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17 April 2000
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Commission on Human Rights
56th session
17 April 2000
Evening
The Commission on Human Rights carried on this evening with its annual review of the operation of human-rights mechanisms and consideration of possibilities for their improvement, hearing, among other things, praise for technical-cooperation programmes and requests for their expansion, and requests that further resources be given to relieve overburdened human-rights treaty bodies, which in some cases were years behind in considering States reports submitted to them.
A representative of the Ukraine said the country had submitted reports to four treaty bodies but it would be months or years before the documents were considered. The treaty-monitoring system was faced now with increasing numbers of reports and communications against a background of reduced or static resources, this official said; and if not addressed, these difficulties could jeopardize the effectiveness and credibility of the treaty bodies.
The agenda item on "effective functioning of human rights mechanisms" includes the topics of United Nations human-rights treaty bodies; national institutions and regional arrangements for human rights; and adaptation and strengthening of United Nations human-rights machinery.
Turkey, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan described the activities and mandates of national human-rights institutions or commissions.
By contrast, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) told the Commission that national human-rights bodies frequently failed in their announced roles because they lacked strong mandates, sufficient independence, sufficient money, or sufficient will. Those contentions came from the Asian Legal Resource Centre, the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, and Aliran Kesedaran Negara.
Earlier in the session, the Commission concluded debate under its agenda item on the promotion and protection of human rights.
Addressing the evening meeting were representatives of China, Cuba, Argentina, New Zealand, Turkey, Ukraine, Australia, Austria, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.
The following NGOs also delivered statements: International Indian Treaty Council; International Young Catholic Students; Centre Europe - Tiers Monde; Pax Romana; Soka Gakkai International; Association for World Education; France Libertes; International Institute for Peace; World Federation of Trade Unions; African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters; Association for the Promotion of Employment and Housing; International Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims; Asian Legal Resources Centre; South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre; Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations; Canadian Human Rights Foundation; Aliran Kesedaran Negara; and Pax Christi.
The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 18 April.
Statements
ALBERTO SALAMANDO, of International Indian Treaty Council, said the Council was concerned with the continuing and growing use of persistent organic pollutants, commonly referred to as POPS, and their effects on Sacred Mother Earth and indigenous peoples. The soil was increasingly being poisoned by the use of these deadly chemicals, and indigenous peoples were among the first to feel deadly effects. POPS included industrial chemicals such as PCBs, pesticides and by-products of industrial manufacturing and waste disposal, such as dioxins.
Dioxins traveled long distances in air and water, reaching virtually every region of the world. They could accumulate in high concentrations thousands of kilometres from where they were originally released. Humans were exposed through water and food as well as through inhalation and dermal contact. In the United States and Canada indigenous people were exposed to these chemicals.
ALEXANDRE OWONA, of International Young Catholic Students, said that in many countries human rights were violated on a daily basis. Human-rights defenders were physically intimidated and the perpetrators of violations enjoyed impunity in most cases. Certain States continued to arm certain groups and support guerrillas with the aim of destabilizing other countries. In countries with long-established democracies, political parties of the far right were increasingly gaining ground. Racist sites on the Internet proliferated. In Africa, conflicts multiplied.
In international relations, the strong crushed the weak and enforced their laws to the detriment of humanitarian rules. Wars such as in Kosovo and Chechnya stemmed from the violation of the most fundamental humanitarian rules. The international community should take the necessary measures to address human rights violations and impunity.
MALIK OZDEN, of Centre Europe - Tiers Monde, said perpetrators of violations of economic, social and cultural rights should not escape impunity. Preventive and even coercive measures were needed to combat impunity for violators of these rights. All human rights were indivisible; violations of liberty and dignity were involved in economic, social and cultural rights. Poor use of resources, poor international cooperation, and other problems, including misbehaviour by transnational corporations, had to be faced, too.
One significant step would be reform of the international financial institutions. The World Bank and IMF should be democratized. The declaration on fundamental justice for the victims of crimes and abuse of power, adopted by the General Assembly, should be used to pursue violators of economic, social and cultural rights. The inclusion of such rights within the purview of the new International Criminal Court should be considered. An independent expert also should be appointed on the topic of violations of economic, social and cultural rights.
R. J. RAJKUMAR, of Pax Romana, said that today, defending human rights in all its forms was happening at every level and everywhere. It was a global phenomenon, and at the same time, the defenders, whether they were individuals, groups, or NGOs, were totally exposed. Lacking adequate safeguards, they confronted the State's monopoly on violence -- the State, which was supposed to be the protector and the promoter. Frequently, the defenders, mostly unarmed civilians as well as organized groups, were caught in the interface between humanitarian and human-rights crises.
The Commission was urged establish a post of Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders with a well-defined mandate, as clearly requested by a number of oral interventions.
CATHERINE MALLET, of Soka Gakkai International, said that having human-rights institutions and laws without human-rights education was like cutting away the poisonous grass above the ground level, but leaving the poisonous roots underground which sprouted over and over again into violence. Human-rights education was a tool to create not only acceptance but willingness in the hearts of people to mutually respect human rights in every nation. All Governments should be further encouraged to officially integrate human-rights education in primary and secondary schools.
In order to exchange information on strategies and pedagogical methods aimed at the global implementation of human-rights education in schools, inter-governmental fora should be organized in cooperation with all concerned partners. Before people became divided into offenders and victims, all measures, and in particular human-rights education, must be taken to prevent human-rights violations. Human rights education was a tool which should be invented, renovated, applied and implemented with a sense of creativity for world peace for all people.
DAVID LITTMAN, of Association for World Education, said a slave was a slave, not an "abducted person". Anyone establishing eye-to-eye contact with a slave could never forget the experience. Since the coup d'etat of 1989, the Government of Sudan had worked strenuously to gain the complicity of the international community in an outrageous travesty. "Abduction" was Sudan's magic formula by which its stark nakedness on slavery was transformed into a newly tailored garment. Why had this Commission become party to such a farce? It was only last year that the term slavery -- regularly used by the Special Rapporteur -- had been cloaked by the term "abduction" after the European Union took the lead in sponsoring the resolution on Sudan.
