COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ADOPTS NUMEROUS RESOLUTIONS ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE, WOMEN AND CHILDREN

EVENING
HR/CN/99/59
26 April 1999




Measure Condemning Terrorism Draws Extended Debate


The Commission on Human Rights this evening adopted a host of resolutions aimed at alleviating abuses and human suffering in all corners of the globe.

The Commission -- intent on acting on scores of remaining draft resolutions before it adjourns for the year on Friday -- passed omnibus measures that, among other issues, condemned toxic dumping in developing countries, urged further international debt forgiveness, and reaffirmed efforts to eradicate poverty.

Much of the evening's attention, however, centred around a resolution condemning terrorism. The resolution passed by a comfortable margin -- 27 in favour and none opposed -- but there also were 26 abstentions.

While each Government taking the floor expressed utter disdain for acts of terrorism, many said the resolution caused them discomfort because it described terrorist acts as human-rights violations -- a status that was reserved solely for Governments under international law.

A representative of the German delegation, speaking on behalf of the entire European Union, Cyprus, and the Central and Eastern European bloc, said the resolution would unwittingly elevate terrorists to the same level as States. Each of those countries voted to abstain.

A member of the Chilean delegation, meanwhile, said the country did not want to equate State terrorism with terrorism committed by Aarmed bands.

And the representative of Norway, explaining his country's abstention, said that only Governments had human-rights obligations -- that it could not be said that terrorists were committing gross violations of human rights, as detailed in the resolution. Rather, Norway and other countries contended, terrorists committed crimes.

Earlier, the Commission approved, by a vote of 36 in favour, 16 opposed, and one abstaining, a sweeping resolution that condemned toxic and dangerous dumping, especially in developing countries, and expressed the hope that Governments would prohibit it through domestic legislation and international cooperation.

The United States opposed the resolution because, the delegation said, it duplicated efforts of other entities, including the World Health Organization and the International Labour Office, while Japan declined its support because, its representative said, the Commission lacked the requisite expertise on the matter.

Also passed on a split vote was a resolution calling for increasing international debt forgiveness. The resolution was supported by poorer, developing countries such as the Philippines and Guatemala, which charged that greater support wasn=t forthcoming because of member States' policies of confrontation instead of cooperation within the Commission. The US and Japan declined to back the measure, maintaining the language lacked adequate balance and did not reflect the realities of the needs of developing countries.

The Commission also adopted by a vote of 28 in favour to 1 against --with 24 abstentions -- to condemn abduction of children in northern Uganda, including the murder, rape, torture, enslavement, and forced recruitment into the widely condemned Lord=s Resistance Army.

Several States said the violations of children's rights prompted them to support the resolution, but other delegations chose to abstain because --they said -- the problem of child abduction occurred in other countries and because they were worried about adoption of country-specific resolutions under the Commission's agenda item on the rights of children.

The Commission passed several other resolutions by consensus with little or no debate. It unanimously agreed to endorse texts that implored States to make all possible efforts to feed the hungry; to continue international coordination to end extreme poverty; to ensure an independent and impartial judiciary; to prohibit by law and practice all forms of torture; to provide restitution for grave violations of human rights; to combat impunity; to end summary and arbitrary executions; to recognize that the economic, social and cultural rights were crucial and helped achieve other basic human rights; to help bring an end to enforced or involuntary disappearances; to fully implement the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based upon Religion or Belief; to continue efforts to end trafficking of women and girls; to integrate the rights of women into all United Nations activities; to work with the relevant Special Rapporteur to eliminate gender-based violence; and to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape, sexual slavery, and slavery-like practices.

The following countries spoke: France, United States, Turkey, Norway, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Pakistan, Germany, Canada, Russian Federation, Costa Rica, Hungary, Denmark, Cuba, Sweden, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, United Kingdom, Uganda, Sudan, India, Peru, Tunisia, and Rwanda.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 27 April, to continue action on draft resolutions.



Action on resolutions and decisions

In a resolution (E/.CN.4/1999/L.19) on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, approved by a roll-call vote of 36 in favour and 16 opposed, with 1 abstention, the Commission categorically condemned such dumping in developing countries; reaffirmed that such illicit trafficking and dumping constituted a serious threat to the rights to life, health, and a sound environment; urged all Governments to take legislative and other measures to prevent such trafficking; invited relevant international organizations and treaty bodies to intensify their coordination and international cooperation and technical assistance in dealing with the matter; urged the international community and the relevant UN bodies to continue to give appropriate support to developing countries, upon their request, to implement existing international and regional instruments for controlling such trafficking and dumping; urged the relevant Special Rapporteur to undertake a global multi disciplinary study of existing problems of and solutions to such trafficking and dumping; and requested the Special Rapporteur to include in her reports comprehensive information on persons killed, maimed or otherwise injured in developing countries as a result of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes.

