Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Press releases Commission on Human Rights
Default title
07 April 2000
Share
Commission on Human Rights
56th session
7 April 2000
Afternoon
Continues Debate on the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective
The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon adopted resolutions on
the situation in occupied Palestine, the Western Sahara, the use of mercenaries and the strengthening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In its resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine, which was adopted by a roll call vote of 44 in favour, 1 against and 6 abstentions, the Commission reaffirmed the permanent and unqualified Palestinian right to self-determination, including the option of a State, and looked forward to the early fulfilment of that right.
Concerning the Western Sahara, the Commission adopted by consensus a resolution which noted with satisfaction the agreements reached between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro for the implementation of the settlement plan during their private and direct talks. It urged the two parties to continue their cooperation with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, as well as with his Special Representative, and to refrain from undertaking anything that would undermine the implementation of the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation.
On the issue of the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, the Commission adopted a resolution by a roll call vote of 35 in favour, 11 against and 5 abstentions. According to the resolution, the Commission affirmed that the use of mercenaries and their recruitment, financing and training were causes for grave concern to all States and violated the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
And concerning the resolution on the strengthening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was adopted without a vote, the Commission reaffirmed the importance of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and requested the High Commissioner to continue to ensure that the fulfilment of her mandate and the activities of her Office were guided by those principles. The Commission also encouraged the High Commissioner to continue to play an active role in promoting and protecting all human rights, including in the prevention of human rights violations throughout the world.
After taking action on draft proposals, the Commission resumed its debate on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women.
There were calls for the international community to make special efforts to strengthen legislation on women's human rights in order to establish a comprehensive legal system and mechanism to protect these rights. The feminisation of poverty was condemned and speakers urged that effective measures be taken to eliminate the poverty of women. The issue of violence against women was also highlighted, with delegations urging that measures be taken to stop this violence, whether domestic or during armed conflicts. Speakers underscored armed conflicts in specific countries where women and girls were doubly exposed to violence and discrimination by armed forces. Trafficking of women and girls was condemned and delegations said that States were ultimately responsible to end this practise. There was a suggestion that the Commission appoint a Special Rapporteur on the trafficking of women and girls. There were also calls on countries to ban harmful traditional practices against women.
The following Government delegations took the floor this afternoon: the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Norway, China, Panama, Iraq, New Zealand, Cameroon, Croatia and Honduras. A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross also spoke.
The following non-governmental organizations addressed the meeting: the World Federation of Methodists and Uniting Church Women, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination, the World Organizations Against Torture, the International Association for Religious Freedom, the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, Rural Reconstruction Nepal, the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, Freedom House, Organization de solidaridad de los pueblos de Africa, Asia y America Latina, the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, the Japanese Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Australia, the International Peace Bureau and France Liberte.
When the Commission resumes its plenary meeting at 10 a.m. on Monday, 10 April, it will continue its debate on integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Radhika Coomaraswamy, will also be presenting her reports.
Action on draft resolutions
The Commission adopted without a vote a resolution on the strengthening of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2000/L.3/Rev. 1), in which it reaffirmed the importance of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and requested the High Commissioner to continue to ensure that the fulfilment of her mandate and the activities of her Office were guided by those principles. It underlined that the Office was a common office for all. The Commission encouraged the High Commissioner to continue to play an active role in promoting and protecting all human rights, including in the prevention of human rights violations throughout the world.
The Commission called upon the High Commissioner to continue to emphasize the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights in the activities of her Office. It declared that advisory services and technical cooperation provided at the request of Governments with a view to developing national capacities in the field of human rights constituted one of the most efficient and effective means of promoting and protecting human rights and democracy.
AUDREY GLOVER (the United Kingdom) said that the policy relating to the staffing of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was governed by article 101 of the UN Charter. It was not the prerogative of the Commission to tell the High Commissioner for Human Rights how to deploy her staff.
The Commission adopted by consensus a resolution on the question of the Western Sahara (E/CN.4/2000/L.2), in which it again noted with satisfaction the agreements reached between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro for the implementation of the settlement plan during their private and direct talks; urged the two parties to continue their cooperation with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, as well as with his Special Representative, and to refrain from undertaking anything that would undermine the implementation of the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation; further urged the two parties to implement faithfully and loyally the Secretary-General's package of measures relating to the identification of voters, the appeals process and the revised implementation timetable; and affirmed the responsibility of the United Nations towards the people of the Western Sahara, as provided for in the settlement plan.
CHERYL SIM (the United States) said that although it had joined the consensus on the resolution on the Western Sahara, it considered the text to be incomplete since it did not make reference to the most recent UN Security Council resolutions on the Western Sahara.
The Commission also adopted by a roll call vote of 35 in favour, 11 against and 5 abstentions a resolution on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (E/CN.4/2000/L.4), in which it affirmed that the use of mercenaries and their recruitment, financing and training were causes for grave concern to all States and violated the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; recognized that armed conflicts, terrorism, arms trafficking and covert operations by third powers, among other things, encouraged the demand for mercenaries on the global market; and urged all States to take the necessary steps and to exercise the utmost vigilance against the menace posed by the activities of mercenaries and to take legislative measures to ensure that their territories and other territories under their control, as well as their nationals, were not used for the recruitment, assembly and financing of mercenaries for the planning of activities designed to impede the right to self-determination.
The Commission invited States to investigate the possibility of mercenary involvement whenever and wherever criminal acts of a terrorist nature occurred; and decided to convene a workshop on "the traditional and new forms of mercenary activities as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination" before the next session of the Commission.
The results of the vote was as follow:
In favour: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, Venezuela and Zambia.
Against: Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Abstention: France, Italy, Portugal, Republic of Korea and Spain.
ALVARO MENDONCA MOURA (Portugal), in explaining the vote on the draft resolution on the use of mercenaries on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it, said that in the past, the European Union had cooperated with the Special Rapporteur on mercenaries. As in previous years, the European Union could not support the draft resolution as there had been no opportunity to discuss reservations in an open forum. The Commission was not the appropriate forum to discuss this issue, and should not divert its attention, workload or workgroups to this issue. This resolution should be terminated and should be considered in another forum where the European Union would happily take part of the discussions.
The Commission adopted by a roll call vote of 44 in favour, 1 against and 6 abstentions a resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine (E/CN.4/2000/L.5), in which it reaffirmed the permanent and unqualified Palestinian right to self-determination, including the option of a State, and looked forward to the early fulfilment of that right. It requested the Secretary-General to transmit the present resolution to the Government of Israel and all other Governments, to disseminate it on the widest possible scale and to make available to the Commission, prior to the convening of its next session, all information pertaining to the implementation of the present resolution by the Government of Israel; and decided to include in the provisional agenda of its next session the item entitled "The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation" and to consider the situation in occupied Palestine under that agenda item, as a matter of high priority.
The result of the vote was as follows:
In favour: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zambia.
Against: the United States.
Abstentions: Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Romania.
