U.S. failure to meaningfully consult with civil society during the 2023 ICCPR review
By Sarah Dávila A. and Lauren E. Bartlett
“What do we want – DIGNITY; When do we want it – NOW; And if we don’t get it – SHUT IT DOWN”
On Monday Oct. 16, 2023, over thirty people from U.S. civil society organizations held a protest in the streets of Geneva, Switzerland. This unusual event came out of years of frustration with the U.S. government’s refusal to meaningfully consult with U.S. civil society ahead of and during U.S. human rights reviews in Geneva. Some protesters silently walked out of a meeting at the U.S. Mission. Those protesters then joined a larger group waiting outside with posters, lots of energy, and most importantly demanding to be heard while marching in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, chanting together (see protest calls above and at the end of this post below). Then again, today on Oct. 18, 2023, U.S. civil society protested the lack of meaningful participation by the U.S. government relating to its review of the ICCPR, by turning their backs after the review had concluded.
This week marks the Fifth Periodic Review of the United States’ compliance with its duties and obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). During its review of the United States, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (Human Rights Committee), a treaty body made up of independent human rights independent experts, will monitor U.S. compliance with the ICCPR.
The Human Rights Committee has four monitoring functions, in its supervision and monitoring of the implementation of the ICCPR. The Human Rights Committee: (1) receives and examines reports from State parties on their progress in upholding the treaty; (2) provides general comments, interpreting the ICCPR; (3) receives and considers individual complaints (“communications”); and (4) considers inter-state complaints relating to state failure to upload ICCPR obligations.
During this 139th Session, the Human Rights Committee had the opportunity to ask questions of the U.S. government and will provide recommendations (“concluding observations”) for measures to be taken at the federal, state, and local levels to advance and protect human rights under the treaty).
The Human Rights Committee questioned U.S. officials about their laws and practices, but also heard, both formally and informally, from civil society (non-profits, directly impacted individuals, advocates engaging with communities in the U.S., law professors and law students, among others) about the United States’ compliance with the ICCPR. These interventions by civil society are very important to the treaty body’s work; by helping shape the questions that must be asked of the United States given the reality of human rights on the ground. Civil society interventions will also help inform the Human Rights Committee’s recommendations on the United States which will be issued on Nov. 3, 2023. In turn, civil society will use the recommendations issued by the Committee in advocacy work in the United States.
U.S. civil society participation in U.S. human rights treaty body reviews has been historically very high, especially compared with other countries who participate in reviews. In fact, this week there were more than 140 people from U.S. civil society organizations in Geneva. Civil society should have an opportunity to participate in this review process through real and meaningful consultation with the U.S. government as well as submit public reports based on the list of issues provided by the Human Rights Committee. The reports covered a variety of very pressing issues, including human rights violations in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, legal status, and socioeconomic problems. Those reports provided very concrete recommendations for the U.S. government on how to take action and actually protect human rights under the ICCPR.
Meaningful participation is critical in treaty-based reviews of country obligations under treaties, such as the ICCPR. As a human right, all persons have the right to freely participate in public affairs, as guaranteed under Article 25 of the ICCPR. The right to participation is critical to the advancement of all human rights because it promotes democracy, the rule of law, social inclusion, economic development, and overall visibility and the ability to be heard by government official. Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 25 provides that individuals have the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including the formulation and implementation of policy at the international and regional levels.
Effective participation must be a process that includes a variety of stakeholders, including State and non-State actors, private entities, civil society, and affected populations. Special attention must be given to the effective participation of women, gender-minorities, indigenous peoples, and other disenfranchised and vulnerable populations whose voices have not been heard and who have been historically excluded from participatory processes.
While the current administration has held consultations, they have fallen short of providing specific implementation measures to comply with the ICCPR and the consultation process itself, which requires meaningful participation. Moreover, those consultations were held with little to no government interaction or response. Additionally, U.S. government officials invited a limited number of people (approx. 50% of civil society attending the review in Geneva), to the U.S. Mission for a consultation and reception, ignoring calls by civil society for a location that would accommodate all civil society members interested in attending. During that meeting, as with previous consultation processes earlier in the decade, government officials have routinely used pre-written statements not responsive to civil society interventions, thus reflecting the true nature and superficiality of the consultation process to date.
Just last year when the United States’ compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was reviewed in July 2022, the U.S. similarly engaged very superficially without engaging meaningfully with civil society. The United States is not doing enough to meaningfully consult with civil society during human rights treaty body reviews and the protest on Monday and today are a direct result of the frustration and anger felt by civil society after being ignored once again by the U.S. while being reviewed by the Human Rights Committee this week in Geneva.
“Derechos humanos por eso aqui estamos.”