The roll-call vote was as follows:

In favour: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Uruguay and Venezuela.,

Against: Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Abstentions: Republic of Korea

GEORGE E. MOOSE (the United States of America), said resolution L.19 on the adverse effects of toxic waste replicated the Basel convention and also duplicated efforts of FAO, WHO and ILO. As a result the United States was unable to support the resolution.


MAKOTO KATSURA (Japan) said that Japan recognized that the issue at hand was important, and that there was great concern for it. Nevertheless, Japan was of the view that the Commission was not the appropriate forum for this subject, since it lacked expertise on such matters. Japan would therefore have to vote against the resolution.


In a resolution (E/.CN.4/1999/L.21) on the right to food, adopted without a vote, the Commission reaffirmed that hunger constituted an outrage and a violation of human dignity; reaffirmed the right of everyone to safe and nutritious food; considered it intolerable that more than 800 million people, especially women and children, did not have enough food; stressed the need to make efforts to mobilize and optimize the allocation and use of technical and financial resources from all sources to reinforce national food-security policies; invited once again the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to draft and adopt a general comment on the right to food; and requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to transmit the present resolution to Governments and relevant specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations and to invite them to present comments and suggestions on how better to realize the right to food.


In a resolution (E/.CN.4/1999/L.26) on the question of the realization in all countries of the economic, social and cultural rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and study of the special problems which developing countries faced in their efforts to achieve these human rights, adopted without a vote, the Commission reaffirmed that the ideal of freedom from fear and want could be achieved only if conditions were created whereby everyone could enjoy economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights; noted that there was an the inextricable link between respect for such rights and the process of development; cited the importance of international cooperation in realization of such rights; stated that the realization of human rights was a dynamic process and that, as was evident in today's world, a great deal remained to be accomplished; called upon all States to give full effect to the universality of economic, social and cultural rights; to guarantee that these rights were exercised without discrimination; to give particular attention to individuals, most often women and children, especially girls, and communities living in extreme poverty; to consider the desirability of drawing up national action plans for the enhancement of economic, social and cultural rights; to promote effective and wide participation of representatives of civil society in decision-making processes related to promoting such rights; and decided to request the Special Rapporteur on the right to education to submit a report to the Commission at its fifty-sixth session; and to request the High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider the possibility of organizing a workshop to identify progressive developmental benchmarks and indicators related to the right to education.

H. K. SINGH (India) said that there was a need for greater support of these rights, since the converse would undermine the indivisibility of all human rights. The recognition of benchmarks within the text was welcomed, but ought to be taken under consideration of the national situation. These rights could not be externally imposed, but needed to be promoted nationally, and these aspects were insufficiently recognised in the draft. It was hoped that they would be given importance in the Working Group. The implementation of goals had to be seen in tandem with indicators of international cooperation. India could accept the resolution, but regretted that it paid little attention to the critical importance of international cooperation in the context of these rights.

The representative of China, speaking on resolution L.26, said the delegation had carefully studied the draft and had participated in the discussion. In order to determine social, cultural and economic rights benchmarks it was necessary to consult the developing countries. In order to realize these rights international cooperation was essential; the developed countries had to create a favourable climate for developing countries. China had hoped that this pint could be incorporated in the resolution. Despite these shortcomings the bulk of the resolution was acceptable and China would vote in favour.

GEORGE E. MOOSE (the United States) said the US would join consensus on this resolution, since it dealt mostly with education, which played a vital role in the growth and future of every human being. Education was taken very seriously by the United States, which had committed a large portion of both national and local budgets to making education a top priority. This resolution was troubling in certain aspects. There was no reference to the rights of parents in determining the education of their children.

In a measure (E/.CN.4/1999/L.33) on the effects of structural adjustment policies on the full enjoyment of human rights, approved by a roll-call vote of 33 in favour and 15 opposed, with 4 abstentions, the Commission decided to request the Economic and Social Council to request the Secretary-General to circulate the report of the relevant independent expert on the topic and to invite comments from Governments, United Nations bodies, international financial institutions, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations; to extend the mandate of the independent expert to assist the relevant open-ended working group on structural-adjustment programmes, in particular by elaborating draft basic policy guidelines on structural adjustment policies; and authorized the open-ended working group to meet for two weeks well in advance of, but at least four weeks prior to, the fifty-sixth session of the Commission.

The roll-call was as follows:

In favour: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Against: Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Abstentions: Cape Verde, Colombia, Peru and Russian Federation.

GEORGE E. MOOSE (the United States) speaking on resolution L.33, said the US supported debt forgiveness and debt relief and said that President Clinton had advanced such proposals. But the US was voting against the
resolution because it felt it was unbalanced and did not adequately reflect the realities and needs of developing countries.

MAKOTO KATSURA (Japan) said structural-adjustment policies should be formed in a close-linked manner with human rights. However, the issues mentioned in the draft were not appropriate for the Commission. There was an economic crisis in Southeast Asia, and it was not timely to adopt such a resolution in light of this. The resolution sent a wrong message to those who were struggling for economic recovery. It was regrettable to have such a decision during this struggle. The extension of the Working Group was also inadvisable. Japan would vote against the resolution.

