General

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This Blog is written by Geetanjali Sharma from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. Edited by Karan Dutt.

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INTRODUCTION

One of the goals of the United Nations Charter is to maintain international peace and security. Violence and conflict harm long-term growth. Human rights abuses are at the foundation of conflict and instability, which in turn always leads to further human rights violations. As a result, actions to preserve and develop human rights have intrinsic preventative potential, and rights-based approaches to peace and security apply this power to efforts to achieve long-term peace. The normative framework for human rights also offers a solid foundation for resolving severe concerns inside or between countries that, if left ignored, might lead to conflict.

Information and analysis on human rights are a tool for early warning and focused action that has yet to be fully utilized. Failure to comply to international human rights norms and defend human rights undermines attempts to achieve, maintain, and develop peace. This failure has harmed global efforts to combat terrorism and curb the development of violent extremism. Both this and the preceding pillar on achieving sustainable development rely on the UN’s increased focus on prevention and peacekeeping. We can contribute to the long-term sustainability of both peace and development by demonstrating how human rights rules may be used to resolve grievances, decrease inequality, and strengthen resilience.

Employers, housing providers, service providers, and other responsible parties covered by the Code bear the ultimate duty for ensuring an environment free of discrimination and harassment. Whether or whether a human rights claim has been filed, it is unacceptable to choose to remain oblivious of discrimination or harassment of a person with a mental health impairment or addiction.

Organizations and organizations doing business have a legal obligation to prevent and respond to Code violations. Employers, landlords, service providers, and other responsible parties must ensure that their workplaces are accessible, inclusive, discrimination- and harassment-free, and that human rights are respected. When persons with mental health or addiction impairments are encouraged and enabled to participate in all aspects of society, everyone benefits. Employers, housing providers, service providers, and other responsible parties infringe on the Code whether they do so directly or indirectly, deliberately or inadvertently, or when they approve, condone, or adopt behavior that is in violation of the Code.

SIGNIFICANCE

Employers, housing providers, service providers, and other responsible parties covered by the Code bear the ultimate duty for ensuring an environment free of discrimination and harassment. Whether or whether a human rights claim has been filed, it is unacceptable to choose to remain oblivious of discrimination or harassment of a person with a mental health impairment or addiction. Organizations and organizations doing business have a legal obligation to prevent and respond to Code violations. Employers, landlords, service providers, and other responsible parties must ensure that their workplaces are accessible, inclusive, discrimination- and harassment-free, and that human rights are respected. When persons with mental health or addiction impairments are encouraged and enabled to participate in all aspects of society, everyone benefits.

Employers, housing providers, service providers, and other responsible parties infringe on the Code whether they do so directly or indirectly, deliberately or inadvertently, or when they approve, condone, or adopt behavior that is in violation of the Code.

IMPACT

Support justice mechanisms that seek to improve accountability for conflict-related violations in different jurisdictions, including through universal jurisdiction; and continue to support c human rights violations and abuses, as well as breaches of international humanitarian law in the context of conflict, including through our assistance to UN intergovernmental bodies’ inquiry mechanisms; and continue to support c We’ll improve the efficacy of our support to justice institutions by developing guidelines and resources on victim and witness protection and engagement. By encouraging accountability and redress for past wrongdoings, Protection and promotion of human rights contribute to more successful conflict prevention, conflict management, and post-conflict peace, according to regional organizations and individual Member States. civilian casualties and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence; bring facts and evidence to the attention of the parties and the public, and advocate for changes in policy, practice, and conduct; provide training and technical advice to integrate international human rights and humanitarian law in military and peace operations; strategize

To that end, we will monitor the implementation of relevant strategies, offer advice on what is needed to ensure effective human rights protection, and provide training, operational guidance, and technical advice on how to operationally integrate human rights in prevention and peacebuilding activities. Monitoring and reporting to support our strategic advocacy on the significance of human rights abuses in fueling violent extremism and terrorism, as well as the need of human rights protection in preventing it. We will strengthen state authorities’ and other actors’ capacity and commitment to uphold international law in their efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism, as well as guarantee accountability and respect for victims’ rights.

STATUTORY PROVISIONS

• A company, trade union or occupational association, unincorporated association, or employers’ group will be held liable for discrimination perpetrated by workers or agents in the course of their employment under section 46.3 of the Code. Vicarious liability is the term for this situation. Simply put, the OHRC believes that an organization is liable for discrimination committed by its workers or agents, regardless of whether the company had any knowledge of, participation in, or control over the conduct. Staff in a group home, for example, refuse to look into a renter’s claim that another tenant is discriminating against her because of her sex and mental health impairment. For tolerating discrimination and failing to respond to this complaint, the organization that runs the group home would be responsible and perhaps liable.

• Employers, service providers, many housing providers, and the government will be obliged to meet with accessibility requirements for individuals with disabilities under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Government, major organizations, and designated public sector organizations will be required to establish accessibility plans to avoid and remove obstacles to accessibility as part of complying with the requirements. Persons with mental impairments or addictions, like people with mobility or other sorts of disabilities, can benefit from inclusive design and barrier reduction concepts. However, depending on the needs to be addressed, these approaches may change.

People with psychosocial impairments, for example, may have difficulties with focus, memory, organization, or communication. Physical accessibility may not be as important to a company as its rules, processes, or organizational culture.

Example: A social housing provider conducts a barrier review with its staff and tenants and discovers that organizational and attitudinal barriers – such as the existence of stereotyping about people with mental health and addiction issues and a lack of knowledge about how to request accommodation – are significant obstacles.