ALVARO MENDONCA MOURA (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it, said the European Union was pleased to announce that it was able to support the draft resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine. The European Union welcomed that the text reaffirmed once more in an evenhanded manner the unqualified right of the Palestinians to self-determination, including the option of a State. The concentration of the draft resolution on this core question and the fact that it did not in any way prejudice the final status negotiations had allowed the European Union to support the resolution again. The European Union hoped that during this year, it would be possible to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace agreement based on international law and on UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 425.
NANCY RUBIN (the United States) said the situation in the Middle East was changing and work was underway towards a genuine peace. The promise of peace was coming close. The resolution suggested that the Commission was focusing on the past. The United States did not believe the Commission should have a role in the Middle East process. The status of Jerusalem was to be discussed, as the parties themselves wanted, at the permanent status talks, not in the Commission. The United States called for a role call vote and urged other delegations to join them against the resolution.
MARIE GERVAIS-VIDRICAIRE (Canada) said that while it recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and did not rule out the option of a Palestinian State, it believed that the question had to be resolved in the context of the Middle East peace process. Canada had therefore chosen to abstain on that draft resolution.
ROALD NAESS (Norway) said that despite the vote in favour of resolution L5, it wished to express its reservation about the language used in the preambular paragraph 6.
The integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women
Under this agenda item, the Commission has before it a report of the Secretary-General(E/CN.4/2000/118) on the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report contains an assessment of the implementation of the current work plan and a joint work plan for 2000. The report recommends, among others, that human rights mechanisms foster contacts with academic institutions, think tanks, other research institutions, national human rights institutions and national machinery for the advancement of women to promote the development of information exchange and projects aimed at normative clarification as well as a systematic approach for support to human rights mechanisms.
There is a note verbale(E/CN.4/2000/131) from the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The note contains comments by the Government of Cuba on the report on the visit to Cuba of Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women and on her report (E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.2).
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/128) 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 note summarizes the effects of the embargo on children and women in Iraq.
There is a report (E/CN.6/2000/6) of the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the elimination of violence against women. The report contains a summarized account of measures taken to implement General Assembly resolution 50/166 on the role of the United Nations Development Fund for Women in eliminating violence against women.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/66) by the Secretary-General on activities of United Nations bodies and other international organizations pertaining to the problem of trafficking in women and girls. The report focuses on the human rights system, the crime prevention and criminal justice system, United Nations activities against trafficking in the areas of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance and the activities of other international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, the European regional organizations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Inter-American system amongst others. The report shows the commitment on the part of the United Nations and other international organizations to resolve this global problem. It concludes that an understanding of the root causes of the problem is necessary in order to reach realistic and effective solutions to the problem and that only through addressing these complex and overlapping causes could progress be made on eliminating trafficking and protecting the rights of trafficked persons.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/67) by the Secretary-General on the Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective, focusing on the integration of human rights of women throughout the United Nations system. The report highlights the main streaming of a gender perspective, the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the steps taken by human rights treaty bodies, human rights mechanisms and procedures, the action taken by the Commission on Human Rights and the activities of United Nations bodies and specialized agencies. The report recommends that all Governments ratify without reservation the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and that the obligations of States to prevent and redress violations need to be clarified. The recommendations of the expert group meeting on the development of guidelines for the integration of gender perspectives into human rights activities and programmes held in 1995 are included in this report.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/68) by the Special Rapporteur, Radhika Coomaraswamy, on the Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective, focusing on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the trafficking of women, women's migration and violence against women, which was submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 1997/44. The report highlights trafficking in women, violations perpetrated against women, accountability for violations of women's human rights, the lack of rights and denial of freedom, the root causes of trafficking, the impact of immigration laws and policies on trafficking and migration, and the current patterns of trafficking and migration and remedies.
The report contains several recommendations on the international and national levels. On the international level, amongst other, it recommends that the protocol on trafficking to the draft International Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime should ensure an unequivocal human rights standard on trafficking in women, and that States seek to adopt bilateral and multilateral agreements providing for the legal labour migration of women. At the national level, among others, it recommends that government programmes and international efforts relating to trafficking should be developed with non-governmental organizations, and that efforts focus on human rights abuses and labour rights abuses of the women involved, rather than treating the victims as criminals or illegal migrants.
Addendum 1 to the report consists of information reviewed by the Special Rapporteur with respect to various countries and terrorise. The countries included are Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen and Yugoslavia.
Addendum 2 reports on the mission by the Special Rapporteur to Cuba and the data collected on violence against women, focusing on domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse, sexual harassment, trafficking and prostitution, women in detention, civil and political rights of Cuban women and economic, social and cultural rights of Cuban women and civil society and mass organizations. The report recommends, inter alia, that Cuba accedes as soon as possible to human rights instruments to which it is not yet party, and to take comprehensive steps at the legislative and executive levels to deal with the issue of violence against women.
Addendum 3 to the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, contains a summarized account of the Special Rapporteur's visit to Haiti. The report addresses questions such as domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse and harassment, women in detention and political rape in that country.
Addendum 4 contains general and specific findings on physical security, right to education, right to health, right to employment, freedom of movement, freedom of association, rights of minority women, trafficking and prostitution, the war and Islam. The addendum also highlights the Afghan refugees in Pakistan, human rights and non-governmental organizations and the United Nations system and the international community. The report recommends, inter alia, that the Taliban administration should not be given international recognition unless and until it is ready to meet its international obligations with regard to the rights of women.
Debate on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women
QI XIAOXIA (China) said women played an indspendsible role in the existence, development, and progress of human society. The status of women was changing and they were changing the world. Reality still fell short of the objectives as discrimination against women, inequality between men and women and the violation of women's human rights were still rampant. The Chinese delegation suggested that the international community make special efforts in strengthening the legislation on women's human rights to establish a comprehensive legal system and mechanisms to protect these rights. Effective measures were needed to be taken to eliminate the poverty of women as poverty was a major obstacle to the realization of equality and development of women. The international community should provide more assistance to developing countries through more international cooperation, and should strengthen the ability to fight against poverty to gradually improve and finally eradicate the poverty of women.
Attention was needed to be paid and measures needed to be taken to solve the problem of violence against women. Regional conflicts, ethnic confrontation, local wars spawned by power politics and violence at home were threatening women's lives and dignity. Governments should attach importance to the education and training of women to raise their level of education, gender equality should first be reflected in the equality of education for men and women. The international community should vigorously promote the universal ratification of and accession to the Convention on the Elimination on all Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Chinese Government had supported several initiatives and had implemented legislation such as the 1992 law on safeguarding women's rights and interests in China and the 1995 Guidelines on the development of women in China. The situation of women in China had improved remarkably on all levels, and the Chinese Government was committed to further implement the objectives set out in the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.
ANEL ENRIQUE BELIZ (Panama), speaking on behalf of the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, said that these countries had actively participated in major UN conferences in the nineties in which plans of actions were adopted on the integration of gender issues. The Beijing Conference and Vienna World Conference had established that the human rights of women and girls were inalienable rights. The group of Latin American countries had participated in the international effort to promote the rights of women. With this objective in mind, actions had been undertaken with a view to promoting the human rights of women and in particular the advancement of women. Thus, special attention had been paid to women's rights in the field of health, education and measures had been adopted to curb violence against them. As signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the group of Latin American countries reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing gender equality and equal opportunities in all fields.
