Briefing note, 17 March 1998

17 March 1998


John Mills, media officer for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Commission on Human Rights had begun its meeting this morning at exactly 10 a.m., as promised by Chairman Jacob Selebi of South Africa. The Foreign Minister of Iran was taking the floor as the first of the dignitaries scheduled for today. In a statement on the organization of work of the Commission Mr. Selebi had asked participants, among other points, to show respect the dignitaries scheduled to speak by not interrupting on points of order and understanding that rights of reply would be taken at the end of the meeting. One innovation the Bureau wanted to introduce this year was to have parallel meetings, possibly chaired by a Commission Vice-Chairman, at which independent experts such as Special Rapporteurs would have more time to engage in question-and-answer sessions with delegations and NGOs. Such meetings would be made known once they were scheduled.

Mr. Mills said the Commission would hold a meeting this evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. to consider the organization of work. If that item was concluded the Commission would move on to its item on human rights in the occupied territories.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights was presently at the Commission, Mr. Mills continued. She would be meeting today with, among others, the Minister of State of the United Kingdom, Tony Lloyd; the Norwegian Minister for Development and Human Rights, Mrs Hilde Frafjord Johnson; Emma Bonino, of the European Commission; Mr. Kinkel; Mr. Matutes; the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr Youri Ushakov and the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Mr Boris Frlec.

On Thursday, the Deputy High Commissioner, Enrique Ter Horst, would be speaking at a screening of the film, "Martin Ennals: A Giant Among Human Rights Defenders". The screening would also be attended by Adama Dieng, President of the Martin Ennals Foundation. The film portrays the first four winners of the Martin Ennals Award, who come from China, Pakistan, Nigeria and Mexico.

A correspondent said the outgoing Chairman of the Commission had painted a pretty bad picture of that body, listing among the ills affecting it overpoliticization, lack of mutual trust, racism and xenophobia. Does the High Commissioner share that view of the Commission? she asked. Mr. Mills replied that the High Commissioner was always careful to avoid characterising the Commission and leave that to the delegations themselves. In order to balance what the outgoing Chairman had said he suggested noting what the incoming Chairman has urged members to do in terms of refocusing the work of the Commission. As for the prevalence of human rights problems in the world, that was certainly a concern the High Commissioner shared. It shows the continuing need for the Commission to meet and particularly along the lines proposed by Ambassador Selebi.

The Chairman in his statemen this morning addressed a number of issues that touch on the manner that the work of the Commission will be conducted, Mr. Mills said in response to another question. Some delegations will be offering a commentary at least on the Chairman's views on how he wants this Commission to run. That will probably start happening between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. tonight.

Asked whether the High Commissioner would be reacting to the evalutation of the Commission made by the outgoing Chairman, Mr. Mills said the High Commissioner would be addressing the Commission on Thursday at 10.30 a.m..

A correspondent said two members of the Unrepresented Peoples' Organization had had been refused entry to the building to attend the group's own seminar yesterday. Other members were only allowed to enter on visitors' passes, which meant they could not attend the Commission's session. Could Mr. Mills confirm this? she asked. If the information was correct, what were the grounds for refusing them entry? Mr. Mills said he had not heard of this case. If people had the accreditation available to NGOs with consultative status, he would be surprised if they had problems. He would ask security if they were aware of it. The Commission's Chairman is having a meeting today to discuss how NGOs may contribute. He told the Commission this morning that it was the strong wish of the Bureau to have a dynamic relationship between NGOs and States. In any case he would see if there was any information on the case mentioned.