UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD
UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD
BANGLADESH
Peace and Security (PS)
Population size1 Surface area1 Human Development Index2 NHRI (if applicable)3
166.37 million
148,000 km² 0.608 (rank: 138/188 in 2016) Status B, 2015
Type of engagement
Human Rights Adviser
Year established
2018 (following earlier deployment 2014-2016)
Field office(s)
Dhaka
UN partnership framework
United Nations Development Assistance
Framework 2017-2020
Staff as of 31 December 2018
2
XB requirements 2018
US$242,000
Key OMP pillars in 2018
123
Please refer to Data sources and notes on p.191.
KEY PILLAR RESULTS:
Mechanisms (M)
M1 – The Government regularly submits
reports to the treaty bodies.
By building the capacity of local partners,
the Office and the UN in Bangladesh
sought to contribute to increased engagement with and submission of substantive
inputs to the human rights mechanisms.
Consistent engagement with the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and other authorities, the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC), civil society and the
development partner community regarding the preparation, conduct and follow-up
to the review of Bangladesh by the UPR
led to increased awareness of critical
human rights issues. The Government
committed to following up on the UPR
and treaty body outcomes and to developing an implementation plan. In August,
a stakeholder dialogue was held with civil
254 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018
Spotlights:
society, and follow-up was supported on
key issues such as laws discriminating
against women, and constraints on civic
space and freedom of expression.
The Office advocated with MoFA for the
submission of Bangladesh’s outstanding State Party report to CAT for review
in 2019. The review is scheduled to take
place even in the absence of the report,
which has been overdue for 19 years.
PS5 – The UN system will systematically
integrate a human rights-based approach
into programming related to the humanitarian relief operations and in support of
the dignified, safe and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya refugee population.
Population size1 Surface area1 Human Development Index2 NHRI (if applicable)3
16.25 million
181,000 km² 0.582 (rank: 146/188 in 2016) Status A, 2015
Type of engagement
Country Office
Year established
1993
Field office(s)
Phnom Penh
UN partnership framework
United Nations Development Assistance
Framework 2016-2018
From Bangladesh, the Office provided
policy-related support to the Rohingya
refugee response in Myanmar and sought
to advance the integration of human rights
norms and principles into the humanitarian response. It further supported the
engagement of special procedures and
the Independent Fact-Finding Mission
on Myanmar.
Staff as of 31 December 2018
36
Total income
US$1,673,774
XB requirements 2018
US$2,962,200
Total XB expenditure
US$1,740,197
Advice to the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar
included accompanying the Special
Rapporteur on two missions to Cox’s
Bazar and facilitating engagement with
the UNCT, development partners and other stakeholders in Dhaka.
Total RB expenditure
Personnel
Non-personnel
46%
45%
9%
$796,201
$785,816
$158,180
Under the Accountability and Participation
pillars, the Office advocated for the implementation of the moratorium of the death
penalty in the context of drug convictions
and for the increased effectiveness and
independence of the NHRC.
The Bar Association also cooperated with
some local prisons to construct new lawyers’ rooms to ensure that prisoners can
meet in confidence with their lawyers.
Thanks to three existing and new OHCHR
grants to civil society partners, legal aid
was provided in three types of cases:
prisoners with a longstanding, pending
appeal, land cases and cases involving
persons with disabilities. Although some
cases pending appeal were closed, many
are still pending due to misplaced case
files. In some cases, authorities demanded bribes from lawyers seeking to obtain
case files or to accelerate the process or
because of difficulties in communication
and information sharing between different
stakeholders of the criminal justice system. Progress is slow in relation to land
cases, but some achievements were made
during this period.
PSC†
US$1,631,591
Personnel
Non-personnel
86%
14%
$1,399,870
$231,721
Key OMP pillars in 2018
123
The Office engaged with the RC, UN
Women and the Office of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General
on Sexual Violence in Conflict regarding
the impact of sexual violence post conflict.
nature of the drafting process ensured compliance of the policy with international human
rights standards and significantly extended
its scope. OHCHR will continue advocating for the policy to be adopted in 2019.
Due in part to OHCHR’s advocacy, the legal aid budget increased and at least one
lawyer was delegated to each province.
The administrative process of requesting a legal aid lawyer was simplified
and made more efficient, resulting in increased access to legal aid for persons in
all provinces.
CAMBODIA
† Please refer to Data sources and notes on p.191.
KEY PILLAR RESULTS:
Accountability (A)
A1 – Laws and policies in the areas of justice and prisons increasingly comply with
international human rights standards.
The level of compliance of legal aid policy
with international human rights norms and
standards has significantly improved by
providing legal expertise to the drafting
and consultation processes.
OHCHR produced a legal analysis of
amendments to the Constitution and the
Criminal Code and identified provisions
that are inconsistent with Cambodia’s international obligations. The Office also
began an analysis of the draft Law on
Surrogacy and undertook consultations
in the context of an OHCHR-WHO-UNFPA
regional expert meeting on surrogacy that
was held in Bangkok.
The draft legal aid policy was finalized in
2018. The consultative and participatory
Women
Shifts:
Corruption
A1 – Allegations of torture and ill-treatment
and cases of mob violence are promptly
investigated; perpetrators are prosecuted
and sanctioned.
Through OHCHR monitoring and advocacy with the Government’s Cambodian
Human Rights Committee, some progress
was made towards ensuring that authorities investigated all deaths that occurred
in custody. The Kandal Provincial Court of
First Instance took up a case of a reported
People on the move
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 255
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