MEHDY HAMDI (Iraq) affirmed that his Government had given special importance to the issue of women and implementing their rights and its laws were free from any discriminatory or fanatic trends based on gender. In the process of social and economic development in Iraq, and the accompanying ambitious development plans, legislation that put men and women on equal footing in the rights aspects had been adopted in the country. The Government was also keen to let women participate in formulating the educational policies. Iraqi laws put emphasis on guaranteeing women's political rights though their participation in elections and nomination for parliament, local assemblies and political parties. Currently, seventeen women held parliamentary seats.
What women had achieved in Iraq on the scientific, social and economic levels was unfortunately undermined because of the continuation of the embargo, the accompanying collapse in the infrastructure and the aggravating economic pressures. The embargo had caused damage to all aspects of life and had inflicted total destruction and misery on all the strata of the society, and on women and children in particular, being the most vulnerable groups to those factors.
While women all around the world looked forward to enjoy a free and prosperous life in the third millennium, the suffering of Iraqi women was increasing. Iraqi women were burdened with the worries and pains of an unjust embargo as a result of which they had lost their children and were denied food. Iraq called for the lifting of the embargo so that Iraqi women could be saved from this suffering and could go back to practice their original role in building the civilized family and society.
SARAH PATERSON (New Zealand) said this was an appropriate time to renew the approach to gender issues as it would soon be five years since the Beijing Conference. Women's rights were still lagging behind and the message of the Beijing Plus 5 document should be to attack the persistent and emerging problems within the gender debate. All governments were encouraged to ratify the universal instruments, conventions and treaties protecting women's rights. The work of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was crucial in this regard. New Zealand welcomed the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and urged all members and governments to ratify it.
The two Asian Pacific Fora had been critical in the further elaboration of the rights of women and the delegation was looking forward to the regional workshop to be held in Fiji in May. This would complement many other activities that the Government of New Zealand had engaged in within human rights, such as the official development assistance good governance programme which promoted regional cooperation and capacity building for human rights. One of the growing challenges in the world was the trafficking of women and girls. The delegation supported the Special Rapporteur's mandate and recommendations on this issue. It had to be a primary objective to achieve the realization of women's human rights. States were ultimately responsible and the delegation looked forward to working in close cooperation with the members of the Commission.
CHARIOTTE LINDSEY (the International Committee of the Red Cross) said that violence against women in situations of armed conflict was a violation of international humanitarian law. Violence against women took many forms, some more apparent than others. One of the most painful consequences of armed conflicts was the number of women searching for news on the fate of relatives who were missing. Throughout the world women were continuing to show remarkable courage, resourcefulness and resilience when confronted with the effects of war. Sexual violence was a particularly heinous violation of humanitarian law. During a recent survey undertaken by the ICRC in countries which had been or were still at war, one in nine of all respondents reported that they knew somebody who was raped and nearly as many said the same for sexual assault. This was shocking. States had a duty to ensure protection and respect for all victims and persons not taking part in the hostilities. ICRC was pleased to note that the Ad Hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considered sexual violence as a war crime.
FELIX-XAVIER NGOUBEYOU (Cameroon) said the issue of the promotion of the rights of women and the girl child remained a challenge for the international community. The Government of Cameroon was happy that the Economic and Social Council had devoted its high-level segment of the 1999 session to the role of employment and labour in the eradication of poverty and had put emphasis on the promotion of women in that regard. It also welcomed the adoption by the General Assembly of the optional protocol to the Convention against All Forms of Discrimination against Women. That important instrument would permit, without doubt, women to benefit from a better protection of their rights and their fundamental freedoms. The Assembly had also decided to hold in 2000 an extraordinary session in view of examining and evaluating the progress realized in the implementation of the Beijing Plan of Action.
Cameroon had taken an active role in the efforts of the international community in favour of the situation of women. Its great interest in that issue had been translated into the progressive implementation of appropriate national mechanisms favouring the participation of women in development. To that end, the Government had adopted a number of measures to integrate women's problems, particularly in the rural areas and in the national development policies.
SPOMENKA CEK (Croatia) noted that domestic violence had increased in even the most developed nations and encouraged that more serious attention be given to women's human rights. Discrimination on the basis of gender was a violation against human rights. The delegation of Croatia commended the efforts of the Special Rapporteur. The Commission was encouraged to address the issues and to condemn violence against women as they had the right to life, safety, psychological and mental well-being. In Croatia, violence against women had received so much media attention that it had raised awareness and reduced the violence. Most of the work had been done through non-governmental organizations but the Commission was given recognition for being the first to recognize the severity of the problem.
Public sensibility in Croatia had increased and there was an increase in the number of women in the House of Representatives in the Croatian national parliament. This should increase the awareness on discrimination against women and reduce it. Legislation had also been reformed, such as the law on marital rape as of the beginning 1997. Court orders against violent men to protect children were in practice, however, they still needed to be extended to apply for women. Women in Croatia now knew that they did not have to stand for domestic abuse and that they could report it. A gender equality working group had been established to create a new national policy on gender issues which should reduce violence against women. The delegation noted the successful cooperation that had developed between the Croatian government and non-governmental organizations.
GRACIBEL BU FIGUEROA (Honduras) said that her country had ratified a series of international treaties aimed at fostering gender equality. This had led to national legislation aimed at reducing opportunity inequality for women so as to enable all inhabitants to enhance their capacities on the basis of equal rights. The participation of women in the work force had increased to 36 per cent in 1999, which pointed to their increased integration in the labour force. The Government had also undertaken to increase the participation of women in the political, economic and social spheres through the promulgation of specific laws. As part of this policy, the Government had created a Women’s Public Prosecutor Office, the task of which was to defend and protect female victims of violence and gender discrimination. Thus, the office held talk shops, disseminated information on violence against women and launched campaigns on gender issues.
RENATE BLOHM, of the World Federation of Methodists and Uniting Church Women, also speaking on behalf of 16 other non-governmental organizations, called on members of the Commission to ask their Governments for renewed commitment and show of political will to really go ahead and move towards full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with specific targets, benchmarks, timeliness and resources. He asked the Commission to provide the legislative authority in its resolution on "integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system" to address all agenda items with a gender perspective. The Commission should adopt a special resolution on the "right to education" addressing all the concerns by asking that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur be renewed. The adoption of a resolution under an item on "women and the rights to land, property and housing" was strongly supported.
ATSUKO TANAKA, of the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination, said that the Commission had to address the issue of the trafficking of women. In order to put an end to international trafficking of women, one had to go beyond focusing on immigration and transnational organized crime. There had to be a specific strategy for a specific problem. In Vienna the need to address the involvement of organized crime in trafficking had been recognized. One also had to look into the economic and social marginalization which often made women vulnerable. There had to be a means of securing the release of the victims. Over the past year the High Commissioner had taken important steps and was applauded for bringing the issue into the Commission. In this connection UNHCR, UNICEF and IOM were commended for elaborating their common concern regarding trafficking. However, there had to be more cooperation. The Commission was called upon to take action against trafficking and to appoint a Special Rapporteur to provide information at next year’s session.
