PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation ADVANCING SYSTEMIC EQUALITY REFORM THROUGH INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNICATIONS MECHANISMS A. S. v. HUNGARY A. S. was a Roma woman in Hungary who was subjected to contraceptive sterilization without her free and informed consent. As a result, she was no longer able to bear children and experienced the trauma of a coercive intervention in a highly intimate area of her life. Ms. A. S. brought her case before Hungarian courts, but these did not rule in her favour, according very wide deference to the acts of doctors. Ms. A. S. therefore submitted a complaint to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Ruling on the case, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women identified violations of articles 10 (h) (requirement to eliminate discrimination in education), 12 (requirement to eliminate discrimination in health care) and 16 (1) (e) (requirement to eliminate discrimination in marriage and family relations) of the relevant Convention. It held that Hungary should provide appropriate compensation to Ms. A. S. “commensurate with the gravity of the violations of her rights” and recommended a number of general measures to ensure non-repetition of the acts, including: • Take further measures to ensure that the relevant provisions of the Convention and the pertinent paragraphs of the Committee’s general recommendations Nos. 19, 21 and 24 in relation to women’s reproductive health and rights are known and adhered to by all relevant personnel in public and private health centres, including hospitals and clinics. • Review domestic legislation on the principle of informed consent in cases of sterilization and ensure its conformity with international human rights and medical standards … • Monitor public and private health centres, including hospitals and clinics, which perform sterilization procedures so as to ensure that fully informed consent is being given by the patient before any sterilization procedure is carried out, with appropriate sanctions in place in the event of a breach. … publish the Committee’s views and recommendations and to have them translated into the Hungarian language and widely distributed in order to reach all relevant sectors of society.703 As a result of the decision, Hungary adopted a number of amendments to domestic law and policy, and provided monetary compensation to Ms. A. S. 2. Complainants, respondents and procedure Complaints can be made to a Committee against a State that is a party to the treaty in question and has accepted the Committee’s competence to examine individual complaints, either through ratification of the relevant optional protocol or by making a declaration (in the case of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination). Prior to a complaint being filed, all domestic remedies must have been exhausted. Complaints can be made by any person who considers themselves to have been the subject of discrimination or another right guaranteed by the relevant instrument. Complaints may be brought by third parties, provided the individual subjects of the complaint have given their written consent. In certain cases, a third party may bring a case without such consent, for example, in a situation in which a person is in prison without access to the outside world or is a victim of enforced disappearance. In such cases, the author of the complaint should state clearly why such consent cannot be provided. The treaty bodies have detailed rules for the filing of complaints and procedures for their consideration, which can be found on the relevant OHCHR web pages.704 98 703 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, A. S. v. Hungary, communication No. 4/2004, paras. 11.5–11.6. 704 See, for example, www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/TBPetitions/Pages/HRTBPetitions.aspx.