The cabinet of ministers last week approved the allocation of human rights treaties to specific and relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
This came after it was briefed on the number of human rights treaties that Seychelles was party to.
According to cabinet this allocation will allow for better data collection and reporting on the country’s achievements.
Cabinet also approved the setting up of a Human Rights Treaty Reporting Committee that will facilitate Seychelles reporting on its national commitments.
Speaking to the media at last week’s cabinet briefing, Vice-President Ahmed Afif explained this was to ensure the country honours its obligation towards these treaties.
Other than its human rights commission, Seychelles has also signed 17 conventions related to human rights.
“The reason we have decided to establish a committee is to make things clearer because at times it was not clear which government agency was responsible to collect data and refer them to the different international organisations to show our legal obligations which meant that as the way it was, some information were not being reported,” explained Vice-President Afif.
Vice-President Afif said this new committee will not affect the mandate of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
“Its role will remain the same and when it needs to seek information about a particular issue, it will know exactly where to go. So the new committee will be the one coordinating with all the different agencies,” added Mr Afif.
Cabinet pointed out that the protection of human rights is an important element in creating a healthy, happy and secure nation.
Meanwhile in a press release yesterday, the Seychelles Human Rights Commission commended the cabinet’s decision stating “this will allow the SHRC to effectively monitor the implementation of, and compliance with human rights treaties as stated in Section 14(1) b (vi) of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission Act, 2018”.
It added that this initiative will allow the SHRC to easily identify which MDA is responsible for leading the implementation and reporting of a particular human rights treaty.
“The Seychelles Human Rights Commission also welcomes the approval to set up a Human Rights Treaty Reporting Committee that will allow Seychelles to honour its reporting obligations to the human rights treaty bodies by clearing the outstanding reports and reporting as required,” concluded the press release.
Source: Seychelles Nation