CARIN BENNINGER-BUDEL, of the World Organization Against Torture, said that women's experiences of torture remained widespread in many countries around the world. The most distinguished gender-aspect of torture was its sexualization. The level of violence against women in Mexico was worrying. In region of political tension, such as Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca, indigenous women and girls were often doubly exposed to violence and discrimination by armed forces. There were accounts of murder of more than 190 women since 1993 in the north of Mexico. Further, there were serious allegations of gender bias among the authorities and police and a deliberate inaction to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women because of their sex.
Tamil women also continued to be subjected to rape by Sri Lankan soldiers. The cases suggested that many rapes often went unpunished and without any remedies. In Sierra Leone, rebel forces continued to abduct, arbitrarily kill and rape civilians, in particular women and girls. Moreover, hundreds of civilians, in particular children, were abducted during the attacks by rebel forces and were forced to fight. They were also used as forced labour and girls in particular were forced into sexual slavery. Although the peace agreement specified that all non-combatants held captive by rebel forces were to be released, most of them remained missing, and about 60 per cent of them were girls.
GIANFRANCO ROSSI, of the International Association for Religious Freedom, said that it had been recognized that the extremely difficult situation of Afghan women was due to the application by the Taliban of a religious law which was related to an extremist vision of Islam. The Taliban applied the Shar'ia law which contained highly discriminatory provisions against women. For instance, according to the Shar'ia, it was prohibited that women exercised a leading role; a witness of two women was considered as one; the part of the heritage of a woman was half that of a man; and women were obligated to be veiled. In addition women should be strictly loyal to their husbands because of the consequences of death by stoning. The Commission should call upon all States not to invoke traditions relating to religion in their fulfilment of their obligations concerning ending discrimination against women.
BERHANE RAS-WORK, of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, raised the issue of harmful traditional practices as forms of violence, recognized as such by the Vienna Declaration in 1993 and in the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995. The organization was concerned by the fact that due to lack of concrete and concerted action on the part of governments and due to lack of sufficient resources of non-governmental organizations, millions of girls continued to be victims of backward practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and other inhuman and degrading treatment. Female genital mutilation continued in 35 countries world-wide and in some cases up to 99 per cent of the women were affected. The organization congratulated the expression of commitment from several governments in the enforcement of laws.
YESHEY PELZOM, of Rural Reconstruction Nepal, said that women's rights in the Kingdom of Bhutan were systematically violated. As there was no written Constitution or Bill of Rights, Bhutanese women did not know if they were entitled to any rights at all. The vast majority of Bhutanese women, living in both rural and urban areas, had no right to organize themselves to collectively fight for their rights as the Royal Government of Bhutan did not recognize citizen's fundamental rights to assembly, union and association. There were no women's rights organizations in the Kingdom and no representation of Bhutanese women at top level posts. Of particular concern was the plight of Bhutanese refugee women whose right to return had been denied by the Government. Out of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in eastern Nepal camps, 50 per cent were women. They had been languishing in refugee camps for almost eight years, depending for their survival on the doles provided by international donors. Deprived of their homes, lands, nationality and a future, the Bhutanese refugee women had lost all their faith and hope in the Nepal-Bhutan bilateral talks on repatriation.
YADOLLAH MOHAMMADI, of the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, said that despite various efforts and measures for the advancement of the status of women, the twentieth century had ended with continued serious concerns about the issue of discrimination against women. There was a need for integrating women’s rights in all aspects of UN activities, creating special mechanisms for monitoring the situation of women rights, adopting certain strategies for creating equality between men and women in all aspects of social life and eliminating all kinds of discrimination against women. The role of non-governmental organizations and the sectors of civil society was of great importance for the promotion of women rights. The elimination of discrimination against women, more than anything, required a comprehensive movement, with an aim to achieve justice.
FENG YUAN, of Freedom House, briefly outlined the current situation of female Falun Gong practioners. Two years ago an official government survey showed that over 70 per cent of Falun Gong practioners surveyed in Guangdond province were women. Since the official count of Falun Dafa practitioners last year was 70-100 million women. The crackdown had directly affected tens of millions of women in China, many of whom had joined Falun Gong because they found it improved their health and well-being. The organization gave a detailed account of several female Falun Gong members and the inhuman treatment they had endured, such as arbitrary arrest, torture and intimidation. All manners of physical torture and psychological terror which was once used at the height of the cultural revolution had resurfaced.
The organization noted that despite the horrors the believers were subjected to, they did not strike back as they did not believe in violence or retaliation; their only recourse had been peaceful appeals to both the Chinese Government and to the international community. The Commission was requested to investigate the issue of violence against women in China and to ensure that China complied with its own Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
LOURDES CERVANTES,of the Organization de solidaridad de los pueblos de Africa, Asia y America Latina, said that women were the main victims of structural adjustment policies in third world countries. They accounted for 70 per cent of the 1.2 billion people who suffered from extreme poverty. Unemployment among Third World women was estimated to be 35 per cent higher than that of men. They also represented 55 per cent of the labour force but received only a third of the income generated. Women in rural areas earned between 20 and 40 per cent less than men. Most did not receive any remuneration for their work. Their socio-economic segregation prevented them from having access to basic services such as health, education and social protection. Every year, 470,000 women died of causes related to abortion and giving birth. More than 95 per cent of these women lived in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Women in underdeveloped countries did not have access to technology and training. Women and children were the main victims of armed conflicts.
ODALYS HERNANDEZ FUENTES, of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, said that Cuban legislation protected the rights of women in all fields. Their rights to education, to health care and to social security were also fully guaranteed. No woman was detained in Cuba without the due process of the law. In matters of divorce and custody, they were highly protected. They were also protected from domestic violence and legislation was applied in any conflict in the family. Cases of prostitution were inexistent in the country for the simple reason that prostitution was avoided during the first phase of the Cuban revolution.
AKIRA MAEDA, of the Japanese Fellowship of Reconciliation, supported the Special Rapporteur's recommendations to implement State compensation for the victims of military sexual slavery and prosecution of those responsible for setting up and operating rape centres. The use of sexual violence continued as a weapon of war in Afghanistan, Algeria, Burma, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leonoe, Sri Lanka, Uganda and elsewhere. The impetus for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women had been increasing international recognition of the violations committed against more than 200,000 women and girls enslaved in so-called 'comfort stations' of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. There had been no reparations, no official compensation, and no official acknowledgement. Thus Japan had not discharged fully its obligations under international law.
The organization called upon the Commission to endorse the resolution of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to allow the effective prosecution in national courts of all acts of sexual violence committed during armed conflict, and to explore the possibility of setting up an international Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a means of implementing the recommendations by the Special Rapporteurs, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Gay McDougall.
ELIZABETH KHAXAS, of the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Australia, said that the Namibian Government refused to recognize lesbian partnerships because it did not recognize that lesbians had human rights. Telling the Commission her story, the speaker said that she was a Namibian citizen and a lesbian activist. She had been in a lesbian relationship for the last nine years. Her partner was a German citizen. For the past five years, she had been applying for a permanent residence in Namibia but the Immigration Selection Board had refused to grant her permanent residence status. In 1999, the High Court of Namibia ruled on the case and held that gay and lesbian couples had exactly the same rights as heterosexual couples. The Namibian government had decided to oppose this ruling in the Supreme Court. The case was pending.
