COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO HOLD ITS FIFTY-EIGHTH SESSION AT THE PALAIS DES NATIONS FROM 18 MARCH TO 26 APRIL 2002

BACKGROUND RELEASE



15 March 2002



The Commission on Human Rights will hold its fifty-eighth session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 18 March to 26 April 2002.

The Commission is the United Nations' principal human rights organ. Created in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council and made up of 53 Member States, the Commission carries out studies, prepares recommendations and elaborates draft international instruments on human rights. It also looks into allegations of violations of human rights.

In addition to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will address the Commission on 12 April, many dignitaries at ministerial and higher level will participate as guests of honour, especially during the first two weeks of the session.

The Commission will discuss questions related to the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world; racism, minorities and migrant workers; the rights of women and violence against them; the rights of the child; the situation concerning torture, disappearances, summary executions, freedom of expression, and religious intolerance; economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.

As in previous years, the Commission will debate violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It will consider reports presented by its Special Rapporteurs or Representatives, the Secretary-General or the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights around the world, including Afghanistan, Burundi, Cuba, Chechnya, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, parts of south-eastern Europe, Sudan, East Timor and Cyprus. It will also take up the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine.

Under its agenda item on advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights, the Commission will also consider reports on the situation in Cambodia and Somalia. The state of human rights in Colombia is taken up under the Commission's agenda item on the organization of the work of the session. At the same time, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the thematic mechanisms of the Commission will draw the attention of the Commission to situations in other countries and regions which they study within the framework of their respective mandates.

The Commission will also be examining issues related to racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, including follow-up to the World Conference against Racism which was held in South Africa from 31 August to 8 September in 2001. The Commission will also have before it the latest report of its Special Rapporteur on racism. Under its agenda item on specific groups and individuals, the Commission will consider a report by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. It will also take up the report of its Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people who was appointed last year.

Under its item on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, the Commission will discuss problems related to violence against women, trafficking in women and girls and integrating the human rights of women into the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations. The Commission will have before it the report of the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of violence against women. Within the framework of its agenda item on the rights of the child, the Commission will review the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict and a report by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Commission will also be reviewing a report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the abduction of children from northern Uganda.

The Commission will continue to pay attention to questions related to civil and political rights and it will have before it reports by its thematic mechanisms which were created to examine questions related to religious intolerance, freedom of expression, torture and detention, independence of the judiciary, administration of justice and impunity, as well as summary executions. These include the report of the new Independent Expert to examine the existing international criminal and human rights framework for the protection of persons from enforced or involuntary disappearances.

The Commission will also look at economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development. It will have, among others, a report by its newly appointed Independent Expert on a draft Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Commission will also be considering reports submitted to it concerning the right to food, the effect of structural adjustment policies and foreign debt on all human rights, adequate housing, the right to education, human rights and extreme poverty, globalization and human rights, and the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes.

Questions to be Examined

Specific Situations Concerning Human Rights

Within the framework of examining specific situations concerning human rights, the Commission will have before it under the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, the report of the Special Rapporteur on the question, John Dugard (E/CN.4/2002/32), as well as the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/29) and a note by the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/31). The Commission will also review the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/30) on human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan.

Under its agenda item on the right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation, the Commission will have before it the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in occupied Palestine (E/CN.4/2002/19) as well as the report of the Special Rapporteur on the use of mercenaries to undermine the right to self-determination, Enrique Bernales Ballesteros (E/CN.4/2002/20).

Under its agenda item on the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world, the Commission will have before it the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/34) on the human rights situation of Lebanese detainees in Israel.

Concerning the situation of human rights in parts of south-eastern Europe, the Commission will be taking up the report of the Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, José Cutileiro (E/CN.4/2002/41). Mr. Cutileiro was appointed in 2001.

At its fifty-seventh session, the Commission asked the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iulia-Antoanella Motoc, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, to undertake, security conditions permitting, a joint mission to investigate all massacres carried out on the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a view to bring the guilty parties to justice. The Commission will have before it the report of the Special Rapporteur (E/CN.4/2002/47) as well as a note from the secretariat (E/CN.4/2002/48).

With regards to the situation in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation, the Commission will have before it the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/38). It will also be considering the report of the High Commissioner on the situation in East Timor (E/CN.4/2002/39).

The Commission will also have before it the reports of the Special Rapporteurs or Representatives on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Kamal Hossain (E/CN.4/2002/43); in Iraq, Andreas Mavrommatis (E/CN.4/2002/44); in Iran, Maurice Copithorne (E/CN.4/2002/42); in Sudan, Gerhard Baum, (E/CN.4/2002/46); and in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (C/CN.4/2002/45), and the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/35).

