“The tendency of family courts to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases, especially where mothers and/or children have brought forward credible allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive control, physical or sexual abuse is unacceptable,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.

A history of intimate partner violence against women was often neglected in family courts and shared custody or parental authority, treated as the default ruling, regardless of the child’s perspective.

“When custody decisions are made in favour of the parent who claims to be alienated without sufficiently considering the views of the child, the resilience of the concerned child may be undermined.

“The child may also continue to be exposed to lasting harm,” Ms. Alsalem said. She also called out the failure of child custody processes to use child sensitive approaches that focus on the best interest of children.

Harder for minority women

The report underscores that minority women face additional barriers when being accused of using “parental alienation” in part due to increased barriers in accessing justice as well as negative stereotypes.

Parental alienation is defined as the situation when a child refuses to have a relationship with one parent, as a result of manipulation or falsehoods spread by the other parent.

In some family court systems, for example in state judicial systems in the US, some mental health professionals contend that parental alienation is a form of emotional child abuse.

The independent expert’s report, argues that the use of the unfounded and unscientific concept, is highly gendered.

While it is invoked against both fathers and mothers, it is predominantly used against mothers, the report states, with the woman being accused of turning children against the father.

The consequences of biased custody decisions can be detrimental and irreversible to those concerned leading to a continuum of violence before and after separation, the expert said.

‘Pseudo concepts’

Despite these grave consequences “parental alienation” and related pseudo concepts are embedded and endorsed in legal systems across different jurisdictions, including amongst evaluators tasked with reporting to family courts on the best interest of the child.

Ms. Alsalem’s report also provides recommendations for States and other stakeholders to reverse the long-lasting harm done to individuals, families and societies.

She said the international community needed to develop a greater “collective conscience” when considering the human rights dimension of multi-layered violence that many mothers and children experience when using family court systems.

“The protection of women and children from violence, a victim-centered approach, and the best interests of the child, must take precedence over all other criteria when establishing arrangements for custody and visitation rights,” she said.

Special Rapporteurs and other UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights experts, work on a voluntary and unpaid basis, are not UN staff, and work independently from any government or organisation.

“These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as his Office warned of the “terrible impact on both Palestinians and Israelis” of the escalation, before calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed. 

Mr. Türk’s comments followed remarks by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who on Thursday “condemned all acts of violence against civilians” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and deplored the loss of life.

Refugee camp victims

Echoing Mr. Guterres’s deep concern about an Israeli military raid on Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday that killed at least seven Palestinians, including a boy and a girl, the UN rights chief said that the use of airstrikes was “more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities rather than a law enforcement operation”.

According to reports, Israeli gunships were used for the first time in the area since the early 2000s to extract injured soldiers, while a long gun battle raged.

Mr. Türk added that on Wednesday evening, other reports emerged of an Israeli military drone strike near Jenin that killed three alleged Palestinian militants.

“Israel must urgently reset its policies and actions in the West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life”, insisted the High Commissioner.

Following the Jenin raid, Mr. Türk’s Office said that he had been “appalled” that some Palestinians had celebrated the killing of four Israeli settlers – reportedly including a 17-year-old boy – by two armed Palestinian men near the community of Eli in the occupied West Bank. 

Vicious circle 

Highlighting the tinderbox situation, OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that several Palestinian communities had reportedly been assaulted by Israeli settlers, amid “confrontations between Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli Security Forces, and Palestinians”.

According to UN rights office OHCHR, so far this year, Israeli Security Forces have killed at least 126 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Among them were 21 boys and one girl. 

This compares with last year, when 155 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security Forces in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, representing the highest number in the past 17 years.

Data from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights indicates that 24 Israelis were killed inside Israel and the occupied West Bank last year – “the highest number of Israelis were killed last year since 2016”. 

“For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” said Mr. Türk. “On all sides, the people with the political power know this and must instigate immediate steps to realize this.”

“It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,” Mr. Türk said, urging the country to “change course”.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said that over the past three months, the Tunisian authorities have used security and counter-terrorism legislation as well as a presidential decree on cybercrimes, to arrest and convict six journalists for spreading “false news, information or rumours”.

Civil and military prosecutions

 Since July 2021, OHCHR has documented 21 cases of alleged human rights violations against journalists, including prosecutions before civilian and military courts, likely initiated to counter criticism of the authorities. 

 Under international human rights law all public figures including heads of State may legitimately be subject to criticism.

 “People have the right to be informed and to do so, journalists must be able to do their job without any undue restriction,” Mr. Türk insisted.

On 15 June, parliamentary authorities decided to ban journalists from covering parliamentary committee meetings. Just two days later, a judge banned media outlets from covering two cases of alleged “conspiracy against State security affairs” in which dozens of people have been prosecuted and detained since mid-February.

Independent media silenced

“These decisions undermine the principle of transparency in public affairs. People have the right to be informed and to do so, journalists must be able to do their job without any undue restriction,” said the High Commissioner.

“Silencing the voices of journalists, in a concerted effort, undermines the crucial role of independent media, with a corrosive effect on society as a whole,” he said.

The High Commissioner called on the Tunisian Government to respect due process and fair trial standards in all judicial proceedings.

Authorities also called on the authorities to stop trying civilians before military courts and release all those arbitrarily detained, including anyone held for exercising their right to seek, receive and impart information.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned that technology enabled easy sharing of sensitive health data of adolescents, migrants and people whose sexual orientation or health status was subject to discrimination.

“Accessibility of information through digital tools should not impair the right to have personal health data treated with confidentiality,” Ms. Mofokeng insisted.  

Technology used to prosecute abortion seekers

Ms. Mofokeng highlighted the dangerous use by State and non-State actors of mobile communication, geo-mapping and search history data against people seeking contraception or abortions in jurisdictions – such as some states in the US – which criminalize these health services, resulting in prosecution, arrest and further stigma.

The Special Rapporteur also pointed out that while technology can enable broader access to healthcare through solutions such as telemedicine, the global digital divide results in major inequalities in this area between countries, genders and social and age groups.

Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council serve in their individual capacity; they are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work. 

Poverty an obstacle to women’s rights

In a related discussion at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, the disastrous effects of poverty and socio-economic inequality on female health were among the glaring injustices highlighted by the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. The Group’s Chair, Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, presented a report to the Council showing that globally, women and girls are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty. 

She stressed that they often face stigma and criminalization when seeking reproductive healthcare and services, including abortion.

“When women and girls cannot access sexual and reproductive health education, information, goods and services, family planning services, gender-based inequalities and poverty are further entrenched and may be transmitted to future generations,” Ms. Estrada-Tanck warned.

LGBT exclusion in the name of religion

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse (LGBT) persons featured on agenda at the Council, which heard on Wednesday that LGBT rights were not incompatible with freedom of religion – as some Member States insisted. 

Presenting his latest report to the Council, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, said that LGBT persons are often marginalized, stigmatized and excluded from religious communities “simply because of who they are”.

He warned against the use of religious narratives to justify denying LGBT persons their human rights and said that embracing spirituality and faith is a path that must be available to all, including those with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. 

The world’s most pressing rights issues

Throughout its 53^rd session, the Council will continue to address the world’s most pressing human rights emergencies. Since the session’s kick-off on Monday, Member States have discussed the situation in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Sudan. 

Looking ahead, highlights will include a review of the impact of climate change on human rights, as well as a focus on Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.

Before closing its session on 14 July, the Council will also take action on a number of resolutions resulting from these discussions, put forward by its 47 Member States.