Further, several senior Namibian officials, including the President, had made statements which dehumanized gay and lesbian people, opening the door to violence and attack against them. Discrimination against lesbians and gay people was not limited to Namibia however. In almost 100 countries around the world there were laws which criminalized sexual relations between people of the same sex.
S. V. KIRUPAHARAN,.of the International Peace Bureau, brought to Commission's attention the situation of Tamil women in Sri Lanka. He requested the Commission to ask the humanitarian organizations operating in the Jaffa peninsular to take immediate and urgent action to secure the safety of the civilians who were being held as human shields. The fact that rape was used as a weapon of war by the armed forces of the Sri Lankan Government was not new to the Commission. In the previous sessions of the Commission and Subcommission, a number of non-governmental organizations had expressed alarm at the horrifying situation faced by Tamil women. Sexual mutilation, killing by exploding a grenade on the women's lower parts, and the mutilation of the body of pregnant women were all referred to in the Special Rapporteur's report in document E/CN.4/1999/68/Add.1. Sri Lanka and its security forces used rape systematically to terrorize the Tamil population in an attempt to subjugate them. The tragedy of those cases required more than an occasional expression of concern.
MELANIE LEVERGER, of France Liberte, drew the attention of the Commission to the situation faced by Afghan women. Girls were deprived from school at 9 years of age, and women were discriminated against in terms of access to medical care. Their rights to health, work, education and human dignity were being violated. This was unacceptable and the Commission was called upon to take the necessary steps to improve the fate of these women. Another concern was the stoning of women that occurred in some countries, particularly in Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The Commission was called upon to intervene urgently and end these inhuman practices. Finally attention was called to the Plan of Action for the integration of women in Morocco, where women were experiencing non-recognition at work, enforced young marriages, and the lack of adequate education. Whether the violations were physical or psychological, the Commission was called upon to bring these practices to an end.
CORRIGENDUM
In press release HR/CN/00/28 of 5 April 2000, the statement of the Netherlands on pages 4 and 5 should read as follows:
SANDER COHEN (the Netherlands) said his delegation wished to express concern about the very serious prison conditions which existed in many countries around the world. There were situations where opening the doors to the cells of prisoners was a courageous act because one would be hit by hot and stinking air. Often, prisoners only had one filthy sink, one tap and one lavatory, which dozens or occasionally even hundreds of them had to share. Virtually no daylight entered the cells and there was often insufficient room for everyone to lie down, sit down, or stand up. It was no wonder that they attracted all kinds of diseases.
The Netherlands was aware of the fact that many international legal instruments existed. The more binding instruments directed themselves to torture and degrading treatment. The existing standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners remain basically unimplemented. There had to be a political will to implement the existing instruments, although they were not legally binding. There had to be political will to achieve that those who had to be punished for one reason or another be allowed to undergo their punishment under humane circumstances. Governments were called upon to implement the existing international instruments.
* *** *
56th session
7 April 2000
Afternoon
Continues Debate on the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective
The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon adopted resolutions on
the situation in occupied Palestine, the Western Sahara, the use of mercenaries and the strengthening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In its resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine, which was adopted by a roll call vote of 44 in favour, 1 against and 6 abstentions, the Commission reaffirmed the permanent and unqualified Palestinian right to self-determination, including the option of a State, and looked forward to the early fulfilment of that right.
Concerning the Western Sahara, the Commission adopted by consensus a resolution which noted with satisfaction the agreements reached between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro for the implementation of the settlement plan during their private and direct talks. It urged the two parties to continue their cooperation with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, as well as with his Special Representative, and to refrain from undertaking anything that would undermine the implementation of the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation.
On the issue of the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, the Commission adopted a resolution by a roll call vote of 35 in favour, 11 against and 5 abstentions. According to the resolution, the Commission affirmed that the use of mercenaries and their recruitment, financing and training were causes for grave concern to all States and violated the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations;
And concerning the resolution on the strengthening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was adopted without a vote, the Commission reaffirmed the importance of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and requested the High Commissioner to continue to ensure that the fulfilment of her mandate and the activities of her Office were guided by those principles. The Commission also encouraged the High Commissioner to continue to play an active role in promoting and protecting all human rights, including in the prevention of human rights violations throughout the world.
After taking action on draft proposals, the Commission resumed its debate on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women.
There were calls for the international community to make special efforts to strengthen legislation on women's human rights in order to establish a comprehensive legal system and mechanism to protect these rights. The feminisation of poverty was condemned and speakers urged that effective measures be taken to eliminate the poverty of women. The issue of violence against women was also highlighted, with delegations urging that measures be taken to stop this violence, whether domestic or during armed conflicts. Speakers underscored armed conflicts in specific countries where women and girls were doubly exposed to violence and discrimination by armed forces. Trafficking of women and girls was condemned and delegations said that States were ultimately responsible to end this practise. There was a suggestion that the Commission appoint a Special Rapporteur on the trafficking of women and girls. There were also calls on countries to ban harmful traditional practices against women.
The following Government delegations took the floor this afternoon: the United States, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Norway, China, Panama, Iraq, New Zealand, Cameroon, Croatia and Honduras. A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross also spoke.
The following non-governmental organizations addressed the meeting: the World Federation of Methodists and Uniting Church Women, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination, the World Organizations Against Torture, the International Association for Religious Freedom, the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, Rural Reconstruction Nepal, the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, Freedom House, Organization de solidaridad de los pueblos de Africa, Asia y America Latina, the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, the Japanese Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Australia, the International Peace Bureau and France Liberte.
When the Commission resumes its plenary meeting at 10 a.m. on Monday, 10 April, it will continue its debate on integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Radhika Coomaraswamy, will also be presenting her reports.
Action on draft resolutions
The Commission adopted without a vote a resolution on the strengthening of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2000/L.3/Rev. 1), in which it reaffirmed the importance of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and requested the High Commissioner to continue to ensure that the fulfilment of her mandate and the activities of her Office were guided by those principles. It underlined that the Office was a common office for all. The Commission encouraged the High Commissioner to continue to play an active role in promoting and protecting all human rights, including in the prevention of human rights violations throughout the world.
The Commission called upon the High Commissioner to continue to emphasize the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights in the activities of her Office. It declared that advisory services and technical cooperation provided at the request of Governments with a view to developing national capacities in the field of human rights constituted one of the most efficient and effective means of promoting and protecting human rights and democracy.
AUDREY GLOVER (the United Kingdom) said that the policy relating to the staffing of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was governed by article 101 of the UN Charter. It was not the prerogative of the Commission to tell the High Commissioner for Human Rights how to deploy her staff.
