Yogyakarta Principles

 a universal guide to human rights which affirm binding international legal

standards with which all States must comply.
 address a broad range of international human rights standards and their
application to SOGI issues.
 On 10 Nov. 2017 a panel of experts published additional principles expanding on
the original document reflecting developments in international human rights law
and practice since the 2006 Principles, The Yogyakarta Principles plus 10.
 The new document also contains 111 ‘additional state obligations’, related to
areas such as torture, asylum, privacy, health and the protection of human rights
defenders.

Evolution
 Yogyakarta Principles
o Sexual orientation
o Gender identity
 Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10
o Gender expression
o Sex characteristics
o A number of new principles

The Original 2007 Principles

• Preamble
• Principles 1 – 3: Rights to Universal Enjoyment of Human Rights, Non-
Discrimination and Recognition before the Law
• Principles 4 – 11: Rights to Human and Personal Security
• Principles 12 – 18: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Principles 19 – 21: Rights to Expression, Opinion and Association
• Principles 22 – 23: Freedom of Movement and Asylum
• Principles 24 – 26: Rights of Participation in Cultural and Family Life
• Principle 27: Rights of Human Rights Defenders
• Principles28 – 29: Rights of Redress and Accountability
• Additional Recommendations – 16
o The Principles conclude by recognising the responsibility of a range of
actors to promote and protect human rights and to integrate these
standards into their work.
o A joint statement delivered at the United Nations Human Rights Council by
54 States from four of the five UN regions on 1 December 2006, for
example, urges the Human Rights Council to "pay due attention to human
rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity" and
 commends the work of civil society in this area, and calls upon "all Special
Procedures and treaty bodies to continue to integrate consideration of
human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity
within their relevant mandates."

2017 Yogyakarta Principles plus 10

• Preamble
• Principle 30: The Rights to State Protection
• Principle 31: The Right to Legal Recognition
• Principle 32: The Right to Bodily and Mental Integrity
• Principle 33: The Right to Freedom from Criminalization and Sanction
• Principle 34: The Right to Protection from Poverty
• Principle 35: The Right to Sanitation
• Principle 36: The Right to the Enjoyment of Human Rights in Relation to
Information and Communication Technologies
• Principle 37: The Right to Truth
• Principle 38: The Right to Practise, Protect, Preserve and Revive Cultural
Diversity
• Additional State Obligations: 
o the YP Plus 10 set out a range of additional obligations for States,
including in relation to HIV status, access to sport, combating
discrimination in prenatal selection and genetic modification technologies,
detention and asylum, education, the right to health, and freedom of
peaceful assembly and association
• Additional Recommendations: 
o the Principles also set out recommendations for national human rights
institutions and sporting organizations.

Paris Principles
 Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles)
 Adopted by General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993
 Set of international standards which frame and guide the work of NHRIs or CHRs
all over the world

NHRIs are required to:

 Protect – human rights, including by receiving, investigating and resolving
complaints, mediating conflicts and monitoring activities.
 Promote – human rights, through education, outreach, the media, publications,
training and capacity building, as well as advising and assisting the Government.
6 Main criteria that NHRIs require to meet:
 A broad mandate, based on universal human rights norms and standards
 Independence guaranteed by statute or by Constitution
 Autonomy from the Government
 Pluralism
 Adequate resources
 Adequate powers of investigation

Contents of Paris Principles:

 Competence and responsibilities
o 1. A national institution shall be vested with competence to promote and
protect human rights.
o 2. A national institution shall be given as broad a mandate as possible,
which shall be clearly set forth in a constitutional or legislative text,
specifying its composition and its sphere of competence.

 Responsibilities of NHRIs
 Composition and guarantees of independence and pluralism
 Methods of operation
 Additional principles concerning the status of commissions with quasi-
jurisdictional competence

GANHRI
Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions
 The Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) is the
international association of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from all
parts of the globe.
 Established in 1993, the GANHRI promotes and strengthens NHRIs to be in
accordance with the Paris Principles, and provides leadership in the promotion
and protection of human rights.
 The United Nations Paris Principles provide the international benchmarks against
which national human rights institutions (NHRIs) can be accredited by the Global
Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). 