• All employers are required to create harassment policies and evaluate them at least once a year under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Harassment rules should specifically address harassment motivated by a mental health or addiction condition. The AODA requires obligated organizations to develop, implement, and maintain accommodation policies that govern how they will achieve accessibility. The stigma associated with mental health and addictions, a lack of knowledge about one’s rights, and fear of retaliation are all factors that may contribute to people not knowing how to complain or avoiding making a complaint, even when the situation is clearly unacceptable. Organizations should ensure that employees have appropriate information and training regarding complaint procedures, as well as a clear understanding that raising a complaint will not result in retaliation.

For instance, a college creates a human rights complaint mechanism for its clients. It collaborates with a mental health disability group and creates plain-language pamphlets in the community’s primary languages, which it distributes to various community agencies, legal clinics, and hospitals around the municipality.

CASE LAWS

In Wamsley v. Ed Green Blueprinting[1], Employers, housing providers, service providers, and other responsible parties may be held accountable if they fail to respond to the acts of third parties that engage in discriminatory or harassing behavior (such as service users or customers, contractors, etc.).

In Olarte v. DeFilippis and Commodore Business Machines Ltd, Vicarious responsibility does not apply to violations of the Code’s anti-harassment sections. Because the existence of a poisoned environment is a type of discrimination, vicarious responsibility is reinstated where harassment amounts to or results in a poisoned environment. Furthermore, the “organic theory of corporate responsibility” may apply in certain situations. That is, a company may be held responsible for harassment committed by its workers if it can be proved that management was aware of the harassment or that the harasser was a member of the organization’s management or “directing mind”.[2]

In Selinger v. McFarland, a man with bipolar illness claimed that because of his mental health impairment and the assumption that he was gay, he was exposed to harsh insults and bad treatment by his coworkers. He said that his coworkers called him homophobic slurs, ridiculed him for using disability medicine, labelled him “mad,” and accused him of trying to molest minors. He brought these concerns to his boss’s notice, but nothing changed. When the employer refused to investigate and resolve the man’s harassment allegations, the HRTO concluded that the company had violated his right to be free from discrimination based on disability and sexual orientation.

ANALYSIS

the human rights and gender implications of new technology, weaponry, and tactics in development and deployment We’ll lay out an Office-wide approach for dealing with the human rights issues raised by these advances and their application in conflict and non-conflict settings. We will also support national efforts to develop legislation, policies, and practices that ensure private military and security companies (PMSCs) comply with human rights standards, as well as assist States and relevant stakeholders in establishing strong international accountability frameworks to address human rights violations and abuses by PMSCs. Work under all six pillars addresses the essential components of our mandate, allowing universal yet strategic coverage of human rights in all countries (given budget constraints). The thematic pillars are interconnected, inseparable, and mutually reinforcing.

UN partners get guidance and training on how to execute the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP). This policy outlines the steps that all UN entities should take to ensure that support provided to non-UN forces is consistent with the UN Charter’s purposes and principles, as well as their responsibility to respect, promote, and encourage compliance with international humanitarian, human rights, and refugee law. These procedures compel UN organizations to monitor and report on the behavior of security forces they support, as well as assess the danger that they may commit grave violations. We will work to improve accountability for policy implementation, support the development of standard operating procedures, risk assessments, and mitigation measures, and ensure that the HRDDP is applied consistently to all forms of UN support to security forces, including counter-terrorism and counter-violent extremism operations, regional and peacebuilding operations, and border control. In order to offer real-time early warning analysis that can guide UN human rights preventive, early warning, and action measures, information management techniques and systems must be implemented. This capability will improve our ability to spot impending problems and respond appropriately. The ‘Rights View’ portal, which is currently being developed and launched, will give access to OHCHR material as well as other reliable human rights sources and media. We will also gradually deploy emergency response personnel to regional offices. Our efforts in this area will be an important part of UN activity on the ground, drawing on the Platform for Prevention, the Human Rights Up Front Action Plan, and the New Way of Working.

CONCLUSION

We will better adjust our work to the changing external circumstances through four main ‘Shifts’ in our approach.

These adjustments will allow us to focus on the most serious threats to human rights as well as the most promising possibilities for leveraging support to effectively safeguard and promote those rights. The following are the changes we will make across our six pillars: i. Support conflict, violence, and insecurity prevention.

ii. Civic space should be protected and expanded.

iii. Support and expand the international human rights movement.

iv. Deliver human rights in light of new global problems (‘border issues’).

These ‘Shifts’ will further integrate our activities as a single Office, ensuring coherence, scalability, and quantifiable human rights effect in an uncertain environment. Our efforts will be centered on individuals. We shall put a “spotlight” on the human rights of women, young people, and people with disabilities in everything we do, especially when we focus on the human rights of other population groups. We will emphasize the human rights issues of women, young people, and people with disabilities, especially as human rights defenders, in support of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s human rights-based pledge to “leave no one behind.”

REFERENCES

(1) https://www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/five-actions-you-can-take-against-racism-and-discrimination

(2) http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-preventing-discrimination-based-mental-health-disabilities-and-addictions/17-preventing-and-responding-discrimination#_edn285

(3) https://www.prosperitycandle.com/blogs/news/6-ways-to-protect-support-human-rights

(4) https://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/ManagementPlan/Pages/preventing-violations.aspx

In-text citations:

[1] 2010 HRTO 1491

[2] Olarte v. DeFilippis and Commodore Business Machines Ltd. (No. 2) (1983), 4 C.H.R.R. D/1705 (Ont. Bd. Of Inq.), aff’d (1984), 14 D.L.R. [4th] 118 (Div. Ct.).