2021 Human Rights Week Scientific Colloquium: Discrimination and Inequalities – Geneva, 25-26 November

While discriminations and inequalities have always been a subject of international concern, the trend in recent years indicates an increase rather than a decrease of the phenomenon. This tendency has been further aggravated by the COVID 19 pandemic, despite the fact that the prohibition of discrimination is well-entrenched in international human rights law and appears high on the agenda of the international community.

The two-day Scientific Colloquium of the 2021 Human Rights Week will explore the different facets of discrimination and inequalities and will discuss their human rights impact in our contemporary world. Experts, academics, and practitioners as well as young scholars will discuss four main issues:

• Discriminations against specific groups and in relation to specific rights
• Discriminations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and inequalities in accessing the COVID-19 vaccine
• Discrimination in armed conflicts, counter-terrorism, and states of emergencies;
• Algorithmic discrimination.

About the Human Rights Week

The Human Rights Week is one of the key events in Geneva that addresses contemporary challenges and issues in the field of human rights. The 2021 edition will discuss – via conferences, debates, film screenings, exhibitions, artistic performances, and the scientific colloquium – the question of discrimination and inequalities.

During one week, experts, practitioners, artists, students, academics, diplomats, and civil society representatives will exchange around this issue, debate, identify solutions and raise awareness about ongoing discriminatory practices and inequalities.

This major event is organized by the University of Geneva, in partnership with the Geneva Academy, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights and Les Créatives.

In Geneva and Online

The Scientific Colloquium will take place both in Geneva (Villa Moynier, 120B Rue de Lausanne) and online via Zoom.

Registration

Online

Register here to follow the Human Rights Conversation online. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In Geneva

Register here to follow the event at the Geneva Academy headquarters Villa Moynier.

Due to sanitary measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, access to the Scientific Colloquium will be limited to those who have a valid Swiss COVID Certificate; an EU Digital COVID Certificate; or a paper or digital document proving that s.he has been tested negative following a rapid antigen test or a PCR one conducted within 48 hours and 72 hours respectively prior to the start of the event.

Programme

DAY 1: THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2021
9:00 – 9:30 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
9:30 – 10:15 KEYNOTE
10:15 – 10:30 BREAK
10:30 – 11:40 SESSION 1: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
11:40 – 12:40 SESSION 2: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LGBTIQ COMMUNITIES
11:40 – 13:50 LUNCH
13:50 – 15:00 SESSION 3: DISCRIMINATIONS IN RELATION TO SPECIFIC RIGHTS

3
DAY 2: FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2021

10:55 – 11:15 BREAK
12:15 – 12:30 CLOSING

END OF THE SCIENTIFIC COLLOQUIUM

Kuwait: Quash Conviction Against Transgender Woman – Free Expression, Privacy Rights Violated

A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a transgender woman to prison for “imitating the opposite sex” online, Human Rights Watch said today. Such laws violate the rights to free expression, privacy, and nondiscrimination under Kuwait’s constitution and international law. The authorities should immediately release her and quash the conviction.

The court on October 3, 2021, sentenced Maha al-Mutairi, 40, to two years in prison and a fine of 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars (USD 3,315) for “misusing phone communication” by “imitating the opposite sex” online under article 70 of the telecommunication law and article 198 of the penal code. She has been arrested multiple times since 2019 for her transgender identity, but the current conviction is apparently based on her online activities in 2021. 

“The Kuwaiti government’s monitoring, repeated arrests, and imprisonment of Maha al-Mutairi for her trans identity is a blatant violation of her basic rights,” said Rasha Younes, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Kuwaiti authorities should immediately reverse her conviction and allow her to live safely as a woman.”

Al-Mutairi told Human Rights Watch in a phone interview on October 8 that after receiving news of her conviction she went into hiding. But the police arrested her on October 11 at the hotel where she was staying. She is being held in Kuwait Central Prison, a men’s prison, in a solitary cell designated for transgender detainees.

Ibtissam al-Enezi, al-Mutairi’s lawyer, told Human Rights Watch that the court used al-Mutairi’s social media videos as evidence to convict her on grounds that she was wearing makeup, speaking about her transgender identity, allegedly making “sexual advances,” and criticizing the Kuwaiti government. Her appeals hearing is scheduled for October 31.

Al-Enezi said the prison officials have not mistreated al-Mutairi and that police had allowed her to call her lawyer. Al-Mutairi told Human Rights Watch that this was the sixth time she has been arrested due to her transgender identity and that before her current arrest she had been barred from traveling outside the country because of the cases against her.

On June 5, 2020, the authorities summoned al-Mutairi for “imitating women” – the fourth time she had faced the charge that year – after she posted a video online saying that the police had raped and beaten her while she was detained in a male prison for seven months in 2019 for “imitating the opposite sex.” The authorities released al-Mutairi on bail on June 8, 2020, without charge. She told Human Rights Watch that the police abused her during those three days in detention, including by spitting on her, verbally abusing her, and sexually assaulting her by taking turns touching her breasts. 

A 2007 Kuwaiti law amended article 198 of the penal code, criminalizing “imitating the opposite sex.” Under article 70 of the telecommunication law, a person who “misuses” telephone communication may be imprisoned for up to a year and fined up to 2,000 Kuwaiti dinars (USD 7,091).

In 2012, Human Rights Watch documented the negative effects of article 198 on the lives of transgender women, who reported multiple forms of abuse at the hands of the police while in detention. They described degrading and humiliating treatment such as being forced to strip and parade around police stations, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, solitary confinement, and emotional and physical abuse that could amount to torture.