LUIS PADILLA MENENDEZ (Guatemala) said the delegation was concerned that the policy within the Commission of confrontation and not cooperation was continuing. This showed why reform of the Commission=s mechanisms was necessary. Guatemala was going to vote in favour of this resolution despite the opposition of Japan and the United States.

WILHELM HOYNCK (Germany) said Germany had difficulties with the resolution. If the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was meant for 3 years, that should be clarified, along with the nature of the mandate.

LILIA BAUTISTA (Philippines), speaking on resolution L.33, said the extension was for one year. The Philippines would write in that the extension was for one year, based on a request from the United Kingdom.

HERNAN PLORUTTI (Argentina) said the country would be voting in favour of the resolution for reasons of solidarity with the countries which had presented it and which suffered from a lack of protection of these rights. However, the whole process should be reviewed and be treated in the context of an agreement between developing and developed countries.

In a resolution (E/.CN.4/1999/L.35) on human rights and extreme poverty, adopted without a vote, the Commission reaffirmed that extreme poverty and exclusion from society constituted a violation of human dignity and that urgent national and international action was therefore required to eliminate extreme poverty; that the right of life includes within it existence in human dignity with the minimum necessities of life; that it was essential for States to foster participation by poorest people in the decision-making processes in the societies in which they lived; that the existence of widespread absolute poverty inhibited the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and rendered democracy and popular participation fragile; that for peace and stability to endure, national action and international cooperation were required to promote a better life for all in larger freedom -- a critical element in the eradication of poverty; recalled that the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action provided a substantive framework for eradicating poverty by setting specific targets; called on States to ensure the protection of the rights of all individuals, to exercise non-discrimination towards the poorest and allow them the full exercise of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; stated that a better understanding was needed of what was endured by people living in poverty, including women and children; requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to give high priority to the question of human rights and extreme poverty, to ensure better cooperation between the institutions and bodies involved, to regularly inform the General Assembly of the evolution of the question and to submit specific information on this question; welcomed the observation contained in the report submitted by the independent expert on extreme poverty, according to which lack of political commitment not financial resources was the real obstacle to the eradication of poverty; called upon the General Assembly, specialized agencies, United Nations bodies and intergovernmental organizations to take into account the contradiction between the existence of situations of extreme poverty and exclusion from society, which must be overcome, and the duty to guarantee full enjoyment of human rights; urged that States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations take into account the links between human rights and extreme poverty, as well as efforts to empower people living in poverty to participate in decision-making processes on policies that affected them; invited the treaty bodies monitoring the application of human rights instruments, especially the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to take into account, when considering the reports of States parties, the question of extreme poverty and human rights; requested the independent expert to continue her reflection of best practices in eradicating extreme poverty; and requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider the possibility of holding a workshop with the independent expert and the experts from the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1999 on the main elements of a possible draft declaration on human rights and extreme poverty.


GEORGE MOOSE (the United States of America) said the delegation was pleased to agree on this resolution and had been involved internationally on this subject, and commended the relevant report. The delegation felt concern over operative paragraph 6; it did not believe that such a workshop or declaration was necessary in the light of the existing Copenhagen Plan. It was concerned that some might interpret this resolution as denying other universal human rights.

In a resolution (E\CN4\1999\L.38) on the human rights and terrorism, adopted by a roll-call vote of 27 in favour and none opposed, with 26 abstentions, the Commission reiterated its unequivocal condemnation of all acts of terrorism, wherever and by whomever committed; condemned violations of the right to live from fear and of the right to life, liberty, and security; condemned incitement of ethnic hatred, violence and terrorism; called upon States to take all necessary and effective measures, in strict conformity with international law, to eliminate terrorism; urged the international community to enhance cooperation to that end; called upon States to enhance cooperation with a view to avoiding impunity for terrorists; requested the Special Rapporteur of the Subcommission to give attention to the question of impunity; and urged all relevant human-rights mechanisms to address the issue of terrorism whenever necessary.

The roll-call was as follows:

In favour: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Cape Verde, China, Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Against: None

Abstentions: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.


PETTER F. WILLE (Norway) said the country condemned all acts of terrorism, but could not support the draft resolution, since the Commission was not the appropriate forum to act on this topic. Also, the assertion in the resolution that terrorist groups were committing gross violations of human rights could not be justified, since only Governments had human-rights obligations.

ALICIA PEREZ DUARTE (Mexico) said Mexico would abstain on resolution L.38 because it was not effective in combatting or eradicating terrorism totally. Mexico condemned all acts of terrorism and had taken part in the elaboration of all the international instruments devised in the struggle against terrorism but it did not see violations on human rights as not being imputable to States or their agents.

