COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS STARTS EXAMINATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF BOLIVIA

CESCR
25th session
2 May 2001
Morning




The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning began its consideration of the initial report of Bolivia on how that country is implementing the provisions guaranteed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

A Government delegation told the Committee that human rights education was provided in all areas of the country, but particularly in the cocoa-growing regions. The Government there had been putting in plans to destroy cocoa crops because that was the main raw material in cocaine. Seminars and classes on human rights had been held for members of the armed forces and police officers, as well as others engaged in combatting drug trafficking. There had also been workshops in human rights teaching aimed at the executive branch of government to provide training for the trainers and instructors of human rights. Their information was passed on to their students and trainees.

Alvaro Camacho, Bolivia's Public Administration Expert, also told Committee members that the Government had an ombudsman on human rights -- called the Office of the Defender of the People. The Defender of the People saw to it that rights and safeguards guaranteed to individuals were ensured. The Office enjoyed wide powers to ensure that all people had their rights respected, and that any violations were investigated. The Office also ensured implementation of international treaties, and recommended to the Government the signing of other international agreements.

Mr. Camacho was joined on the delegation by Pedro Gumucio Dagron, a Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Bolivia in Geneva.

The delegation also answered various questions posed by Committee Experts on issues ranging from the force given to the Covenant in domestic laws to the decentralization of the central Government.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue its examination of the report of Bolivia.

Initial Report of Bolivia

The initial report of Bolivia (E/1990/5/Add.44) details, on an article-by-article basis, how that country conforms to the rights and guarantees enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report of Bolivia, which ratified the Covenant by decree in 1982, describes, among other things, information about and dissemination of the Covenant, the legal situation and specific application of the Covenant in Bolivia, and the role of international cooperation in application of the Covenant.

The report states that the Covenant was ratified in Bolivia by decree-law, and consequently -- since it did not take the form of law -- had not been published or disseminated in the Official Gazette, the medium through which information was officially disseminated to the population. It also had not been published into other local languages. The "Promotion and Defense of Human Rights" project, which was being financed and aided by the United Nations, and implemented by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, is providing assistance in incorporating the Covenant into domestic law.

The report also says that poverty constitutes a key problem for Bolivia, and one closely associated with job opportunities and income creation. The trend in both urban and rural areas is towards increased unemployment, a consequence of the falling growth rate resulting from the economic recession in Asia. There is also the phenomenon of the involvement of children in agricultural production in the south of the country, which disrupted the economic life of a large part of the population since they were engaged in agricultural and stockbreeding activities. Although the country has low rates of open unemployment, the quality of employment is not high, with rates of underemployment fluctuating at around 10 per cent. In 1997, 127,000 were underemployed.


Introduction of Report of Bolivia

ALVARO CAMACHO, Public Administration Expert and the head of the delegation of Bolivia, said training and education in human rights were provided in all areas of the country, but particularly in the cocoa-growing regions. The Government there had been putting in plans to destroy cocoa crops because that was the main raw material in cocaine. Seminars and classes on human rights had been held for members of the armed forces and police officers, as well as others engaged in combatting drug trafficking. There had also been workshops in human rights teaching aimed at the executive branch of government to provide training for the trainers and instructors of human rights. Their information was passed on to their students and trainees.

Within the Government there was an ombudsman on human rights -- called the Office of the Defender of the People. The Defender of the People saw to it that rights and safeguards guaranteed to individuals were ensured. The Office enjoyed wide powers in ensuring that all people had their rights respected, and that any violations would be investigated. The Office also ensured implementation of international treaties, and recommended to the Government the signing of other international agreements.


Discussion

Responding to questions posed by the Committee Experts, the delegation said the Covenant could only be ratified by the National Congress. When it was ratified, it would become a domestic law, and thus, it would have the same validity of other national laws.

The delegation said when there were international commitments, they could not be immediately implemented. An enabling law with necessary codes had to be passed first. It was hoped that within five to 10 years, all international agreements would have the necessary national codes to be put into full force.

The delegation said the Law of Popular Participation, enacted in 1995, had established 300 town councils. The country was made up of 300 townships, and they were independent of the central Government. They had administrative rights and powers over that territory. Financial resources had been given to these municipalities, and that helped with the fight against poverty. The town councils were required to provide water, sanitation, education and health services, which the central Government used to provide. These governments were much closer to the users of these services.

Committee Experts also raised questions concerning, among other issues, Bolivia's external debt; the GNP-producing branches of the economy; the country's chief exports; discrimination against indigenous peoples, and discrimination against Afro-Bolivian people; corruption within Bolivia's Supreme Court; the country's poverty reduction strategy; the possible creation of a national Human Rights Commission; the budget and powers of the under-secretary of gender affairs; the use of contraceptives; and cases of compulsory labour and child labour.




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