A/HRC/38/27
III. Results achieved through the implementation of activities
supported by the Voluntary Fund during 2017
19.
In Barbados, the Voluntary Fund, with the assistance of a national human rights
adviser, supported a follow-up activity to the regional workshop on the death penalty held
in 2016. In addition, a human rights training workshop was held for government officials in
Antigua and Barbuda in December 2017. Multiple training sessions were organized for
government officials of the Barbados national mechanism for reporting and follow-up, on
drafting the State’s national report for the universal periodic review. Workshops for civil
society organizations on drafting stakeholder submissions for the upcoming review of
Barbados was also held. In addition, the national human rights adviser organized a two-day
workshop on access to justice for LGBTI civil society organizations, in collaboration with
the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, and a two-day meeting on the
death penalty, which included a public opinion survey and a sensitization seminar. The
adviser also facilitated consultations between the Barbados national mechanism for
reporting and follow-up and civil society organizations to assist in the drafting of the State
report for the review.
20.
OHCHR provided support in Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and Antigua with
a view to increasing compliance and engagement with international human rights
mechanisms both by the Governments of and civil society organizations in these States.
Another objective of the support was to strengthen the capacity of civil society
organizations to send communications to special procedures with regard to human rights
violations in the region.
21.
In Cambodia, OHCHR, with the help of the funding provided by the Voluntary
Fund, supported a proposal aimed at building the capacity of three target groups. First, it
provided support to civil society bodies to build their capacity to advocate draft laws,
prakas (proclamations) or sub-decrees that may have an impact on the freedoms of
assembly, association, expression and movement. Second, it provided support to build the
capacity of subnational authorities to implement the Peaceful Demonstration Law and the
2015 Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO) in accordance
with international standards of freedoms of expression, association and assembly. Third, it
provided support to judges and prosecutors in order for them to apply international human
rights law, in particular in the areas of pretrial detention and case management.
22.
Despite serious impediments caused by the electoral context and the Government’s
crackdown on civil and political rights, OHCHR organized a legal symposium with the
Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and the International Trade Union
Confederation, which brought together some 100 representatives of the Government, the
International Labour Organization, the international community and other stakeholders.
During the symposium, information was shared on the latest developments and challenges
with regard to the national legal framework and enforcement mechanisms relating to the
setting of the minimum wage and wage negotiations, trade union registration, collective
bargaining and dispute resolution. OHCHR also carried out a series of capacity-building
activities in order to raise awareness among non-governmental organizations, associations,
trade unions and community-based activists from different sectors on the right to peaceful
assembly under international human rights standards and relevant national legislation.
23.
OHCHR conducted initial training and follow-up visits to assess the implementation
of the pretrial detention form between 2014 and 2016. It found that the form was
increasingly used by judges, with sound legal reasoning and clear duration of detention
periods in some cases. At the same time, it noted that some judges were still reluctant to use
the form, partly because they were unaware of how to reason their decisions. Accordingly,
OHCHR organized a training session for 30 judges, including 2 women, to explain the new
procedure once again and to analyse concrete examples of how reasoning was developed.
OHCHR intends to follow up with these judges to assess the use of the new form, which
reiterates the view that pretrial detention should only be used in exceptional cases, and
allows the accused to challenge detention in compliance with international standards.
5
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