Toolbox for alternative reporting

on Thailand to the

Human Rights Committee and the

Committee on the Rights of the Child

 

[Updated 24 February 2005]

 

In June 2004, Thailand submitted its initial report to the UN Human Rights Committee, the treaty body which administers the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and its 2nd periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which administers the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

 

By acceding to these treaties, Thailand took on a number of obligations with respect to the rights of people living in the Kingdom, including refugees.

Thai human rights and children’s organisations will no doubt be interested to submit information to the Committees within their area of expertise.

Burmese organizations in Thailand may wish to use the reporting process to draw attention to any human rights violations suffered by Burmese (Burman and non-Burman) in Thailand. Although Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, the State’s obligations under the human rights instruments it has ratified, including the ICCPR and CRC, may afford a measure of protection to refugees in Thailand – against refoulement, for instance.


This toolbox contains some suggestions on how people can take part in the reporting process and provides links to documents and other resources.

 

The Human Rights Committee

 

The Human Rights Committee is expected to examine Thailand’s initial report at its 84th session (11-29 July 2005) in Geneva, and organizations with knowledge of the situation of civil and political rights in Thailand should submit relevant information to the Committee by 18 March 2005 in order to have input into the list of issues sent by the Committee to the Government. Material sent later, up until 11 July 2005, will not be reflected in the list of issues, but will be read by the Committee.  [this para updated, 22/02/2005]

 

The main reason for submitting information to the Committee is not to criticize the report, but to help the Committee in its task of working for an improvement in the human rights situation in Thailand through dialogue with the Royal Thai Government. In particular, documents should provide recommendations that the Committee can use in formulating its Concluding Observations

 

 

 

Suggested steps in preparing submissions

 

1)  Read the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Thailand’s initial report;

 

2) Read the Fact Sheet on the Human Rights Committee (updated version, see link below) and explore the Committee’s website;

3) Identify areas where your input can contribute to the overall process;

 

4) If you can work with other organisations to produce a consolidated report, this would help the Committee.


Submitting information to the Human Rights Committee

Reports and queries should be sent by email to Mr Patrice Gillibert, at pgillibert@ohchr.org

[this information updated, 22/02/2005]

 

Coming to Geneva to attend the meeting and talk to Committee members

 

Those able to come to Geneva can meet the Committee on the opening day of the session (11 July), hold NGO lunchtime briefings during the session and meet individual members of the Committee. The exact date when Thailand’s report will be examined will not be known until the beginning of April.  [this para added, 22/02/2005]

 


Documents

 

Key documents

 

1) Thailand’s initial report to the Human Rights Committee

http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/3feaef356b22ca8cc1256f1800499748/$FILE/G0443072.pdf

2) Thailand’s core document (to be read alongside the report) http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/2618198217c6efc1c125642d004e8478?Opendocument

 

3) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

 

4) The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand

http://www.kpi.ac.th/en/con_th.asp

 

            5) Thailand’s Nationality Act

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/THAILAND's_Nationality_Act.htm

 

Guideline documents

 

1) Human Rights Committee Web page

http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/

2) The (updated) Fact Sheet on the Human Rights Committee

http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/docs/fs15.pdf

3) Thai legislation page (Library of Congress)

http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/thailand.html

 

 

 

Committee on the Rights of the Child

 

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (“the CRC”, “the Committee”) will examine Thailand’s  2nd periodic report  (“the current report”) in January 2006 and  invites organizations with knowledge of the situation of children in Thailand to submit relevant information, taking into account the current report and the situation of children in Thailand. To enable the Committee to use this information in the pre-sessional meeting dealing with Thailand (October 2005, to which those submitting information are invited), the deadline for submitting documents is 1 June 2005.

 

The main reason for submitting information to the Committee is not to criticize the current report, but to help the Committee in its task of working for an improvement in the situation of children in Thailand through dialogue with the Royal Thai Government. In particular, documents should provide recommendations that the Committee can use in formulating its Concluding Observations at the January 2006 meeting. This will also involve an assessment of the degree to which the Concluding Observations on Thailand’s initial report (October 1998) have been implemented.

 

Suggested actions

 

1)  Read the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention), Thailand’s current and initial reports, theList of issues to be taken up in consideration of the initial report of Thailand” and the Concluding Observations of the October 1998 session (see links below for these documents).

 

2) Read the NGO Guide, the CRC General Guidelines for periodic reports and look at a couple of recent NGO reports (links to NGO reports on Norway and South Korea are given below)


3) Identify areas where your input can contribute to this overall process. In 1998 the Committee examined Thailand’s initial report, expressed a number of concerns and made recommendations. The 2nd report should inform the Committee about Thailand’s progress or lack of progress in dealing with the areas of concern and in implementing the recommendations. If it contains any gaps, your input may help fill them, help the Committee achieve a wider understanding of the situation of children in Thailand, and enhance its dialogue with Thailand.

