COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS STARTS SPRING SESSION

MORNING
HR/ESC/99/2
26 April 1999


High Commissioner for Human Rights Speaks; Officers Elected


The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights opened its spring session this morning by hearing remarks from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and by electing officers.

During its three-week session, the Committee will consider reports from Denmark, Iceland, Ireland and Tunisia outlining Government efforts to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It will also consider the situation in the Solomon Islands based on available information because that country has never presented a report to the Committee.

In her opening address, Mrs. Robinson said the large-scale violations of just two of the rights proclaimed in the Covenant -- the right to housing and the right to food -- would warrant, she believed, the speedy establishment of corrective mechanisms.

The Committee also heard an oral statement delivered by a representative of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, who spoke on a human rights fact-finding mission to the Solomon Islands to gather information on the Government’s compliance with the Covenant.

The Committee elected Virginia Bonan-Dandan as its Chairperson. Elected as Vice Chairmen were Mahmoud Samir Ahmed and Eibe Reidel. Paul Hunt was elected as Rapporteur. Also this morning, nine of the Committee's newly elected or re-elected members made the standard solemn declaration before assuming their duties -- promising to discharge their mandate partially and conscientiously.

Following a discussion with a government official of Bulgaria, the Committee decided to postpone its consideration of the report of that country until its next session. The Bulgarian official said legislative changes would harmonize national laws with those of the European Union.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will listen to statements from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) charging violations of economic, social and cultural rights in countries whose reports will be discussed by the Committee over the next three weeks.

Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights

MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II) had reaffirmed the validity of the right to housing. The Committee played an important role in that respect. The Habitat Agenda adopted by that Conference had placed strong emphasis on the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing. In 1997, the Commission on Human Settlements had recommended that a joint programme be set up between Habitat and her Office in order to assist States with the implementation of their commitments to ensure the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.

Mrs. Robinson further said that large-scale violations of just two of the rights proclaimed in the Committee's Covenant -- the right to housing and the right to food -- would warrant, she believed, the speedy establishment of corrective mechanisms. One response could be the adoption of the proposed Optional Protocol to the Covenant by the Commission on Human Rights. To give impetus to that process, her Office, together with the International Commission of Jurists, had organized on 26 February a workshop on the draft Optional Protocol. The Commission on Human Rights, now in its last week of work, would address that important issue in its resolution on economic, social and cultural rights.

Mrs. Robinson recalled that on 12 March, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women had adopted an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Protocol would enable women, as individuals or in groups, to submit complaints concerning alleged violations to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The Protocol also would entitle the Committee to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systematic violations of women's rights.

Referring to the Committee's General Comment relating to the role of national human-rights institutions in the protection of economic, social and cultural rights, Mrs. Robinson said that national institutions were frequently actively involved in issues of poverty, homelessness and its consequences, mental illness, indigenous rights, and policies necessary to ensure equal opportunities for women. The importance of national institutions as they related to the promotion and protection of social, economic and cultural rights was apparent when one looked at a regional framework. That framework was reaffirmed at the seventh Asia-Pacific Workshop for the Promotion and protection of Human Rights, which she had attended in New Delhi in February and which had identified four key areas of effort for promotion and protection of human rights.

Mrs. Robinson said the regional policy framework included the development of national plans of action for the promotion and protection of human rights and the strengthening of national capacities; human rights education; national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights; and strategies for the realization of the right to development and economic, social and cultural rights.

Statement by Representative of Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions

LEILANI FARHA, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, said the Centre had carried out a human rights fact-finding mission to the Solomon Islands with a view to gathering information on that country's compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She said her Centre was alarmed to hear that a central goal of the federal Government's reform programme was to increase the accessibility of land for commercial and urban development. By doing that, the Government intended to establish machinery to make it easier for foreign and domestic investors to obtain customary land for commercial use and urban development. If the Government carried that out, the very essence of Solomon life and livelihood would be jeopardized.

Ms. Farha said she was concerned that while the Solomon Islands’ Government was committed to pursuing a reduction of its debt and an increase in foreign investment, it was not equally committed to ensuring that its reform and development programme respected, protected, promoted and fulfilled Solomon Islanders' economic, social and cultural rights. The Centre was also disturbed by a number of economic, social and cultural conditions within the Solomon Islands which were deserving of the Committee's attention, she said.

Slide pictures were also presented on housing and living conditions in the Solomon Islands with explanations by Scott Leckie of the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions.