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	First global ranking on access to justice for children released by Child Rights International Network (CRIN)   February 2016   New research from Child Rights International Network (CRIN) has analysed and ranked how effectively children can use the law to challenge violations of their rights, in the first-ever global study on children’s access to justice.   Topping the list are Belgium, Portugal and Spain, with Kenya the only country outside Europe to make the top ten. Relegated to the bottom of the pile are Palestine, Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea.   CRIN’s director Veronica Yates said: “When we think of children and justice, the first image that comes to mind is usually one of children breaking the law. Rarely do we consider children and their right to use the legal system to protect their human rights or to seek redress when their rights have been violated.   “Access to justice is about challenging the perception of children as just victims or somehow less worthy of justice than adults. It is about recognising that children, like adults, have human rights and that when these rights are infringed they should be able to trust and use the legal system to get justice.”   The research takes into account whether children can bring lawsuits when their rights are violated, the legal resources available to them, the practical considerations for taking legal action, and whether judges apply international law on children’s rights in their rulings.   The report also offers a model of what access to justice should look like for children. ‘Eutopia’ was created by collecting examples from around the world. While many come from countries at the higher end of the ranking, others were found in countries such as Angola, Montenegro, Jamaica, Nepal, the Philippines or Eritrea.   CRIN wants this report to help provide new ideas and tools for those working to prevent violations of children’s rights and to demonstrate new avenues of legal redress, whether in the struggle for citizenship rights in Kenya, securing access to education without fees for millions of children in Colombia, or defending children’s right to a healthy environment in the United States.   Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, said: “Country rankings are not just there to highlight who is doing well and who is doing poorly but more importantly they have the ability to stir States to action, prompting them to improve and claim a spot higher on the ranking ladder.   “The Committee welcomes this research and already envisages its concrete contribution to its various engagements with States.”   ( Child Rights International Network (CRIN) is a global research, policy and advocacy organisation, whose work is grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. CRIN''s goal is a world where children''s rights are recognised, respected and enforced, and where every rights violation has a remedy.   CRIN''s work is based on five core values: We believe in rights, not charity. We are stronger when we work together. Information is power and it should be free and accessible. Societies, organisations and institutions should be open, transparent and accountable. We believe in promoting children''s rights, not ourselves).   * Access the interactive report via the link below. Visit the related web page
	Incitement to anti-gay killings in Chechnya, Malawi draws alarm of UN human rights office by OHCHR, UN News Service, agencies   April 2017   UN Rights experts condemn statements by Chechen officials suggesting gay people should be killed. (UN Office for Human Rights)   Men detained in the Russian Republic of Chechnya simply for being perceived to be gay must be immediately released and their abuse and persecution ended, United Nations human rights experts say.   The experts are also calling on the Russian authorities to condemn firmly all homophobic statements, which constitute incitement to hatred and violence.   “We urge the authorities to put an end to the persecution of people perceived to be gay or bisexual in the Chechen Republic who are living in a climate of fear fuelled by homophobic speeches by local authorities,” the experts stated.   “It is crucial that reports of abductions, unlawful detentions, torture, beatings and killings of men perceived to be gay or bisexual are investigated thoroughly,” they added.   The appeal follows reports emerging from Chechnya since March of abductions of men perceived to be gay or bisexual, carried out by local militia and local security forces and followed by arbitrary detention, violence, torture and other ill-treatment.   There are even reported cases of killings based on the perceived sexual orientation. Some of them have also allegedly been carried out by family members themselves in so-called ‘honour killings’.   “These are acts of persecution and violence on an unprecedented scale in the region, and constitute serious violations of the obligations of the Russian Federation under international human rights law,” the experts said.   Much of the abuse is reported to have taken place at an unofficial detention centre close to the city of Argun.   The arrested men are subjected to physical and verbal abuse, torture including with electric shocks, beatings, insults and humiliations. They are forced to give contact details of other gay people and threatened with having their sexual orientation disclosed to their family and community – a move which could put them at risk of ‘honour killings’.   “We call on the authorities to proceed with the immediate release of everyone unlawfully detained in the Republic of Chechnya on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all suspected cases of abduction, unlawful detention, torture and unlawful killing, and to ensure that all those involved in such acts are held to account, and that victims are provided with effective remedy” the experts said.   The UN experts are also concerned about alleged homophobic statements made by local authorities, denying the existence in the Republic of persons with so-called ‘non-traditional’ sexual orientation and condoning the killing of gay men by family members and other citizens.   The experts condemned statements by Chechen officials suggesting that gay people should be hunted down and killed and warned that such comments constituted incitement to hatred and violence.   “The Russian Federation must officially state that it does not tolerate any form of incitement to violence, social stigmatization of homosexuality or hate speech, and does not condone discrimination or violence against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.   “We call on Russia to take urgent measures to protect the life, liberty and security of gay and bisexual people in Chechnya and to investigate, prosecute and punish acts of violence motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation,” the UN human rights experts concluded.   The experts are in contact with the Russian authorities and closely monitoring the situation. http://bit.ly/2ovb8Zf   January 2016   Incitement to anti-gay killings in Malawi draws alarm of UN human rights office.   The United Nations human rights office today expressed concern over recent developments in Malawi, after the spokesperson of one of the country’s main political parties recently called for gay and lesbian people to be killed, describing them as “worse than dogs.”   The spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, told the regular bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva that “the statements were made earlier this month by People’s Party spokesperson Kenneth Msonda on his personal Facebook page and repeated in media interviews.”   A criminal case was subsequently lodged against Mr. Msonda by two civil society organizations and he was due today to appear before the Blantyre Magistrate Court on charges of inciting others to break the law.   However, the OHCHR spokesperson said that yesterday the director of public prosecutions decided to discontinue the case – underlining that the State would not prosecute Mr. Msonda.   Mr. Colville said: “We are concerned that the failure to prosecute this case sends a dangerous message that inciting others to kill gay people is legitimate and will be tolerated by the authorities – in effect encouraging violent threats and attacks on the gay and lesbian community in Malawi.”   In May 2015, Malawi accepted a recommendation under the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in Geneva to “take effective measures to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons from violence, and prosecute the perpetrators of violent attacks.”   “The Government of Malawi has a responsibility, enshrined in international human rights law, to protect all individuals from hatred and violence based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, and to hold to account anyone who either engages in such violence or incites others to do so,” said Mr. Colville, concluding: “We urge the Government to meet its responsibilities in this regard.”   http://bit.ly/2vpPyWe http://bit.ly/2v7AeCh http://bit.ly/1TxTMFf
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