COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF FOURTH PERIODIC REPORT OF GERMANY

CESCR
26th session
24 August 2001
Afternoon




The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon concluded its consideration of a fourth periodic report from Germany on how that country was implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In response to questions, the German delegation said that working mothers had the right to benefit from child-rearing leave of up to three years. The leave could also be extended up to eight years if the mother so desired. In addition, working mothers received child-rearing benefits. The Government had also encouraged kindergarten services and baby-sitting facilities. Nannies were also trained to assist mothers.

Referring to a report of a German non-governmental organization, an Expert said that there were apparently some 400,000 people who lived in nursing homes in Germany and 85 per cent of them suffered from malnutrition because personnel taking care of them frequently did not have the time to assist the old people with their food intake, or because the diet was not suitable for old people.

The Expert also said that 36 per cent of the residents of nursing homes suffered from dehydration because they simply were not given enough to drink; they were given powerful psychiatric drugs to put them into a state of sedation; and nursing staff members did not have the time to give those old people the personal nursing care and attention they needed or to be near them when they were dying.

Answering the question about old people in nursing homes, the delegation said that the conditions of such people was of concern, but the delegation could not confirm the exact number affected by the problem. Many of the institutions running such homes lacked the standards required by the State. The Government was aware of the issue and it would do all it could in order to improve the conditions of those people.

Another query was raised by an Expert asking if the State was exercising control over medical products in Germany, citing the recent case of Bayer whose product against cholesterol was reported to have killed 59 persons around the world. The delegation responded by saying that the situation had been reported to the German Government and that the product had been withdrawn by the company.

The Committee will release its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Germany towards the end of its three-week session which concludes on 31 August. The conclusions are adopted in closed meetings.

Germany is among the 145 States parties to the International Covenant and is obliged to submit periodic reports to the Committee on the various activities designed to implement the provisions of the treaty. A 9-member German delegation, headed by Walter Lewalter, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, was on hand during throughout the day to present the report and to answer the Experts' questions.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 27 August, it is scheduled to meet in private to adopt its concluding observations on the country reports considered during this session. According to its programme of work, the Committee will continue to adopt conclusions in closed meetings until the last day of its session on Friday 31 August.

Discussion of Germany's Report

At the beginning of the meeting, a number of Committee Experts raised a series of questions on the issue of unemployment that affected women and foreigners; on the effect of the pension reform, which was being undertaken at present; disparities between the East and West in salary payments; the downfall in the number of trade union members; the conditions of collective bargaining; minimum wage; the system of insurance for health care and pensions; and unlawful dismissal of workers, among other things.

Responding to the questions, the members of the German delegation said that there were clear guidelines governing short-term and part-time employment. Because the actual situation did not totally permit full employment, short-term and part-time jobs were frequent in the society. However, Germany was striving to establish full employment in all fields of activities.

Between 1998 and 2000, the rate of unemployment had dropped both in the new and old Bundeslander (Federal states), the delegation said. In 2000, the unemployment rate in relation to the number of dependent civilian employed persons was 8.7 per cent in the old Lander and 18.5 per cent in the new Lander, including the territory of the former East Berlin. The national unemployment rate was 10.7 per cent in 2000 in comparison to 11.7 per cent in 1999.

With regards to the organization of trade unions, the delegation said that as in other countries, the trade unions were capable of paying their members whenever they were on strike.

On the issue of the right to strike and collective bargaining, the delegation said that new negotiations were going on to adjust salary provisions in the new Lander of the former East Germany. The negotiations were part of a continuing process and it was hoped that in the very near future the situation would be readjusted.

There was a migration influx from the new Lander to the old ones for better payment and in search of jobs, the delegation said. In the Eastern part of Germany there was a shortage of employment for the youth which had motivated many of them to flock to the "West".