The Commission adopted by consensus a resolution on the question of the Western Sahara (E/CN.4/2000/L.2), in which it again noted with satisfaction the agreements reached between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro for the implementation of the settlement plan during their private and direct talks; urged the two parties to continue their cooperation with the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy, as well as with his Special Representative, and to refrain from undertaking anything that would undermine the implementation of the settlement plan and the agreements reached for its implementation; further urged the two parties to implement faithfully and loyally the Secretary-General's package of measures relating to the identification of voters, the appeals process and the revised implementation timetable; and affirmed the responsibility of the United Nations towards the people of the Western Sahara, as provided for in the settlement plan.
CHERYL SIM (the United States) said that although it had joined the consensus on the resolution on the Western Sahara, it considered the text to be incomplete since it did not make reference to the most recent UN Security Council resolutions on the Western Sahara.
The Commission also adopted by a roll call vote of 35 in favour, 11 against and 5 abstentions a resolution on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination (E/CN.4/2000/L.4), in which it affirmed that the use of mercenaries and their recruitment, financing and training were causes for grave concern to all States and violated the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; recognized that armed conflicts, terrorism, arms trafficking and covert operations by third powers, among other things, encouraged the demand for mercenaries on the global market; and urged all States to take the necessary steps and to exercise the utmost vigilance against the menace posed by the activities of mercenaries and to take legislative measures to ensure that their territories and other territories under their control, as well as their nationals, were not used for the recruitment, assembly and financing of mercenaries for the planning of activities designed to impede the right to self-determination.
The Commission invited States to investigate the possibility of mercenary involvement whenever and wherever criminal acts of a terrorist nature occurred; and decided to convene a workshop on "the traditional and new forms of mercenary activities as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination" before the next session of the Commission.
The results of the vote was as follow:
In favour: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, Venezuela and Zambia.
Against: Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Abstention: France, Italy, Portugal, Republic of Korea and Spain.
ALVARO MENDONCA MOURA (Portugal), in explaining the vote on the draft resolution on the use of mercenaries on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it, said that in the past, the European Union had cooperated with the Special Rapporteur on mercenaries. As in previous years, the European Union could not support the draft resolution as there had been no opportunity to discuss reservations in an open forum. The Commission was not the appropriate forum to discuss this issue, and should not divert its attention, workload or workgroups to this issue. This resolution should be terminated and should be considered in another forum where the European Union would happily take part of the discussions.
The Commission adopted by a roll call vote of 44 in favour, 1 against and 6 abstentions a resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine (E/CN.4/2000/L.5), in which it reaffirmed the permanent and unqualified Palestinian right to self-determination, including the option of a State, and looked forward to the early fulfilment of that right. It requested the Secretary-General to transmit the present resolution to the Government of Israel and all other Governments, to disseminate it on the widest possible scale and to make available to the Commission, prior to the convening of its next session, all information pertaining to the implementation of the present resolution by the Government of Israel; and decided to include in the provisional agenda of its next session the item entitled "The right of peoples to self-determination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation" and to consider the situation in occupied Palestine under that agenda item, as a matter of high priority.
The result of the vote was as follows:
In favour: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zambia.
Against: the United States.
Abstentions: Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Romania.
ALVARO MENDONCA MOURA (Portugal), speaking on behalf of the European Union and countries associated with it, said the European Union was pleased to announce that it was able to support the draft resolution on the situation in occupied Palestine. The European Union welcomed that the text reaffirmed once more in an evenhanded manner the unqualified right of the Palestinians to self-determination, including the option of a State. The concentration of the draft resolution on this core question and the fact that it did not in any way prejudice the final status negotiations had allowed the European Union to support the resolution again. The European Union hoped that during this year, it would be possible to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace agreement based on international law and on UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 425.
NANCY RUBIN (the United States) said the situation in the Middle East was changing and work was underway towards a genuine peace. The promise of peace was coming close. The resolution suggested that the Commission was focusing on the past. The United States did not believe the Commission should have a role in the Middle East process. The status of Jerusalem was to be discussed, as the parties themselves wanted, at the permanent status talks, not in the Commission. The United States called for a role call vote and urged other delegations to join them against the resolution.
MARIE GERVAIS-VIDRICAIRE (Canada) said that while it recognized the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and did not rule out the option of a Palestinian State, it believed that the question had to be resolved in the context of the Middle East peace process. Canada had therefore chosen to abstain on that draft resolution.
ROALD NAESS (Norway) said that despite the vote in favour of resolution L5, it wished to express its reservation about the language used in the preambular paragraph 6.
The integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women
Under this agenda item, the Commission has before it a report of the Secretary-General(E/CN.4/2000/118) on the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report contains an assessment of the implementation of the current work plan and a joint work plan for 2000. The report recommends, among others, that human rights mechanisms foster contacts with academic institutions, think tanks, other research institutions, national human rights institutions and national machinery for the advancement of women to promote the development of information exchange and projects aimed at normative clarification as well as a systematic approach for support to human rights mechanisms.
There is a note verbale(E/CN.4/2000/131) from the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The note contains comments by the Government of Cuba on the report on the visit to Cuba of Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women and on her report (E/CN.4/2000/68/Add.2).
There is a note verbale (E/CN.4/2000/128) 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 note summarizes the effects of the embargo on children and women in Iraq.
There is a report (E/CN.6/2000/6) of the United Nations Development Fund for Women on the elimination of violence against women. The report contains a summarized account of measures taken to implement General Assembly resolution 50/166 on the role of the United Nations Development Fund for Women in eliminating violence against women.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/66) by the Secretary-General on activities of United Nations bodies and other international organizations pertaining to the problem of trafficking in women and girls. The report focuses on the human rights system, the crime prevention and criminal justice system, United Nations activities against trafficking in the areas of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance and the activities of other international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, the European regional organizations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Inter-American system amongst others. The report shows the commitment on the part of the United Nations and other international organizations to resolve this global problem. It concludes that an understanding of the root causes of the problem is necessary in order to reach realistic and effective solutions to the problem and that only through addressing these complex and overlapping causes could progress be made on eliminating trafficking and protecting the rights of trafficked persons.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/67) by the Secretary-General on the Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective, focusing on the integration of human rights of women throughout the United Nations system. The report highlights the main streaming of a gender perspective, the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the steps taken by human rights treaty bodies, human rights mechanisms and procedures, the action taken by the Commission on Human Rights and the activities of United Nations bodies and specialized agencies. The report recommends that all Governments ratify without reservation the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and that the obligations of States to prevent and redress violations need to be clarified. The recommendations of the expert group meeting on the development of guidelines for the integration of gender perspectives into human rights activities and programmes held in 1995 are included in this report.
There is a report (E/CN.4/2000/68) by the Special Rapporteur, Radhika Coomaraswamy, on the Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective, focusing on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the trafficking of women, women's migration and violence against women, which was submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 1997/44. The report highlights trafficking in women, violations perpetrated against women, accountability for violations of women's human rights, the lack of rights and denial of freedom, the root causes of trafficking, the impact of immigration laws and policies on trafficking and migration, and the current patterns of trafficking and migration and remedies.
The report contains several recommendations on the international and national levels. On the international level, amongst other, it recommends that the protocol on trafficking to the draft International Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime should ensure an unequivocal human rights standard on trafficking in women, and that States seek to adopt bilateral and multilateral agreements providing for the legal labour migration of women. At the national level, among others, it recommends that government programmes and international efforts relating to trafficking should be developed with non-governmental organizations, and that efforts focus on human rights abuses and labour rights abuses of the women involved, rather than treating the victims as criminals or illegal migrants.