Had anyone the slightest idea what happened to these women and children from the south of Sudan? Did the European Union, Canada, and the Commission really want to bear the responsibility of removing the keystone of international human-rights standards, and for covering up what had clearly been defined as crimes against humanity? The Commission, before its upcoming vote on Sudan, was urged to adhere to the accurate terms of slavery and slave trade -- to call a slave a slave and nothing else.
JEAN-MARIE JULIA, of France Libertes, brought to the attention of the Commission the killing of a human-rights defender in Sri Lanka on 5 January this year. G.G. Ponnambalam had been cold-bloodedly killed by unknown shooters. He had been implicated in activities of human-rights defense and had been defending the rights of Tamils who fell under the terrorism-prevention act of the country. He had written important reports on human-rights violations, including cases of kidnapping.
He had also participated at the Commission to deliver a statement in the past. The Commission was urged to call upon the Sri Lankan Government to elucidate the circumstance of his death.
D. R. SAINI, of International Institute for Peace, said the military coup which took place in Pakistan on 12 October 1999 was not only a black day for democracy in Pakistan but a tragedy for the international community. General Parvez Musharraf sought to destroy the very foundations of political and civic freedoms. His only desire was to perpetuate himself in power for which he was prepared to sacrifice national interests and international democratic norms. The military regime had even banned the holding of any outdoor political demonstrations and had sought to frustrate and intimidate the country's judiciary in many perverse ways. There was no doubt of the barbarity of the military regime, and people would not be free to act unless democracy returned, the judiciary was unshackled and courage was restored to the media.
The world community could not afford any delay in addressing the fate of those incarcerated by the recent coup d'état. Impunity currently enjoyed by the military must end. The international community must act now before it was too late. This would send a clear signal to other parts of the world that democracy and not military rule was the best arbiter of civic and political freedom and its defenders in the world.
ANJALI GANDHI, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, said where freedom of expression and opinion were restricted, the protection of human rights became impossible, since people were afraid to express their true feelings or opinions about development. The most recent example was the recent coup in Pakistan following which the draconian system of the "exit-control list" was being used with great abandon. Leading politicians and human rights activists were hesitant to criticize the current regime, as many had been placed on the exit control list restricting their basic freedom of movement. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had played a stellar role in highlighting the ills that existed in Pakistani society and the uphill battle that the enlightened sections of Pakistan had ahead of them if they were to protect and promote human rights.
As Pakistan had sought to use Islam to further its political and strategic interests, so had Pakistani society paid the price with liberal laws being shelved in favour of discriminatory policies. This was true of all regions, which was why functioning democracies actively sought to dissociate religion from the affairs of State. The promotion and protection of human rights was not just a matter of the instruments being available; above all it was a function of ideology and ethos.
MAHMOUD LAVASSANI, of African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said education in human rights was essential; the plan of action of the UN Decade for Education in Human Rights was a critical undertaking. Over 75 per cent of the world's people lived in regrettable situations; 25 per cent had no access to drinking water; 20 per cent lacked decent housing; some 15 per cent lacked the most basic health services. There was a gap, an abyss, separating the industrialized countries from the developing countries. Africa had extraordinary wealth in terms of gold, diamonds, oil and other natural resources, yet had extraordinary poverty.
Corruption and poverty ate away at the Government bodies of many States. Some of the stifling debt burden on the African continent had recently been written off, but more had to be done. More also had to be done to ensure responsible management of existing resources. More had to be done to establish and spread peace. More had to be done to share the benefits of scientific and technical discoveries with needy countries.
MOHAMMAD KHAN, of Association for the Promotion of Housing and Employment, said the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir was a classic example where the civil and political rights of people remained suppressed and denied. What was more, the enslavement of the people by the rulers in Islamabad had reduced the entire land to the status of a colony and nothing more. The Northern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, which were in fact an integral part of the original State of Jammu and Kashmir, were integrated by Pakistan in 1949 without ascertaining the will of the people involved. The people had been demonstrating against the arbitrary annexation of the area by Pakistan and human-rights workers had been subjected to repression in various ways. A number of human-rights defenders had been detained, arrested, kidnapped and displaced by the State apparatus.
The Commission was urged to persuade the Government of Pakistan to concede the civil and political rights of the people of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, including the Northern Areas, and to protect the lives of human-rights defenders working there.
INGE GENEFKE, of International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, said there was a particular need for protection of health professionals as human-rights defenders. Although health professionals were in many ways protected from politically motivated persecution by their own code of ethics of impartiality, recent trends showed that this impartiality had become the very foundation of criminal accusations, particularly in Turkey. As the development of appropriate legislation for combatting torture was put in place, the fact-finding and medical documentation of torture had become a serious area of concern for torturers due to the doctors' ability to provide medical evidence for use in trials.
The Commission should appoint a Special Rapporteur for human-rights defenders and support health professionals as they were increasingly being identified with their patients' political standing.
LIU XINSHENG (China) said it was committed to the cause of promoting and protecting human rights and had consistently supported and actively participated in human-rights cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. From March 1 to 3 this year, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, China held with success in Beijing the eighth human-rights workshop of the Asia-Pacific Region. Representatives from over 40 countries attended. Thanks to their untiring efforts, the workshop achieved objectives of equal and mutual benefit, in-depth exchange, experience sharing and further cooperation.
The spirit of equality-based cooperation characterized by the Asia-Pacific human-rights workshops should be extended to the broader area of international human-rights activities. The Asia-Pacific region was endowed with a great variety of cultures, religions and traditions, and with differing levels of economic and social development. During the regional workshop, many countries voiced the need to take fully into account these factors when establishing a regional human rights mechanism.
RODOLFO REYES (Cuba) said constructive and transparent dialogue was the key to the effective follow-up and implementation of recommendations made by human-rights treaty bodies. There had to be a clear balance in geographical representation in the treaty bodies. Transparency in information was vital for avoiding political manipulation. Cooperation between treaty bodies could be useful but there had to be strict respect for the differences in mandates.
