Government-Civil Society Consultations "EIDHR"
Israel is legally committed to international human rights norms. It is a party to seven major universal human rights conventions, namely, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the International Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The effectiveness of these human rights commitments depends, to large extent, on their internalization within the state. To this end, the Conventions generally require the adoption of appropriate domestic legislation, the conformity of all national laws and policies with the treaty commitments, and the provision of effective remedies in cases of violation of individual. Furthermore, the treaties establish standing Committees ("Treaty Monitoring Bodies", or "TMBs") charged, inter alia, with the monitoring of the internalization of human rights commitments, on the basis of periodic Reports that state parties are required to submit. TMBs comment on national Reports, usually in the form of "concluding observations". In addition, TMBs engage in detailed analysis and clarification of particular treaty commitments, producing "General Comments" that are considered authoritative interpretations of the relevant treaties. Concluding observations and General Comments are expected to guide states in the internalization of treaty commitments.
Civil society can play a vital role in this process of internalization, and in many jurisdictions it does. NGOs act as demandeurs vis-à-vis their government, bringing to its attention inconsistencies between national laws and international commitments, and suggesting ways in which the latter can be better implemented. Many governments consult with NGOs while preparing their reports to TMBs and in considering follow up action designed to apply TMBs' concluding observations and general comments. Moreover, TMBs invite or permit NGOs to directly provide them with information on treaty implementation, in the form of 'parallel' or 'shadow' reports. Ideally, states should facilitate the dialogue between civil society and government through the creation of national human rights institutions and mechanisms, such as human rights commissions.
However, no such focal point existed in Israel - a state of affairs which this project successfully sought to mitigate. The project has made a powerful contribution to the internalization of international human rights commitments in Israel, and to the participation of Israeli civil society in the process.
Components of the project included:
- Translating into Hebrew - and making available on the Center's website to the general public and civil society - relevant general comments and concluding observations issued by TMBs. This work was done by professional legal translators under the supervision of the project coordinators and directors.
- Annotating and correlating the treaties and TMB general comments and concluding observations to existing Israeli legislation and jurisprudence in a way that will technically facilitate access by researchers and advocates. This work was done by Hebrew University law students under the supervision of the project coordinators and co-directors, and will also be made available to the general public on the Center's website.
- Holding a series of symposia and consultations on specific issues of compliance raised by the TMBs in the Israeli context, in order to partly fill the gaps in structured follow-up to TMB specific recommendations.
- Promoting systematic review of compatibility of Israeli legislation and draft legislation with international treaty commitments and TMB general comments and concluding observations, through the establishment of a research group. Prof. David Kretzmer headed the research group, and its members included Mr. Shlomi Balaban, Prof. Tomer Broude, Prof. Amichai Cohen, Dr. Hala Khoury-Bisharat, Prof. Leslie Sebba and Prof. Yuval Shany. The research group produced several ground-breaking articles in Hebrew, for publication in Hukim, a HUJ Law Faculty journal dedicated to legislative issues.
- Most dramatically - designing a model for government/civil society/academia consultation in the Israeli TMB reporting process and a coordination mechanism between official governmental reporting and NGO parallel reporting, with the goal of developing improved TMB reporting and follow-up processes in Israel. This included, inter alia, the establishment of a joint supervisory committee including senior civil society practitioners, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, and leading scholars; comparative research on existing models of state reporting to the TMBs and follow-up between the government and interested civil society organizations in other countries; and most dramatically - pilot implementations of consultation mechanisms in specific, real reporting contexts. Seven closed consultation sessions have already been held, with extraordinary participation on the part of both government and civil society.
Each of these elements was unprecedented in Israel – as is the scope and structure of cooperation between civil society, government and academia that the project has already succeeded in generating, under the auspices and guidance of the HUJ Minerva Center. Despite some initial hesitation, civil society quickly embraced and supported the project, as reflected in the fact that some 40 NGOs, including virtually every major human rights organization in the country, have participated in at least some of the sessions. And despite the increasingly antagonistic attitude in recent years of the Israeli government towards civil society, the Minerva Center’s project has enjoyed wholehearted support and cooperation from the Israel Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Deputy Attorney General for International Law have both referred to the project at length in appearances before the UN Human Rights Commission and other bodies. The project has also received high praise from the EU’s independent evaluators, and featured in high-profile events of the EU Delegation to Israel.
In this project the Center has in many respects succeeding in filling roles that a National Human Rights Institution – which Israel lacks - would be expected to fill. Indeed, one of the focal points of the current phase of the project is to develop a realistic model for an Israeli NHRI, based on comparative and domestic research and on dialogue with and between senior government and civil society actors. A second new element of the current phase of the project aims to familiarize Israeli civil society and government officials with the UN special procedures, in particular the thematic Special Rapporteurs and the potential that cooperation with them may offer for the enhancement of human rights in Israel – including by inviting current and former Special Rapporteurs to Jerusalem and facilitating or hosting closed meetings for them with civil society and government (as well as public lectures).
In both government and civil society circles in Israel, the ongoing closed consultations established in the course of this project have come to be known as “the Minerva process”. Both sides have urged the Center to expand the consultations beyond their original scope and to add further topics of discussion – a clear reflection not only of the success of the project but also of the stature that the Minerva Center for Human Rights has attained. It is doubtful whether any other institution in Israel could have successfully put into place – and maintained on an ongoing basis - such a dramatic and fruitful consultation process.