Addendum 1 to the report consists of information reviewed by the Special Rapporteur with respect to various countries and terrorise. The countries included are Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen and Yugoslavia.
Addendum 2 reports on the mission by the Special Rapporteur to Cuba and the data collected on violence against women, focusing on domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse, sexual harassment, trafficking and prostitution, women in detention, civil and political rights of Cuban women and economic, social and cultural rights of Cuban women and civil society and mass organizations. The report recommends, inter alia, that Cuba accedes as soon as possible to human rights instruments to which it is not yet party, and to take comprehensive steps at the legislative and executive levels to deal with the issue of violence against women.
Addendum 3 to the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, contains a summarized account of the Special Rapporteur's visit to Haiti. The report addresses questions such as domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse and harassment, women in detention and political rape in that country.
Addendum 4 contains general and specific findings on physical security, right to education, right to health, right to employment, freedom of movement, freedom of association, rights of minority women, trafficking and prostitution, the war and Islam. The addendum also highlights the Afghan refugees in Pakistan, human rights and non-governmental organizations and the United Nations system and the international community. The report recommends, inter alia, that the Taliban administration should not be given international recognition unless and until it is ready to meet its international obligations with regard to the rights of women.
Debate on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, including violence against women
QI XIAOXIA (China) said women played an indspendsible role in the existence, development, and progress of human society. The status of women was changing and they were changing the world. Reality still fell short of the objectives as discrimination against women, inequality between men and women and the violation of women's human rights were still rampant. The Chinese delegation suggested that the international community make special efforts in strengthening the legislation on women's human rights to establish a comprehensive legal system and mechanisms to protect these rights. Effective measures were needed to be taken to eliminate the poverty of women as poverty was a major obstacle to the realization of equality and development of women. The international community should provide more assistance to developing countries through more international cooperation, and should strengthen the ability to fight against poverty to gradually improve and finally eradicate the poverty of women.
Attention was needed to be paid and measures needed to be taken to solve the problem of violence against women. Regional conflicts, ethnic confrontation, local wars spawned by power politics and violence at home were threatening women's lives and dignity. Governments should attach importance to the education and training of women to raise their level of education, gender equality should first be reflected in the equality of education for men and women. The international community should vigorously promote the universal ratification of and accession to the Convention on the Elimination on all Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Chinese Government had supported several initiatives and had implemented legislation such as the 1992 law on safeguarding women's rights and interests in China and the 1995 Guidelines on the development of women in China. The situation of women in China had improved remarkably on all levels, and the Chinese Government was committed to further implement the objectives set out in the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action.
ANEL ENRIQUE BELIZ (Panama), speaking on behalf of the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, said that these countries had actively participated in major UN conferences in the nineties in which plans of actions were adopted on the integration of gender issues. The Beijing Conference and Vienna World Conference had established that the human rights of women and girls were inalienable rights. The group of Latin American countries had participated in the international effort to promote the rights of women. With this objective in mind, actions had been undertaken with a view to promoting the human rights of women and in particular the advancement of women. Thus, special attention had been paid to women's rights in the field of health, education and measures had been adopted to curb violence against them. As signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the group of Latin American countries reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing gender equality and equal opportunities in all fields.
MEHDY HAMDI (Iraq) affirmed that his Government had given special importance to the issue of women and implementing their rights and its laws were free from any discriminatory or fanatic trends based on gender. In the process of social and economic development in Iraq, and the accompanying ambitious development plans, legislation that put men and women on equal footing in the rights aspects had been adopted in the country. The Government was also keen to let women participate in formulating the educational policies. Iraqi laws put emphasis on guaranteeing women's political rights though their participation in elections and nomination for parliament, local assemblies and political parties. Currently, seventeen women held parliamentary seats.
What women had achieved in Iraq on the scientific, social and economic levels was unfortunately undermined because of the continuation of the embargo, the accompanying collapse in the infrastructure and the aggravating economic pressures. The embargo had caused damage to all aspects of life and had inflicted total destruction and misery on all the strata of the society, and on women and children in particular, being the most vulnerable groups to those factors.
While women all around the world looked forward to enjoy a free and prosperous life in the third millennium, the suffering of Iraqi women was increasing. Iraqi women were burdened with the worries and pains of an unjust embargo as a result of which they had lost their children and were denied food. Iraq called for the lifting of the embargo so that Iraqi women could be saved from this suffering and could go back to practice their original role in building the civilized family and society.
SARAH PATERSON (New Zealand) said this was an appropriate time to renew the approach to gender issues as it would soon be five years since the Beijing Conference. Women's rights were still lagging behind and the message of the Beijing Plus 5 document should be to attack the persistent and emerging problems within the gender debate. All governments were encouraged to ratify the universal instruments, conventions and treaties protecting women's rights. The work of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was crucial in this regard. New Zealand welcomed the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and urged all members and governments to ratify it.
The two Asian Pacific Fora had been critical in the further elaboration of the rights of women and the delegation was looking forward to the regional workshop to be held in Fiji in May. This would complement many other activities that the Government of New Zealand had engaged in within human rights, such as the official development assistance good governance programme which promoted regional cooperation and capacity building for human rights. One of the growing challenges in the world was the trafficking of women and girls. The delegation supported the Special Rapporteur's mandate and recommendations on this issue. It had to be a primary objective to achieve the realization of women's human rights. States were ultimately responsible and the delegation looked forward to working in close cooperation with the members of the Commission.
CHARIOTTE LINDSEY (the International Committee of the Red Cross) said that violence against women in situations of armed conflict was a violation of international humanitarian law. Violence against women took many forms, some more apparent than others. One of the most painful consequences of armed conflicts was the number of women searching for news on the fate of relatives who were missing. Throughout the world women were continuing to show remarkable courage, resourcefulness and resilience when confronted with the effects of war. Sexual violence was a particularly heinous violation of humanitarian law. During a recent survey undertaken by the ICRC in countries which had been or were still at war, one in nine of all respondents reported that they knew somebody who was raped and nearly as many said the same for sexual assault. This was shocking. States had a duty to ensure protection and respect for all victims and persons not taking part in the hostilities. ICRC was pleased to note that the Ad Hoc Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considered sexual violence as a war crime.
FELIX-XAVIER NGOUBEYOU (Cameroon) said the issue of the promotion of the rights of women and the girl child remained a challenge for the international community. The Government of Cameroon was happy that the Economic and Social Council had devoted its high-level segment of the 1999 session to the role of employment and labour in the eradication of poverty and had put emphasis on the promotion of women in that regard. It also welcomed the adoption by the General Assembly of the optional protocol to the Convention against All Forms of Discrimination against Women. That important instrument would permit, without doubt, women to benefit from a better protection of their rights and their fundamental freedoms. The Assembly had also decided to hold in 2000 an extraordinary session in view of examining and evaluating the progress realized in the implementation of the Beijing Plan of Action.
