Human Rights at Sea in partnership with University of Bristol Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Implementation Centre have published the first report on ‘Flag States and Human Rights’. The report is a study on flag state practice in monitoring, reporting and enforcing human rights obligations onboard vessels.
Human rights abuses occur within the maritime environment; however this is a relatively unexplored, undiscussed and often ignored issue. The aim of the report is to understand how different flag states comply with their international human rights obligations and through these findings to increase awareness of human rights abuses occurring at sea and the challenges in effectively monitoring and reporting them.
Under the joint Flag State Research Project, the University of Bristol’s Human Rights Implementation Centre offers opportunity for Law School students to conduct applied research in collaboration with valued partners through its Human Rights Law Clinic.
In the Centre’s second year working with Human Rights at Sea, the Flag State Research Project was established to explore how three key flag States meet their international human rights obligations aboard vessels registered under their flag.
Having addressed the deficiencies of the three states under scrutiny, UK, Marshall Islands, and Saint Kittis and Navis, which offer a combination of open registries in different regions, the report cites four recommendations:
- Flag States should consider ratifying the core UN human rights treaties, IMO and ILO Conventions.
- Specific monitoring mechanisms for ensuring compliance of a flag state with its human rights obligations onboard should be put in place. In cases where ship registries operate outside the flag state, the latter should be involved in the monitoring process.
- Reporting mechanisms should be put in place that will allow persons onboard to complain of human rights abuses. In cases where the mechanisms are in place, they should become more accessible and user friendly. Relevant information on how these can be accessed, the reporting procedure and remedies should become available online by each flag state.
- Compliance with human rights onboard should also be considered for listing flag states under MoUs. In cases where MoUs do consider this in their rating process, it should be explained how human rights compliance is measured.
Professor Rachel Murray, Director of the University of Bristol Human Rights Implementation Centre commented on the report:
This year we have been delighted to partner with the organisation ‘Human Rights at Sea’ as one of the projects upon which our students in our Human Rights Law Clinic worked. The Human Rights Law Clinic enables students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, to team with an external organisation and practitioners, to carry out research for them which will be of benefit in their work. It provides the students with real-life practical application of their developing legal knowledge and gives them an opportunity to enhance their legal research and analytical skills.
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