The Commission should focus on a rights-based approach in its programmes for cooperation for development, given the unilateral nature between the concepts of democracy, development and human rights. Strategies should be developed, particularly with regard to the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and international assistance to developing countries was essential. In Copenhagen, the developed countries had reaffirmed their commitment to dedicate 0.7 per cent of their GDP to Official Development Assistance, and they should now do so. The High Commissioner should draw up a report providing a serious role for technical assistance, which was integral to all aspects of human rights. A draft resolution prepared by Cuba recommended the creation of a task force, including the training of staff from developing countries, to enable them to fill staff vacancies at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
LEANDRO DESPOUY (Argentina) said Argentina had read the High Commissioner's report on the composition of staff which promised that the staff arrangement would be more representational and equitable. The effective functioning and strengthening of machinery with in the UN human-rights system would depend on complementarity and on cooperation with regional organizations. Work by the UN in backstopping national human-rights institutions was very useful, and in the Latin American region, Argentina, Paraguay, and other countries had benefited from such technical-cooperation programmes. Currently, Argentina was preparing an ambitious programme with the help of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights aimed at strengthening and coordinating national human-rights mechanisms.
The safety of UN personnel was a matter of concern; the greatest safety should be afforded UN personnel and locally recruited staff. Argentina contributed significant numbers of troops to peacekeeping operations, along with staff for other humanitarian operations, and believed more attention needed to be paid to completely resolve the safety concerns of international staff in the field.
IAN HILL, (New Zealand) said two key problems must be addressed as a matter of priority: the huge amount of overdue or non-reporting States parties to treaty bodies; and the lengthy backlog and delays in consideration of periodic reports and individual communications by the treaty bodies. The challenge was to develop practical strategies to address these difficulties, and thereby improve the efficiency and effective working of the system.
First, efforts must be made to reduce the reporting burden by streamlining periodic reporting requirements and reducing duplication. Second, the treaty bodies should intensify their efforts to improve the professionalism and efficiency of their working methods. Third, the treaty bodies should be appropriately resourced and have the necessary administrative support to undertake their work. Fourth, technical assistance should be expanded to ensure that States parties understood fully their obligations under the treaties. Finally, there was a need for greater cooperation among the treaty bodies themselves and with other parts of the UN system.
IOANNA KUCARADI (Turkey) said there were four categories of human-rights institutions in Turkey: research centres for human rights, Governmental institutions, NGOs and certain "on-the-borderline" Governmental organizations and NGOs. In 1991, a Human Rights Inquiry Commission was established in the Grand National Assembly to investigate human-rights allegations; in 1994 a National Advisory Council for Human Rights was established by virtue of a decree of the Prime Minister. The Council consisted of independent personalities known for their work in the field of human rights in Turkey. After the abolition of this Council in 1996, a High Coordination Board for Human Rights was established.
There were many NGOs carrying out activities related to human rights in Turkey, such as various associations for women, children, prisoners, refugees etc. A considerable part of these NGOs had been, since 1998, cooperating with the National Committee for Human Rights Education of Turkey and making valuable contributions to this work. The protection of human rights and the prevention of human-rights violations were the common goals of all those who cared for the creation of a world free from fear and want. whether they were public officers of members of NGOs.
OKSANA BOYKO (Ukraine) said universal ratification of the six core human-rights treaties was important, but so was the implementation of those treaties by States that had ratified them. Ukraine had submitted reports to four treaty bodies, but it would be months or years before they were considered; the treaty-monitoring system was faced now with increasing numbers of reports and communications against a background of reduced or static resources; if not addressed, these difficulties could jeopardize the effectiveness and credibility of the treaty bodies.
Ukraine supported efforts to improve the safety of UN personnel in the field but called for more careful, responsible and thorough carrying out of mandates by Special Rapporteurs; Ukraine was concerned, for example, at the use of outdated, unproved, or groundless information referring to the Ukraine in reports on mercenaries and religious intolerance. Concrete facts and firm proof should be behind any allegations against specific countries. Also, a more comprehensive approach was needed to the 1503 confidential procedure, and more effort was needed to avoid the current extreme politicization of human-rights issues, which were used to accomplish certain political goals.
ANDREW GOLED ZINOWSKI (Australia) said it was strongly of the view that independent and pluralistic national human-rights institutions were one of the most effective mechanisms available to States for pursuing the realization of the human rights of their citizens. National institutions could help to ensure that international human-rights norms became a reality for each individual. There were several basic elements essential to the effectiveness of such institutions. These elements were known as the Paris Principles, which stipulated that the institutions should be independent, adequately resourced and established by law with the power to investigate human-rights violations. National institutions could serve useful goals beyond their own countries, both in assisting in the establishment and development of national institutions in other countries and in the development of regional human rights arrangements.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions had been particularly effective in facilitating the exchange of expertise, resources and information between national institutions, Governments and civil society.
GERD OBERLEITNER (Austria) said that by establishing treaty bodies, and by entrusting them with the task of monitoring State compliance with treaty provisions, States submitted themselves in a transparent and open manner to international scrutiny with a view towards further strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights at the national level. Treaty bodies also provided guidance and leadership on human-rights matters throughout the United Nations, in particular in the field of advisory services. Ratification, implementation and monitoring was thus the cornerstone of this system. So far, progress remained too slow and too uneven.
Austria was concerned by the rising number of unacceptable reservations, incompatible with the object and purpose of human-rights treaties. Unspecified and general reservations, running against the very spirit of the respective treaty, were not in line with international law. Austria was concerned that the current reporting system was becoming increasingly unsustainable for all concerned. In light of the importance of the treaty regime, Austria welcomed steps to further improve and strengthen the system. There should be better cooperation, coordination and communication between treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Commission. The reform process should continue.
ZAINAL RAJA NUSHIRWAN (Malaysia) said Malaysia had passed an Act creating a National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) in August 1999 and had appointed its members by 31 March 2000. The Act empowered the NCHR to study and verify any alleged infringement of human rights; to visit places of detention and make recommendations; to issue public statements when necessary; to recommend to the Government on matters related to the accession to treaties and other international instruments on human rights; and to promote awareness of and provide education on human rights. Malaysia had also participated actively in the human-rights regional cooperation process in the Asia and Pacific region, a process that had been active and fruitful and could be used as a model for other regions.
Malaysia believed that national human-rights institutions were important but did not believe that countries which did not have them should be stigmatized. The promotion of human rights should be an inclusive effort that embraced different shades of opinion.
NURLAN DANENOV (Kazakhstan) said the country was committed to the protection and promotion of human rights in keeping with international norms and standards. Democratic reforms had been undertaken in order to further observance of and respect for human rights.