Also to be considered by the Commission are the reports presented by the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Sierra Leone (E/CN.4/2002/37); by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, Marie-Thérèse Kéita-Bocoum (E/CN.4/2002/49); by the Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Equatorial Guinea, Gustavo Gallon (E/CN.4/2002/40); and by the Secretary-General of the question of human rights in Cyprus (E/CN.4/2002/33). The Commission decided to further consider the situation of human rights in Cuba at its fifty-eighth session.

Also to be considered by the Commission is the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Colombia (E/CN.4/2002/17), presented under its agenda item on organization of the work of the session, which contains an analysis by her Office in Bogota of the human rights situation in the country, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Office of the High Commissioner within the framework of a programme of technical cooperation.

In addition to its consideration of specific situations, the Commission has a procedure for dealing confidentially with communications concerning alleged violations of human rights which was established in 1974. The Commission looks at particular situations referred to it by the Working Group on situations (procedure 1503). Since this practise was started, the Commission has examined situations relating to 80 countries. Following established practise, the Chairperson of the Commission will announce in a public meeting the countries that have been examined under the procedure governed by Council resolutions, as well as the countries no longer being dealt with under the procedure.

Under its agenda item on advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights, the Commission will have before it the report of the Independent Expert on human rights in Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar (E/CN.4/2002/119). And on the situation in Cambodia, the Commission will be reviewing the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/117) and the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Peter Leuprecht (E/CN.4/2002/118). No new Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti has been appointed, so the Commission will have before it a note by the Secretariat in that regard (E/CN.4/2002/120).

The Commission will also have before it the report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/2002/36) which contains a compilation and analysis of any available information, from all appropriate sources, on alleged reprisals against private individuals and groups who seek to cooperate with the United Nations and representatives of its human rights bodies. It contains information describing situations in which persons have reportedly been intimidated or suffered reprisals for having cooperated with United Nations human rights bodies, availed themselves of international procedures, provided legal assistance for this purpose, and/or for being relatives of victims of human rights violations.

Thematic Mandates

The Commission on Human Rights has also created mechanisms to examine questions relating to racism, violence against women, torture, forced disappearances, summary executions, arbitrary detentions, human rights and foreign debt, the effects of structural adjustment policies,
the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic wastes, the right to education, extreme poverty, the right to food, and the right to adequate housing.

Within the framework of its agenda item on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination, the Commission will have before it the report of its Special Rapporteur, Maurice Glélé-Ahanhanzo (E/CN.4/2002/24 and Add.1). At its fifty-seventh session, the Commission asked the Special Rapporteur to include in his report information on measures taken to implement the recommendations contained in his reports on country visits, and to undertake follow-up visits if necessary. It will also be considering the report of the High Commissioner on combatting defamation of religions as a means to promote human rights (E/CN.4/2002/23); and the note by the Secretariat on follow-up to the World Conference against Racism (E/CN.4/2002/22).

Within the framework of examining questions relating to the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of violence against women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, will present her report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2002/83 and Add. 1 to 3), including on her mission to Sierra Leone in August 2001. The Commission will also have before it the report of the Secretary-General on trafficking in women and girls (E/CN.4/2002/80), as well as the Secretary-General's report on integrating the human rights of women into the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations (E/CN.4/2002/81).

Concerning the rights of the child, the Commission will be considering the preliminary report of the new Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Juan Miguel Petit (E/CN.4/2002/88), and the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in charge of the impact of armed conflict on children, Olara Otunnu (E/CN.4/2002/85 and Add.1 and A/56/453). It will also take up the report of the High Commissioner on the abduction of children from northern Uganda (E/CN.4/2002/86).

With regards to the situation of specific groups and individuals, the Commission will examine the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Gabriela Rodriguez Pizarro (E/CN.4/2002/94 and Add.1 ). The Commission will also have before it the report of the Secretary-General on violence against women migrant workers (E/CN.4/2002/90). Protection of migrants and their families will also be considered at this session. Concerning minorities, the Commission will have before it a note by the High Commissioner for Human Rights transmitting the report of a seminar on the protection of minorities (E/CN.4/2002/92). And on internally displaced persons, the Commission will have before it the report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on this issue, Francis Deng (E/CN.4/2002/95 and Add. 1 and 2), including on his mission to Indonesia in September 2001, as well as the report of a seminar of internal displacement which was held in Indonesia (E/CN.4/2002/95/ Add. 3).

