On the morning of November 1, 2018, the 343thGlobal Human Rights Forum series was held at A209, Research Building, College Road Campus, China University of Political Science and Law. Professor Zou Xiaoqiao was invited to give a lecture entitled "United Nations human rights treaties/institutions and China" for teachers and graduate students.
Professor Zou is a dean of the Institute of Modern Women's Leadership. She was the Minister of International Affairs of the All-China Women's Federation, the Standing Director of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, and a member of the United Nations Association of China. As an independent expert, Professor Zou has served on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for 12 years and served as vice chairman of the committee from 2009 to 2010. Prof. Zou Xiaoqiao has been a member of the Chinese government delegation on many occasions to participate in meetings of the United Nations and regional issues related to human rights, women, and other social issues. She has long been engaged in the promotion of women’s human rights, gender equality and women’s rights. She has unique opinion of women’s rights.
Firstly, Professor Zou introduced the composition and functions of the core human rights treaties and their bodies. Professor Zou explained the basic situation of the nine core human rights treaties of the United Nations and interpreted in detail the main contents and contracting situations of International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Convention on the Rights of the Child. Then, Professor Zou introduced the selection criteria of the members of the Independent Expert Committee, the procedures for submitting individual complaints or communications, and the conditions for the committee to initiate investigation procedures, as well as the relevant cases during the period of the work. The students further deepened their understanding of the functions of UN human rights institutions.
Subsequently, Professor Zou analyzed the treaty obligations of the parties to the core human rights treaties of the United Nations and the implementation of China’s ratification after joining the core human rights treaties. Professor Zou believes that the State party should undertake the obligation of respect, protection and realization, and the implementation of the State party is mainly reflected in the report. China has acceded to six UN core human rights treaties, and has earnestly fulfilled its obligations and attached great importance to the preparation of performance reports. In the field of human rights protection, China not only respects international practices but also insisting on solving and dealing with human rights issues within the limits of a country's sovereignty.
Finally, Professor Zou briefly introduced the development and characteristics of the UN human rights treaty bodies. Professor Zou pointed out that the politicization tendency of human rights treaty bodies is more serious at this stage and more attention should be paid to the role of non-governmental organizations, along with the reform of human rights treaty bodies.
Through careful and detailed explanations by Professor Zou, the students gained a deeper understanding of the UN human rights treaties and institutions. At last, the lecture was successfully concluded with enthusiastic applause from everyone.
Written by: Song Wenhao&Zhang Zhimin