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26 October 2000
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Human Rights Committee
70th Session
26 October 2000
Morning
The Human Rights Committee this morning concluded its consideration of a third periodic report of Argentina on that country's implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In preliminary remarks, Committee Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga noted the progress made by the country in improving the human rights situation. Concerning the high mortality rate because of abortions, she said the Government had a long way to go to change the attitude of the population concerning women's rights, abortions and domestic violence.
During their consideration of the report, Committee experts asked questions about the time limit of pre-trial detention under police custody; impunity and amnesty of perpetrators of serious human rights violations who still served in the Government; the procedure in which complaints against police brutality were investigated; and the status of the Covenant under domestic legislation, among other things.
Responding to the experts' questions, the Argentinean delegation said that there was no systematic use of torture in Argentina and there was no impunity for perpetrators of such acts. Asked about the extension of the Covenant to all territories, the delegation said that the Government considered Las Malvinas as part of its territory despite the United Nations decision to consider it as a disputed territory; and people from that region enjoyed the same rights as the rest of Argentineans when on the main land.
Final, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Argentina will be issued by the Committee towards the end of its three-week session which concludes on 3 November.
As one of the 148 States parties to the Covenant, Argentina must submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it was implementing the provisions the treaty. A six-member Argentinean delegation was on hand during the two meetings to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee members.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will consider in private communications it received from individuals complaining that their rights under the Covenant had been violated by the their respective States parties. On Friday 27 October, the Committee will meet in public at 10 a.m. and will spend the day reviewing the second periodic report of Gabon.
Discussion
At the beginning of the meeting, Committee experts continued to raise questions to which the members of the Argentinean delegation responded. Committee experts asked about the time limit of pre-trial detention under police custody; about impunity and amnesty of perpetrators of serious human rights violations who still served in the Government; the procedures in which complaints against police brutality were investigated; and the status of the Covenant under domestic legislation, among other things.
Responding to those queries and to questions raised during the previous meeting, the delegation affirmed that no national law was enacted in violation of the provisions of the Covenant. The Covenant was part of Argentina's national law and it had been incorporated through constitutional acts. When the Constitution was amended in 1994, its content was not wholly revised because of the limit decided by the law. The wording of the amendment was also made to be consistent with the provisions of the Covenant.
The arbitrariness of article 24 of the Constitution on declaration of states of emergency had led to a confusion and to the violation of human rights in Argentina, the delegation said. The states of emergency under the military dictatorship had derogated from the Constitution the protection of the basic provisions of human rights, thus allowing the abuse.
Compensation for arbitrary detention was calculated in terms of money lost during that period and the rate of the highest pay in civil service was taken into account for the calculation, the delegation said. So far, for victims of arbitrary detention, a total amount of $500 million had been paid out. Families of disappeared persons had also been compensated with cash payments.
There was no time limit for the prosecution of the authors of child kidnapping, the delegation said. The high court had ruled that there had been criminality in the act of kidnapping children; and military personnel who were closely identified with such crimes had been put on trial. With the help of the Association of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the search for lost children had continued and at the same time investigations had been pursued to bring perpetrators before the courts.
The Las Malvinas island was part of Argentina although the United Nations recognized it as a disputed territory, the delegation said. Nevertheless, the Covenant's provisions were applied to persons of that territory and people coming from that region enjoyed the same rights as other Argentineans while on the main land
On the subject of indigenous populations, the delegation said that the Government was complying with the provisions of the Covenant through measures to reaffirm land titles and allocation of funds for the purchase of land to be given to the indigenous populations. There had been conflicts on land ownership between indigenous communities and forest development companies. The case was in the hands of the judicial authorities and it was hoped that it would be peacefully resolved.
Argentina did not recognize international adoption and it was for that reason that it had made reservations to some of the articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to prevent illicit international child adoptions, Argentina strictly controlled its boarders, including air and sea ports.
A quota law had been enacted to include 30 per cent of women in election positions, the delegation said. That law was applicable to all areas of national and local elections. Any dispute or violation of the law could be appealed to the national election commission or to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.
On the issue of abortion, the delegation said that it was an area which needed improvement. As a developing country, Argentina could not make available exact statistics on cases of abortion or incidents of death resulting from it. However, it had been upheld since many years that abortion was illegal and its practice was a crime.
New regulations had been drawn to reduce overcrowding in prisons, the delegation said; and two new modern prisons had been built to accommodate 1,800 inmates. Soon redistribution of prisoners would be effected from other prisons, particularly in the capital city where 2,000 inmates were overcrowded. In addition, prison guards were trained and their attitudes supervised by an independent body. In the past, 300 prison guards had been removed because of corruption and lack of discipline. Some of them were brought before the courts for committing acts incompatible with their duties.