HERNAN PLORUTTI (Argentina) said Argentina would also abstain if there was a vote, since the reference to violations committed by terrorist groups meant attributing to these groups a status that international law did not allow. Terrorist acts were crimes that were to be condemned and fought actively so as to ensure the preservation of democracy. There was a need for a firm commitment by each State to combat terrorist acts on a national level, not to shelter terrorists, and to bring to justice all those guilty, whether inside or outside national borders. Cooperation and coordination between Governments was the key to resolving terrorism, as was respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

ALEJANDRO SALINAS RIVERA (Chile), said Chile condemned all acts of all acts of terrorism but it could not consider acts of terrorism as indicated in the text. Chile could not agree to place on the same footing acts of armed bands and State terrorism. Chile would abstain if the resolution came to a vote.

LUIS PADILLA MENENDEZ (Guatemala) said that although Guatemala agreed with almost all the preambular paragraphs and content of the draft, the last preambular paragraph referred to violations of human rights by terrorist groups. The country=s view was that the respect and preservation of human rights was the preserve of the State. Terrorist groups committed acts against the law, and their actions should be prosecuted by State powers and punished. For these reasons, Guatemala would abstain.

GEORGE.MOOSE (the United States of America) said the US was committed to combatting the evil of terrorism but it would abstain on the vote because it believed that States and only States could be responsible for human-rights violations. The resolution raised the recognition of the terrorists to a level equal to that of States.

WILHEM HOYNCK (Germany) said that on behalf of the EU, the Central Eastern European Countries and Cyprus, Germany condemned all acts of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable. The fight against terrorism remained the highest priority of the European Union. The fight should be carried out with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, the EU could not support the resolution, since it could not subscribe to the conclusion that terrorist acts were violations of human rights, since this would give terrorists a certain status under international law. The term impunity was also inappropriate and should only be ascribed to
States that had not fulfilled their duties to prosecute crime. The member States of the EU would abstain.

ROSS HYNES (Canada) said while Canada condemned all acts of terrorism it could not consider acts of terrorism as indicated in the text. Canada would abstain.

In a resolution (E\CN.4\1999\L.41) on human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, adopted by consensus, the Commission reaffirmed the importance of the right to a nationality of every human person as an inalienable human right; recognized that arbitrary deprivation of nationality on racial, national, ethnic, religious or gender grounds was a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms; called upon all States to refrain from taking measures and from enacting legislation that discriminated against persons or groups of persons on grounds of race, colour, gender, religion, or national or ethnic origin by nullifying or impairing the exercise, on an equal footing, of their right to a nationality, especially if this rendered a person stateless, and to repeal such legislation if it already existed; noted that full social integration of an individual might be impeded as a result of arbitrary deprivation of nationality; and urged the appropriate mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and the pertinent United Nations treaty bodies to continue to collect information on this question from all relevant sources and to take account of such information, together with any recommendations thereon.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.42) on hostage-taking, adopted by consensus, the Commission reaffirmed that hostage-taking, wherever and by whomever committed, was an illegal act destructive of human rights and was, under any circumstances, unjustifiable; condemned all acts of hostage-taking, anywhere in the world; demanded that all hostages be released immediately and without any preconditions; called upon States to take all necessary measures, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and international human-rights standards, to prevent, combat, and punish acts of hostage-taking, including by strengthening international cooperation in this field; and urged all thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to continue to address, as appropriate, the consequences of hostage-taking in their forthcoming reports to the Commission.



In a resolution (E\CN4\1999\L.43) on the question of a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by consensus, the Commission took note of the report of the working group on the draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was intended to establish a preventive system of regular visits to places of detention; requested the working group to meet prior to the 56th session of the Commission for a period of two weeks, with a view to completing expeditiously a final and substantive text, and to report to the Commission at its 56th session; requested the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the working group to all Governments, the specialized agencies, the chairpersons of the human-rights treaty bodies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and to invite them to submit their comments to the working group; also requested the Secretary-General to invite the Governments, the specialized agencies and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as the Chairperson of the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture to participate if needed, in the activities of the working group; further requested the Secretary-General to extend all necessary facilities to the working group for its meeting prior to the 56th session of the Commission; encouraged the Chairman-Rapporteur of the working group to conduct informal inter-sessional consultations with all interested parties in order to facilitate the completion of a consolidated text; decided to examine the report of the working group at its 56th session under the same sub-item; and recommended a draft resolution incorporating these details to the Economic and Social Council for adoption.