 

4) If you can work together with others to produce a consolidated report, this would help the Committee.

 

5) Approach your reporting:

 

a)  From your own expertise and knowledge of the situation of children in Thailand. This might be in the field of health, refugee children, street children, IDP children, education etc. (look at the Committee’s General Guidelines for periodic reports to see the areas the Committee covers)


b) From Thailand’s current and initial reports.

c) From the CRC documents on Thailand.  Look at the Principal subjects of concern and the recommendations and suggestions contained in the Concluding Observations of the 1998 session and see, particularly from your own expertise, which, if any, have been dealt with either in the current report or on the ground. Look also at the List of issues to be taken up in consideration of the initial report of Thailand.

 

d) From the guidelines published by the CRC and the NGO Group for the CRC. Take the CRC General Guidelines for periodic reports and see which, if any, of the requests made to governments have been answered in the current report.  These General Guidelines, produced to help States in their reporting, group the articles of the Convention into eight clusters, which are also followed, more or less, in the report. Your own report(s) should use these clusters as a framework (as recommended in the NGO Guide on reporting to the CRC, pg 5, under "putting together a report") 

 

Bring these two angles together when you prepare your report, which might cover a range of themes or a single issue. In length it might be from one to thirty pages.

 

If you would like your information to be incorporated into a consolidated report (recommended by the Committee), contact human rights and children’s NGOs in Thailand, including Burmese groups, to coordinate such a report.  

 

 

Submitting information to the CRC, and for any queries

 

By email to Laura Theytaz Bergman, NGO Group for the CRC at ltheytaz@pingnet.ch

 

Attending the pre-sessional meeting (3-7 October 2005) and the 41st session (January 2006)

 

Organisations which submit written material to the Committee may be invited to attend the pre-sessional meeting in Geneva for a confidential dialogue with the Committee (the Government is not present). The pre-sessional meeting on Thailand will be some time (date not yet fixed) between the 3rd and 7th October 2005). The report will be examined at a public meeting at which a Government delegation is present in the course of the 41st session, most likely 9-27 January, though we do not yet know the exact date when Thailand’s report will come up. Though observers do not have speaking rights at the actual session (as opposed to the pre-sessional meeting), “It may also be possible to meet with Committee members informally before and during the meeting with the government in order to present additional information, provide updates, or suggest possible questions.” (extract from the  NGO Guide on reporting to the CRC see below). Since this session is public, and will produce Concluding Observations,  NGOs can publicise the findings of the Committee as part of their advocacy work. The UN does not provide financial support for coming to Geneva, but can help in obtaining visas). For more details on attending meetings, see the NGO Guide on reporting to the CRC (URL below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documents

 

Key documents

 

1) Thailand’s 2nd periodic report to the CRC
(received on 7 June 2004)

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Thailand2nd.pdf

The report will also appear in due course on the CRC website at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/doc/future.htm


2) Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Thailand. 26/10/98
Subjects of concern, suggestions and recommendations based on the examination of the initial report. This document, along with the General Guidelines, should be Thailand’s starting point in the preparation of its 2nd report http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.15.Add.97.En?OpenDocument

2) List of issues to be taken up in consideration of the initial report of Thailand (CRC/C/11/Add 13)

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/doc/issues/list-thailand-1.pdf

 

3) Thailand’s  initial report to the CRC
(submitted in September 1996 and considered by the Committee in October 1998)
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.11.Add.13.En?Opendocument

 

4) Thailand’s core document

To be read alongside the reports http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/2618198217c6efc1c125642d004e8478?Opendocument

 

5) The Convention on the Rights of the Child

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

 

6) The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand

http://www.kpi.ac.th/en/con_th.asp

 

7) Thailand’s Nationality Act

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/THAILAND's_Nationality_Act.htm

 

 

Guideline documents

Which will help you in structuring your submission

 

1) CRC web-page

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/

 

2) CRC General Guidelines for periodic reports
The structure and themes that the State reports should follow, and which NGO reports should also use. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/CRC.C.58.En?OpenDocument

 

3)  NGO Group for the CRC
            http://www.crin.org/NGOGroupforCRC/

 

4) NGO Guide on reporting to the CRC (NGO Group for the CRC)
Most points in this toolbox are expanded in the NGO Guide http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/NGOCRC-Guide-en.pdf (pdf)

http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/NGOCRC-Guide-en.doc (Word)

 

5) Alternative NGO reports

      which may serve as examples

 

NGO report on Norway’s 2nd report

http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.24/NorwayNGO.pdf

 

NGO report on South Korea’s 2nd report

http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.32/South.Korea_ngo_report.pdf

 

Toolbox assembled by

David Arnott,

Burma Peace Foundation

85, Rue de Montbrillant,

1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Tel/Fax (+41-22) 733 2040

Email darnott@iprolink.ch

Website http://www.burmalilbrary.org

 

Updated 24 February 2005