Press Release Mischaracterizes Nature of Holy See’s Routine Human Rights Review

By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D. | February 28, 2013

 

According to a press release from the Center for Constitutional Rights, (CCR) the Vatican has been “summoned before UN Committee on Rights of the Child,” allegedly to answer for the sexual abuse scandal.  Omitted from the press release was the fact that Congo, Germany, Portugal, Russian Federation, and Yemen were likewise “summoned” to appear before the same committee.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child will be reviewing reports from the Holy See and the other five member states as part of a routine review that cycles through all the countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  The Holy See will issue its own report, and other groups have the opportunity to issue their own alternate reports, as CCR and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) have done here.

This will be the second periodic review for the Holy See, which ratified the CRC in 1990.

The word “summons” in legal parlance refers to an authoritative citation to appear before a court.  The countries that will undergo review before the Committee on the Rights of the Child are not being summoned in response to a reported grievance.  By mischaracterizing the nature of the situation, CCR betrays a lack of understanding of the United Nations treaty system, a cynical desire to mislead their readers and exaggerate their own competence to make demands of sovereign states, or both.

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