages not only undermine girls’ sexual and reproductive health, by increasing their risk of maternal mortality and morbidity due to early pregnancies but also by making them more vulnerable to violence against women..   http://www.womenlobby.org/womens-orgs-in-Turkey-say-no-to-amnesty-for-child-abusers http://www.unfpa.org/press/joint-unicef-unfpa-un-women-and-undp-statement-turkeys-draft-bill-sexual-abuse-against   May 20, 2020   Albanian Psychologists Prohibit Anti-LGBT 'Conversion Therapy', by Ryan Thoreson for Human Rights Watch.   Albania's Order of Psychologists has announced that it will prohibit members from offering 'conversion therapy', or pseudo-therapeutic attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.   The decision effectively bans conversion therapy in Albania, as registered therapists are required to be members of the group in order to legally practice.   Albania's prohibition is a welcome development, even if discrimination against LGBT people in the country remains high. Studies have shown that efforts to change sexual orientation and gender identity are ineffective, and may foster anxiety, depression, suicide, and other mental health problems.   The World Psychiatric Association has criticized these fraudulent therapies as 'wholly unethical', and the Pan American Health Organization has warned that they pose 'a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people'. A wide range of medical associations in places such as Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Lebanon, Turkey, South Africa, and the United States have similarly condemned these practices.   Therapies that purport to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity may also constitute serious human rights abuses. These efforts often involve discrimination, restrictions on movement, and physical and sexual abuse, and may at times amount to torture or other forms of ill-treatment.   In recognition of these facts, many countries have begun to proscribe these efforts, especially in psychiatric and medical settings.   Malta, Ecuador, and Germany have used criminal law to regulate the practice, punishing violators with fines and imprisonment. Other countries, like Brazil and Taiwan, outlaw it via professional sanctions. Lawmakers in many countries around the globe are considering bans on the practice, including in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States.   As countries debate the scope of conversion therapy bans, one thing is clear - conversion therapy is widely recognized as ineffectual and psychologically harmful. In addition to banning the practice in psychiatric and medical settings, countries should take steps to educate mental health professionals and the public about the harm that it causes, provide support to survivors, and work to lessen the stigma that drives people into conversion therapy.   Albania's decision should spur medical and mental health professionals in other countries to take a strong stance against conversion therapy, and to formally condemn it as a dangerous and discredited practice. Visit the related web page
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