Stop impunity of right to food violations! FIAN calls upon states to ratify the Optional Protocol to ICESCR
Heidelberg, 10 December 2012 - In celebration of Human Rights Day, FIAN International urges states to ratify the Optional Protocol (OP) to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ensuring access to justice for all victims of violations of basic human rights.
On 10 December 2008, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, providing a new avenue to fight against impunity of economic, social and cultural rights violations.
Under the OP, victims of violations of human rights such as the right to health, education, food or housing, who are unable to seek relief for their claims within their own country, may seek international redress by bringing complaints before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In 1966, 160 states committed themselves to protecting the rights guaranteed under the ICESCR, however, currently the OP has been signed by only 41 states and ratified by just eight. The treaty enters into force upon ratification by the tenth state, which will constitute a critical step towards the achievement of greater social justice and universal human rights protection.
Ratification of the OP would provide another possible legal remedy for victims of violations of the right to adequate food, among other rights, such as those witnessed in the violence-plagued Honduran region of the Bajo Aguan, or in the endless struggle for the indigenous land of the Guarani Kaiowa in Brazil.
“Impunity is both a consequence and root cause of many human rights violations. It derives often from a failure by states to meet their obligations to investigate violations. Chronic hunger is one of the consequences of impunity,” states Ana-María Suarez Franco, FIAN representative in Geneva. FIAN International urges states to seize this opportunity to end impunity and ensure justiciability and effective accountability for all human rights, by bringing the Optional Protocol into force.
More information:
Visit the website created by the NGO Coalition for the OP and read the open letter urging governments to take all necessary steps to ratify the protocol without delay.
For a list of states that have already ratified the OP click here.
In 2011 a Toolkit for Action for the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR was developed by the International NGO Coalition. It provides practical guidance to NGOs and other civil society groups, as well as States on their work surrounding the Optional Protocol. Learn more about the Toolkit.
In 2012, FIAN International held an art contest highlighting the problem of impunity worldwide. You can see all the submissions and the winning selections here.