In a resolution (E\CN.4\1999\L.44) on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers, adopted without a vote, the Commission took note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers on the activities relating to his mandate; also took note of the cooperative working methods that the Special Rapporteur had adopted to draw up his report and implement his mandate; noted with appreciation the determination of the Special Rapporteur to achieve as wide dissemination as possible of information about existing standards relating to the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the independence of the legal profession in conjunction with the publications and promotional activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; invited the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to provide technical assistance to train judges and lawyers and to work with the Special Rapporteur in the elaboration of a manual on the training of judges and lawyers in the field of human rights; urged all Governments to assist the Special Rapporteur in the discharge of his mandate and to transmit to him all the information requested; encouraged Governments that faced difficulties in guaranteeing the independence of judges and lawyers, or that were determined to take measures to implement these principles further, to consult and to consider the services of the Special Rapporteur, for instance by inviting him to their country if the Government concerned deemed it necessary; and requested the Special Rapporteur to submit a report on the activities relating to his mandate to the Commission at its 56th session and decided to consider this question at that session.

In a resolution (E/.CN.4/1999/L.46) on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, adopted by consensus, the Commission called upon Governments to implement fully the prohibition on torture; reminded Governments that corporal punishment, including of children, could amount to cruel or inhuman treatment and even to torture; stressed that all allegations of torture or cruel treatment or punishment should be promptly and impartially examined, that those responsible must be severely punished, including officials in charge of the place of detention where the prohibited acts were found to have taken place, and that victims must be provided with redress and adequate compensation; reminded all States that prolonged incommunicado detention could facilitate the perpetuation of torture and could in itself constitute a form of cruel treatment; called upon all Governments and relevant UN bodies to commemorate on 26 June the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture; urged all States to become parties to the Convention against Torture; invited all States ratifying or acceding to the Convention and those States parties that had not yet done so to make the declaration provided for in articles 21 and 22 of the Convention and to avoid making, or consider the possibility of withdrawing, reservations to article 20; urged all States parties to comply with reporting obligations under the Convention; urged them to implement the recommendations of the Committee against Torture in response to periodic reports they submitted to the Committee; approved the methods of work employed by the Special Rapporteur on torture, in particular with regard to urgent appeals; called upon all Governments to cooperate with him, to respond to communications from him, to give serious consideration to requests for visits from him, and to implement his recommendations; and appealed to all Governments, organizations and individuals to contribute annually to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, if possible with substantial increases.

In a measure (E/CN.4/1999/L.47) on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted without a vote, the Commission noted with satisfaction the positive experience of countries that had established policies and adopted legislation on restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of grave violations of human rights; called upon the international community to give due attention to the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of grave violations of human rights; requested the Secretary-General to invite States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to collaborate with the Independent Expert appointed by the Commission and assist him in the performance of his task; and requested the Independent Expert to complete his work and submit to the Commission at its 56th session, a revised version of the basic principles and guidelines he had developed, taking into account the views and comments of States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.48) on impunity, adopted without a vote, the Commission emphasised the importance of combatting impunity to the prevention of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and urged States to give necessary attention to the question of impunity for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law; recognized that for the victims of human-rights violations, public knowledge of their suffering and the truth about perpetrators of these violations were essential steps towards rehabilitation and reconciliation, and urged States to intensify their efforts to provide victims of human rights violations with a fair and equitable process through which these violations could be investigated and made public and to encourage victims to participate in such a process; welcomed in this regard the publication by some States of the reports of the Commissions on truth and reconciliation established by those countries to address human-rights violations that had occurred there in the past and encouraged other States where serious human-rights violations had occurred in the past to establish appropriate mechanisms to expose such violations; emphasized the importance of taking all necessary and possible steps to hold accountable perpetrators of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and urged States to take action in accordance with due process of law; called upon States and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider providing to States concrete and practical assistance and cooperation in seeking to achieve the goals set out in the present resolution; requested the Secretary-General to again invite States to provide information on any legislative, administration or other steps they had taken to combat impunity for human-rights violations in their territory and to provide information on remedies available to the victims of such violations; and invited the Special Rapporteurs and other mechanisms of the Commission to continue to give due consideration to the issue of impunity in the discharge of their mandates.

RODRIGO REYES RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said that Cuba was concerned with regard to the draft resolution on impunity. It was under agenda item 11. Last year the Commission had decided to study the declaration under a different agenda item - item 9 of the agenda of the 54th session, or item 17 of the current session. This was an issue because Cuba wished that it be put on record that the approach institutionalized an unbalanced approach to the question of impunity. The question of impunity should be considered under all aspects of the issue. The Subcommission had included it under its work as an issue concerning those who had violated economic, cultural and social rights. Cuba had submitted a number of amendments with the aim of finding an integral approach. Cuba joined the consensus on the draft resolution, but considered it unbalanced. It was hoped that it could be integrated with the similar draft resolution contained under item 17.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.49) on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, adopted by consensus, the Commission strongly condemned such acts; demanded that all Governments ensure that such acts were brought to an end; noted that impunity continued to be a major cause of such human-rights violations; reiterated the obligation of all Governments to conduct exhaustive and impartial investigations into all suspected cases of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and to identify and bring to justice those responsible; called upon Governments of all States in which the death penalty had not been abolished to comply with their obligations under relevant international provisions; urged Governments to undertake all possible measures to prevent loss of life during situations of public demonstrations, internal and communal violence, disturbances, tension and public emergency or armed conflicts, and to ensure that police and security forces received thorough training in human-rights matters; commended the role the Special Rapporteur had played in combatting such executions and requested her, in carrying out her mandate, to continue to examine situations of such executions, to respond effectively to information which came before her; to enhance further her dialogue with Governments; to continue to pay attention to such executions of children or executions where the victims were carrying out peaceful activities in defence of human rights; urged the Special Rapporteur to draw to the attention of the High Commissioner for Human Rights situations that were particularly serious or where early action might prevent further deterioration; and strongly urged Governments to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur and to respond to communications from her; and expressed concern that a number of Governments had not replied to specific allegations transmitted to them by the Special Rapporteur.