In 1995 and 1996, 1,092 allegations of ill-treatment of prisoners had been lodged and had been investigated by the procurator for prisons, the delegation said. The procurator had specific duties to investigate complaints and requests made by prisoners themselves or their relatives.
The Government had taken special measures to prevent police violence and the use of torture, the delegation said. There had been violence but the systematic use of torture was not evident under police custody. However, torture could take place in cases of incommunicado detention which in principle lasted 48 hours. In the event that ill-treatment or torture was practised on a suspect, any confession obtained by force was considered null and void by the judicial authorities. Recently, legal procedures had been initiated to investigate police violence in the north of the country.
In response to the remaining written questions, the Argentinean delegation said that separate premises had been made available for the detention of juvenile offenders; and at present 375 young offenders were serving prison terms in the federal penitentiary system.
On the judiciary and independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the delegation said that judges could only be removed from their duties on accusations of bad behaviour. Removal on political motives could only be decided by the federal parliamentarians and it only concerned judges of the supreme court. In their rulings, all judges were independent and the executive had no power to intervene in their affairs.
Since a significant majority of Argentineans belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, special relations had been maintained with the Vatican ecclesiastical authorities. The Government provided financial support to activities pursued by the institutions of the Church. However, since the constitutional reform of 1994, membership of the Church was no longer a requirement for becoming President of the Republic as it was under the previous constitution. In addition, the Constitution provided for religious freedom for all.
Preliminary Remarks
In preliminary remarks, Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga said much progress had been made in Argentina on the improvement of the human rights situation. The effect of military dictatorships would soon be erased and she hoped much progress would continue to take place.
She said the problem of Argentina with regard to the Covenant was that when it came to its application, there had been differences in the Buenos Aires areas and the provinces while it should be the same throughout the country. She said it was good news that laws in line with the provisions of the Covenant were now enacted throughout the 22 provinces. It was regrettable that the federal Government had to intervene in cases of human rights violations regarding the provinces because of the lack of proper provincial protective measures.
On torture, the Committee had wished to learn more details but it had not been forthcoming from the delegation.
Concerning abortion, the Committee had received information that about 500,000 abortions were carried out every year, among which deaths resulted.
Argentina had a long way to go to change the attitude of the population concerning the protection of women's rights, abortions, and domestic violence. Their rights were in the hands of the judges who decided the fate of their pregnancies in the case of demands for abortion. Laws concerning this matter had to be enacted together with the launching of an awareness-raising campaign on the issue.
* *** *
70th Session
26 October 2000
Morning
The Human Rights Committee this morning concluded its consideration of a third periodic report of Argentina on that country's implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In preliminary remarks, Committee Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga noted the progress made by the country in improving the human rights situation. Concerning the high mortality rate because of abortions, she said the Government had a long way to go to change the attitude of the population concerning women's rights, abortions and domestic violence.
During their consideration of the report, Committee experts asked questions about the time limit of pre-trial detention under police custody; impunity and amnesty of perpetrators of serious human rights violations who still served in the Government; the procedure in which complaints against police brutality were investigated; and the status of the Covenant under domestic legislation, among other things.
Responding to the experts' questions, the Argentinean delegation said that there was no systematic use of torture in Argentina and there was no impunity for perpetrators of such acts. Asked about the extension of the Covenant to all territories, the delegation said that the Government considered Las Malvinas as part of its territory despite the United Nations decision to consider it as a disputed territory; and people from that region enjoyed the same rights as the rest of Argentineans when on the main land.
Final, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Argentina will be issued by the Committee towards the end of its three-week session which concludes on 3 November.
As one of the 148 States parties to the Covenant, Argentina must submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it was implementing the provisions the treaty. A six-member Argentinean delegation was on hand during the two meetings to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee members.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will consider in private communications it received from individuals complaining that their rights under the Covenant had been violated by the their respective States parties. On Friday 27 October, the Committee will meet in public at 10 a.m. and will spend the day reviewing the second periodic report of Gabon.
Discussion
At the beginning of the meeting, Committee experts continued to raise questions to which the members of the Argentinean delegation responded. Committee experts asked about the time limit of pre-trial detention under police custody; about impunity and amnesty of perpetrators of serious human rights violations who still served in the Government; the procedures in which complaints against police brutality were investigated; and the status of the Covenant under domestic legislation, among other things.
Responding to those queries and to questions raised during the previous meeting, the delegation affirmed that no national law was enacted in violation of the provisions of the Covenant. The Covenant was part of Argentina's national law and it had been incorporated through constitutional acts. When the Constitution was amended in 1994, its content was not wholly revised because of the limit decided by the law. The wording of the amendment was also made to be consistent with the provisions of the Covenant.
The arbitrariness of article 24 of the Constitution on declaration of states of emergency had led to a confusion and to the violation of human rights in Argentina, the delegation said. The states of emergency under the military dictatorship had derogated from the Constitution the protection of the basic provisions of human rights, thus allowing the abuse.
