On April 30, 2022, the first of six classes of a training course on the protection of rights in UN bodies was held for members of UnMode. This course is conducted by the Center for Strategic Judicial Affairs “ECHR-Navigator” – its founder Anton Burkov and teacher Natalia Matskevich.
Presentation
The training is carried out within the framework of the work of the Consortium for the Protection of Prisoners’ Health and Rights (PHRC). The training is attended by 13 members of UnMode from Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus – these are human rights paralegals who work “in the field” and daily document cases of human rights violations and protect people in courts, as well as those who are engaged in country and international advocacy.
The teaching staff has extensive experience in international work and can share not only knowledge, but also experience. Anton Burkov has been studying the European Convention on Human Rights for 20 years and testing his knowledge in the courts and the ECHR. Natalia Matskevich has been studying and practicing filing appeals to international bodies for 15 years. She defended the rights and interests of Viktor Babariko and Sergei Tikhanovsky, imprisoned candidates for the post of President of the Republic of Belarus in 2020. She is also convinced that everyone can write a complaint to the UN on their own, without resorting to the help of professional lawyers.
After completing the course, all graduates will receive diplomas that will give them the opportunity, if desired, to study human rights at the Graduate Institute of Arizona on preferential grounds.
Theory
In carrying out activities for the protection of human rights, we use completely different mechanisms and procedures, both at the national and international level. Non-governmental organizations, whose activities are aimed at achieving systemic changes in the country, actively use human rights protection mechanisms not only in the ECHR, but also in the United Nations system.
The use of these mechanisms is one of the ways to influence the State’s human rights policy and gives non-governmental organizations a unique opportunity to bring the human rights situation in the country to the attention of international legal bodies.
The protection of human rights in the UN system can be divided into two main parts: a) mechanisms that operate within the framework of the UN charter bodies; and b) contractual (convention) mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
he peculiarity of the statutory human rights bodies is that these mechanisms are formed and created on the basis of the UN Charter and apply to all UN member states. In order for the mechanism to work for the country, there is no requirement to ratify an international document, which gives ample opportunities for civil society to use these mechanisms.
Contractual (convention) mechanisms for the protection of human rights have more stringent requirements, the State must assume obligations to fulfill them through the ratification of a treaty or convention. When working with convention mechanisms, it is necessary to make sure that your country is a party to this document.
The course is intended specifically for those members of the UnMode who are facing the UN human rights protection system for the first time and are trying to navigate all the documents, mechanisms and procedures. The participants received a brief overview of all the main mechanisms in the UN system, as well as a brief description of the opportunities for non-governmental organizations within this system.
Practice
Lyudmila Vince, Russia:
I think this is a big step forward for our network, a step into the future. After all, the diversity of international protection institutions is not limited to the European Court of Human Rights. Only after starting the training, it is already clear that the UN bodies are no less effective, and in some places they have even more influence. This is especially important in a situation where UnMode is increasingly expanding its membership in the countries of the region, and now we also cover those countries to which the ECHR does not extend its competence. This now also includes Russia, which has stopped interacting with the ECHR.
Increasing the expertise of our human rights defenders will make it possible to be more weighty in the dialogue at the country and international level with partners and opponents. Our goal is to provide comprehensive access to human rights protection for our beneficiaries and human rights defenders themselves. And this training is another big step towards the goal.
Madina Toktogulova, Kyrgyzstan:
My training in the ECHR navigator will help me: firstly, to understand what issues I can address to the UN bodies; to correctly compose and submit appeals to the UN bodies; thirdly, to learn how to correctly issue alternative and shadow reports. I would also like to note that in Kyrgyzstan I do not remember any report that would concern the community of people who use drugs. I also don’t remember that any alternative reports or special reports on the prisoners themselves were submitted at all. But we, my colleague and I, participated in monitoring and evaluation, as well as in writing a special report on life imprisonment for the Ombudsman for the Kyrgyz Republic. And, by the way, there are very good results, because two have already been released under the “pardon”, and five people have already been transferred to a strict regime and to a light regime. For our country, this was a big breakthrough, because all these years, no matter how much effort there was, but no one promoted issues concerning “lifers” anywhere.
Ivan Anoshkin, Russia:
The training has just begun, so there is still a lot of work and knowledge to be gained. Already today there is an understanding that if you learn to contact the UN bodies yourself and file complaints, understand this algorithm, it will be very cool. This means that the number of people involved in this process will increase, and not only at the expense of specialists, lawyers and professionals, as well as representatives of the community and those human rights defenders who go to the courts and know the situation firsthand. One of the strategic tasks of UnMode is precisely representation in international bodies, including UN bodies and committees, of the situation with violation of rights in countries. Unfortunately, we cannot do this on our own yet, so when we learn how to do it, we will be able to do it on our own and thereby make these cases visible, of which there are a huge number.
Pavel Divakov, Belarus:
It’s never too late to learn. It is important to develop your knowledge, which will then be implemented in practical and professional skills. The topic of interaction with various UN bodies for the protection of rights is very important – it is a mechanism that allows you to raise important issues to another level. This is also important for the state, because it becomes possible to hear an alternative point of view and see the situation from the other side.