The International Treaty System and Human Rights — How Female Genital Mutilation, as a Culture, Affects the Enjoyment of Human Rights for Women

Introduction

It is common sense that violating human rights is a crime, but sometimes it could be justified in the name of culture, and that is where we need to draw the line. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established in 1948, it was widely recognized that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights.[1] People should be treated equally regardless of their race, gender, language, religion, opinion, nationality, and even birth status.[2] However, things become quite complicated when culture is involved. Cultures are rules and thoughts based on shared beliefs within a specific social group.[3] Although mostly unwritten, culture creates norms that make social standards for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors in a broad context that can either prevent or even cause violence.

There are various norms in a culture that are quite controversial due to their implementation that happened to be against what is written in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, there are several cultures that have been extinct in many countries yet still exist in several countries even though it has been announced for violating human rights. Cultural values against women’s rights such as exonerating female genital mutilation, honor killing, and child marriage are some of the issues regarding violence against human rights that are still happening due to the influence of culture. Although is no longer a surprise that discrimination against women still exists in several parts of the world, it is indeed devastating knowing how patriarchal culture could affect the way women could enjoy basic human rights as fellow human beings.

Realizing that the matters of human rights are complex and require further discussions among States, several treaties have been made to protect and promote the Human Rights system. Various treaty bodies were also created to assure that the treaties are well-implemented by the State parties and that Human Rights will no longer be violated. This research will examine the importance of treaty systems in protecting human rights and their relation to cultural values in several States which affects the enjoyment of human rights. The writer will also focus on the case of patriarchal culture in developing countries as it is believed as the most distinct cultural value between developed and developing countries which hopefully could be beneficial for further study.

[1] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 1.

[2] Office of the High Commissioner (2012). The United Nations Human Rights Treaty System. United Nations: New York and Geneva. Page 5

[3] WHO (World Health Organization). (2009). Changing Cultural and Social Norms Supportive of Violent Behavior (Series of Briefings on Violence Prevention: The Evidence). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

International Treaty System in Protecting Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has become a milestone achievement in the history of human rights as it was the first time that fundamental rights started to be universally protected. Several treaties and conventions related to human rights are then made to complete the rights in all aspects. Ten treaty bodies consisting of independent experts that focus on human rights issues are also elected by the State parties and renewed every four years. Those committees are the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Human Rights Committee (CCPR), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Committee against Torture (CAT), Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW), Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), These treaty bodies are mandated to receive and consider reports periodically submitted by State about how they implement the treaty nationally.[1]

· International Treaty System in Human Rights: State Parties’ Reports

In order to understand more about how reports are managed by treaty bodies, Office of the High Commissioner have listed down several basic stages that need to be done by treaty bodies once the State parties are submitting their report.[2]

1. Listing the Issues that Emerge

Before the regular session, treaty bodies draw up list of issues that later on being given to the State parties. The State parties found it beneficial as question guideline during the session.

2. Information from Others

Not only from the State’s report, the treaty bodies can also receive reports regarding the implementation of human rights from other sources such as United Nations agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, academic institutions, and many more.

3. Formal Discussion regarding the Report

State parties will send delegations to attend the dialogue with the treaty bodies regarding the report they have sent. This stage is not adversarial and treaty bodies also do not pass judgment to the State party. They purely want to monitor and give constructive feedback regarding the implementations of human rights done by the State parties. These feedbacks also need to be as concrete and practical as possible so that it can be easier for the State to implement.

4. Implementing the Recommendations and Submitting the Next Periodic Report

After the session, State parties will be asked to create further reports called “periodic report” that contains the development of human rights implementation. This also will be monitored thoroughly by treaty bodies.

· International Treaty System in Human Rights: Individual Complaints

There are six treaty bodies (CCPR, CERD, CAT, CEDAW, CRPD, and CE) that can actually receive reports and petitions from individuals. With that being said, anyone who claims that their rights under any treaty have been violated by a State may communicate it to the committee.[3]

· International Treaty System in Human Rights: Country Inquiries

There are also six other treaty bodies (CESCR, CAT, CEDAW, CRPD, CED, and CRC) that have the power to initiate country inquiries if they receive reliable information containing well-founded allegations of serious and systematic violations regarding any treaty by the State party.[4]

[1] Office of the High Commissioner, op. cit. Page 20.

[2] Ibid. Page 25

[3] United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner, What the Treaty Bodies Do. [Website] https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/what-treaty-bodies-do

[4] United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner, Complaints about Human Rights Violations. [Website] https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/complaints-about-human-rights-violations

Female Genital Mutilation

Distinct social and cultural norms affect how people react to violence.[1] Some people might think that female genital mutilation is an absolute crime and that there is no other justification to make it permissible. However, in countries where these two cultures are widely applied, these two cultures are considered glorious, and not even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could stop them from preserving such culture.

The practice of cutting girls’ genitals originally came from a traditional belief in order to control a girl’s sexuality and maintain her virginity until marriage. Hence, a girl who remains uncut will mostly be considered unfit for marriage. Worse, there are also often myths that say the uncut girl is unclean and could create bad luck or even become less fertile.[2] It is indeed the root causes of FGM are complex and include a combination of sociocultural, religious, economic, and political factors coming from gender inequality and discrimination.[3] This practice is still commonly found in African and Middle East countries such as Sudan, Egypt, and Yemen.

According to research conducted by UNFPA and the Women’s Refugee Commission, Sudan has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world.[4] In 2014, 86.6% of females between 15–49 years of age and 31% of girls younger than 15 years of age had been through FGM. As for Yemen, 19 percent of females age15–49 years old have also been cut. Kind of similar to Sudan, in Egypt 87 percent of females from 15–49 years old have undergone FGM. However, there is still no law banning FGM, especially in Yemen. The only legal instrument that existed was a ministerial decree banning FGM in health facilities back in 2001. In 2019, Yemen raised a national action plan, a framework of policy used to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security over the period 2020–2023. The goal is obviously very clear, which is to bring FGM as a form of violence toward females and that we all, especially the government, need to strengthen the protection of women from all forms of violence. Unfortunately, little effort has been made to achieve this goal and ensure its implementation at the government level.

[1] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Addressing the Social and Cultural Norms that Underlie the Acceptance of Violence: Proceedings of a Workshop — in brief.

[2] Orchid Project, Why Does FGC Happen? [Website]. https://www.orchidproject.org/about-fgc/why-does-fgc-happen/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JacBhC0ARIsAIxybyNAJ_X0VXA5Wll3kZERbNIxiSmAL0lxRGNdo5hDWc_GxISI8NLs6ksaAg5IEALw_wcB (Accessed 29 November 2022)

[3] World Health Organization in Elnakib, S., UNFPA ASRO and Metzler, J. (2021). Female Genital Mutilation in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab Region: Synthesis Report on Gaps and Priorities for Prevention and Response Programming. Cairo and New York: UNFPA and the Women’s Refugee Commission. Page 1

[4] Ibid. Page 5

Conclusion

The discussion about the treaty system in human rights could range in many aspects. However, if it limits people from enjoying human rights due to cultural value, then the monitoring and evaluation process of human rights implementation is what matters the most. Basically, there are three ways of raising inequal human rights implementation to international forums, which are through State reports, individual complaints, and inquiries from treaty bodies. However, this mechanism will mean nothing without good cooperation from related countries whose cultures are violating their rights. It requires both parties, treaty bodies, and state parties, to actually work together to end the ongoing violation. As for the case of female genital mutilation, it is very clear that there had not been enough effort given by the states which makes it even harder for the international forums to help females being the victim of culture. Therefore, hopefully, there would be better cooperation among all stakeholders because the rights of females within the culture are at stake. Not to mention that it was an irony seeing how women have been blessed with freedom and equality in many other countries yet there are many women who are also still trapped in a culture against human rights.

Reference

Office of the High Commissioner (2012). The United Nations Human Rights Treaty System. United Nations: New York and Geneva. Page 1–25

WHO (World Health Organization). (2009). Changing Cultural and Social Norms Supportive of Violent Behavior (Series of Briefings on Violence Prevention: The Evidence). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

World Health Organization in Elnakib, S., UNFPA ASRO and Metzler, J. (2021). Female Genital Mutilation in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab Region: Synthesis Report on Gaps and Priorities for Prevention and Response Programming. Cairo and New York: UNFPA and the Women’s Refugee Commission. Page 1–5

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Addressing the Social and Cultural Norms that Underlie the Acceptance of Violence: Proceedings of a Workshop — in brief.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1

United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner, What the Treaty Bodies Do. [Website] https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/what-treaty-bodies-do

United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner, Complaints about Human Rights Violations. [Website] https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/complaints-about-human-rights-violations

Orchid Project, Why Does FGC Happen? [Website]. https://www.orchidproject.org/about-fgc/why-does-fgc-happen/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JacBhC0ARIsAIxybyNAJ_X0VXA5Wll3kZERbNIxiSmAL0lxRGNdo5hDWc_GxISI8NLs6ksaAg5IEALw_wcB