GEORGE MOOSE (the United States of America) said the delegation was pleased to join consensus on resolution L.49 on extra judiciary, summary or arbitrary executions. The US stressed that the Special Rapporteur should focus on summary or arbitrary executions and not include issues on the death penalty or child soldiers.


In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.52) on right to freedom of opinion and expression, adopted by consensus, the Commission expressed its concern at the extensive occurrence of detention, extrajudicial killing, persecution and harassment, including through the abuse of legal provisions on criminal libel, of threats and acts of violence, and of discrimination directed at persons who exercised their rights to freedom of opinion and expression; expressed concern at the number of cases in which such violations were facilitated and aggravated by factors such as abuse of states of emergency, exercise of powers specific to states of emergency without formal declaration, and too vague a definition of offences against State security; called for further progress towards release of persons detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression; urged Governments to implement effective measures to eliminate the atmosphere of fear which often prevented women who had been victims of violence from communicating freely on their own behalf or through intermediaries; appealed to all States to ensure respect and support for the rights to freedom of opinion and expression; to ensure that persons seeking to exercise those rights were not discriminated against; to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur on the subject; invited the Special Rapporteur to draw the attention of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to particularly serious cases; to pay particular attention to the situations of women; and to provide his views, when appropriate, on the advantages and challenges of new information technologies, including the Internet, for the exercise of the relevant rights; and decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for a further three years.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.53) on the question of arbitrary
detention, adopted without a vote, the Commission requested Governments concerned to take account of the views of the Working Group on the subject and, where necessary, to take appropriate steps to remedy the situations of persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty and to inform the Working Group of such steps; encouraged Governments concerned to pay attention to the recommendations of the Working Group; to take appropriate measures to ensure that their legislation was in conformity with relevant international standards; encouraged all Governments to invite the Working Group to visit; requested them to give the necessary attention to the urgent appeals addressed to them by the Working Group on a strictly humanitarian basis and without prejudging its possible final conclusions; expressed its profound thanks to Governments which had extended their cooperation; and took note with satisfaction that the Working Group had been informed of the release of some individuals whose situations had been brought to its attention, while deploring the many cases which had not yet been resolved.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.54) on the question of enforced or involuntary disappearances, adopted without a vote, the Commission deplored the fact that some Governments had never provided substantive replies concerning cases of enforced disappearances in their countries or acted on the recommendations concerning them made by the relevant Working Group; urged the Governments concerned to cooperate with the Working Group, in particular by inviting it to freely visit their countries; to intensify their cooperation with the group on any action taken pursuant to recommendations addressed to them; to take steps to protect witnesses and lawyers and families of disappeared persons against any intimidation or ill-treatment; reminded Governments that all acts of such disappearances were crimes; reminded them of the need to ensure that their competent authorities conducted immediate and impartial enquiries into such acts; that perpetrators must be prosecuted; and that impunity was one of the underlying causes of such violations and one of the major obstacles to elucidation of cases thereof; expressed its thanks to the many Governments that had cooperated with the working group and its commendation to Governments that had investigated cases of enforced disappearances brought to their attention; and invited States to take all relevant measures, including when states of emergency had been declared, to provide the Working Group with concrete information.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.57) on implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based upon Religion or Belief, adopted by consensus, the Commission condemned all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief; urged States to ensure that their Constitutional and legislative systems provided adequate and effective guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief to all without discrimination, by the provision of effective remedies in cases where the right to freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom to change one's religion or belief, was violated; to ensure, in particular, that no one within their jurisdiction was deprived of the right to life or the right to liberty and security of person because of religion or belief, or was subjected to torture or arbitrary arrest or detention on that account; in conformity with international standards of human rights, to take all necessary action to combat hatred and intolerance based on religion or belief, with particular regard to religious minorities, and also including practices which violated the human rights of women and discriminated against women; to recognize the right of all persons to worship or assemble in connection with a religion or belief and to establish and maintain places for these purposes; to exert utmost efforts, in accordance with their national legislation and in conformity with international human-rights standards, to ensure that religious places, sites and shrines were fully respected and protected; to promote and encourage, through education and other means, understanding, tolerance and respect in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief; emphasized that, as underlined by the Human Rights Committee, restrictions on the freedom to manifest religion or belief were permitted only if limitations were prescribed by law, were necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others, and were applied in a manner that did not violate the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; encouraged the continuing efforts of the Special Rapporteur to examine incidents and governmental action in all parts of the world that were incompatible with the provisions of the Declaration and to recommend remedial measures as appropriate; called upon all Governments to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance, to respond favourably to requests from the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, and to give serious consideration to inviting the Special Rapporteur to visit so as to enable him to fulfil his mandate even more effectively.