If an asylum seeker could not find a job, he or she could benefit from social assistance, the delegation said. In addition, many of those who received social benefits had never contributed to any social benefit funds. Those who exhausted their employment benefits and did not find jobs could also benefit from social assistance. Germany spent 44.9 billion Deutch Marks (DM) on social assistance benefits in 1999, among which 44 per cent covered cost-of-living assistance, the remaining covered assistance in special circumstances. The average unemployment benefits of all benefit recipients amounted to 1,475 DM in December 2000.

Working mothers had the right to benefit from child-rearing leave of up to three years, the delegation said. The leave could also be extended up to eight years if the mother so desired. In addition, working mothers received child-rearing benefits. The Government had also encouraged kindergarten services and baby-sitting facilities. Nannies were also trained to assist mothers.

It was true that whenever there was unequal payment between women and men, the victim could go to court to get redress, the delegation said. Women did not devote as much time to their jobs as men did because of their family responsibilities. Many women preferred to take part-time jobs that did not need much time and that required lower know-how. However, the Government was slowly closing the gap of unequal payments between women and men.

Committee members continued to raise further questions on such issues as provisions on trafficking in human beings; Germany's extra-territorial jurisdiction on sexual tourism; women's accession to and ownership of land; measures against domestic violence; the place of women in the higher echelon of the academia; the funding of German universities; the rise of the phenomenon of homosexuality; the State control of medical products after a product by Bayer against cholesterol killed 59 people around the world; and the number of people falling under the definition of poverty, among other things.

Referring to a report of a German non-governmental organization, an Expert said that there were apparently around 400,000 people who lived in nursing homes and 85 per cent of them suffered from malnutrition because personnel taking care of them frequently did not have the time to assist the old people with their food intake, or because the diet was not suitable for old people; 36 per cent of the residents suffered from dehydration because they simply were not given enough to drink; they were given powerful psychiatric drugs to put them into a state of sedation; and nursing staff members did not have the time to give those old people the personal nursing care and attention they needed or to be near them when they were dying.

Another Expert said that it was necessary to assess the human rights dimension of the monopoly of patents for the production of drugs for such illnesses as the HIV/AIDS.

In response to the Experts' queries, the member of the German delegation said that the Government would continue to provide subsidies to its universities. The quality of education was maintained at the highest level. However, there was a debate on the role and financial situation of the universities.

With regard to the medical product of Bayer, the delegation said the company had informed the United Kingdom, through its subsidiary, about the situation; and the company had also reported the situation to the German authorities. Bayer had withdrawn its product from the world market.

With regard to intellectual property rights with regard to patents, the delegation said there were escape clauses in patents which allowed the manufacturing of cheaper medicines in cases of emergency. Some African countries had taken such measures in producing drugs aimed at combatting AIDS.

Answering a question on extra-territorial jurisdiction on sex tourism, the delegation said that German legislation had no provisions to deal with sexual crimes committed by German citizens abroad.

The German Government was redrafting its penal law aimed at protecting children from pornography and other abuses, the delegation said. The new penal code would also include provisions on sexual tourism involving children. However, producing evidence on the alleged perpetrators of the sexual abuse abroad would be problematic to the German prosecutors.

The perpetrator of domestic violence was removed from the household for 48 hours by police, the delegation said. Although concrete data was lacking on the situation of domestic violence, more and more women were aware of their rights and had been speaking out openly about the problem. The Austrian example that violent men should lose their leading role in the family could fit the German situation. However, attention should be paid not to disrupt the continuation of the family ties.

In order to alleviate family burdens in rearing children, the Government was providing child benefits to a number of parents, the delegation said. There was no clear-cut definition to poverty; but there was a pluralistic definition which included being excessively in debt and suffering from exclusion.

With regard to the situation of people living in nursing homes, the delegation said that the conditions of such people was of concern, but the delegation could not confirm the exact number affected by the problem. Many of the institutions running such homes lacked the standards required by the State. The Government was aware of the issue and it would do all it could in order to improve the conditions of those people.



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