Confidentiality

How can the well-being of the author or alleged victim be protected when there is fear of retaliation? At what stage is the whole process made public?

In situations where an individual(s)/author(s) fear that submitting a communication may result in threats or actual retaliation by agents of the state or those directly responsible for the violations (e.g. a community, a company, etc) the CEDAW Committee has developed procedural safeguards. Thus, although communications cannot be made anonymously, requests to shield the identity of the author(s) and/or individual(s) will be considered by the CEDAW Committee.

Furthermore, although transparency of process between the author/individual, the State party and the CEDAW Committee is desired, this transparency does not automatically extend to the public arena. In essence, once a communication has been submitted the author(s)/individual(s) need not keep hidden the fact that they have submitted a complaint against a certain State party. Similarly, when a State party has been notified of a communication, they do not have to conceal the fact that action is being taken against them for breaching a right in the CEDAW Convention. Additionally, there is no express provision that the State party must keep from public knowledge the identity of the victim or author. Nevertheless, where the CEDAW Committee deems it appropriate, it may request that either the author of the communication; the State party or both keep confidential all or any part of the information that forms the communication.

Moreover, it must be noted that the States party is under an obligation “to take all appropriate steps to ensure that individuals under its jurisdiction are not subjected to ill treatment or intimidation as a consequence of communicating with the Committee” (CEDAW Optional Protocol Article 11). Presumably then, if disclosure of the identity of the victim and/or the author of the communication is likely to jeopardize their safety or expose them to the threat of ill treatment, whether or not a specific request has been made, the States party should take all appropriate action that to ensure that their identity is not revealed.

In this regard, Rule 74 sets out that:

• Communications submitted under the OP-CEDAW shall be examined by the CEDAW Committee, working group or rapporteur in closed meetings.
• All working documents prepared by the Secretariat for the CEDAW Committee, working group or rapporteur – including summaries of communications prepared prior to registration and the list of summaries of communications – shall be confidential unless the committee decides otherwise.
• The CEDAW Committee, working group or rapporteur shall not make public any communication, submissions or information relating to a communication prior to the date on which its views are issued.
• The author(s) of a communication or the individual(s) who are alleged to be the victim or victims of a violation of the rights set forth in the CEDAW Convention may request that the names and identifying details of the alleged victim or victims (or any of them) not be published.
• If the CEDAW Committee, working group or rapporteur so decides, the name or names and identifying details of the author(s) of a communication or the individual(s) who are alleged to be the victim or victims of a violation of the rights set forth in the CEDAW Convention, shall not be made public by the committee, the author(s) or the State party concerned.
• The CEDAW Committee, working group or rapporteur may request the author(s) of a communication or the State party concerned to keep confidential the whole or part of any submission or information relating to the proceedings.