MAKOTO KATSURA (Japan) speaking after the vote on resolution L.38 on terrorism and after the close of voting on item 11, said that Japan condemned all terrorism but had difficulty with paragraph 17 of the resolution as had already been stated by many delegations. This was the reason why Japan had abstained.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.45) on traffic in women and girls, adopted without a vote, the Commission took note with appreciation of the note by the Secretary-General drawing the attention of the Commission to his report to the General Assembly on trafficking in women and girls; welcomed national, regional, and international efforts to implement the recommendation of the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, and called upon Governments to take further measures in that regard; called upon Governments of countries of origin, transit and destination and appropriate regional and international organizations to implement the Platform for Action of the 4th World Conference on Women and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights; urged Governments to take appropriate measures to address the root factors, including external factors, that encouraged trafficking in women and girls for prostitution and other forms of commercialized sex, forced marriages and forced labour, so as to eliminate trafficking in women, including by strengthening existing legislation with a view to providing better protection of the rights of women and girls and to punishing perpetrators, through both criminal and civil measures; invited Governments to take steps to ensure for victims of trafficking the respect of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms; called upon Governments to criminalize trafficking in women and girls in all its forms, to condemn and penalize all the offenders involved, including intermediaries, whether their offense was committed in their own or in a foreign country, while ensuring that the victims of those practices were not penalized, and to penalize persons in authority found guilty of sexually assaulting victims of trafficking in their custody; encouraged Governments to conclude bilateral, subregional, regional and international agreements to address the problem of trafficking women and girls; also encouraged Governments in elaborating the draft convention against organized transnational crime, including the draft protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in women and children, to include fully a human-rights perspective and to take into account work being done in other international forums, particularly the Commission on Human Rights working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; invited Governments to encourage Internet service providers to adopt or strengthen self-regulatory measures to promote the responsible use of the Internet with a view to assisting in the elimination of trafficking in women and girls; encouraged Governments, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, to undertake campaigns aimed at clarifying opportunities, limitations and rights in the event of migration so as to enable women to make informed decisions and to prevent them from becoming victims of trafficking; invited Governments, with the support of the United Nations, to formulate manuals for the training of personnel who received and/or held in temporary custody victims of gender-based violence, including trafficking, taking into account current research and data on traumatic stress and gender-sensitive counselling techniques, with a view to sensitizing them to the special needs of the victims; encouraged relevant United Nations bodies and organizations to contribute to the preparation of guidelines for the use of Governments in the elaboration of their training manuals and in the preparation of educational and informative programmes, in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations; encouraged the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to include the issue of traffic in women and girls in its programme of work under its advisory, training and information activities, with a view to providing assistance to Governments, upon their request, in instituting preventive measures against trafficking through education and appropriate information campaigns; called upon concerned Governments to allocate resources to provide comprehensive programmes designed to heal and rehabilitate into society victims of trafficking, including through job training, legal assistance and health care and by taking measures to cooperate with non-governmental organizations to provide for the social, medical and psychological care of the victims; invited relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to provide advisory services to Governments, upon their request, in planning and setting up rehabilitation programmes for victims of trafficking and in training personnel who would be directly involved in the implementation of those programmes; encouraged Governments to strengthen cooperation to combat trafficking and rehabilitate victims; invited the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of the Commission on Human Rights, and the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to continue addressing the problem of trafficking in women and girls as a priority concern and to recommend measures to combat such phenomena; encouraged the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality to continue to address the issue as part of the integrated follow-up to the 4th World Conference on Women; and requested the Secretary-General to provide the Commission at its 56th session with a report on activities of United Nations bodies and other international organizations pertaining to the problems of trafficking in women and girls.

In an amended resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.51) on integrating the rights of women throughout the United Nations system, adopted without a vote, the Commission emphasized that the goal of mainstreaming a gender perspective was to achieve gender equality and that this included ensuring that all United Nations activities integrated the rights of women; urged relevant organs and bodies of the system to bear in mind, in the recruitment of staff, the need for expertise in women's and girls' enjoyment of human rights; called for further strengthening of cooperation and coordination between the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on the Status of Women and between the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Division for the Advancement of Women; requested all human-rights treaty bodies and other human-rights mechanisms regularly and systematically to take a gender perspective into account in implementing their mandates; drew attention to the need to develop practical strategies; encouraged the use of gender-inclusive language; urged all States to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and expressed the Commission's determination to integrate a gender perspective into all its agenda items.