Compensation for arbitrary detention was calculated in terms of money lost during that period and the rate of the highest pay in civil service was taken into account for the calculation, the delegation said. So far, for victims of arbitrary detention, a total amount of $500 million had been paid out. Families of disappeared persons had also been compensated with cash payments.
There was no time limit for the prosecution of the authors of child kidnapping, the delegation said. The high court had ruled that there had been criminality in the act of kidnapping children; and military personnel who were closely identified with such crimes had been put on trial. With the help of the Association of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the search for lost children had continued and at the same time investigations had been pursued to bring perpetrators before the courts.
The Las Malvinas island was part of Argentina although the United Nations recognized it as a disputed territory, the delegation said. Nevertheless, the Covenant's provisions were applied to persons of that territory and people coming from that region enjoyed the same rights as other Argentineans while on the main land
On the subject of indigenous populations, the delegation said that the Government was complying with the provisions of the Covenant through measures to reaffirm land titles and allocation of funds for the purchase of land to be given to the indigenous populations. There had been conflicts on land ownership between indigenous communities and forest development companies. The case was in the hands of the judicial authorities and it was hoped that it would be peacefully resolved.
Argentina did not recognize international adoption and it was for that reason that it had made reservations to some of the articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to prevent illicit international child adoptions, Argentina strictly controlled its boarders, including air and sea ports.
A quota law had been enacted to include 30 per cent of women in election positions, the delegation said. That law was applicable to all areas of national and local elections. Any dispute or violation of the law could be appealed to the national election commission or to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.
On the issue of abortion, the delegation said that it was an area which needed improvement. As a developing country, Argentina could not make available exact statistics on cases of abortion or incidents of death resulting from it. However, it had been upheld since many years that abortion was illegal and its practice was a crime.
New regulations had been drawn to reduce overcrowding in prisons, the delegation said; and two new modern prisons had been built to accommodate 1,800 inmates. Soon redistribution of prisoners would be effected from other prisons, particularly in the capital city where 2,000 inmates were overcrowded. In addition, prison guards were trained and their attitudes supervised by an independent body. In the past, 300 prison guards had been removed because of corruption and lack of discipline. Some of them were brought before the courts for committing acts incompatible with their duties.
In 1995 and 1996, 1,092 allegations of ill-treatment of prisoners had been lodged and had been investigated by the procurator for prisons, the delegation said. The procurator had specific duties to investigate complaints and requests made by prisoners themselves or their relatives.
The Government had taken special measures to prevent police violence and the use of torture, the delegation said. There had been violence but the systematic use of torture was not evident under police custody. However, torture could take place in cases of incommunicado detention which in principle lasted 48 hours. In the event that ill-treatment or torture was practised on a suspect, any confession obtained by force was considered null and void by the judicial authorities. Recently, legal procedures had been initiated to investigate police violence in the north of the country.
In response to the remaining written questions, the Argentinean delegation said that separate premises had been made available for the detention of juvenile offenders; and at present 375 young offenders were serving prison terms in the federal penitentiary system.
On the judiciary and independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the delegation said that judges could only be removed from their duties on accusations of bad behaviour. Removal on political motives could only be decided by the federal parliamentarians and it only concerned judges of the supreme court. In their rulings, all judges were independent and the executive had no power to intervene in their affairs.
Since a significant majority of Argentineans belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, special relations had been maintained with the Vatican ecclesiastical authorities. The Government provided financial support to activities pursued by the institutions of the Church. However, since the constitutional reform of 1994, membership of the Church was no longer a requirement for becoming President of the Republic as it was under the previous constitution. In addition, the Constitution provided for religious freedom for all.
Preliminary Remarks
In preliminary remarks, Chairperson Cecilia Medina Quiroga said much progress had been made in Argentina on the improvement of the human rights situation. The effect of military dictatorships would soon be erased and she hoped much progress would continue to take place.
She said the problem of Argentina with regard to the Covenant was that when it came to its application, there had been differences in the Buenos Aires areas and the provinces while it should be the same throughout the country. She said it was good news that laws in line with the provisions of the Covenant were now enacted throughout the 22 provinces. It was regrettable that the federal Government had to intervene in cases of human rights violations regarding the provinces because of the lack of proper provincial protective measures.
On torture, the Committee had wished to learn more details but it had not been forthcoming from the delegation.
Concerning abortion, the Committee had received information that about 500,000 abortions were carried out every year, among which deaths resulted.
Argentina had a long way to go to change the attitude of the population concerning the protection of women's rights, abortions, and domestic violence. Their rights were in the hands of the judges who decided the fate of their pregnancies in the case of demands for abortion. Laws concerning this matter had to be enacted together with the launching of an awareness-raising campaign on the issue.
* *** *