Concerning indigenous issues, the Commission will have before it the report of its new Special Rapporteur on human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen (E/CN.4/2002/97). It will also be reviewing the report of its Working Group to elaborate a draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (E/CN.4/2002/98). And it will have before it the report of the High Commissioner on the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations and the Voluntary Fund for the International Decade of the World=s Indigenous People (E/CN.4/2002/96).

As for issues related to civil and political rights, the Commission will consider the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, Theo van Boven (E/CN.4/2002/76 and Add. 1). The Commission also has before it the report of the inter-sessional working group to elaborate a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, designed to establish a preventive system of visits to places of detention (E/CN.4/2002/78).

Asthma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, will present her report (E/CN.4/2002/74 and Add. 1).

The Commission will also have before it the report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Abid Hussain (E/CN.4/2002/75 and Add. 1), as well as the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy (E/CN.4/2002/72 and Add. 1 and 2).

Abdelfattah Amor , the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, will present his report (E/CN.4/2002/73). The Commission will also be taking up the report of the High Commissioner on the incompatibility between democracy and racism (E/CN.4/2002/69). And it will have before it the report of the High Commissioner on conscientious objection to military service (E/CN.4/2002/68).

The Commission will also be considering the reports of the working groups in charge, respectively, of the question of arbitrary detention (E/CN.4/2002/77 and Add. 1 and 2) , and enforced or involuntary disappearances (E/CN.4/2002/79) as well as the report of its new Independent Expert, Manfred Nowak, who was asked to examine the existing international criminal and human rights framework for the protection of persons from enforced or involuntary disappearances (E/CN.4/2002/71).

Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, will present her report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2002/106 and Add. 1 and 2).

And under the item on economic, social and cultural rights, the Commission will be taking up the first report of its newly appointment Independent Expert, Hatem Kotrane, on the draft Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/CN.4/2002/57). It will also have before it the report o the High Commissioner on globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of all human rights (E/CN.4/2002/54).

Fatma Zohra Ouhachi Vesely, the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, will present her annual report on the question (E/CN.4/2002/61).

The Commission will also be reviewing the report of Katarina Tomasevski, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education (E/CN.4/2002/60 and Add.1 and 2), including on her mission to the United States in September and October 2001. Miloon Kothari, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, will present to the Commission his report (E/CN.4/2002/59 and Add.1 and 2); and Jean Ziegler, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, will also present his report (E/CN.4/2002/58 and Add. 1).

The Commission will also have before it the report of the Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, Anne-Marie Lizin (E/CN.4/2002/55 and Add. 1 and 2). It will also be considering reports by the Secretary-General on access to medication in the context of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS (E/CN.4/2002/52) and women=s equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing (E/CN.4/2002/53).

On the question of the right to development, the Commission has established a Working Group to monitor and review progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development as elaborated in the Declaration on the Right to Development. The Working Group is assisted by the Independent Expert on the right to development, Arjun Sengupta. The Commission will have before it the report of the Working Group (E/CN.4/2002/28) as well as the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/27) on the question.

A list of the Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives and other mechanisms of the Commission can be found at the end of this press release.

Activities of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

At the beginning of the session, the Commission will turn its attention to the activities of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It will have before it the annual report of the High Commissioner (E/CN.4/2002/18). Since the end of the last session of the Commission, High Commissioner Mary Robinson has carried out a number of visits and missions around the world.

The Commission will also have before it a number of reports which it requested the High Commissioner to prepare, including a report concerning the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/115).

Other Questions

During this session, the Commission will examine the question of the death penalty under its agenda item on the promotion and protection of human rights. It will also consider, within this framework, the yearly supplement of the Secretary-General on changes in law and practice concerning the death penalty worldwide to his quinquennial report on capital punishment and implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty (E/CN.4/2002/108). And on human rights and human responsibilities, the Commission will have before it the report of an Expert of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/107).

The Commission will also have before it a number of reports by the Secretary-General on
human rights and unilateral coercive measures (E/CN.4/2002/51), the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (E/CN.4/2002/93); national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (E/CN.4/2002/114); and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/116).

And it will have before it the annual report of its subsidiary organ, the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights at its fifty-third session (E/CN.4/2001/2-E/CN.4/Sub.2/2000/46).

The annotated agenda of the fifty-seventh session of the Commission can be found under (E/CN.4/2002/1 and Add. 1 and 2).

Composition of the Commission

1. The composition of the Commission for 2002 is the following. The term of membership of each State expires on 31 December of the year indicated in brackets.