In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.56) on the elimination of violence against women, adopted without a vote, the Commission condemned all acts of gender-based violence against women; strongly condemned physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family; condemned all violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict; welcomed the inclusion of gender-related crimes in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which affirmed that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and any other form of sexual violence constituted, in defined circumstances, crimes against humanity and war crimes; requested all Governments to cooperate with and assist the relevant Special Rapporteur in the performance of her tasks and duties and to supply all information requested and to respond to the Special Rapporteur's visits and communications; welcomed the efforts of the Special Rapporteur to seek information from Governments concerning specific cases of alleged violence; stressed that States had an affirmative duty to promote and protect the human rights of women; called upon States to condemn violence against women and not to invoke custom, tradition or practices in the name of religion to avoid their obligations to eliminate such violence; called upon States to take action to investigate and punish perpetrators of such violence; and called upon States to eradicate traditional or customary practices affecting the health of women and girls.

In a measure (E/CN.4/1999/L.58) on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict, including international armed conflict, adopted by consensus, the Commission taking note of Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities resolution 1998/18, approved the decision of the Sub-Commission to extend the mandate of Gay J. McDougal as Special Rapporteur on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict for a further year.
In a resolution (E/CN.4/1999/L.50) on the abduction of children from northern Uganda, adopted by a roll-call vote of 28 in favour and 1 opposed, with 24 abstentions, the Commission took note of the report of the Secretary-General; took note of the findings and recommendations contained in the reports issued in 1997 by United Nations bodies and organizations and non-governmental organizations on the abduction of children from northern Uganda; concurred with the comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in the conflict in northern Uganda; condemned in the strongest terms all parties involved in the abduction, torture, killing, rape, enslavement and forcible recruitment of children in northern Uganda; demanded the immediate cessation of all abductions and attacks on all civilian populations; called for the immediate and unconditional release and safe return of all abducted children currently held by the Lord's Resistance Army; requested the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture to provide assistance to the victims and their families suffering from the effects of torture inflicted by the Lord's Resistance Army; urged all member States, international organizations, humanitarian bodies and all other concerned parties to exert all possible pressure upon the Lord's Resistance Army to release, immediately and unconditionally, all children from northern Uganda; demanded that all parties external to the conflict in northern Uganda supporting, directly or indirectly the continuing abduction and detention of children by the Lord's Resistance Army cease immediately all such assistance and collaboration; called upon member States to undertake to respect and ensure respect for the rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which were relevant to the child; requested once again that all relevant United Nations organizations, bodies and agencies of the UN system address this situation as a matter of priority; and requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Commission on Human Rights at its 56th session.

The roll-call vote was as follows:

In favour: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Against: Sudan.

Abstentions: Bhutan, Cape Verde, China, Congo, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Japan, Latvia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uruguay and Venezuela.

G. IDRIS (Sudan) said that in principle the country was not opposed to the draft resolution. The concern was at the narrow scope of the resolution, since children in Sudan were facing the same plight, being abducted and forced into conscription by the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army. It was unfair for the children of the Sudan not to be afforded the same level of concern as those of Uganda. The resolution also ignored the report of the Secretary-General upon this issue in the Sudan. UNICEF had also commended the behaviour of the Government of Sudan on the issue. This draft resolution was unbalanced, and narrow in scope, so a vote was requested.

- - HR/CN/99/59
26 April 1999


(more)
MAKOTO KATSURA (Japan), speaking on resolution L.50, said that abduction of children continued to take place in other areas, including Asia. The abduction of children must stop and Japan asked for the abductors to return the children immediately. The text of the resolution was, however, too political and too limited geographically, and for those reasons Japan would abstain in the vote. . Japan was very cautious about having separate country resolutions on item 13. Japan had expressed these reservations last year and many representatives had agreed.

ALICIA PEREZ DUARTE (Mexico) said that Mexico was adamantly against the abduction of children. However, it would abstain from the vote, since it did not think this matter ought to be treated under a thematic agenda item.

The representative of Pakistan, speaking on resolution L.50, said Pakistan would vote in favour of the resolution.

JUAN FERNANDEZ PALACIOS (Cuba) said Cuba shared the concerns of the previous speakers, but would vote in favour of the draft resolution, since it was impossible to ignore the problem. However, all these issues should be dealt with under item 3 which had a broader frame and was more apt for this issue.

H. K. SINGH (India) said India agreed with the comments made by Japan and recalled the discussion last year. The Special Rapporteur had brought serious aspects of child abduction to the attention of the Commission, and while India agreed action was warranted, it did not agree that it was appropriate to treat individual countries under this item.

LUIS CHAVEZ (Peru) said the delegation would vote in favour of the resolution because of its humanitarian context. However, this was not the creation of a precedent for consideration of situations in particular countries. References to specific countries were only appropriate for the agenda item on violations of fundamental human rights anywhere in the world.