The Kuwaiti National Assembly should repeal the 2007 amendment to article 198, and Kuwaiti authorities should investigate all allegations of police brutality including sexual violence, hold officers accountable for misconduct, and protect transgender people from violence, Human Rights Watch said. Kuwaiti authorities should also amend article 70 of the telecommunication law to remove imprisonment as a punishment for speech violations that amount to defamation as defined by law.  

Article 36 of Kuwait’s constitution guarantees freedom of opinion and expression. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Kuwait has ratified, also guarantees the right to freedom of expression and requires that any restrictions “must be constructed with care,” ensure that they do not stifle freedom of expression in practice and should not provide for “excessively punitive measures and penalties.”

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the ICCPR, has made clear that the covenant prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in upholding any of the rights protected by the treaty. As a state party to the ICCPR and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, Kuwait is required to protect the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, including for transgender people.

“Al-Mutairi’s story is one of many horrific accounts by transgender Kuwaitis whose only crime is expressing themselves publicly,” Younes said. “Kuwait should immediately release al-Mutairi, investigate her allegations of sexual violence in detention, and end its criminalization and harassment of transgender people.”

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/14/kuwait-quash-conviction-against-transgender-woman

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Kuwait to end its suppression of the LGBTQ community in a report published on Thursday, following the conviction and imprisonment of Maha-al-Mutairi, a transgender woman.

She was charged with allegedly violating telecommunication laws by “imitating the opposite sex” online. These claims were brought under Article 70 of the Communication and Information technology law and Article 198 of the Penal code.

On October 3, the court sentenced her to two years imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 Kuwait dinars. She was arrested on October 11 and is currently detained at a men’s prison in a solitary confinement cell that is designated for transgender people.

Al-Mutairi reported to HRW that this was her sixth arrest that targeted her gender identity. In 2020 alone she was charged four times with “imitating women.”

While no abuses in custody have thus been reported as her lawyer says, al-Mutairi told HRW about previous instances of violence and abuse she has faced while incarcerated in a men’s facility.

HRW has condemned the acts, citing their contravention of the freedom of expression, privacy, and non-discrimination, all of which are guaranteed under the Kuwait constitution and international law. Rasha Younes, an LGBTQ researcher stated:

The Kuwaiti government’s monitoring, repeated arrests, and imprisonment of Maha al-Mutairi for her trans identity is a blatant violation of her basic rights…Kuwaiti authorities should immediately reverse her conviction and allow her to live safely as a woman.

The post HRW calls on Kuwait to stop punitive acts towards transgender Kuwaitis appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.

UK: Court of Appeal upholds the decision of the High Court that fostering agency’s policy which specifically requires carers not to engage in homosexual behaviour, “is as clear an instance of direct discrimination…as can be imagined”

Read: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5516-united-kingdom-fostering-services-religion-and-sexual-orientation-103-kb

Interesting publication: [Völkerrechtsblog] Watch Your Facebook Comment Section! – Holding Politicians Criminal Liable for Third Parties’ Hate Speech – No Violation of Freedom of Expression under the ECHR

Same-sex marriage isn’t a bar to the Dutch throne, Prime Minister says

Read: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/13/europe/royal-same-sex-marriage-netherlands-intl-scli/index.html

Uganda Recognises Its First Transgender Citizen

Read: https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/uganda-recognises-its-first-transgender-citizen-cleopatra-kambugu/206299

New Publication: Hate Speech and the European Court of Human Rights: Whatever Happened to the Right to Offend, Shock or Disturb?

The latest issue of the Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 21, no. 4, December 2021) is out. Contents include:

Jacob Mchangama, Natalie Alkiviadou, Hate Speech and the European Court of Human Rights: Whatever Happened to the Right to Offend, Shock or Disturb?, Human Rights Law Review, Volume 21, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 1008–1042, https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngab015

New Publication: Paula Gerber & Aaron Timoshanko, Is the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Doing Enough to Protect the Rights of LGBT Children and Children with Same-Sex Parents?

The latest issue of the Human Rights Law Review (Vol. 21, no. 4, December 2021) is out. Contents include:

• Paula Gerber & Aaron Timoshanko, Is the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Doing Enough to Protect the Rights of LGBT Children and Children with Same-Sex Parents?

Misgendering Is a Human Rights Violation, Canadian Court Rules

Read: https://www.them.us/story/canadian-court-rules-misgendering-human-rights-violation

European Parliament adopts resolution to ban biometric identification and mass surveillance

The European Parliament voted 377-248 to approve a resolution calling for a total ban on the use of the automated recognition of people in public spaces.

The European Parliament’s resolution cites the failure of artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately identify minority ethnic groups, LGBTI people, seniors and women, and the concern this causes in the context of law enforcement and the judiciary. The parliament’s concern regarding AI extends to private facial recognition databases such as Clearview AI, predictive policing, and social scoring systems such as China’s Social Credit System.

Member of Parliament (MEP) Petar Vitanov stated of the resolution:

Fundamental rights are unconditional. For the first time ever, we are calling for a moratorium on the deployment of facial recognition systems for law enforcement purposes, as the technology has proven to be ineffective and often leads to discriminatory results. We are clearly opposed to predictive policing based on the use of AI as well as any processing of biometric data that leads to mass surveillance. This is a huge win for all European citizens.

The parliament’s vote is a nonbinding resolution which signals its position going into negotiations for the AI Act, which would ban AI social scoring systems in its current form. Some European countries, including Serbia, Hungary and Czech Republic currently have well-developed facial recognition systems in place.

The post European Parliament adopts resolution to ban biometric identification and mass surveillance appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.