PHA-Exch> Sign the letter to support the Optional Protocol (send/sign as individuals)

["Claudio Schuftan" <cschuftan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: ESCR-Net escr-net@xxxxxxxxxxxx

English

Please send your  support by Friday May 30^th, 2008!

Dear colleagues,

We are approaching another key moment for the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP) and we again need your support.   After the final session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR held in March-April, 2008, a final text for the Optional Protocol was adopted partly thanks to the overwhelming support that many of you provided.  The text will be presented to the Human Rights Council for its adoption and transmission to the UN General Assembly.  

Even though the text adopted for the OP is not perfect, it does represent an important compromise and is the result of 5 years of negotiations.  It is of the essence that it is not reopened for renegotiation as this could lead to a weaker OP and will delay its creation.  

The Optional Protocol will make it possible for individuals, groups or organizations acting on their behalf to seek justice at the international level for violations of economic, social and cultural rights by submitting complaints to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The adoption of the Optional Protocol will also provide support to efforts to get greater recognition of economic, social and cultural rights in domestic law and before courts, and it will strengthen our monitoring role, as civil society organizations. 

The NGO Coalition for the Optional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has prepared a letter (attached with this e-mail) for supportive States to request them to adopt the OP draft without changes.   It is essential for the success of our lobbying that we can demonstrate that this appeal and the Optional Protocol have wide support. We would therefore request you to sign on to this appeal either as an individual or an organization by May 30^th, 2008.

 

If you are willing to sign it, please send an email to escr-net@xxxxxxxxxxxx, indicating your name, country and organization (if applicable). 

We ask you to seriously consider being part of this initiative as well as taking further action in the next and crucial steps for the adoption of the Optional Protocol.  Last time we gathered more than 500 signatures in less than a week.  We hope we will receive even more support this time!

We look forward to hearing from you,

The Steering Committee of the NGO Coalition for the Optional Protocol

 

[Insert name and address]

XX May 2008

Dear [insert name],

 

This letter is sent to you on behalf of members and supporters of the NGO Coalition for an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, welcome the draft Optional Protocol that has been agreed upon at the last session of the Open-Ended Working Group. We note and welcome the fact that [country] has constructively engaged in the negotiation process. We consider the agreed text to be a compromise by all sides and hope that there will be no further attempts to limit or weaken the text, which could hinder individuals from having access to an effective remedy.

The Optional Protocol presents a historic opportunity for the international community to rectify the imbalance between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which has particularly denied the poorest and most marginalized the ability to demand respect for and protection of their rights. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted, the optional protocol will send a strong and unequivocal message about the equal value and importance of all human rights.

We urge [country] to consider supporting the resolution of the Human Rights Council on the Optional Protocol as a co-sponsor in order to ensure the swift transmission of the Optional Protocol to the General Assembly.

In the year of the 60^{th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call on the international community to live up to the pledges of that historic document and give greater effect to the right to a remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights. To this end, we urge [country] to support the adoption of the draft OP as transmitted by the Working Group recognising the significant achievement in coming to an agreed text.}

 

Sincerely,

Steering Committee of the NGO Coalition for an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights