COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS HEARS STATEMENTS BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

CESCR
25th session
23 April 2001
Afternoon





The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon heard statements by a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which spoke about the situation in Venezuela, Honduras, China: Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Israel and Bolivia.

These countries are among the 144 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and their reports are scheduled to be considered during the current session of the Committee.

During their interventions, the NGOs told the Committee about problems related to food shortages, lack of adequate housing, and agrarian reforms in those countries. Many speakers said that the economic, social and cultural rights of the populations in those countries had been violated and that the respective Governments had not taken appropriate measures to reverse the situation.

General statements were also made. Representatives of the following organizations and agencies took the floor: PROVEA, FIAN-Venezuela, FIAN-Honduras, Centre for Economic and Social Rights, a group of 44 NGOs speaking on China: Hong Kong, Korean Network of 17 NGOs, Federacion Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas de Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa”, Coordinator of the Legal Unit, Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, World Organization against Torture,Habitat International Coalition, Food International Network-FIAN, the International Labour Office, and the Commissao Pastoral do Terra.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 24 April, it will take up the report of Venezuela.



Statements on the report of Venezuela

CALIXTO AVILA, of PROVEA, said that the State of Venezuela had not consulted non-governmental organizations in the course of its preparation of the report and it had not held a public debate. In addition, the first year of the work of the new President of Venezuela had not produced much change because of the destructive impact of the structural adjustment programme. The process of privatization had not profited the population, and instead the State had avoided its responsibilities by dismantling the achievements of the precedent regime in the name of privatization. At present, because of the absence of a clear policy against corruption, some Government officials had continued corrupt activities.

Measures to improve exclusion had not been implemented in Venezuela. Further, the educational policy in which the teaching of human rights had been reflected was not yet implemented by the State. The situation of child labour was also a subject of concern.

ANNA BARRIOS, FIAN-Venezuela, said that the food indicator in the country had regressed and that 25 per cent of the population was suffering from food shortages. Because of the lack of a minimum wage in Venezuela, families were unable to feed themselves adequately.


Statements on the report of Honduras

JESUS GARCA, MARVIN PONCE, FIAN-Honduras, said peasants in Honduras had no access to land and they were deprived of any land to till. Their right to food was not respected; they were far from enjoying their cultural and educational rights. Honduran women, particularly, suffered most because of the inequality practised by the society. Minimum wage was not fixed taking into consideration women's situation and they were paid less than their male counterparts for the same work.

ANNA CODY, TUPAC MEJIA MEDINA, of the Centre for Economic and Social Rights (USA), said that the gold mining industry was dominated by Canadian, American and Australian mining companies. Since the 1970s, a new technique had been developed using cyanide for gold mining, which was highly toxic. A teaspoon of 2 per cent cyanide solution could kill a person. The cyanide solution in the mines was recycled but ultimately lost its value. The question was what to do with the cyanide-laden water. In Honduras, cyanide contaminated waters had been released into river systems. In addition, mercury contamination along with other toxic chemicals emanating from the mining was carried away by cyclones. The health of many Hondurans was affected in that way. A less toxic mining system should be used.


Statements on the report of China: Hong Kong

HO HEI WAH, speaking on behalf of 44 NGOs, said that after the transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China, the people of Hong Kong had witnessed a gradual and aggravated erosion of the already poor human rights situation in the region. Nearly one million people were living in sub-standard housing due to inadequate housing. The situation of poverty had also been deteriorating. The phenomenon of street-sleepers had increasing in many parts of the region. The Government was not discharging its responsibility in eradicating poverty.

The Government had not only ignored the basic rights for the poor, but also had deprived them of their chances to return to the society through social welfare. Worse still, the Government had ignored the Committee's recommendations when it rejected the introduction of minimum wages, maximum hours of work and standard overtime pay rates to protect basic labour rights. The speaker also highlighted discrimination against new immigrants from mainland China, the increase in families splitting up and the situation of mentally ill persons.


Statement on the report of the Republic of Korea

KYUNG-SIN PARK, Korean Network of 17 NGOS, said that the Government of the Republic of Korea had played a central role in corporate structuring which had put many out of work. The Government had not brought about fundamental changes to the rules and customs that had governed the activities of various actors in the market and had adversely affected distribution of wealth. In addition, the Government itself had been at the forefront of aggravating the unemployment situation because most debt-ridden corporations were at the mercy of creditor-banks which were in turn heavily regulated and underwritten by the Government. The Government was partly responsible for the worsening unemployment situation. The speaker also highlighted the situation of women workers and the rights of the handicapped.


