full version - World Organisation Against Torture

Estonia1. Preliminary ObservationsThe submission of information specifically relating to violence againstwomen to the United Nations Human Rights Committee forms part ofOMCT’s Violence Against Women Programme which focuses on integratinga gender perspective into the work of the five “mainstream” UnitedNations human rights treaty monitoring bodies. OMCT’s gender analysesand reporting entail examination of the effects of gender on the formwhich the human rights violation takes, the circumstances in which theabuse occurs, the consequences of those abuses, and the availability andaccessibility of remedies.OMCT notes with concern that Estonia’s Government reportCCPR/C/EST/2002/2 (hereafter referred to as the government report),only addresses some women’s issues when it discusses the implementationof article 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR), but does not discuss human rights of women when discussingthe other articles. Moreover, OMCT regrets that the government reportonly deals marginally with the issue of violence against women inEstonia.OMCT would like to recall that article 3 of the ICCPR stresses the need toensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of “all civiland political rights set forth in the present covenant.” [emphasis added]Moreover, with regard to violence against women, OMCT would like toevoke that in paragraph 11 of General Comment 28 adopted by theHuman Rights Committee in March 2000, which examines the equality ofrights between men and women and updates its earlier General Commenton that topic adopted in 1981, 1 the Committee addresses the fact thatmuch of the violence suffered by women is violence that occurs at thehands of private individuals and recognises that this violence can amountto torture which is prohibited by article 7 in the Covenant. The paragraphreads:“To assess compliance with article 7 of the Covenant, aswell as with article 24, which mandates special protectionfor children, the Committee needs to be provided informationon national laws and practices with regard to domesticand other forms of violence against women, including rape.241