SIRACUSA PRINCIPLES
Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response

Overview
  March 11, 2020, WHO declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 first identified in
Wuhan, China on December 2019
 COVID-19 has reached the level of a global pandemic
 Alarming levels of spread and severity
 Need for urgent and aggressive action to stop the spread of virus

Right to Health (Human Rights Law)

 Guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health and obligates
governments o take steps to prevent threats to public health and to provide
medical care to those who need it.
 Recognizes restrictions on some rights can be justified in the context of public
health threats and public emergencies threatening the life of the nation

Justification on restriction of some rights

 Legal basis
 strictly necessary
 based on scientific evidence
 neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in application
 of limited duration
 respectful of human dignity
 subject to review
 proportionate to achieve the objective

UN Committee on ESCR

Right to health provides that health facilities, goods and services should be:

 available in sufficient quantity,

 accessible to everyone without discrimination, and affordable for all, even
marginalized groups;
 acceptable, meaning respectful of medical ethics and culturally appropriate; and
 scientifically and medically appropriate and of good quality.

Adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1984 and UN Human Rights
Committee general comments on states of emergency and freedom of movement

 Provides authoritative guidance on government responses that restrict human

rights for reason of public health or national emergency

 States of emergency need to be limited in duration and any curtailment of rights

needs to be taken into consideration the proportionate impact on specific
populations or marginalized groups.

Measures Taken:
To protect the population that limit people’s rights and freedoms

 Lawful
 Necessary
 Proportionate

The Siracusa Principles specifically state that restrictions should, at a minimum, be:

 provided for and carried out in accordance with the law;

 directed toward a legitimate objective of general interest;
 strictly necessary in a democratic society to achieve the objective;
 the least intrusive and restrictive available to reach the objective;
 based on scientific evidence and neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in
application; and
 of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, and subject to review.

Human Rights Concerns

Protect freedom of expression and ensure access to critical information

 Governments have an obligation to protect the right to freedom of expression,

including the right to seek, receive, and impart information of all kinds, regardless
of frontiers.

 A rights-respecting response to COVID-19 needs to ensure that accurate and up-

to-date information about the virus, access to services, service disruptions, and
other aspects of the response to the outbreak is readily available and accessible
to all.

 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regards as a “core

obligation” providing “education and access to information concerning the main
health problems in the community, including methods of preventing and
controlling them.”

Ensure quarantines, lockdowns, and travel bans comply with rights norms

 Restrictions such as mandatory quarantine or isolation of symptomatic people

must, at a minimum, be carried out in accordance with the law.

 They must be strictly necessary to achieve a legitimate objective, based on

scientific evidence, proportionate to achieve that objective, neither arbitrary nor
discriminatory in application, of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, and
subject to review.

Fulfill the right to education—even if schools are temporarily closed

  In times of crises, schools provide children with a sense of stability and normalcy
and ensure children have a routine and are emotionally supported to cope with a
changing situation.

 To ensure education systems respond adequately, UNESCO has recommended

that states “adopt a variety of hi-tech, low-tech and no tech solutions to assure
the continuity of learning.”

Root out discrimination and stigma, protect patient confidentiality

 Governments should take swift action to protect from attack individuals and
communities who may be targeted as bearing responsibility for COVID-19,
thoroughly investigate all reported incidents, and hold perpetrators accountable.
 Governments should ensure that response measures to COVID-19 do not target
or discriminate against particular religious or ethnic groups, and that responses
are inclusive of and respect the rights of marginalized groups, including people
with disabilities and older people. .
 Governments should ensure that patient confidentiality is protected even as
authorities take steps to identify those who may have been exposed to the virus.

Ensure marginalized populations can access health care without discrimination

 Governments should ensure that all healthcare services related to COVID-19 are
provided without stigma and discrimination of any kind, including on the grounds
of sexual orientation and gender identity, and should make clear through public
messaging campaigns that everyone has the right to access health care.

 Governments should also ensure that financial barriers do not prevent people
from accessing testing, preventative care, and treatment for COVID-19.

 Governments need to take steps to ensure everyone has affordable and

accessible medical care and treatment options.

Ensure protection of health workers

 Governments should create conditions that “would assure to all medical service
and medical attention in the event of sickness.”

 Governments have an obligation to minimize the risk of occupational accidents

and diseases including by ensuring workers have health information and
adequate protective clothing and equipment.

 This means providing health workers and others involved in the COVID-19
response with appropriate training in infection control and with appropriate
protective gear.
Protect people in custody and in institutions

 Government agencies with authority over people housed in prisons, jails, and
immigration detention centers should consider reducing their populations through
appropriate supervised or early release of low-risk category of detainees
including for example, those whose scheduled release may be soon, those who
are in pre-trial detention for non-violent and lesser offenses, or whose continued
detention is similarly unnecessary or not justified.

 Persons in any form of detention have the same right to health as the non-
incarcerated population and are entitled to the same standards of prevention and
treatment.