HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS
The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission of the Gambia, established in 2017,
began to implement in 2019 its mandate and made use of the knowledge it had gained through
the capacity-building activities that UN Human Rights facilitated. Between January and
October, the Commission conducted a number of public hearings to enable the participation
of 129 witnesses, 21 of whom were women and 31 of whom were alleged perpetrators. A
National Strategy on Transitional Justice and Resource Mobilization plan has been adopted.
Still pending is a proposal to enact a government-led coordination mechanism on transitional
justice that would facilitate a more coordinated and shared effort to implement the transitional
justice process.
A3
Justice systems investigate and prosecute
gender-related crimes more effectively.
A4
States take measures to ensure that their
decision-making, policies and actions are
more transparent and the public has access
to information for accountability purposes.
A5
UN efforts for the rule of law, justice, counterterrorism and accountability put human rights
at the core.
Shifts:
Climate change
Corruption
UN Human Rights engaged in a series of activities in Tunisia to help advance the
implementation of General Law No. 2017-58 against violence against women. In March,
UN Human Rights collaborated with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Council of Europe
to co-organize a two-day national conference to assess the level of implementation of the Law,
one year after coming into force. The conference brought together 150 representatives
(approximately 80 per cent women and 20 per cent men) from the justice, security, health and
social affairs sectors, including 30 judges and lawyers from Tunis and other regions of the
country. The conference identified key issues and produced recommendations for line
ministries regarding each “P” of the law, namely, protection, prevention, prosecution and
integrated policies.
Following many recommendations issued by the human rights treaty bodies and the UPR,
Liberia adopted the Domestic Violence Bill in August. The legislation is a landmark for gender
equality in Liberia and seeks to address physical, emotional, verbal and psychological abuse,
dowry-related violence, offenses against the family and harassment, among other violations.
Due to advocacy from traditional leaders, however, the criminalization of female genital
mutilation (FGM) was excluded from the Bill. OHCHR provided technical support to the
Independent National Commission on Human Rights during the drafting and consultation
process. This support led to the establishment of the Working Group on FGM, which
is advocating for the adoption of legislation on FGM that is currently being reviewed by
the Parliament.
UN Human Rights continued to engage with UN entities working on counter-terrorism to ensure
due consideration for human rights. These included conversations with the UN Office of CounterTerrorism (OCT) on implementing the UN counter-terrorism travel programme and highlighting
key human rights concerns in specific countries; with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive
Directorate (CTED) in relation to supporting their country assessments with human rights analysis;
and with UNODC on developing UN strategies regarding prosecution, rehabilitation and the
reintegration of persons allegedly associated with terrorist groups. UN Human Rights also
provided inputs to the CTED for the Secretary-General’s tenth report to the Security Council on
the threat posed by ISIL/Daesh, covering the period from July to December, and to the OCT for
the Secretary-General’s report mandated by resolution A/RES/73/305 on victims of terrorism.
In September, UN Women finalized the Guidance Note on gender mainstreaming principles,
dimensions and priorities for preventing and countering violent extremism, to which UN Human
Rights contributed.
Inequalities
New technologies
People on the move
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 51
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