Marrakech, 16 and 17 July 2009
I – States
4. Let us give credit where credit is due. Let us turn first to States. They are concerned in two ways. First, they have made a commitment to implement HRE. Second, they are the guarantors of treaties. On the Human Rights Council, it is their duty to enforce compliance among other States with the rules of the Universal Periodic Review (UPC) framework.
5. As for the first point, to judge by reports on the application of the various treaties, adherence to HRE is far from strict. States diverge broadly in their practice, displaying partial or total ignorance (especially of human rights within education), and/or confusing HRE with civic education or even patriotism, and/or reducing HRE to a sprinkling of existing subjects, and/or limiting HRE to the Convention of the Rights of the Child. It is exceedingly rare for States to grasp HRE's dual nature, as described above. Their reports within the UPC framework reveal the same trend.
6. Things are scarcely better with regard to the second point: States as guarantors. It is hardly worth noting that no State has taken advantage of the provision allowing States to present a communication to the corresponding committee to report another State's non-compliance. This option is provided for in certain treaties that include a clause on human rights education. We should also specify that no such communication has ever been introduced before any committee in the UN system.
7. The same goes for the UPC, which is supposed to provide peer assessment. Systematic analysis of the first two sessions, surveys conducted during subsequent sessions, and an examination of final reports reveal that HRE figures only marginally in the UPC. When it does, moreover, recommendations tend to be vague and aimed at States that, to judge by their reports, already have HRE in place. What makes this state of affairs even more deplorable is the Human Rights Council's stated purpose: the UN General Assembly founded it to "promote human rights education and learning".
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