International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) News
Since May 2013, the OP-ICESCR (Optional Protocole of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an international treaty establishing complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) gave the CESCR (Committee on the Economic Social and Cultural Rights) the ability to hear complaints from individuals or groups of individuals who have not been able to secure justice for violations of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in their own country.
On September 17, 2015, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published its first recommendations in response to an individual complaint, regarding a violation of the right to housing, under this OP-ICESCR.
This case, I.D.G. v. Spain (Communication 2/2014), represents an important opening for justice for individuals and groups affected by ESCR violations; however, countries must first ratify the OP-ICESCR before their residents can access the CESCR using the mechanism of communications. Civil society, foremost via the NGO Coalition for the OP-ICESCR coordinated by ESCR-Net, was central to the drafting and adoption of the OP-ICESCR, and the Coalition continues an active campaign encouraging countries to ratify and reinforce their existing human rights obligations by ensuring access to effective remedy.
As at today’s date, the following countries had ratified the OP-ICESCR: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Gabon, Italy, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Montenegro, Niger, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain and Uruguay.
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