As part of the reforms, Kazakhstan had established a Human Rights Commission, the purpose of which was to strengthen mechanisms aimed at protecting citizens' rights and assist the head of State in his task of being guarantor of human rights. The Commission heard complaints from citizens, considered cases of human-rights violations, and helped develop other human-rights institutions. An office of Ombudsman had also been set up to supplement the Commission and the President.
DAVID LITTMAN, of Association for World Education, said there was an urgent need to consider how the Commission could interact better with the representatives of armed movements involved in intra-State conflicts. Many Government representatives believed it was too soon to raise this issue publicly and that there was as yet too little consensus on how to advance. It was said that one must not reward armed movements by allowing them to shoot their way to the United Nations negotiating table. However, many Government representatives saw the usefulness of continuing discussions on the matter.
There had to be mechanisms to consider the proposals of movements engaged in intra-State armed conflicts, and such conflicts were growing in number and intensity. Non-violent methods should be used to oppose repression; negotiations should be in good faith; there should be the formulation of fundamental standards of humanity; and analysis of the agents engaged in intra-State armed conflicts should be carried out in order to understand the nature of armed leadership and to identify other agents working for peace and compromise. This required an increased capacity in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for country-specific intelligence and greater cooperation within the UN system, among the field workers of specialized agencies and UN programmes.
AYE HLA PHYU, of the Asian Legal Resource Centre, said the National Human Rights Commission of India came into being through an ordinance on 25 September 1993. It primary function was to inquire into complaints of human-rights violations, but the Commission had no power to take binding decisions. Its recommendations had no legal sanction.
The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had extensive powers, and there had been no record of inadequate resources. However, its performance had in no way impressed the nation. It suffered from an internal incapacity to act, while a situation of grave human-rights abuses prevailed in the country. It should try to help law-enforcement agencies cope with that anarchic situation by making recommendations, which its mandate allowed it to make. Generally, there was a serious lack of public confidence in the Sri Lankan Commission.
SUHAS CHAKMA, of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, said National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region had manifestly failed to stand the test of time. The establishment of NHRIs had proved to be one more false god joining the pantheon of State-centric human rights initiatives. While members of the Asia Pacific Forum on NHRIs had adhered to some provisions of the Paris Principles on NHRIs, they had derogated in practice from the content. For India, with a population of 1 billion, a National Human Rights Commission having just over 250 staff members was woefully inadequate. While India's NHRC had a shortage of staff, the 13,000 local human-rights officers of the Philippines Human Rights Commission had not been of much help in that country, either.
Lack of financial independence was one serious constraint of NHRIs. It was matter of serious concern that the Australian Government had made substantial cuts to the budget of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission suffered from problems of inadequate powers, restricted mandate, poor infrastructure, insufficient funding and overlapping mandates with similar institutions. In 1996, Nepal passed the Human Rights Commission Act, but the Government had not yet constituted the Commission. In Bangladesh, the Parliament had yet to see a similar bill. Finally, Malaysia had not ratified any of the major human-rights conventions.
RAPHAEL WALDEN, of the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, speaking on behalf of several other NGOs, said article 26 of the International Convenant of Civil and Political Rights called for equal and effective protection against discrimination. Yet the province of Ontario granted full public funding to Catholic schools but no funding to schools of any other religious denomination. Canada was party to several human-rights instruments which prohibited such discrimination. If Canada failed comply with a finding of the Human Rights Committee, what sort of example would this set for other States with incomparably worse human-rights records? State-sponsored religious discrimination should not be countenanced by Canada or any other State.
The report of the Special Representative on Iran drew attention to allegations of espionage and other charges which the Iranian Government had brought against 13 members of the Jewish community. There were concerns as to lack of a fair trial, denial of a defense of the accuseds' choice, lack of international observers, or access to lawyers of their choice. The Iranian authorities must demonstrate that these concerns were unjustified by conducting the trial in open court and allowing the presence of international observers.
ALENA PEROUT, of Canadian Human Rights Foundation, said regional cooperation in human rights and the establishment of national human-rights institutions had been important. In many parts of Asia, such institutions had been established with different competence and mandates. Their expansion in Africa was also urged.
The collaboration of national institutions and non-governmental organization should be strengthened and technical assistance should be developed along that line. The development of national human rights commissions were among the goals the international human-rights community was fighting for.
DEBORA STATHARD, of Aliran Kesedaran Negara, said that in countries like Burma and Malaysia the establishment of national human rights commissions was more of a cynical exercise aimed at containment of human rights and perhaps even justifying human-rights violations. This did not bode well for the credibility of ASEAN human-rights mechanisms. For Southeast Asian human-rights defenders, the concern about such mechanisms centred on the fact that infamous human-rights violators could be in a position to define what human rights meant. This was like expecting the fox to look after the chickens.
There were serious concerns that the Malaysian Human Rights Commission's understanding of human rights was not based on the minimum standards given in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The ASEAN pattern of doing things back to front, where human rights were concerned, was repeated in Burma, where the notorious regime planned to set up a human-rights commission.
DENNIS WARNER, of Pax Christi International, speaking on behalf of several other NGOs, said the effective functioning of human-rights mechanisms required the cooperation and assistance of all those involved in the process. Unfortunately, many Governments acted as though the protection of human rights ended with the ratification of treaties that established protection mechanisms and thus neglected the continuing obligations that these treaties imposed on States. Despite non-adherence and non-cooperation with human-rights mechanisms, many States maintained the appearance, though not the reality, of compliance with human rights obligations.
Brazil was an illustrative example in this regard in its non-recognition of conventional oversight mechanisms, failure to comply fully with special mechanisms, and inconsistent compliance with conventional bodies. The Government of Brazil was called upon, along with other non-compliant States, to comply fully with the obligations assumed under international human-rights treaties, so as to enable human-rights mechanisms to function appropriately.
ALBERTO SALAMANDO, of International Indian Treaty Council, said indigenous communities in Colombia had been invaded and their human rights violated. They were being intimidated and persecuted by Government agents.
In addition, they were being subjected to the repressive power of transnational oil-exploring companies, which were operating in their regions. The Government had to seek means to alleviate the suffering of these indigenous people of Colombia. The Commission was urged to take appropriate action so that members of these indigenous communities could recover their rights.