Algeria (2003), Argentina (2002), Armenia (2004), Austria (2004), Bahrain (2004), Belgium (2003), Brazil (2002), Burundi (2002), Cameroon (2003), Canada (2003), Chile (2004), China (2002), Costa Rica (2003), Croatia (2004), Cuba (2003), Czech Republic (2002), Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003), Ecuador (2002), France (2004), Germany (2002), Guatemala (2003), India (2003), Indonesia (2002), Italy (2002), Japan (2002), Kenya (2003), Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2003), Malaysia (2003), Mexico (2004), Nigeria (2002), Pakistan (2004), Peru (2003), Poland (2003), Portugal (2002), Republic of Korea (2004), Russian Federation (2003), Saudi Arabia (2003), Senegal (2003), Sierra Leone (2004), South Africa (2003), Spain (2002), Sudan (2004), Swaziland (2002), Sweden (2004), Syrian Arab Republic (2003), Thailand (2003), Togo (2004), Uganda (2004), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2003), Uruguay (2003), Venezuela (2003), Viet Nam (2003), Zambia (2002).



Annex

LIST OF THEMATIC AND COUNTRY-SPECIFIC PROCEDURES AND OTHER
mECHANISMS OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (PREPARED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH COMMISSION RESOLUTION 2000/86)

Country-specific procedures

Afghanistan Mr. Kamal Hossain (Bangladesh) Special Rapporteur

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mr. José Cutileiro (Portugal) Special Representative

Burundi Ms. Marie-Thérèse Kéita-Bocoum (Côte d'Ivoire) Special Rapporteur

Democratic Republic of the Congo Ms. Iulia-Antoanella Motoc (Romania) Special Rapporteur

Equatorial Guinea Mr. Gustavo Gallón (Colombia) Special Representative

Iraq Mr. Andreas Mavrommatis (Cyprus) Special Rapporteur

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Mr. Maurice Copithorne (Canada) Special Representative

Myanmar Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Brazil) Special Rapporteur

Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 Mr. John Dugard (South Africa) Special Rapporteur

Sudan Mr. Gerhart Baum (Germany) Special Rapporteur

Thematic procedures

Adequate housing Mr. Miloon Kothari (India) Special Rapporteur

Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Mr. Maurice Glèlè-Ahanhanzo (Benin) Special Rapporteur

Draft optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Mr. Hatem Kotrane (Tunisia) Independent expert

Education Ms. Katarina Tomasevski (Croatia) Special Rapporteur

Enforced or involuntary disappearances Mr. Manfred Nowak (Austria) Independent expert

Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Ms. Asma Jahangir (Pakistan) Special Rapporteur


Extreme poverty Ms. Anne-Marie Lizin (Belgium) Independent expert

Freedom of opinion and expression Mr. Abid Hussain (India) Special Rapporteur

Freedom of religion or belief Mr. Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia) Special Rapporteur

Human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen (Mexico) Special Rapporteur

Human rights defenders Ms. Hina Jilani (Pakistan) Special Representative of the Secretary-General

Human rights of migrants Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro (Costa Rica) Special Rapporteur

Illicit movement and dumping of toxic waste Ms. Fatma Zohra Ouhachi Vesely (Algeria) Special Rapporteur

Independence of judges and lawyers Mr. Param Cumaraswamy (Malaysia) Special Rapporteur

Indigenous human rights and fundamental freedoms Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen (Mexico) Special Rapporteur
Internally displaced persons Mr. Francis Deng (Sudan) Representative of the Secretary-General

Mercenaries Mr. Enrique Bernales Ballesteros (Peru) Special Rapporteur

Protection of persons from enforced or involuntary disappearance Mr. Manfred Nowak (Austria) Independent expert

Right to development Mr. Arjun Sengupta (India) Independent expert

Right to food Mr. Jean Ziegler (Switzerland) Special Rapporteur

Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography Mr. Juan Miguel Petit (Uruguay) Special Rapporteur

Structural adjustment policies and foreign debt Mr. Bernards Andrew Nyamwaya Mudho (Kenya) Independent expert

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Mr. Theo C. van Boven (Netherlands) Special Rapporteur

Violence against women, its causes and consequences Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) Special Rapporteur


Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Mr. Louis Joinet (France) Chairperson

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Mr. Diego García-Sayán (Peru) Chairperson


Technical cooperation programme

Cambodia Mr. Peter Leuprecht (Austria) Special Representative of the Secretary-General

Haiti To be appointed Independent expert

Somalia Mr. Ghanim Alnajjar (Kuwait) Independent expert


* *** *