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05 April 2000
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Commission on Human Rights
56th session
5 April 2000
Morning
Hears Statements by Ministers for Human Rights of Guatemala and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Commission on Human Rights this morning started its debate on civil and political rights, including the questions of torture and detention; disappearances and summary executions; freedom of expression; independence of the judiciary, administration of justice, impunity; religious intolerance; states of emergency; and conscientious objection to military service
Also this morning, the Commission suspended its discussion on economic, social and cultural rights, which it took up on Monday. The agenda item will be closed following the special debate on extreme poverty which will be held on 12 April.
During its meeting, the Commission was addressed by the Ministers for Human Rights of Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who both stressed the efforts of their respective Governments to establish democracy and the rule of law.
Guatemala's Minster for Human Rights, Victor Hugo Godoy, spoke of his country's efforts in the establishment of democracy and the rule of law. He said that in the current process of Guatemala's reconstruction, the implementation of the international and United Nations human rights protection systems were given priority. That process was aimed at the construction of new institutions which would eliminate human rights violations and would consolidate the peace agreement signed in 1996 between the Government and the armed insurgents.
The Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leonard She Okitundu, told the Commission that for two years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been confronted by an international military crisis which was undertaken by neighbouring States with the expressed intention not only to destabilize the regime in place in Kinshasa but also to pillage the mineral and natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plunder was to profit the leaders of the aggression States and was aimed at transplanting the Tutsi population into the Congolese territory which was left vacant by the fleeing local population.
The Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes, Fatma Zohra Ouhachi Vesely, gave a concluding remark on her report, saying that without cooperation between the Member States of the United Nations, no miracles could happen in that field. The establishment of human rights machinery was necessary but it could not be self-sufficient. More funds were necessary.
Ivan Tosevski, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that to date, there were 49,070 cases of disappearance in the Working Group's books, of which 46,054 were cases being kept under active consideration as they had not yet been clarified.
Sir Nigel Rodley, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the question of torture, informed the Commission on the results of his missions to Romania, Cameroon, Kenya and East Timor.
Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations delivered statements on economic, social and cultural rights: Andean Commission of Jurists, Interfaith International, Australian Council for Overseas Aid, World Muslim Congress, Muslim World League, Association tunisienne pour l'auto-development et la solidarite, International Institute for Peace, Federation of Cuban Women, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Society for Threatened Peoples and International Young Catholic Students.
Government representatives of Cameroon and Kenya also spoke under the agenda item on civil and political rights.
The Commission will continue its debate on civil and political rights when it meets at 3 p.m. It is also scheduled to hold an extended session until 9 p.m.
Conclusion of debate on economic, social and cultural rights
JAVIER CIURUZZA CONTRERAS, of the Comision Andian de Juristas, said the observance of social and cultural rights depended on a series of factors such as the international economic situation, the economic structure of each State, social policies and political stability, external debt, the implementation of structural adjustment policies as well as decisions by financial organizations with regard to the use of national resources and the formulation of State policies. The observance of economic, social and cultural rights was closely linked to poverty. Bolivia was the poorest country in Latin America, with 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line. In Peru and Ecuador, 50 and 35 percent respectively of the population lived below the poverty line.
One of the major matters of concern in Latin American countries was unemployment, underemployment as well as social unrest and disintegration stemming from the global financial crisis and structural adjustment programmes. The serving of external debt conditioned the policies of every Latin American country. The gravity of the situation varied, but on the whole Latin American countries had to allocate approximately 20 per cent of their national budgets to debt repayment. In this context, the observance of economic, social and cultural rights was more difficult.
EMMANUEL SEEMAMPILLAI, of Interfaith International, said that more attention needed to be paid to the escalating violations of human rights by the Sri Lankan Government regarding humanitarian, social and cultural needs of the Tamil people. The 'war for peace' was not limited to targeting the Tamil combatants, the LTTE. The target was all the Tamil people, arrested in their hundreds as scapegoats for every little suspicion. Since 1991 the Sri Lankan Government was enforcing an inhuman economic blockade, inclusive of food and medicine and systematic throttling of the education system. More than 40 per cent of pregnant women suffered miscarriages due to this blockade. The Tamil people had also been subject to torture and sex abuses, and had been deprived of food and medicine.
The organization urged the Sri Lankan Government to end the economic blockade and mass-arrests of Tamil civilians which were used as weapons of war. The Norwegian initiative of peace talks was welcomed, however there could be no successful peace talks while Tamil people were kept under repressive measures like denial of food, medicines, and indiscriminate mass arrests.
GREG THOMPSON, of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid, said that not only were the people of Burma denied their right to food, but in the Union of Myanmar, the right to education continued to be denied while universities and colleges remained closed and primary education standards were compromised. Burma once boasted one of the highest literacy rates in the world, but now the deterioration of its education system was second to none. Since the pro-democracy protests of 1988, universities had been open for less than three years while military colleges had remained open throughout. In primary and secondary schools, the use of local or ethnic languages had been prohibited. Teachers were jailed and tortured for teaching in non-Burmese languages. In addition, nearly one-third of children in the country received no formal education.
MIR TAHIR MASOOD, of the World Muslim Congress, said it was imperative that equal and urgent attention be given to the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights on a equal footing with civil and political rights. This was more than evident when one studied the causes of under-development in developing countries whose populations had neither control over their destinies nor sovereignty over natural resources. Discrimination based on religion, caste, creed or ethnic origin had always resulted in the erosion of the economic, social and cultural rights of many people, whether they were Kashmiris, Bosnians, Palestinians or lower caste Indians.
The heavily indebted poor countries were caught in a complex web of International Monetary Fund and World Bank eligibility conditions. Another main challenge faced by the international community was the issue of poverty eradication. Extreme poverty was currently depriving 1.3 billion people in the world, preventing them from the effective enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights.
SARDAR KHALID IBRAHIM, of the Muslim World League, said that the denial of economic, social and cultural rights carried grave consequences for the community. Most times the right to food was violated because of a combination of bad politics of governments, domestically and internationally, and climate conditions. In situations of armed occupation of foreign lands, such as Kashmir and Palestine, denial of this right stemmed from the actions of the occupying forces. Collective punishment was used to break the resistance of the occupied peoples. In Palestine this was done through the cordoning off of the occupied territories, not allowing anyone or anything into the territories. In Kashmir, this practice consisted of setting crops, orchards, shops and bazaars on fire. The right to health was also frequently violated by the two occupying forces, preventing those hurt and tortured from receiving medical attention.
The organization urged the Commission to establish a working group so that work could commence on this important and overdue instrument as a matter of urgency. The organization also hoped that this optional protocol was optional in name only. The Member States of the United Nations were urged to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to ratify the optional protocol.
MONCEF BALTI, of Atlas, said that globalization had brought about profound changes at the economic, social and cultural levels. These changes represented important challenges to humanity and could be faced only through global cooperation, solidarity and sustainable development where the human being was the cornerstone. With the increase in poverty throughout the world, the widening gap between rich and poor countries, and the emergence of individualism and intolerance, entire peoples faced exclusion. More than 1.5 billion people currently suffered poverty and every day thousands of children died of malnutrition and inadequate health care. Decreased foreign aid, the burden of external debt and unfavourable exchange conditions were some of the factors which aggravated the plight of developing countries. Poverty and under-development were the legacy of the last century but not a fatality.
SYBILE RUPPPECHI, of the International Institute for Peace, said the most fundamental requirement for the preservation of economic, social and cultural rights was an atmosphere of freedom and equal opportunity. Since very often people defined their destiny in terms of religion, culture and heritage, freedom of belief also had to be guaranteed, particularly in multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies. However, ethnic and religious discrimination was still rampant resulting from age-old prejudices or sanctioned by the States through legal, constitutional and institutional structures. In Afghanistan whole sections of society had been rendered unproductive on gender, ethnic and religious grounds. Another threat to human rights was terrorist groups who defined their campaigns in terms of religion and opposition to the ethos of particular societies. An example of this was terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan and espousing fundamentalist ideology, akin to the Taliban.
The organization said that a new global ethos crafted around immediate responses to extremism and terrorism was essential if economic, social and cultural rights were to be respected.
RITA N. PERREIRA, of the Federation of Cuban Women, said that economic, social and cultural rights could not be achieved in the midst of the hegemonic ideology of neo-liberalism. The consequences of this ideology had led to general vulnerability, unequal income distribution, the impossibility to develop with equity and the remaining foreign debt. The situation of poverty had worsened due to neo-liberalism and structural adjustment, in 1980 the number of poor in the region was 136 million, in 1990 it was 198 million and in 1994, 210 million people were living in poverty. One of five people in Latin American was living in poverty.
In Cuba, the Government had followed a strategy to improve the quality of human rights, and to respect and defend the rights of the people. However, despite hard work, Cuba was impeded by the United States’ irrational blockade. This blockade was particularly affecting women and the health and nutrition of children. Despite the adversities Cuba would continue to struggle for development in justice, democracy and equity. The trampling of the rights of the countries which only sought a better world had to stop.
MANJIMA BHATTACHARJYA, of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, said that economic, social and cultural rights were widely flouted in most part of the world. Decades of struggle to achieve significant progress in workers' rights were now being undermined and dismantled as the wave of liberalization, privatization, and hunger for ever higher profits by those who owned, moulded the era of globalization. Women in particular were facing increasing impoverishment and the erosion of their rights. A significant manifestation of these developments was observed in the experiences of workers in Export Processing Zones (EPZ), of which the overwhelming majority were women. Women in EPZs were subjected, among other things, to punishment, violent ill-treatment, threats and verbal abuse.
The Commission on Human Rights was urged to encourage UN agencies and any other agencies working on issues of foreign direct investment to foster initiatives on a national level which would allow for the improvement of women workers' rights in EPZs. Likewise, the High Commissioner for Human Rights was urged to encourage Member States to systematically apply labour and social legislation to EPZs and to call on the International Labour Office to develop technical cooperation programmes aimed at assisting women workers in EPZs to realize their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
JOHA NEELSEN, of the Society of Threatened Peoples, said violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka continued. This practice had been carried out by successive Governments and had caused the death of 55,000 people. It had also resulted in 800,000 internally displaced people. Sri Lanka was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. As opposed to recognizing the differences, the Government was systematically violating the economic, social, and cultural rights of the Tamils, including the practice of torture, disappearances, censorship, impunity and inflicting a quasi-permanent state of emergency. More than 90 per cent of the civil service and 99 per cent of security forces were Sinhalese. In Tamil regions the teacher-pupil ration was 1 to 70. The Government was trying to eliminate Tamil competitiveness.
The organization questioned how long the Commission would continue to listen to the reports of its own Special Rapporteurs without addressing the primary causes of human rights violations. The Commission was urged to concern itself with the provisions for decentralization and group rights in the proposed new constitution and to consider the content and applicability of self-determination. The endeavours of the discriminated minorities could only advance if the Commission focused on State-sponsored violations of social, economic and cultural rights as underlying the causes of conflict.
ALEXANDRE OWONA, of Jeunesse Etudiante Catholique International, said the economic situation in the Republic of Moldovia had adversely affected the development of education in the country. The budget allocated to education was insufficient to cover teachers' salaries, which were below $ 50 per month and were often paid three to five months late. As a result of this state of affairs, numerous teachers had resigned, leading to a crisis in primary and secondary education, in particular in rural areas. In India, the level of literacy remained low, with almost half of children aged six to eleven out of school. According to the International Labour Office, 55 per cent of boys were full-time students in that country and only 36 per cent of girls received education. In Asia and the Pacific, the problem was mainly the low quality of education. The situation in Africa was alarming. In all these cases, Governments reported lack of financial means. The discrimination against girls seemed to be attributable to considerable lack of information and family education. In view of these difficulties, the attention of the Commission was drawn to the necessity of reviewing international cooperation with regard to education. Donor countries were urged to consider the problem of the external debt of developing countries. Revenues obtained from debt reduction had to be invested in education, in particular at the primary level. States were also urged to review their public systems with a view to ensuring the fulfilment of the right to education.
Civil and political rights, including the questions of: torture and detention; disappearances and summary executions; freedom of expression; independence of the judiciary, administration of justice, impunity; religious intolerance; states of emergency; and conscientious objection to military service
Under this agenda item, there is a report (E/CN.4/2000/54) by the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1998/39 on civil and political rights, including the question of independence of the judiciary, administration of justice and impunity. The report says that technical assistance of the United Nations system has an important role to play in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of international standards relating to the administration of justice, in particular juvenile justice. The implementation role of the organizations of the United Nations is complemented in turn by the monitoring activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/55) by the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1998/77 on civil and political rights, including the question of conscientious objection to military service. The report is based on information received from the Governments of Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. Most countries reporting on the situation of military service recognized the right to conscientious objection with the exception of Mexico, Singapore, and Turkey. Some countries restricted the basis of objection to religious grounds only. Most countries provided some form of alternative service of a non-combative nature, although not always of a civilian character. Few countries accepted claims of conscientious objection without inquiry. In some cases, conscripts could be subjected to imprisonment for not performing service, although this was generally the case only where the conscripts refused to appear for service, of either a military or alternative nature. Some countries reported that information on alternative services was made available to conscripts.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/56) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights focusing on human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. The report is based on information received from the Governments of Cyprus, Japan and Morocco.
There is report (E/CN.4/2000/57) by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 1998/36 on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention, focusing on human rights and forensic science. The report consists of an updated list of forensic experts, the revision of the manual, the use of forensic experts and the standardized service agreement.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/59) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention, focusing on the status of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The report consists of the list of States which have signed, ratified or acceded to the Convention against Torture as of November 1, 1999. The list includes the date of signature and the date of receipt of the instrument of ratification, accession or succession.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/60) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention. The report consists of annual reports, the financial status, fund-raising, and a needs assessment. The report also features the consultations with the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur, briefings for non-governmental organizations, internal information activities and prizes awarded to organizations financed by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Under this agenda item, the Commission has before it a report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (E/CN.4/2000/3), which concludes, among other things, that there is no indication that the occurrence of such executions decreased in 1999, and that certain specific groups such as human-rights defenders, political activists and members of various minorities continue to be particularly exposed to such horrendous crimes. There also were more and more reports of large-scale indiscriminate and arbitrary killings of women, children or elderly persons by Government-controlled security forces, paramilitary groups or non-State actors, the report contends. The Special Rapporteur cites a "personal commitment and responsibility to address the unacceptable practice of so-called 'honour killings', which she concludes may constitute violations of the right to life when condoned or ignored by the authorities".
In addition to the report there are Addenda 2 and 3 which describe missions undertaken by the Special Rapporteur to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to Albania, and to Mexico. The former remarks, among other things, that "It is obvious that the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia must be called upon to put an immediate end to killings and violence in Kosovo. It is equally clear that international monitors, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the media must be allowed to regain access to Kosovo for further investigations into alleged abuses and to expose the full reality of the situation to the international community". The report on Mexico concludes, among other things, that "Mexico is passing through a difficult period as the country's progress is being marred by political polarization and violence. Urgent preventive steps need to be taken to defuse tensions and to bring down the level of violence in order to protect the security and lives of innocent civilians who suffer at the hands of police, the armed forces, the paramilitary and armed opposition groups".
There is a report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (E/CN.4/2000/4) which concludes, among other things, that a lack of protection for human-rights defenders is apparent and that it has recently become common for lawyers defending victims of human-rights violations, as well as other persons dedicated to protecting fundamental rights, to become, together with journalists and politicians, prime targets for repressive measures. Several specific victims are listed, and the report adds, "The Group is concerned about the fact that attempts have been made in such cases to justify deprivation of liberty on the basis of domestic laws incompatible with international human rights instruments". The Group recommends, among other things, that countries should make only moderate use of states of emergency, and that in imposing them they should adhere strictly to the guidelines given in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(E/CN.4/2000/Add.1) to the report reviews opinions of the Working Group on 33 different cases brought to its attention and occurring in the following countries: Peru, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, China, Cameroon, Myanmar, Israel, Tunisia, Nigeria, India, Chad, the Russian Federation, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Djibouti.
(E/CN.4/2000/Add. 2) reports on the Working Group’s visit to Indonesia from 31 January to 12 February 1999, concluding, among other things, that a democratization movement has begun in the country, "even if much progress remains to be made"; that freedom of the press has made considerable progress, as have freedom of assembly and association; and that on the other hand "the incidence of violence accompanying repressive activities has hardly diminished (for example in Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor). Arrests continue to be characterized by numerous flaws that result in detentions being arbitrary".
The report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, Sir Nigel Rodley, (E/CN.4/2000/9) includes a summary of the activities of the Special Rapporteur as well as information reviewed by the Special Rapporteur with respect to specific cases in 85 countries and territories. The Special Rapporteur states that he has participated in two meetings at which the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted and further dissemination was discussed. The Manual is based on and closely follows the form and content of the Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal , Arbitrary and Summary Executions. The Special Rapporteur hopes the Manual is as widely disseminated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in as many languages as possible.
There are three addenda to the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/2000/9/Adds. 1, 2, and 3) which review, respectively, follow-up to recommendations made after visits to Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela; a visit to Cameroon; and a visit to Romania.
(E/CN.4/2000/9/Add. 1) reviews legal standards and specific steps taken in response to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur; specific cases are mentioned; the chapter on Chile focuses to a great extent on the applicability of amnesty provisions to cases of torture. That on Colombia covers, among other things, institutionalized efforts to investigate and punish perpetrators and raise awareness of the need to censor acts of torture; that on Mexico reviews, among other things, the effectiveness of a programme to combat impunity; and that on Venezuela describes responses to concerns raised about detention provisions and the guarantee of detainees' contacts with their families.
(E/CN.4/2000/9/Add. 2) concludes, among other things, that various forces at play in Cameroon "make the State difficult to govern"; that tribal loyalties compete with loyalty to the nation; that there is a level of public insecurity provoked by a substantial crime problem; and that "torture is generally used for the standard purposes of obtaining information relevant to the maintenance of law and public order, obtaining confessions to crimes from persons suspected of having committed them and administering instant, extrajudicial punishment. It also seems that neither youth nor age are factors tending to protect persons deprived of their liberty from being inhumanely treated".
(E/CN.4/20000/9/Add. 3) concludes, among other things, that "tremendous progress" has been made in the area of human rights in Romania over the past 10 years but that "Nevertheless, as is also the case in many of its neighbours in Central and Eastern Europe, political and economic liberalization has brought about political and economic instability in Romania. Moreover, a notable crime wave has led to a lack of sympathy for criminal suspects among a large sector of Romanian society... torture and ill-treatment are not routine in the country. Nevertheless, as acknowledged by most Government interlocutors, there are persistent, albeit sporadic, cases of police abuse" and evidence supporting the view that Roma "are more likely to be victims of police abuse than others".
There is an addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (E/CN.4/2000/61/Add. 1) describing a visit to Guatemala which concludes, among other things, that "with regard to the security of tenure of members of the judiciary... a fixed term of five years with the possibility of re-election does not provide the requisite security of tenure and may be inconsistent with the principles of judicial independence" and that the enactment of a new Criminal Procedure Code in 1994 "changed the criminal justice system from an inquisitorial system to a common-law based adversarial system. This was a welcome step in the right direction".
There is a report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (E/CN.4/2000/64). The report concludes, among other things, that there was a continued practice of disappearances in a number of countries in 1999. During that year, the Working Group received information on 300 new cases of disappearances which occurred in 23 countries with the highest numbers reported in Indonesia and Colombia. The report also indicates that impunity continues to be one of the main causes of disappearances and also the major obstacle in the process of clarification.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/64/Add.1) of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the visit to Sri Lanka by a member of the Group. The report concludes, among other things, that Sri Lanka remains the country with the second largest number of non-clarified cases of disappearances. Many of the missing persons allegedly traced by the authorities seem not to correspond to the disappeared persons submitted by the Working Group. Although a considerable number of criminal investigations had been initiated in relation to disappearances which occurred some 10 years ago, only very few of the suspected perpetrators have actually been convicted.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/62) of Special Rapporteur Cherif Bassiouni on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The report addresses questions ranging from the obligation to respect international law, treatment of victims, victims' right to a remedy, to access to justice, reparation and information.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/63/Add.2) on the mission to Ireland of Special Rapporteur Abid Hussain on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The report concludes, among other things, that although Ireland has not incorporated yet in its law the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the fact that the ratified international agreements are not self-executing, it respects international standards in the field of human rights, particularly the legal guarantees offered for the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
There is a report(E/CN.4/2000/58) of the Working Group on the Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
There is a note verbale(E/CN.4/2000/126) from the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report contains comments and observations of the Government of Mexico on the report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions on her visit to Mexico.
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/125) from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report addresses the question of what it terms as "United States schemes to overthrow the system of Government in Iraq in violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations".
Statements
VICTOR HUGO GODOY, Minister for Human Rights of Guatemala, stated that his country had been reconstructing democracy and the rule of law since 1984 after successive military and authoritarian regimes and after a civil war which continued for 36 years. That situation had prompted a policy of human rights violations of the population and had destroyed the democratic institutions that were aimed at guaranteeing people's rights. In the current process of Guatemala's reconstruction, the implementation of the international and United Nations human rights protection systems were given priority. That process was aimed at the construction of new institutions which would eliminate human rights violations and would consolidate the peace agreement signed in 1996 between the Government and the armed insurgents.
The peace negotiations had been based on the principal problems pertaining to civil and political rights, fundamental rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which had led to the general agreement on human rights of 1994. The United Nations Verification Mission had also verified the implementation of the peace agreement and had observed the progress made and the deficiencies encountered. All was not going perfectly for the moment. In the administration of justice and in maintenance of public security, there still persisted problems. The investigative capacity and the ability to persecute past abuses committed by Government agents were not yet strengthened. Nevertheless, the Government was endeavouring to break the impunity system for once and for all.
The Government of Guatemala would continue to implement its policy of cooperation with the United Nations system and would implement its National Plan of Action for Human Rights in conformity with the Vienna Declaration and in accordance with the Quito Agreement. The Commission should also continue to offer its technical cooperation to Guatemala. In addition, the Government was prepared to ratify the International Convention on Child Adoption and it would also continue to peruse its cooperation in implementing the Commission's mechanisms in matters of promoting and protecting human rights.
While Guatemala was fully committed to the construction of democracy and the rule of law, it was concerned by the persistence of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes which violated the civil and political rights and fundamental freedoms of their respective peoples. The Commission should continue its scrutiny of the dictatorial regimes which were marked by their violations of human rights of their citizens.
As a multi-ethnic, pluri-cultural and multi-lingual nation, Guatemala was devoted to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous people worldwide. At the national level, the Government was implementing the provisions of the peace agreement and was promoting the rights of the indigenous people under the principle of unity and indivisibility of the nation. The establishment of a permanent forum for the indigenous people was also urged.
LEONARD SHE OKITUNDU, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that the current Government of his country was determined to rehabilitate the dignity of the Congolese people which had been violated for a long time, and to restore the rule of law which respected the fundamental freedoms of citizens. In the face of the inherited institutional disorder from previous regimes, it had been necessary to adopt political measures such as the suspension of the activities of political parties, which numbered 350 at the time. The ambition for political participation was the hope of the people, however, it had been interrupted by the war of aggression.
For two years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been confronted by an international military crisis which was undertaken by neighbouring States with the expressed intention not only to destabilize the regime in place in Kinshasa but also to pillage the mineral and natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plunder was to profit the leaders of the aggression States and was aimed at transplanting the Tutsi population into the Congolese territory which was left vacant by the fleeing local population.
Given the war of aggression which the Democratic Republic of the Congo was confronted with, the human-rights situation in the country had been affected. The origin of all violations of human rights was the war. In general, the human-rights violations were closely related to the war of aggression. If all human-rights violations were to be condemned, those committed in the occupied territories had reached an alarming promotion and there was a need for the application of an exceptional mechanism for their prevention. The perpetrators should also be punished.
In order to justify its war of aggression, Rwanda had used the argument of creating a security zone at its frontier and the protection of Tutsis in the Congo. However, that argument was neither logical nor supported by international law. The Rwandan act of genocide of 1994 had been a human catastrophe which deserved the compassion of the Government of Congo. It had been a barbaric act which was perpetrated by Rwandans against other Rwandans, with the complicity of some international powers. The Congo had nothing to do with that. Effectively, it was the people of Congo who had felt the tragedy for having hosted 1,500,000 Rwandans in their territory.
Despite the state of war imposed against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Government was endeavouring each time to promote and protect the human rights of its citizens and all foreigners living under its territory. Since one year, the Government had been endowed with two major mechanisms for the better implementation of the promotion of human rights. In that connection, a National Plan of Action for the promotion and protection of human rights had been adopted in December 1999.
FATMA ZOHRA OUHACHI VESELY, Special Rapporteur on the illicit movement and duming of toxic waste, said that without cooperation between the Member States of the United Nations, no miracles could happen in this field. The establishment of human rights machinery was necessary but it could not be self-sufficient. Each mechanism created had to be given the necessary financial means, this was true with regards to missions and mandates, whether they be in the field or not. The Special Rapporteur appealed to States to support missions and mandates with assistance and cooperation.
All mandates were noble and human rights were indivisible. The Commission should take the necessary steps to redress the balance of human rights. Presently the Commission focused on denunciations and sanctions as opposed to rehabilitation and assistance to victims. Transnationals also had a role to play in the promotion of human rights, the protection of the environment and in sustainable development, the three challenges of the century.
IVAN TOSEVSKI, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that to date, there were 49,070 cases of disappearance in the Working Group's books, of which 46,054 were cases being kept under active consideration as they had not yet been clarified. The Working Group regretted that out of the 69 countries with unclarified cases, during 1999 the Governments of 33 countries had not communicated at all with the Working Group. That might be explained in part by the fact that many of the unresolved cases dated back to the 1970s or early 1980s. However, relatives of the victims had the permanent right to know the exact fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
The Commission should call upon all the States with outstanding cases to adopt proper measures to improve the process of clarification of cases, including developing comprehensive programmes of forensic activities. They should also compensate the families of deceased victims of enforced disappearances. Monetary compensation was only one form of redress. In addition to assisting family members and Governments in clarifying individual cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances, the Working Group, on instructions from the Commission, had assumed the main responsibility for monitoring States’ compliance with their obligations under the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Only very few countries, such as Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, enacted special legislation in order to make the act of enforced disappearance a specific offence under criminal law and to implement other provisions.
SIR NIGER RODLEY, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the question of torture, said that as part of his mandate, he had visited Romania, Cameroon, Kenya and East Timor. The Special Rapporteur said he had received an invitation from the Government of Azerbaijan to visit the country. Outstanding requests to visit Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Tunisia had not resulted in invitations to visit these countries. On the other hand, the Governments of Equatorial Guinea and Togo had issued unsolicited invitations to the Special Rapporteur. Replies to allegations and urgent appeals contained in the report had also been received from a number of States.
Speaking of his visit to Cameroon, the Special Rapporteur said that many people whom he had met still showed signs of what could only have been recently inflicted physical torture. This and numerous testimonies established that torture was resorted to by law enforcement officials on a widespread and systematic basis. Torture was condoned, if not encouraged in detention centres. Further, members of a non-governmental organization who had provided the Special Rapporteur with information on a special "anti-gang" unit were allegedly harassed by members of that unit.
In Romania, there was genuine interest in meeting international human rights standards and improving the conditions of those deprived of their liberty. As acknowledged by most Government interlocutors, however, there were persistent, albeit sporadic cases of police abuse, in particular by non-commissioned officers. The system of investigation in which the military prosecutors had the exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute was ineffective. Further, there was an urgent need to address the gross overcrowding situation that existed in the prison system.
In Kenya, it was apparent that the physically rough treatment of suspects by the police routinely included sustained beatings on all parts of the body. The purpose of such beatings was to obtain information or sometimes appeared to be a method of carrying out extrajudicial punishment. There was an absence of effective monitoring procedures and a general sense of impunity prevailed.
Many of the high-profile cases of torture that reached international awareness were of people involved in political activities of various sorts, however the overwhelming majority of those subjected to ill-treatment and torture were ordinary common criminal suspects from the lowest strata of society, the Special Rapporteur said. Indeed, they were often of the lowest level of an underclass that was disconnected from the opportunities of leading a decent life as productive citizens and were the ones who could not afford good lawyers.
As long as the international community failed to address the problem of the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable, it was indirectly and - in the case of exposing its members to torture - directly contributing to a vicious circle of brutalization that was a blot on and a threat to man's aspiration for a life of dignity and respect for all.
IVAN TOSEVSKI, Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, said that about 180 new requests had been received this year to finance humanitarian, economic, social, legal, medical and psychological assistance to victims of torture and members of their families. These requests amounted to a total of about $ 10 million. So far, contributions paid to the Fund by 23 Governments and 2 individuals only amounted to about $ 2 million, as compared to $ 5.8 million the previous year. Therefore, an additional amount of $ 8 million was needed to satisfy all needs. As of today, pledges had been made for about $ 5.6 million. The situation of the Fund would be much better this year provided that all the pledges made were paid before the end of April. The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June should be used by all Governments, non-governmental organizations, public and private entities as well as the general public as an opportunity to participate actively in the humanitarian assistance to victims of torture world wide.
LOUIS JOINET, Vice-President of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, said that the number of urgent appeals and recommendations addressed to Governments by the Working Group had increased since 1998. This proved that the practice of arbitrary detention remained a serious challenge. Some Governments had expressed concern as to the nature of the appeals, claiming that they were not as urgent as described. The Working Group was eager to maintain good relations with Governments and would take this into consideration at the next meeting of the Working Group. The response to the appeals had improved, but still left much to be desired.
Special mention was made of the appeals concerning Abdullah Ocalan, Xanana Gusmao and two priests in detention in Sudan. Three other examples of thematic interest were mentioned; there were two appeals against China for restriction of new political parties and for withholding documentation concerning human rights violations; an appeal concerning a former Russian marine who had revealed the environmental degradation caused by defected nuclear submarines; and an appeal concerning the detainees in the Al Khiam prison of south Lebanon.
The Working Group had visited Indonesia and welcomed the release of several political prisoners there. The Working Group expected the Indonesian Government to implement further reforms, particularly concerning the military courts and the penal code. The mission to Indonesia showed the important role of the Working Group in the early-warning framework. The Working Group had seen the link between the militias and the army and had made several recommendations which the international community had failed to act upon. The Working Group had faced difficulties in their negotiations with the Government of Bahrain but had now been formally invited in 2001.
Pursuant to resolution 1997/50 the Working Group had also focused on administrative detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. Many recommendations had been adopted concerning the United States and the United Kingdom. The Working Group had formulated 10 principles which would serve as criteria to evaluate administrative detentions. The Working Group envisaged a mission to Australia focusing on administrative detentions of immigrants and asylum seekers.
FELIX XAVIER NGOUBEYOU (Cameroon) said in response to the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture that the invitation extended to Sir Nigel Rodley demonstrated the Government's intention to act transparently. There were no deliberate strategies of torture. Such behaviour was punished through the 1997 law penalizing torture and other ill-treatment. Those responsible enjoyed no impunity, police and armed forces had been prosecuted under the law. The Government's response to the report gave a detailed account to the incidents which the document referred to. Cameroon was fostering human rights education and was promoting a culture of human rights for the police, prison administration and the army. Any incident of torture was sporadic and was not targeted toward any particular group of the 230 tribes in Cameroon. The country had faced insecurities in the north because of illicit gangs trafficking in light and heavy arms. The aim was not to torture the gangs but to protect the innocent civilians. There had been losses of lives both on the part of security forces and gang-members. Cameroon had made considerable progress in human rights legislation: in 1992 with the prison institution policy; in 1995 an institution was set up to ensure the health conditions in the prisons; and missions had been undertaken to ensure the conditions lived up to human rights regulations.
The political will of Cameroon could not be doubted. Any incidents were due to human folly, lack of resources and overcrowding in prisons. This situation was not unique to Cameroon. Cameroon needed the support of the international community to further implement human rights. The setting up of the sub-regional centre for human rights was part of the commitment to promote human rights as one of the main pillars of the Government's policy. Cameroon appreciated the work of the Special Rapporteur but regretted that so little of the report had highlighted the progress made within the field of human rights in Cameroon. Nevertheless, Cameroon would adopt the measures suggested and looked forward to further cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on Torture.
KIPKORIR ALY AZAD RANA (Kenya) affirmed that his country was committed to full compliance with its obligations under the international human rights instruments to which it was a party, particularly the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It was also dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fundamental human rights within the law enforcement and judicial systems of Government.
The Kenyan judiciary was undergoing radical structural changes to streamline its independence and effectiveness, and to ensure that all cases were handled in a fair and efficient manner. In March 2000, a criminal division of the High Court was launched in order to speed up the process of criminal trials. The court registries were also in the process of being computerized to improve the filing system, and the judiciary was considering increasing the number of judicial service officers. It was expected that all those measures would reduce the back-log of pending cases, as well as the number of individuals in pre-trial detention.
In spite of the poor terms and conditions of service of law enforcement officials, the inadequacy of appropriate equipment for investigations, and the limited resources available to address the situation, torture, for whatever reason and by whomever, was prohibited under the Kenyan law. The Government would not allow or condone the use of torture by its law enforcement agents. In addition, it had taken active steps to bring to the attention of all its law enforcement officers the legal prohibition against the practice and use of torture on suspects, persons in pre-trial detention, and prisoners.
* *** *
56th session
5 April 2000
Morning
Hears Statements by Ministers for Human Rights of Guatemala and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Commission on Human Rights this morning started its debate on civil and political rights, including the questions of torture and detention; disappearances and summary executions; freedom of expression; independence of the judiciary, administration of justice, impunity; religious intolerance; states of emergency; and conscientious objection to military service
Also this morning, the Commission suspended its discussion on economic, social and cultural rights, which it took up on Monday. The agenda item will be closed following the special debate on extreme poverty which will be held on 12 April.
During its meeting, the Commission was addressed by the Ministers for Human Rights of Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of the Congo who both stressed the efforts of their respective Governments to establish democracy and the rule of law.
Guatemala's Minster for Human Rights, Victor Hugo Godoy, spoke of his country's efforts in the establishment of democracy and the rule of law. He said that in the current process of Guatemala's reconstruction, the implementation of the international and United Nations human rights protection systems were given priority. That process was aimed at the construction of new institutions which would eliminate human rights violations and would consolidate the peace agreement signed in 1996 between the Government and the armed insurgents.
The Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leonard She Okitundu, told the Commission that for two years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been confronted by an international military crisis which was undertaken by neighbouring States with the expressed intention not only to destabilize the regime in place in Kinshasa but also to pillage the mineral and natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plunder was to profit the leaders of the aggression States and was aimed at transplanting the Tutsi population into the Congolese territory which was left vacant by the fleeing local population.
The Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes, Fatma Zohra Ouhachi Vesely, gave a concluding remark on her report, saying that without cooperation between the Member States of the United Nations, no miracles could happen in that field. The establishment of human rights machinery was necessary but it could not be self-sufficient. More funds were necessary.
Ivan Tosevski, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that to date, there were 49,070 cases of disappearance in the Working Group's books, of which 46,054 were cases being kept under active consideration as they had not yet been clarified.
Sir Nigel Rodley, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the question of torture, informed the Commission on the results of his missions to Romania, Cameroon, Kenya and East Timor.
Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations delivered statements on economic, social and cultural rights: Andean Commission of Jurists, Interfaith International, Australian Council for Overseas Aid, World Muslim Congress, Muslim World League, Association tunisienne pour l'auto-development et la solidarite, International Institute for Peace, Federation of Cuban Women, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Society for Threatened Peoples and International Young Catholic Students.
Government representatives of Cameroon and Kenya also spoke under the agenda item on civil and political rights.
The Commission will continue its debate on civil and political rights when it meets at 3 p.m. It is also scheduled to hold an extended session until 9 p.m.
Conclusion of debate on economic, social and cultural rights
JAVIER CIURUZZA CONTRERAS, of the Comision Andian de Juristas, said the observance of social and cultural rights depended on a series of factors such as the international economic situation, the economic structure of each State, social policies and political stability, external debt, the implementation of structural adjustment policies as well as decisions by financial organizations with regard to the use of national resources and the formulation of State policies. The observance of economic, social and cultural rights was closely linked to poverty. Bolivia was the poorest country in Latin America, with 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line. In Peru and Ecuador, 50 and 35 percent respectively of the population lived below the poverty line.
One of the major matters of concern in Latin American countries was unemployment, underemployment as well as social unrest and disintegration stemming from the global financial crisis and structural adjustment programmes. The serving of external debt conditioned the policies of every Latin American country. The gravity of the situation varied, but on the whole Latin American countries had to allocate approximately 20 per cent of their national budgets to debt repayment. In this context, the observance of economic, social and cultural rights was more difficult.
EMMANUEL SEEMAMPILLAI, of Interfaith International, said that more attention needed to be paid to the escalating violations of human rights by the Sri Lankan Government regarding humanitarian, social and cultural needs of the Tamil people. The 'war for peace' was not limited to targeting the Tamil combatants, the LTTE. The target was all the Tamil people, arrested in their hundreds as scapegoats for every little suspicion. Since 1991 the Sri Lankan Government was enforcing an inhuman economic blockade, inclusive of food and medicine and systematic throttling of the education system. More than 40 per cent of pregnant women suffered miscarriages due to this blockade. The Tamil people had also been subject to torture and sex abuses, and had been deprived of food and medicine.
The organization urged the Sri Lankan Government to end the economic blockade and mass-arrests of Tamil civilians which were used as weapons of war. The Norwegian initiative of peace talks was welcomed, however there could be no successful peace talks while Tamil people were kept under repressive measures like denial of food, medicines, and indiscriminate mass arrests.
GREG THOMPSON, of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid, said that not only were the people of Burma denied their right to food, but in the Union of Myanmar, the right to education continued to be denied while universities and colleges remained closed and primary education standards were compromised. Burma once boasted one of the highest literacy rates in the world, but now the deterioration of its education system was second to none. Since the pro-democracy protests of 1988, universities had been open for less than three years while military colleges had remained open throughout. In primary and secondary schools, the use of local or ethnic languages had been prohibited. Teachers were jailed and tortured for teaching in non-Burmese languages. In addition, nearly one-third of children in the country received no formal education.
MIR TAHIR MASOOD, of the World Muslim Congress, said it was imperative that equal and urgent attention be given to the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights on a equal footing with civil and political rights. This was more than evident when one studied the causes of under-development in developing countries whose populations had neither control over their destinies nor sovereignty over natural resources. Discrimination based on religion, caste, creed or ethnic origin had always resulted in the erosion of the economic, social and cultural rights of many people, whether they were Kashmiris, Bosnians, Palestinians or lower caste Indians.
The heavily indebted poor countries were caught in a complex web of International Monetary Fund and World Bank eligibility conditions. Another main challenge faced by the international community was the issue of poverty eradication. Extreme poverty was currently depriving 1.3 billion people in the world, preventing them from the effective enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights.
SARDAR KHALID IBRAHIM, of the Muslim World League, said that the denial of economic, social and cultural rights carried grave consequences for the community. Most times the right to food was violated because of a combination of bad politics of governments, domestically and internationally, and climate conditions. In situations of armed occupation of foreign lands, such as Kashmir and Palestine, denial of this right stemmed from the actions of the occupying forces. Collective punishment was used to break the resistance of the occupied peoples. In Palestine this was done through the cordoning off of the occupied territories, not allowing anyone or anything into the territories. In Kashmir, this practice consisted of setting crops, orchards, shops and bazaars on fire. The right to health was also frequently violated by the two occupying forces, preventing those hurt and tortured from receiving medical attention.
The organization urged the Commission to establish a working group so that work could commence on this important and overdue instrument as a matter of urgency. The organization also hoped that this optional protocol was optional in name only. The Member States of the United Nations were urged to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to ratify the optional protocol.
MONCEF BALTI, of Atlas, said that globalization had brought about profound changes at the economic, social and cultural levels. These changes represented important challenges to humanity and could be faced only through global cooperation, solidarity and sustainable development where the human being was the cornerstone. With the increase in poverty throughout the world, the widening gap between rich and poor countries, and the emergence of individualism and intolerance, entire peoples faced exclusion. More than 1.5 billion people currently suffered poverty and every day thousands of children died of malnutrition and inadequate health care. Decreased foreign aid, the burden of external debt and unfavourable exchange conditions were some of the factors which aggravated the plight of developing countries. Poverty and under-development were the legacy of the last century but not a fatality.
SYBILE RUPPPECHI, of the International Institute for Peace, said the most fundamental requirement for the preservation of economic, social and cultural rights was an atmosphere of freedom and equal opportunity. Since very often people defined their destiny in terms of religion, culture and heritage, freedom of belief also had to be guaranteed, particularly in multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies. However, ethnic and religious discrimination was still rampant resulting from age-old prejudices or sanctioned by the States through legal, constitutional and institutional structures. In Afghanistan whole sections of society had been rendered unproductive on gender, ethnic and religious grounds. Another threat to human rights was terrorist groups who defined their campaigns in terms of religion and opposition to the ethos of particular societies. An example of this was terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan and espousing fundamentalist ideology, akin to the Taliban.
The organization said that a new global ethos crafted around immediate responses to extremism and terrorism was essential if economic, social and cultural rights were to be respected.
RITA N. PERREIRA, of the Federation of Cuban Women, said that economic, social and cultural rights could not be achieved in the midst of the hegemonic ideology of neo-liberalism. The consequences of this ideology had led to general vulnerability, unequal income distribution, the impossibility to develop with equity and the remaining foreign debt. The situation of poverty had worsened due to neo-liberalism and structural adjustment, in 1980 the number of poor in the region was 136 million, in 1990 it was 198 million and in 1994, 210 million people were living in poverty. One of five people in Latin American was living in poverty.
In Cuba, the Government had followed a strategy to improve the quality of human rights, and to respect and defend the rights of the people. However, despite hard work, Cuba was impeded by the United States’ irrational blockade. This blockade was particularly affecting women and the health and nutrition of children. Despite the adversities Cuba would continue to struggle for development in justice, democracy and equity. The trampling of the rights of the countries which only sought a better world had to stop.
MANJIMA BHATTACHARJYA, of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, said that economic, social and cultural rights were widely flouted in most part of the world. Decades of struggle to achieve significant progress in workers' rights were now being undermined and dismantled as the wave of liberalization, privatization, and hunger for ever higher profits by those who owned, moulded the era of globalization. Women in particular were facing increasing impoverishment and the erosion of their rights. A significant manifestation of these developments was observed in the experiences of workers in Export Processing Zones (EPZ), of which the overwhelming majority were women. Women in EPZs were subjected, among other things, to punishment, violent ill-treatment, threats and verbal abuse.
The Commission on Human Rights was urged to encourage UN agencies and any other agencies working on issues of foreign direct investment to foster initiatives on a national level which would allow for the improvement of women workers' rights in EPZs. Likewise, the High Commissioner for Human Rights was urged to encourage Member States to systematically apply labour and social legislation to EPZs and to call on the International Labour Office to develop technical cooperation programmes aimed at assisting women workers in EPZs to realize their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
JOHA NEELSEN, of the Society of Threatened Peoples, said violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka continued. This practice had been carried out by successive Governments and had caused the death of 55,000 people. It had also resulted in 800,000 internally displaced people. Sri Lanka was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. As opposed to recognizing the differences, the Government was systematically violating the economic, social, and cultural rights of the Tamils, including the practice of torture, disappearances, censorship, impunity and inflicting a quasi-permanent state of emergency. More than 90 per cent of the civil service and 99 per cent of security forces were Sinhalese. In Tamil regions the teacher-pupil ration was 1 to 70. The Government was trying to eliminate Tamil competitiveness.
The organization questioned how long the Commission would continue to listen to the reports of its own Special Rapporteurs without addressing the primary causes of human rights violations. The Commission was urged to concern itself with the provisions for decentralization and group rights in the proposed new constitution and to consider the content and applicability of self-determination. The endeavours of the discriminated minorities could only advance if the Commission focused on State-sponsored violations of social, economic and cultural rights as underlying the causes of conflict.
ALEXANDRE OWONA, of Jeunesse Etudiante Catholique International, said the economic situation in the Republic of Moldovia had adversely affected the development of education in the country. The budget allocated to education was insufficient to cover teachers' salaries, which were below $ 50 per month and were often paid three to five months late. As a result of this state of affairs, numerous teachers had resigned, leading to a crisis in primary and secondary education, in particular in rural areas. In India, the level of literacy remained low, with almost half of children aged six to eleven out of school. According to the International Labour Office, 55 per cent of boys were full-time students in that country and only 36 per cent of girls received education. In Asia and the Pacific, the problem was mainly the low quality of education. The situation in Africa was alarming. In all these cases, Governments reported lack of financial means. The discrimination against girls seemed to be attributable to considerable lack of information and family education. In view of these difficulties, the attention of the Commission was drawn to the necessity of reviewing international cooperation with regard to education. Donor countries were urged to consider the problem of the external debt of developing countries. Revenues obtained from debt reduction had to be invested in education, in particular at the primary level. States were also urged to review their public systems with a view to ensuring the fulfilment of the right to education.
Civil and political rights, including the questions of: torture and detention; disappearances and summary executions; freedom of expression; independence of the judiciary, administration of justice, impunity; religious intolerance; states of emergency; and conscientious objection to military service
Under this agenda item, there is a report (E/CN.4/2000/54) by the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1998/39 on civil and political rights, including the question of independence of the judiciary, administration of justice and impunity. The report says that technical assistance of the United Nations system has an important role to play in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of international standards relating to the administration of justice, in particular juvenile justice. The implementation role of the organizations of the United Nations is complemented in turn by the monitoring activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/55) by the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1998/77 on civil and political rights, including the question of conscientious objection to military service. The report is based on information received from the Governments of Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. Most countries reporting on the situation of military service recognized the right to conscientious objection with the exception of Mexico, Singapore, and Turkey. Some countries restricted the basis of objection to religious grounds only. Most countries provided some form of alternative service of a non-combative nature, although not always of a civilian character. Few countries accepted claims of conscientious objection without inquiry. In some cases, conscripts could be subjected to imprisonment for not performing service, although this was generally the case only where the conscripts refused to appear for service, of either a military or alternative nature. Some countries reported that information on alternative services was made available to conscripts.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/56) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights focusing on human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. The report is based on information received from the Governments of Cyprus, Japan and Morocco.
There is report (E/CN.4/2000/57) by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 1998/36 on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention, focusing on human rights and forensic science. The report consists of an updated list of forensic experts, the revision of the manual, the use of forensic experts and the standardized service agreement.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/59) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention, focusing on the status of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The report consists of the list of States which have signed, ratified or acceded to the Convention against Torture as of November 1, 1999. The list includes the date of signature and the date of receipt of the instrument of ratification, accession or succession.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/60) by the Secretary-General on civil and political rights, including the question of torture and detention. The report consists of annual reports, the financial status, fund-raising, and a needs assessment. The report also features the consultations with the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur, briefings for non-governmental organizations, internal information activities and prizes awarded to organizations financed by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Under this agenda item, the Commission has before it a report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (E/CN.4/2000/3), which concludes, among other things, that there is no indication that the occurrence of such executions decreased in 1999, and that certain specific groups such as human-rights defenders, political activists and members of various minorities continue to be particularly exposed to such horrendous crimes. There also were more and more reports of large-scale indiscriminate and arbitrary killings of women, children or elderly persons by Government-controlled security forces, paramilitary groups or non-State actors, the report contends. The Special Rapporteur cites a "personal commitment and responsibility to address the unacceptable practice of so-called 'honour killings', which she concludes may constitute violations of the right to life when condoned or ignored by the authorities".
In addition to the report there are Addenda 2 and 3 which describe missions undertaken by the Special Rapporteur to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to Albania, and to Mexico. The former remarks, among other things, that "It is obvious that the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia must be called upon to put an immediate end to killings and violence in Kosovo. It is equally clear that international monitors, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the media must be allowed to regain access to Kosovo for further investigations into alleged abuses and to expose the full reality of the situation to the international community". The report on Mexico concludes, among other things, that "Mexico is passing through a difficult period as the country's progress is being marred by political polarization and violence. Urgent preventive steps need to be taken to defuse tensions and to bring down the level of violence in order to protect the security and lives of innocent civilians who suffer at the hands of police, the armed forces, the paramilitary and armed opposition groups".
There is a report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (E/CN.4/2000/4) which concludes, among other things, that a lack of protection for human-rights defenders is apparent and that it has recently become common for lawyers defending victims of human-rights violations, as well as other persons dedicated to protecting fundamental rights, to become, together with journalists and politicians, prime targets for repressive measures. Several specific victims are listed, and the report adds, "The Group is concerned about the fact that attempts have been made in such cases to justify deprivation of liberty on the basis of domestic laws incompatible with international human rights instruments". The Group recommends, among other things, that countries should make only moderate use of states of emergency, and that in imposing them they should adhere strictly to the guidelines given in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(E/CN.4/2000/Add.1) to the report reviews opinions of the Working Group on 33 different cases brought to its attention and occurring in the following countries: Peru, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, China, Cameroon, Myanmar, Israel, Tunisia, Nigeria, India, Chad, the Russian Federation, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Djibouti.
(E/CN.4/2000/Add. 2) reports on the Working Group’s visit to Indonesia from 31 January to 12 February 1999, concluding, among other things, that a democratization movement has begun in the country, "even if much progress remains to be made"; that freedom of the press has made considerable progress, as have freedom of assembly and association; and that on the other hand "the incidence of violence accompanying repressive activities has hardly diminished (for example in Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor). Arrests continue to be characterized by numerous flaws that result in detentions being arbitrary".
The report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, Sir Nigel Rodley, (E/CN.4/2000/9) includes a summary of the activities of the Special Rapporteur as well as information reviewed by the Special Rapporteur with respect to specific cases in 85 countries and territories. The Special Rapporteur states that he has participated in two meetings at which the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted and further dissemination was discussed. The Manual is based on and closely follows the form and content of the Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal , Arbitrary and Summary Executions. The Special Rapporteur hopes the Manual is as widely disseminated by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in as many languages as possible.
There are three addenda to the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture (E/CN.4/2000/9/Adds. 1, 2, and 3) which review, respectively, follow-up to recommendations made after visits to Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela; a visit to Cameroon; and a visit to Romania.
(E/CN.4/2000/9/Add. 1) reviews legal standards and specific steps taken in response to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur; specific cases are mentioned; the chapter on Chile focuses to a great extent on the applicability of amnesty provisions to cases of torture. That on Colombia covers, among other things, institutionalized efforts to investigate and punish perpetrators and raise awareness of the need to censor acts of torture; that on Mexico reviews, among other things, the effectiveness of a programme to combat impunity; and that on Venezuela describes responses to concerns raised about detention provisions and the guarantee of detainees' contacts with their families.
(E/CN.4/2000/9/Add. 2) concludes, among other things, that various forces at play in Cameroon "make the State difficult to govern"; that tribal loyalties compete with loyalty to the nation; that there is a level of public insecurity provoked by a substantial crime problem; and that "torture is generally used for the standard purposes of obtaining information relevant to the maintenance of law and public order, obtaining confessions to crimes from persons suspected of having committed them and administering instant, extrajudicial punishment. It also seems that neither youth nor age are factors tending to protect persons deprived of their liberty from being inhumanely treated".
(E/CN.4/20000/9/Add. 3) concludes, among other things, that "tremendous progress" has been made in the area of human rights in Romania over the past 10 years but that "Nevertheless, as is also the case in many of its neighbours in Central and Eastern Europe, political and economic liberalization has brought about political and economic instability in Romania. Moreover, a notable crime wave has led to a lack of sympathy for criminal suspects among a large sector of Romanian society... torture and ill-treatment are not routine in the country. Nevertheless, as acknowledged by most Government interlocutors, there are persistent, albeit sporadic, cases of police abuse" and evidence supporting the view that Roma "are more likely to be victims of police abuse than others".
There is an addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (E/CN.4/2000/61/Add. 1) describing a visit to Guatemala which concludes, among other things, that "with regard to the security of tenure of members of the judiciary... a fixed term of five years with the possibility of re-election does not provide the requisite security of tenure and may be inconsistent with the principles of judicial independence" and that the enactment of a new Criminal Procedure Code in 1994 "changed the criminal justice system from an inquisitorial system to a common-law based adversarial system. This was a welcome step in the right direction".
There is a report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (E/CN.4/2000/64). The report concludes, among other things, that there was a continued practice of disappearances in a number of countries in 1999. During that year, the Working Group received information on 300 new cases of disappearances which occurred in 23 countries with the highest numbers reported in Indonesia and Colombia. The report also indicates that impunity continues to be one of the main causes of disappearances and also the major obstacle in the process of clarification.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/64/Add.1) of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the visit to Sri Lanka by a member of the Group. The report concludes, among other things, that Sri Lanka remains the country with the second largest number of non-clarified cases of disappearances. Many of the missing persons allegedly traced by the authorities seem not to correspond to the disappeared persons submitted by the Working Group. Although a considerable number of criminal investigations had been initiated in relation to disappearances which occurred some 10 years ago, only very few of the suspected perpetrators have actually been convicted.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/62) of Special Rapporteur Cherif Bassiouni on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The report addresses questions ranging from the obligation to respect international law, treatment of victims, victims' right to a remedy, to access to justice, reparation and information.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/63/Add.2) on the mission to Ireland of Special Rapporteur Abid Hussain on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The report concludes, among other things, that although Ireland has not incorporated yet in its law the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the fact that the ratified international agreements are not self-executing, it respects international standards in the field of human rights, particularly the legal guarantees offered for the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
There is a report(E/CN.4/2000/58) of the Working Group on the Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
There is a note verbale(E/CN.4/2000/126) from the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report contains comments and observations of the Government of Mexico on the report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions on her visit to Mexico.
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/125) from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report addresses the question of what it terms as "United States schemes to overthrow the system of Government in Iraq in violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations".
Statements
VICTOR HUGO GODOY, Minister for Human Rights of Guatemala, stated that his country had been reconstructing democracy and the rule of law since 1984 after successive military and authoritarian regimes and after a civil war which continued for 36 years. That situation had prompted a policy of human rights violations of the population and had destroyed the democratic institutions that were aimed at guaranteeing people's rights. In the current process of Guatemala's reconstruction, the implementation of the international and United Nations human rights protection systems were given priority. That process was aimed at the construction of new institutions which would eliminate human rights violations and would consolidate the peace agreement signed in 1996 between the Government and the armed insurgents.
The peace negotiations had been based on the principal problems pertaining to civil and political rights, fundamental rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which had led to the general agreement on human rights of 1994. The United Nations Verification Mission had also verified the implementation of the peace agreement and had observed the progress made and the deficiencies encountered. All was not going perfectly for the moment. In the administration of justice and in maintenance of public security, there still persisted problems. The investigative capacity and the ability to persecute past abuses committed by Government agents were not yet strengthened. Nevertheless, the Government was endeavouring to break the impunity system for once and for all.
The Government of Guatemala would continue to implement its policy of cooperation with the United Nations system and would implement its National Plan of Action for Human Rights in conformity with the Vienna Declaration and in accordance with the Quito Agreement. The Commission should also continue to offer its technical cooperation to Guatemala. In addition, the Government was prepared to ratify the International Convention on Child Adoption and it would also continue to peruse its cooperation in implementing the Commission's mechanisms in matters of promoting and protecting human rights.
While Guatemala was fully committed to the construction of democracy and the rule of law, it was concerned by the persistence of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes which violated the civil and political rights and fundamental freedoms of their respective peoples. The Commission should continue its scrutiny of the dictatorial regimes which were marked by their violations of human rights of their citizens.
As a multi-ethnic, pluri-cultural and multi-lingual nation, Guatemala was devoted to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous people worldwide. At the national level, the Government was implementing the provisions of the peace agreement and was promoting the rights of the indigenous people under the principle of unity and indivisibility of the nation. The establishment of a permanent forum for the indigenous people was also urged.
LEONARD SHE OKITUNDU, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that the current Government of his country was determined to rehabilitate the dignity of the Congolese people which had been violated for a long time, and to restore the rule of law which respected the fundamental freedoms of citizens. In the face of the inherited institutional disorder from previous regimes, it had been necessary to adopt political measures such as the suspension of the activities of political parties, which numbered 350 at the time. The ambition for political participation was the hope of the people, however, it had been interrupted by the war of aggression.
For two years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been confronted by an international military crisis which was undertaken by neighbouring States with the expressed intention not only to destabilize the regime in place in Kinshasa but also to pillage the mineral and natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The plunder was to profit the leaders of the aggression States and was aimed at transplanting the Tutsi population into the Congolese territory which was left vacant by the fleeing local population.
Given the war of aggression which the Democratic Republic of the Congo was confronted with, the human-rights situation in the country had been affected. The origin of all violations of human rights was the war. In general, the human-rights violations were closely related to the war of aggression. If all human-rights violations were to be condemned, those committed in the occupied territories had reached an alarming promotion and there was a need for the application of an exceptional mechanism for their prevention. The perpetrators should also be punished.
In order to justify its war of aggression, Rwanda had used the argument of creating a security zone at its frontier and the protection of Tutsis in the Congo. However, that argument was neither logical nor supported by international law. The Rwandan act of genocide of 1994 had been a human catastrophe which deserved the compassion of the Government of Congo. It had been a barbaric act which was perpetrated by Rwandans against other Rwandans, with the complicity of some international powers. The Congo had nothing to do with that. Effectively, it was the people of Congo who had felt the tragedy for having hosted 1,500,000 Rwandans in their territory.
Despite the state of war imposed against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Government was endeavouring each time to promote and protect the human rights of its citizens and all foreigners living under its territory. Since one year, the Government had been endowed with two major mechanisms for the better implementation of the promotion of human rights. In that connection, a National Plan of Action for the promotion and protection of human rights had been adopted in December 1999.
FATMA ZOHRA OUHACHI VESELY, Special Rapporteur on the illicit movement and duming of toxic waste, said that without cooperation between the Member States of the United Nations, no miracles could happen in this field. The establishment of human rights machinery was necessary but it could not be self-sufficient. Each mechanism created had to be given the necessary financial means, this was true with regards to missions and mandates, whether they be in the field or not. The Special Rapporteur appealed to States to support missions and mandates with assistance and cooperation.