*****
56th session
17 April 2000
Evening
The Commission on Human Rights carried on this evening with its annual review of the operation of human-rights mechanisms and consideration of possibilities for their improvement, hearing, among other things, praise for technical-cooperation programmes and requests for their expansion, and requests that further resources be given to relieve overburdened human-rights treaty bodies, which in some cases were years behind in considering States reports submitted to them.
A representative of the Ukraine said the country had submitted reports to four treaty bodies but it would be months or years before the documents were considered. The treaty-monitoring system was faced now with increasing numbers of reports and communications against a background of reduced or static resources, this official said; and if not addressed, these difficulties could jeopardize the effectiveness and credibility of the treaty bodies.
The agenda item on "effective functioning of human rights mechanisms" includes the topics of United Nations human-rights treaty bodies; national institutions and regional arrangements for human rights; and adaptation and strengthening of United Nations human-rights machinery.
Turkey, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan described the activities and mandates of national human-rights institutions or commissions.
By contrast, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) told the Commission that national human-rights bodies frequently failed in their announced roles because they lacked strong mandates, sufficient independence, sufficient money, or sufficient will. Those contentions came from the Asian Legal Resource Centre, the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, and Aliran Kesedaran Negara.
Earlier in the session, the Commission concluded debate under its agenda item on the promotion and protection of human rights.
Addressing the evening meeting were representatives of China, Cuba, Argentina, New Zealand, Turkey, Ukraine, Australia, Austria, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.
The following NGOs also delivered statements: International Indian Treaty Council; International Young Catholic Students; Centre Europe - Tiers Monde; Pax Romana; Soka Gakkai International; Association for World Education; France Libertes; International Institute for Peace; World Federation of Trade Unions; African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters; Association for the Promotion of Employment and Housing; International Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims; Asian Legal Resources Centre; South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre; Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations; Canadian Human Rights Foundation; Aliran Kesedaran Negara; and Pax Christi.
The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 18 April.
Statements
ALBERTO SALAMANDO, of International Indian Treaty Council, said the Council was concerned with the continuing and growing use of persistent organic pollutants, commonly referred to as POPS, and their effects on Sacred Mother Earth and indigenous peoples. The soil was increasingly being poisoned by the use of these deadly chemicals, and indigenous peoples were among the first to feel deadly effects. POPS included industrial chemicals such as PCBs, pesticides and by-products of industrial manufacturing and waste disposal, such as dioxins.
Dioxins traveled long distances in air and water, reaching virtually every region of the world. They could accumulate in high concentrations thousands of kilometres from where they were originally released. Humans were exposed through water and food as well as through inhalation and dermal contact. In the United States and Canada indigenous people were exposed to these chemicals.
ALEXANDRE OWONA, of International Young Catholic Students, said that in many countries human rights were violated on a daily basis. Human-rights defenders were physically intimidated and the perpetrators of violations enjoyed impunity in most cases. Certain States continued to arm certain groups and support guerrillas with the aim of destabilizing other countries. In countries with long-established democracies, political parties of the far right were increasingly gaining ground. Racist sites on the Internet proliferated. In Africa, conflicts multiplied.
In international relations, the strong crushed the weak and enforced their laws to the detriment of humanitarian rules. Wars such as in Kosovo and Chechnya stemmed from the violation of the most fundamental humanitarian rules. The international community should take the necessary measures to address human rights violations and impunity.
MALIK OZDEN, of Centre Europe - Tiers Monde, said perpetrators of violations of economic, social and cultural rights should not escape impunity. Preventive and even coercive measures were needed to combat impunity for violators of these rights. All human rights were indivisible; violations of liberty and dignity were involved in economic, social and cultural rights. Poor use of resources, poor international cooperation, and other problems, including misbehaviour by transnational corporations, had to be faced, too.
One significant step would be reform of the international financial institutions. The World Bank and IMF should be democratized. The declaration on fundamental justice for the victims of crimes and abuse of power, adopted by the General Assembly, should be used to pursue violators of economic, social and cultural rights. The inclusion of such rights within the purview of the new International Criminal Court should be considered. An independent expert also should be appointed on the topic of violations of economic, social and cultural rights.
R. J. RAJKUMAR, of Pax Romana, said that today, defending human rights in all its forms was happening at every level and everywhere. It was a global phenomenon, and at the same time, the defenders, whether they were individuals, groups, or NGOs, were totally exposed. Lacking adequate safeguards, they confronted the State's monopoly on violence -- the State, which was supposed to be the protector and the promoter. Frequently, the defenders, mostly unarmed civilians as well as organized groups, were caught in the interface between humanitarian and human-rights crises.
The Commission was urged establish a post of Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders with a well-defined mandate, as clearly requested by a number of oral interventions.
CATHERINE MALLET, of Soka Gakkai International, said that having human-rights institutions and laws without human-rights education was like cutting away the poisonous grass above the ground level, but leaving the poisonous roots underground which sprouted over and over again into violence. Human-rights education was a tool to create not only acceptance but willingness in the hearts of people to mutually respect human rights in every nation. All Governments should be further encouraged to officially integrate human-rights education in primary and secondary schools.
In order to exchange information on strategies and pedagogical methods aimed at the global implementation of human-rights education in schools, inter-governmental fora should be organized in cooperation with all concerned partners. Before people became divided into offenders and victims, all measures, and in particular human-rights education, must be taken to prevent human-rights violations. Human rights education was a tool which should be invented, renovated, applied and implemented with a sense of creativity for world peace for all people.
DAVID LITTMAN, of Association for World Education, said a slave was a slave, not an "abducted person". Anyone establishing eye-to-eye contact with a slave could never forget the experience. Since the coup d'etat of 1989, the Government of Sudan had worked strenuously to gain the complicity of the international community in an outrageous travesty. "Abduction" was Sudan's magic formula by which its stark nakedness on slavery was transformed into a newly tailored garment. Why had this Commission become party to such a farce? It was only last year that the term slavery -- regularly used by the Special Rapporteur -- had been cloaked by the term "abduction" after the European Union took the lead in sponsoring the resolution on Sudan.
Had anyone the slightest idea what happened to these women and children from the south of Sudan? Did the European Union, Canada, and the Commission really want to bear the responsibility of removing the keystone of international human-rights standards, and for covering up what had clearly been defined as crimes against humanity? The Commission, before its upcoming vote on Sudan, was urged to adhere to the accurate terms of slavery and slave trade -- to call a slave a slave and nothing else.
JEAN-MARIE JULIA, of France Libertes, brought to the attention of the Commission the killing of a human-rights defender in Sri Lanka on 5 January this year. G.G. Ponnambalam had been cold-bloodedly killed by unknown shooters. He had been implicated in activities of human-rights defense and had been defending the rights of Tamils who fell under the terrorism-prevention act of the country. He had written important reports on human-rights violations, including cases of kidnapping.
He had also participated at the Commission to deliver a statement in the past. The Commission was urged to call upon the Sri Lankan Government to elucidate the circumstance of his death.
D. R. SAINI, of International Institute for Peace, said the military coup which took place in Pakistan on 12 October 1999 was not only a black day for democracy in Pakistan but a tragedy for the international community. General Parvez Musharraf sought to destroy the very foundations of political and civic freedoms. His only desire was to perpetuate himself in power for which he was prepared to sacrifice national interests and international democratic norms. The military regime had even banned the holding of any outdoor political demonstrations and had sought to frustrate and intimidate the country's judiciary in many perverse ways. There was no doubt of the barbarity of the military regime, and people would not be free to act unless democracy returned, the judiciary was unshackled and courage was restored to the media.
The world community could not afford any delay in addressing the fate of those incarcerated by the recent coup d'état. Impunity currently enjoyed by the military must end. The international community must act now before it was too late. This would send a clear signal to other parts of the world that democracy and not military rule was the best arbiter of civic and political freedom and its defenders in the world.
ANJALI GANDHI, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, said where freedom of expression and opinion were restricted, the protection of human rights became impossible, since people were afraid to express their true feelings or opinions about development. The most recent example was the recent coup in Pakistan following which the draconian system of the "exit-control list" was being used with great abandon. Leading politicians and human rights activists were hesitant to criticize the current regime, as many had been placed on the exit control list restricting their basic freedom of movement. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had played a stellar role in highlighting the ills that existed in Pakistani society and the uphill battle that the enlightened sections of Pakistan had ahead of them if they were to protect and promote human rights.
As Pakistan had sought to use Islam to further its political and strategic interests, so had Pakistani society paid the price with liberal laws being shelved in favour of discriminatory policies. This was true of all regions, which was why functioning democracies actively sought to dissociate religion from the affairs of State. The promotion and protection of human rights was not just a matter of the instruments being available; above all it was a function of ideology and ethos.
MAHMOUD LAVASSANI, of African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said education in human rights was essential; the plan of action of the UN Decade for Education in Human Rights was a critical undertaking. Over 75 per cent of the world's people lived in regrettable situations; 25 per cent had no access to drinking water; 20 per cent lacked decent housing; some 15 per cent lacked the most basic health services. There was a gap, an abyss, separating the industrialized countries from the developing countries. Africa had extraordinary wealth in terms of gold, diamonds, oil and other natural resources, yet had extraordinary poverty.
Corruption and poverty ate away at the Government bodies of many States. Some of the stifling debt burden on the African continent had recently been written off, but more had to be done. More also had to be done to ensure responsible management of existing resources. More had to be done to establish and spread peace. More had to be done to share the benefits of scientific and technical discoveries with needy countries.
MOHAMMAD KHAN, of Association for the Promotion of Housing and Employment, said the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir was a classic example where the civil and political rights of people remained suppressed and denied. What was more, the enslavement of the people by the rulers in Islamabad had reduced the entire land to the status of a colony and nothing more. The Northern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, which were in fact an integral part of the original State of Jammu and Kashmir, were integrated by Pakistan in 1949 without ascertaining the will of the people involved. The people had been demonstrating against the arbitrary annexation of the area by Pakistan and human-rights workers had been subjected to repression in various ways. A number of human-rights defenders had been detained, arrested, kidnapped and displaced by the State apparatus.
The Commission was urged to persuade the Government of Pakistan to concede the civil and political rights of the people of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, including the Northern Areas, and to protect the lives of human-rights defenders working there.
INGE GENEFKE, of International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, said there was a particular need for protection of health professionals as human-rights defenders. Although health professionals were in many ways protected from politically motivated persecution by their own code of ethics of impartiality, recent trends showed that this impartiality had become the very foundation of criminal accusations, particularly in Turkey. As the development of appropriate legislation for combatting torture was put in place, the fact-finding and medical documentation of torture had become a serious area of concern for torturers due to the doctors' ability to provide medical evidence for use in trials.
The Commission should appoint a Special Rapporteur for human-rights defenders and support health professionals as they were increasingly being identified with their patients' political standing.
LIU XINSHENG (China) said it was committed to the cause of promoting and protecting human rights and had consistently supported and actively participated in human-rights cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. From March 1 to 3 this year, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, China held with success in Beijing the eighth human-rights workshop of the Asia-Pacific Region. Representatives from over 40 countries attended. Thanks to their untiring efforts, the workshop achieved objectives of equal and mutual benefit, in-depth exchange, experience sharing and further cooperation.
The spirit of equality-based cooperation characterized by the Asia-Pacific human-rights workshops should be extended to the broader area of international human-rights activities. The Asia-Pacific region was endowed with a great variety of cultures, religions and traditions, and with differing levels of economic and social development. During the regional workshop, many countries voiced the need to take fully into account these factors when establishing a regional human rights mechanism.
RODOLFO REYES (Cuba) said constructive and transparent dialogue was the key to the effective follow-up and implementation of recommendations made by human-rights treaty bodies. There had to be a clear balance in geographical representation in the treaty bodies. Transparency in information was vital for avoiding political manipulation. Cooperation between treaty bodies could be useful but there had to be strict respect for the differences in mandates.
The Commission should focus on a rights-based approach in its programmes for cooperation for development, given the unilateral nature between the concepts of democracy, development and human rights. Strategies should be developed, particularly with regard to the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and international assistance to developing countries was essential. In Copenhagen, the developed countries had reaffirmed their commitment to dedicate 0.7 per cent of their GDP to Official Development Assistance, and they should now do so. The High Commissioner should draw up a report providing a serious role for technical assistance, which was integral to all aspects of human rights. A draft resolution prepared by Cuba recommended the creation of a task force, including the training of staff from developing countries, to enable them to fill staff vacancies at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
LEANDRO DESPOUY (Argentina) said Argentina had read the High Commissioner's report on the composition of staff which promised that the staff arrangement would be more representational and equitable. The effective functioning and strengthening of machinery with in the UN human-rights system would depend on complementarity and on cooperation with regional organizations. Work by the UN in backstopping national human-rights institutions was very useful, and in the Latin American region, Argentina, Paraguay, and other countries had benefited from such technical-cooperation programmes. Currently, Argentina was preparing an ambitious programme with the help of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights aimed at strengthening and coordinating national human-rights mechanisms.
The safety of UN personnel was a matter of concern; the greatest safety should be afforded UN personnel and locally recruited staff. Argentina contributed significant numbers of troops to peacekeeping operations, along with staff for other humanitarian operations, and believed more attention needed to be paid to completely resolve the safety concerns of international staff in the field.
IAN HILL, (New Zealand) said two key problems must be addressed as a matter of priority: the huge amount of overdue or non-reporting States parties to treaty bodies; and the lengthy backlog and delays in consideration of periodic reports and individual communications by the treaty bodies. The challenge was to develop practical strategies to address these difficulties, and thereby improve the efficiency and effective working of the system.
First, efforts must be made to reduce the reporting burden by streamlining periodic reporting requirements and reducing duplication. Second, the treaty bodies should intensify their efforts to improve the professionalism and efficiency of their working methods. Third, the treaty bodies should be appropriately resourced and have the necessary administrative support to undertake their work. Fourth, technical assistance should be expanded to ensure that States parties understood fully their obligations under the treaties. Finally, there was a need for greater cooperation among the treaty bodies themselves and with other parts of the UN system.
IOANNA KUCARADI (Turkey) said there were four categories of human-rights institutions in Turkey: research centres for human rights, Governmental institutions, NGOs and certain "on-the-borderline" Governmental organizations and NGOs. In 1991, a Human Rights Inquiry Commission was established in the Grand National Assembly to investigate human-rights allegations; in 1994 a National Advisory Council for Human Rights was established by virtue of a decree of the Prime Minister. The Council consisted of independent personalities known for their work in the field of human rights in Turkey. After the abolition of this Council in 1996, a High Coordination Board for Human Rights was established.
There were many NGOs carrying out activities related to human rights in Turkey, such as various associations for women, children, prisoners, refugees etc. A considerable part of these NGOs had been, since 1998, cooperating with the National Committee for Human Rights Education of Turkey and making valuable contributions to this work. The protection of human rights and the prevention of human-rights violations were the common goals of all those who cared for the creation of a world free from fear and want. whether they were public officers of members of NGOs.
OKSANA BOYKO (Ukraine) said universal ratification of the six core human-rights treaties was important, but so was the implementation of those treaties by States that had ratified them. Ukraine had submitted reports to four treaty bodies, but it would be months or years before they were considered; the treaty-monitoring system was faced now with increasing numbers of reports and communications against a background of reduced or static resources; if not addressed, these difficulties could jeopardize the effectiveness and credibility of the treaty bodies.
Ukraine supported efforts to improve the safety of UN personnel in the field but called for more careful, responsible and thorough carrying out of mandates by Special Rapporteurs; Ukraine was concerned, for example, at the use of outdated, unproved, or groundless information referring to the Ukraine in reports on mercenaries and religious intolerance. Concrete facts and firm proof should be behind any allegations against specific countries. Also, a more comprehensive approach was needed to the 1503 confidential procedure, and more effort was needed to avoid the current extreme politicization of human-rights issues, which were used to accomplish certain political goals.
ANDREW GOLED ZINOWSKI (Australia) said it was strongly of the view that independent and pluralistic national human-rights institutions were one of the most effective mechanisms available to States for pursuing the realization of the human rights of their citizens. National institutions could help to ensure that international human-rights norms became a reality for each individual. There were several basic elements essential to the effectiveness of such institutions. These elements were known as the Paris Principles, which stipulated that the institutions should be independent, adequately resourced and established by law with the power to investigate human-rights violations. National institutions could serve useful goals beyond their own countries, both in assisting in the establishment and development of national institutions in other countries and in the development of regional human rights arrangements.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions had been particularly effective in facilitating the exchange of expertise, resources and information between national institutions, Governments and civil society.
GERD OBERLEITNER (Austria) said that by establishing treaty bodies, and by entrusting them with the task of monitoring State compliance with treaty provisions, States submitted themselves in a transparent and open manner to international scrutiny with a view towards further strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights at the national level. Treaty bodies also provided guidance and leadership on human-rights matters throughout the United Nations, in particular in the field of advisory services. Ratification, implementation and monitoring was thus the cornerstone of this system. So far, progress remained too slow and too uneven.
Austria was concerned by the rising number of unacceptable reservations, incompatible with the object and purpose of human-rights treaties. Unspecified and general reservations, running against the very spirit of the respective treaty, were not in line with international law. Austria was concerned that the current reporting system was becoming increasingly unsustainable for all concerned. In light of the importance of the treaty regime, Austria welcomed steps to further improve and strengthen the system. There should be better cooperation, coordination and communication between treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Commission. The reform process should continue.
ZAINAL RAJA NUSHIRWAN (Malaysia) said Malaysia had passed an Act creating a National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) in August 1999 and had appointed its members by 31 March 2000. The Act empowered the NCHR to study and verify any alleged infringement of human rights; to visit places of detention and make recommendations; to issue public statements when necessary; to recommend to the Government on matters related to the accession to treaties and other international instruments on human rights; and to promote awareness of and provide education on human rights. Malaysia had also participated actively in the human-rights regional cooperation process in the Asia and Pacific region, a process that had been active and fruitful and could be used as a model for other regions.
Malaysia believed that national human-rights institutions were important but did not believe that countries which did not have them should be stigmatized. The promotion of human rights should be an inclusive effort that embraced different shades of opinion.
NURLAN DANENOV (Kazakhstan) said the country was committed to the protection and promotion of human rights in keeping with international norms and standards. Democratic reforms had been undertaken in order to further observance of and respect for human rights.