Statement on the report of Bolivia

JULIA RAMOS, of the Federacion Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas de Bolivia "Bartolina Sisa", said that the Bolivian population was confronted with the problem of food shortages. Measures to improve the agrarian situation had not been implemented by the Government. Food safety had been the central issue to which the Federacion attached great importance. The provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights were not implemented in the country. The lack of political will did not allow the implementation of that instrument’s provisions. Illegal occupation of the land had also been another problem which had prevented peasants' access to their lands. The use of fertile land only for export crops had made peasants lose their food autonomy. The measures adopted by the Government were superficial and did not satisfy the need of the peasants as regards food security.

Legal revisions should provide guarantees to the indigenous population with regard to land exploitation. They should be consulted before any land was given to foreign companies for any purpose. The distribution of land was more important in order to ensure an improved standard of living for peasants. A policy of repression should not be applied for any demands concerning economic, social and cultural rights.


Statements on the report of Israel

GAIL J. BOLING, Coordinator of the Legal Unit, said that Israel had failed to provide the additional information requested by the Committee first in December 1998 and again in November 2000, and had failed to submit its second periodic report. The implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was the responsibility of Israel in the territories it was occupying. In addition, Israel had violated Palestinian economic, social and cultural rights across the "green line" during the current intifada.

JAMIL DAKWAR, of The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said that the Committee should focus on the situation of Palestinians in Israel. There was a consistent use of force by the Israelis against Israeli citizens of Arab or Palestinian origin. Any peaceful demonstration was repressed brutally. A one-sided policy of land distribution, which was only aimed at allocating land to persons of Jewish origin, had been detrimental to the land rights of Israeli citizens of Arab origin. The intifada and its aftermath had highlighted the Israeli Arab minority's vulnerability vis-a-vis the State, stemming from the perception that they constituted both a security and demographic risk.

NATHALIE MIVELAZ, of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), said that since the last session of the Committee, there had been a serious deterioration in the human rights situation in Israel and the occupied territories. While violations had been perpetrated by both sides involved in the clashes, the most persistent allegations brought to the attention of the Organization by its different member organizations were that Israel had failed to abide by its obligations under both international and national law.

Palestinians' right to freedom of movement had been restricted by Israel, which had resulted in serious and massive violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian population living in the occupied territories, including the rights to work, to education and an adequate standard of living. Harassment, humiliation and violence against the Palestinian population by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints also remained of utmost concern.

RUTH GOBA, of the Habitat International Coalition, said the continuity of the denying Palestinians their right to "a place to live in peace and dignity" was the cornerstone of Israel's State ideology and practice since its inception as a colony in the historic Palestine. That continuum of derelict state behaviour spanned not only the years before and since Israel's ratification of the Covenant, but also crossed the "green line" created with General Assembly resolution 181 adopted in 1947. Destruction of the native home and transfer of its inhabitants was a project whose ideological underpinning assumed divine purpose and biblical proportions.


General statements

MICHAEL WINDFUHR, of the Food International Network - FIAN, said that two conferences had been held in Manila and in Bonn on access to land. They had recommended accessibility of land in order to implement the right to food. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) had also estimated that the number of people without adequate food had increased during the past years, and that efforts should be made to reduce the number. Policies on agricultural rights were also being studied within the World Trade Organization (WTO).

MARTIN OELZ, of the Intentional Labour Office (ILO), said that the ILO had a long-standing tradition in cooperating with the Committee. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights contained clear provisions allocating to the UN specialized agencies an important role in the process of achieving observance of the rights contained in the treaty. The ILO welcomed that in the debate on enhancing the implementation of the Covenant, attention was increasingly paid to that crucial feature of the Covenant. The ILO had made available a report of the ILO Committee of Experts.

WILMAR SCHEIDED, of the Commissao Pastoral do Terra, said that human rights violations in Brazil had been targeted at the agrarian sector where they had taken the form of conflict on land rights. The violation of economic, social and cultural rights in Brazil had taken a serious dimension.



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