All mandates were noble and human rights were indivisible. The Commission should take the necessary steps to redress the balance of human rights. Presently the Commission focused on denunciations and sanctions as opposed to rehabilitation and assistance to victims. Transnationals also had a role to play in the promotion of human rights, the protection of the environment and in sustainable development, the three challenges of the century.
IVAN TOSEVSKI, Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that to date, there were 49,070 cases of disappearance in the Working Group's books, of which 46,054 were cases being kept under active consideration as they had not yet been clarified. The Working Group regretted that out of the 69 countries with unclarified cases, during 1999 the Governments of 33 countries had not communicated at all with the Working Group. That might be explained in part by the fact that many of the unresolved cases dated back to the 1970s or early 1980s. However, relatives of the victims had the permanent right to know the exact fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
The Commission should call upon all the States with outstanding cases to adopt proper measures to improve the process of clarification of cases, including developing comprehensive programmes of forensic activities. They should also compensate the families of deceased victims of enforced disappearances. Monetary compensation was only one form of redress. In addition to assisting family members and Governments in clarifying individual cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances, the Working Group, on instructions from the Commission, had assumed the main responsibility for monitoring States’ compliance with their obligations under the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Only very few countries, such as Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, enacted special legislation in order to make the act of enforced disappearance a specific offence under criminal law and to implement other provisions.
SIR NIGER RODLEY, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the question of torture, said that as part of his mandate, he had visited Romania, Cameroon, Kenya and East Timor. The Special Rapporteur said he had received an invitation from the Government of Azerbaijan to visit the country. Outstanding requests to visit Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Tunisia had not resulted in invitations to visit these countries. On the other hand, the Governments of Equatorial Guinea and Togo had issued unsolicited invitations to the Special Rapporteur. Replies to allegations and urgent appeals contained in the report had also been received from a number of States.
Speaking of his visit to Cameroon, the Special Rapporteur said that many people whom he had met still showed signs of what could only have been recently inflicted physical torture. This and numerous testimonies established that torture was resorted to by law enforcement officials on a widespread and systematic basis. Torture was condoned, if not encouraged in detention centres. Further, members of a non-governmental organization who had provided the Special Rapporteur with information on a special "anti-gang" unit were allegedly harassed by members of that unit.
In Romania, there was genuine interest in meeting international human rights standards and improving the conditions of those deprived of their liberty. As acknowledged by most Government interlocutors, however, there were persistent, albeit sporadic cases of police abuse, in particular by non-commissioned officers. The system of investigation in which the military prosecutors had the exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute was ineffective. Further, there was an urgent need to address the gross overcrowding situation that existed in the prison system.
In Kenya, it was apparent that the physically rough treatment of suspects by the police routinely included sustained beatings on all parts of the body. The purpose of such beatings was to obtain information or sometimes appeared to be a method of carrying out extrajudicial punishment. There was an absence of effective monitoring procedures and a general sense of impunity prevailed.
Many of the high-profile cases of torture that reached international awareness were of people involved in political activities of various sorts, however the overwhelming majority of those subjected to ill-treatment and torture were ordinary common criminal suspects from the lowest strata of society, the Special Rapporteur said. Indeed, they were often of the lowest level of an underclass that was disconnected from the opportunities of leading a decent life as productive citizens and were the ones who could not afford good lawyers.
As long as the international community failed to address the problem of the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable, it was indirectly and - in the case of exposing its members to torture - directly contributing to a vicious circle of brutalization that was a blot on and a threat to man's aspiration for a life of dignity and respect for all.
IVAN TOSEVSKI, Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, said that about 180 new requests had been received this year to finance humanitarian, economic, social, legal, medical and psychological assistance to victims of torture and members of their families. These requests amounted to a total of about $ 10 million. So far, contributions paid to the Fund by 23 Governments and 2 individuals only amounted to about $ 2 million, as compared to $ 5.8 million the previous year. Therefore, an additional amount of $ 8 million was needed to satisfy all needs. As of today, pledges had been made for about $ 5.6 million. The situation of the Fund would be much better this year provided that all the pledges made were paid before the end of April. The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June should be used by all Governments, non-governmental organizations, public and private entities as well as the general public as an opportunity to participate actively in the humanitarian assistance to victims of torture world wide.
LOUIS JOINET, Vice-President of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, said that the number of urgent appeals and recommendations addressed to Governments by the Working Group had increased since 1998. This proved that the practice of arbitrary detention remained a serious challenge. Some Governments had expressed concern as to the nature of the appeals, claiming that they were not as urgent as described. The Working Group was eager to maintain good relations with Governments and would take this into consideration at the next meeting of the Working Group. The response to the appeals had improved, but still left much to be desired.
Special mention was made of the appeals concerning Abdullah Ocalan, Xanana Gusmao and two priests in detention in Sudan. Three other examples of thematic interest were mentioned; there were two appeals against China for restriction of new political parties and for withholding documentation concerning human rights violations; an appeal concerning a former Russian marine who had revealed the environmental degradation caused by defected nuclear submarines; and an appeal concerning the detainees in the Al Khiam prison of south Lebanon.
The Working Group had visited Indonesia and welcomed the release of several political prisoners there. The Working Group expected the Indonesian Government to implement further reforms, particularly concerning the military courts and the penal code. The mission to Indonesia showed the important role of the Working Group in the early-warning framework. The Working Group had seen the link between the militias and the army and had made several recommendations which the international community had failed to act upon. The Working Group had faced difficulties in their negotiations with the Government of Bahrain but had now been formally invited in 2001.
Pursuant to resolution 1997/50 the Working Group had also focused on administrative detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. Many recommendations had been adopted concerning the United States and the United Kingdom. The Working Group had formulated 10 principles which would serve as criteria to evaluate administrative detentions. The Working Group envisaged a mission to Australia focusing on administrative detentions of immigrants and asylum seekers.
FELIX XAVIER NGOUBEYOU (Cameroon) said in response to the report of the Special Rapporteur on torture that the invitation extended to Sir Nigel Rodley demonstrated the Government's intention to act transparently. There were no deliberate strategies of torture. Such behaviour was punished through the 1997 law penalizing torture and other ill-treatment. Those responsible enjoyed no impunity, police and armed forces had been prosecuted under the law. The Government's response to the report gave a detailed account to the incidents which the document referred to. Cameroon was fostering human rights education and was promoting a culture of human rights for the police, prison administration and the army. Any incident of torture was sporadic and was not targeted toward any particular group of the 230 tribes in Cameroon. The country had faced insecurities in the north because of illicit gangs trafficking in light and heavy arms. The aim was not to torture the gangs but to protect the innocent civilians. There had been losses of lives both on the part of security forces and gang-members. Cameroon had made considerable progress in human rights legislation: in 1992 with the prison institution policy; in 1995 an institution was set up to ensure the health conditions in the prisons; and missions had been undertaken to ensure the conditions lived up to human rights regulations.
The political will of Cameroon could not be doubted. Any incidents were due to human folly, lack of resources and overcrowding in prisons. This situation was not unique to Cameroon. Cameroon needed the support of the international community to further implement human rights. The setting up of the sub-regional centre for human rights was part of the commitment to promote human rights as one of the main pillars of the Government's policy. Cameroon appreciated the work of the Special Rapporteur but regretted that so little of the report had highlighted the progress made within the field of human rights in Cameroon. Nevertheless, Cameroon would adopt the measures suggested and looked forward to further cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on Torture.
KIPKORIR ALY AZAD RANA (Kenya) affirmed that his country was committed to full compliance with its obligations under the international human rights instruments to which it was a party, particularly the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It was also dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fundamental human rights within the law enforcement and judicial systems of Government.
The Kenyan judiciary was undergoing radical structural changes to streamline its independence and effectiveness, and to ensure that all cases were handled in a fair and efficient manner. In March 2000, a criminal division of the High Court was launched in order to speed up the process of criminal trials. The court registries were also in the process of being computerized to improve the filing system, and the judiciary was considering increasing the number of judicial service officers. It was expected that all those measures would reduce the back-log of pending cases, as well as the number of individuals in pre-trial detention.
In spite of the poor terms and conditions of service of law enforcement officials, the inadequacy of appropriate equipment for investigations, and the limited resources available to address the situation, torture, for whatever reason and by whomever, was prohibited under the Kenyan law. The Government would not allow or condone the use of torture by its law enforcement agents. In addition, it had taken active steps to bring to the attention of all its law enforcement officers the legal prohibition against the practice and use of torture on suspects, persons in pre-trial detention, and prisoners.
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