Case No Country GBR 7/2011 21/12/2011 United Kingdom JAL of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted Discrimination against women in law and in practice; Migrants; Slavery; Trafficking; Violence against women; 23/02/2012 Alleged negative impact of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) government proposal to abolish the Overseas Domestic Worker (ODW) visa system. According to the information received, the ODW visa system has been hailed as best practice and provides important safeguards to prevent abuse, exploitation and trafficking of migrant domestic workers. If the ODW visa system is abolished, this will contribute to facilitating contemporary forms of slavery practices, including trafficking, by allowing employers to bring migrant workers to the UK with no legal protection. Migrant domestic workers would also be tied to their employer and if their rights are violated, they may face the dilemma of continuing to suffer or fleeing and becoming irregular in the UK. Migrant domestic workers themselves would be unable to seek justice through criminal courts or employment tribunals for violations of their right to be free from servitude and other human rights violations. USA 23/2011 Freedom of 21/12/2011 United States of expression; Freedom JUA America of peaceful assembly and of association; Alleged excessive use of force against peaceful protesters who were assembled in various cities throughout the United States of America. According to the information received, in November 2011, groups of peaceful protesters from the “occupy movement” were subjected to forced removal by law enforcement officials in different cities within the country, including Portland, Davis, Oakland, New York, Seattle and Denver. In the conduct of such operations, law enforcement officials allegedly used violence as a means to forcibly remove unwilling protesters from the public areas in which they were located. Reportedly, police equipped with riot gear and law enforcement officers have made use of heavy crowd control techniques and weaponry, including pepper spray, teasers and LRAD „sound cannons” to disperse protesters. In some instances, police allegedly used force unnecessarily and disproportionately; pepper spray and tear gas would have been used deliberately on protesters at a very close distance, causing serious injuries to several protesters. Reply A/HRC/20/30 26 Date Type