During the 12th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva last October, the human rights records of Ireland and Lithuania were reviewed and assessed by member states of the United Nations.
The UPR is the latest reporting mechanism at the UN whereby all 192 UN Member States are allowed to examine the human rights records of their fellow nations once every four years.
As part of this process, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) Member Associations of Ireland and Lithuania – the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and the Family Planning and Sexual Health Association of Lithuania (FPSHA) – together with Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) [1] each submitted information to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in March 2011 on human rights violations related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The IFPA highlighted the ways in which the criminalization of abortion in Ireland violated women and girl’s right to health, privacy, life, to be free from cruel and degrading treatment, and non-discrimination. The FPSHA drew attention to the obligation of Lithuania to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of adolescents to sexual and reproductive health including through evidence-based sexuality education and access to health services.
Both submissions, along with their intensive advocacy efforts, resulted in forceful recommendations from UN member states on these issues.
Key recommendations to the Government of Ireland
At the hearing, France and Germany pressed Ireland for further information on the implementation of the A, B & C judgment [2]. The UK called on the government to legislate for the A, B & C judgment and the Netherlands recommended the introduction of a coherent legal framework and the provision of adequate services.
Four countries (Slovenia, Norway, Denmark, Spain) called on Ireland to go beyond the A, B & C judgment and either decriminalise abortion or allow for abortion in the case of rape, incest and when a woman’s health and wellbeing are at risk.
In their press release, following the hearing, IFPA Chief Executive Niall Behan said:
“The Minister must now not only outline the terms of references and timeline of the proposed expert group which the Government has promised in response to the A, B & C v Ireland judgment, he must also make a firm commitment to provide legislation for adequate abortion services and to give clarity to women and their doctors.”
Key recommendations to the Government of Lithuania
In the case of Lithuania, Finland recommended that the government make a wide array of family planning methods, such as a comprehensive range of modern and affordable contraceptives, more widely available in Lithuania. Finland also recommended that Lithuania provide mandatory sexual education in schools and increase knowledge and awareness about family planning among women and men.
IFPA, FPSHA, IPPF and SRI will be following up on these recommendations to ensure that they are implemented at the country level and continue to highlight the rights violations related to the recommendations that have not been accepted.
For more information on UPR process of Ireland and Lithuania, contact Niall Behan, ED of IFPA at nbehan@ifpa.ie or Esmeralda Kuliešytė, ED of FPSHA at lithfpa@takas.lt
[1] The Sexual Rights Initiative is a coalition of organizations, including IPPF working to advance sexual rights at the UN Human Rights Council.
[2] In cases brought by three women A, B and C v. Ireland, the European Court of Human Rights made a unanimous decision on 16 December 2010 that abortion, in certain circumstances, should be legalised in Ireland.