CLARIFICATION ON THE HIGH COMMISSIONER'S RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE PRESS IN MADRID

14 February 2003




On February 11th, after a meeting between the HC and the Spanish Foreign Minister, a Reuters article was published following an improvised discussion with the press, in Spanish. Unfortunately, the replies of the HC were misinterpreted.

Below: the English translation of the exact Spanish transcript of this discussion:


Does the preparedness of UN Humanitarian Agencies mean that war is inevitable?

High Commissioner - This war is not inevitable and in any case, the solution to all these problems must go through the Security Council. The humanitarian agencies are preparing for an eventual crisis as we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, hoping that the best will in fact happen.

Is the human rights situation in Iraq worrying?

High Commissioner - The human rights situation in Iraq is very serious. The Commission on Human Rights has established a special mechanism, known as a special rapporteur, who has taken note of the abuses in that country before the Commission and the General Assembly.

What type of human rights violations exist in Iraq?

High Commissioner - The list is very long, but an example is the recruitment of children for war and illegal child labour which is in total violation of the basic norms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Do you think that there will be a long war? What effects will this have on human rights?

High Commissioner - We cannot speculate on the possibility or not of a war and, in the case of war occurring, on its duration. What is certain is that wars lead to violations of human rights and therefore the shorter they are, the better. Therefore, everything depends as well on the duration of wars. If the war were short, we could expect that the post war period might improve the human rights situation.




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