CEDAW/C/GC/30
has a responsibility to adopt measures to ensure that the policies and decisions of
those organizations conform to its obligations under the Convention.
15. The Committee has also repeatedly stressed that the Convention requires
States parties to regulate non-State actors under the duty to protect, such that States
must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and ensure redress for
the acts of private individuals or entities that impair the rights enshrined in the
Convention. In its general recommendations Nos. 19 and 28, the Committee has
outlined due diligence obligations in protecting women from violence and
discrimination, emphasizing that, alongside constitutional and legislative measures,
States parties must also provide adequate administrative and financial support for
the implementation of the Convention.
16. In addition to requiring States parties to regulate non-State actors, international
humanitarian law contains relevant obligations that bind non-State actors, as parties to
an armed conflict (for example, insurgents and rebel groups) such as in common
article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Protocol additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of noninternational armed conflicts. Under international human rights law, although nonState actors cannot become parties to the Convention, the Committee notes that, under
certain circumstances, in particular where an armed group with an identifiable
political structure exercises significant control over territory and population, non-State
actors are obliged to respect international human rights. The Committee emphasizes
that gross violations of human rights and serious violations of humanitarian law
could entail individual criminal responsibility, including for members and leaders of
non-State armed groups and private military contractors.
17.
The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure redress for the acts of private individuals or entities, as part of
their due diligence obligation;
(b) Reject all forms of rollbacks in women’s rights protections in order to
appease non-State actors such as terrorists, private individuals or armed groups;
(c) Engage with non-State actors to prevent human rights abuses relating to
their activities in conflict-affected areas, in particular all forms of gender-based
violence; adequately assist national corporations in assessing and addressing the
heightened risks of abuses of women’s rights; and establish an effective
accountability mechanism;
(d) Use gender-sensitive practices (for example, use of female police
officers) in the investigation of violations during and after conflict to ensure that
violations by State and non-State actors are identified and addressed.
18.
The Committee also urges non-State actors such as armed groups:
(a) To respect women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict situations, in line
with the Convention;
(b) To commit themselves to abiding by codes of conduct on human rights
and the prohibition of all forms of gender-based violence.
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