As part of the reforms, Kazakhstan had established a Human Rights Commission, the purpose of which was to strengthen mechanisms aimed at protecting citizens' rights and assist the head of State in his task of being guarantor of human rights. The Commission heard complaints from citizens, considered cases of human-rights violations, and helped develop other human-rights institutions. An office of Ombudsman had also been set up to supplement the Commission and the President.
DAVID LITTMAN, of Association for World Education, said there was an urgent need to consider how the Commission could interact better with the representatives of armed movements involved in intra-State conflicts. Many Government representatives believed it was too soon to raise this issue publicly and that there was as yet too little consensus on how to advance. It was said that one must not reward armed movements by allowing them to shoot their way to the United Nations negotiating table. However, many Government representatives saw the usefulness of continuing discussions on the matter.
There had to be mechanisms to consider the proposals of movements engaged in intra-State armed conflicts, and such conflicts were growing in number and intensity. Non-violent methods should be used to oppose repression; negotiations should be in good faith; there should be the formulation of fundamental standards of humanity; and analysis of the agents engaged in intra-State armed conflicts should be carried out in order to understand the nature of armed leadership and to identify other agents working for peace and compromise. This required an increased capacity in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for country-specific intelligence and greater cooperation within the UN system, among the field workers of specialized agencies and UN programmes.
AYE HLA PHYU, of the Asian Legal Resource Centre, said the National Human Rights Commission of India came into being through an ordinance on 25 September 1993. It primary function was to inquire into complaints of human-rights violations, but the Commission had no power to take binding decisions. Its recommendations had no legal sanction.
The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had extensive powers, and there had been no record of inadequate resources. However, its performance had in no way impressed the nation. It suffered from an internal incapacity to act, while a situation of grave human-rights abuses prevailed in the country. It should try to help law-enforcement agencies cope with that anarchic situation by making recommendations, which its mandate allowed it to make. Generally, there was a serious lack of public confidence in the Sri Lankan Commission.
SUHAS CHAKMA, of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, said National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region had manifestly failed to stand the test of time. The establishment of NHRIs had proved to be one more false god joining the pantheon of State-centric human rights initiatives. While members of the Asia Pacific Forum on NHRIs had adhered to some provisions of the Paris Principles on NHRIs, they had derogated in practice from the content. For India, with a population of 1 billion, a National Human Rights Commission having just over 250 staff members was woefully inadequate. While India's NHRC had a shortage of staff, the 13,000 local human-rights officers of the Philippines Human Rights Commission had not been of much help in that country, either.
Lack of financial independence was one serious constraint of NHRIs. It was matter of serious concern that the Australian Government had made substantial cuts to the budget of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission suffered from problems of inadequate powers, restricted mandate, poor infrastructure, insufficient funding and overlapping mandates with similar institutions. In 1996, Nepal passed the Human Rights Commission Act, but the Government had not yet constituted the Commission. In Bangladesh, the Parliament had yet to see a similar bill. Finally, Malaysia had not ratified any of the major human-rights conventions.
RAPHAEL WALDEN, of the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, speaking on behalf of several other NGOs, said article 26 of the International Convenant of Civil and Political Rights called for equal and effective protection against discrimination. Yet the province of Ontario granted full public funding to Catholic schools but no funding to schools of any other religious denomination. Canada was party to several human-rights instruments which prohibited such discrimination. If Canada failed comply with a finding of the Human Rights Committee, what sort of example would this set for other States with incomparably worse human-rights records? State-sponsored religious discrimination should not be countenanced by Canada or any other State.
The report of the Special Representative on Iran drew attention to allegations of espionage and other charges which the Iranian Government had brought against 13 members of the Jewish community. There were concerns as to lack of a fair trial, denial of a defense of the accuseds' choice, lack of international observers, or access to lawyers of their choice. The Iranian authorities must demonstrate that these concerns were unjustified by conducting the trial in open court and allowing the presence of international observers.
ALENA PEROUT, of Canadian Human Rights Foundation, said regional cooperation in human rights and the establishment of national human-rights institutions had been important. In many parts of Asia, such institutions had been established with different competence and mandates. Their expansion in Africa was also urged.
The collaboration of national institutions and non-governmental organization should be strengthened and technical assistance should be developed along that line. The development of national human rights commissions were among the goals the international human-rights community was fighting for.
DEBORA STATHARD, of Aliran Kesedaran Negara, said that in countries like Burma and Malaysia the establishment of national human rights commissions was more of a cynical exercise aimed at containment of human rights and perhaps even justifying human-rights violations. This did not bode well for the credibility of ASEAN human-rights mechanisms. For Southeast Asian human-rights defenders, the concern about such mechanisms centred on the fact that infamous human-rights violators could be in a position to define what human rights meant. This was like expecting the fox to look after the chickens.
There were serious concerns that the Malaysian Human Rights Commission's understanding of human rights was not based on the minimum standards given in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The ASEAN pattern of doing things back to front, where human rights were concerned, was repeated in Burma, where the notorious regime planned to set up a human-rights commission.
DENNIS WARNER, of Pax Christi International, speaking on behalf of several other NGOs, said the effective functioning of human-rights mechanisms required the cooperation and assistance of all those involved in the process. Unfortunately, many Governments acted as though the protection of human rights ended with the ratification of treaties that established protection mechanisms and thus neglected the continuing obligations that these treaties imposed on States. Despite non-adherence and non-cooperation with human-rights mechanisms, many States maintained the appearance, though not the reality, of compliance with human rights obligations.
Brazil was an illustrative example in this regard in its non-recognition of conventional oversight mechanisms, failure to comply fully with special mechanisms, and inconsistent compliance with conventional bodies. The Government of Brazil was called upon, along with other non-compliant States, to comply fully with the obligations assumed under international human-rights treaties, so as to enable human-rights mechanisms to function appropriately.
ALBERTO SALAMANDO, of International Indian Treaty Council, said indigenous communities in Colombia had been invaded and their human rights violated. They were being intimidated and persecuted by Government agents.
In addition, they were being subjected to the repressive power of transnational oil-exploring companies, which were operating in their regions. The Government had to seek means to alleviate the suffering of these indigenous people of Colombia. The Commission was urged to take appropriate action so that members of these indigenous communities could recover their rights.
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