Cameroon had taken an active role in the efforts of the international community in favour of the situation of women. Its great interest in that issue had been translated into the progressive implementation of appropriate national mechanisms favouring the participation of women in development. To that end, the Government had adopted a number of measures to integrate women's problems, particularly in the rural areas and in the national development policies.
SPOMENKA CEK (Croatia) noted that domestic violence had increased in even the most developed nations and encouraged that more serious attention be given to women's human rights. Discrimination on the basis of gender was a violation against human rights. The delegation of Croatia commended the efforts of the Special Rapporteur. The Commission was encouraged to address the issues and to condemn violence against women as they had the right to life, safety, psychological and mental well-being. In Croatia, violence against women had received so much media attention that it had raised awareness and reduced the violence. Most of the work had been done through non-governmental organizations but the Commission was given recognition for being the first to recognize the severity of the problem.
Public sensibility in Croatia had increased and there was an increase in the number of women in the House of Representatives in the Croatian national parliament. This should increase the awareness on discrimination against women and reduce it. Legislation had also been reformed, such as the law on marital rape as of the beginning 1997. Court orders against violent men to protect children were in practice, however, they still needed to be extended to apply for women. Women in Croatia now knew that they did not have to stand for domestic abuse and that they could report it. A gender equality working group had been established to create a new national policy on gender issues which should reduce violence against women. The delegation noted the successful cooperation that had developed between the Croatian government and non-governmental organizations.
GRACIBEL BU FIGUEROA (Honduras) said that her country had ratified a series of international treaties aimed at fostering gender equality. This had led to national legislation aimed at reducing opportunity inequality for women so as to enable all inhabitants to enhance their capacities on the basis of equal rights. The participation of women in the work force had increased to 36 per cent in 1999, which pointed to their increased integration in the labour force. The Government had also undertaken to increase the participation of women in the political, economic and social spheres through the promulgation of specific laws. As part of this policy, the Government had created a Women’s Public Prosecutor Office, the task of which was to defend and protect female victims of violence and gender discrimination. Thus, the office held talk shops, disseminated information on violence against women and launched campaigns on gender issues.
RENATE BLOHM, of the World Federation of Methodists and Uniting Church Women, also speaking on behalf of 16 other non-governmental organizations, called on members of the Commission to ask their Governments for renewed commitment and show of political will to really go ahead and move towards full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with specific targets, benchmarks, timeliness and resources. He asked the Commission to provide the legislative authority in its resolution on "integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system" to address all agenda items with a gender perspective. The Commission should adopt a special resolution on the "right to education" addressing all the concerns by asking that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur be renewed. The adoption of a resolution under an item on "women and the rights to land, property and housing" was strongly supported.
ATSUKO TANAKA, of the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination, said that the Commission had to address the issue of the trafficking of women. In order to put an end to international trafficking of women, one had to go beyond focusing on immigration and transnational organized crime. There had to be a specific strategy for a specific problem. In Vienna the need to address the involvement of organized crime in trafficking had been recognized. One also had to look into the economic and social marginalization which often made women vulnerable. There had to be a means of securing the release of the victims. Over the past year the High Commissioner had taken important steps and was applauded for bringing the issue into the Commission. In this connection UNHCR, UNICEF and IOM were commended for elaborating their common concern regarding trafficking. However, there had to be more cooperation. The Commission was called upon to take action against trafficking and to appoint a Special Rapporteur to provide information at next year’s session.
CARIN BENNINGER-BUDEL, of the World Organization Against Torture, said that women's experiences of torture remained widespread in many countries around the world. The most distinguished gender-aspect of torture was its sexualization. The level of violence against women in Mexico was worrying. In region of political tension, such as Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca, indigenous women and girls were often doubly exposed to violence and discrimination by armed forces. There were accounts of murder of more than 190 women since 1993 in the north of Mexico. Further, there were serious allegations of gender bias among the authorities and police and a deliberate inaction to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women because of their sex.
Tamil women also continued to be subjected to rape by Sri Lankan soldiers. The cases suggested that many rapes often went unpunished and without any remedies. In Sierra Leone, rebel forces continued to abduct, arbitrarily kill and rape civilians, in particular women and girls. Moreover, hundreds of civilians, in particular children, were abducted during the attacks by rebel forces and were forced to fight. They were also used as forced labour and girls in particular were forced into sexual slavery. Although the peace agreement specified that all non-combatants held captive by rebel forces were to be released, most of them remained missing, and about 60 per cent of them were girls.
GIANFRANCO ROSSI, of the International Association for Religious Freedom, said that it had been recognized that the extremely difficult situation of Afghan women was due to the application by the Taliban of a religious law which was related to an extremist vision of Islam. The Taliban applied the Shar'ia law which contained highly discriminatory provisions against women. For instance, according to the Shar'ia, it was prohibited that women exercised a leading role; a witness of two women was considered as one; the part of the heritage of a woman was half that of a man; and women were obligated to be veiled. In addition women should be strictly loyal to their husbands because of the consequences of death by stoning. The Commission should call upon all States not to invoke traditions relating to religion in their fulfilment of their obligations concerning ending discrimination against women.
BERHANE RAS-WORK, of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, raised the issue of harmful traditional practices as forms of violence, recognized as such by the Vienna Declaration in 1993 and in the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995. The organization was concerned by the fact that due to lack of concrete and concerted action on the part of governments and due to lack of sufficient resources of non-governmental organizations, millions of girls continued to be victims of backward practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and other inhuman and degrading treatment. Female genital mutilation continued in 35 countries world-wide and in some cases up to 99 per cent of the women were affected. The organization congratulated the expression of commitment from several governments in the enforcement of laws.
YESHEY PELZOM, of Rural Reconstruction Nepal, said that women's rights in the Kingdom of Bhutan were systematically violated. As there was no written Constitution or Bill of Rights, Bhutanese women did not know if they were entitled to any rights at all. The vast majority of Bhutanese women, living in both rural and urban areas, had no right to organize themselves to collectively fight for their rights as the Royal Government of Bhutan did not recognize citizen's fundamental rights to assembly, union and association. There were no women's rights organizations in the Kingdom and no representation of Bhutanese women at top level posts. Of particular concern was the plight of Bhutanese refugee women whose right to return had been denied by the Government. Out of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in eastern Nepal camps, 50 per cent were women. They had been languishing in refugee camps for almost eight years, depending for their survival on the doles provided by international donors. Deprived of their homes, lands, nationality and a future, the Bhutanese refugee women had lost all their faith and hope in the Nepal-Bhutan bilateral talks on repatriation.
YADOLLAH MOHAMMADI, of the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, said that despite various efforts and measures for the advancement of the status of women, the twentieth century had ended with continued serious concerns about the issue of discrimination against women. There was a need for integrating women’s rights in all aspects of UN activities, creating special mechanisms for monitoring the situation of women rights, adopting certain strategies for creating equality between men and women in all aspects of social life and eliminating all kinds of discrimination against women. The role of non-governmental organizations and the sectors of civil society was of great importance for the promotion of women rights. The elimination of discrimination against women, more than anything, required a comprehensive movement, with an aim to achieve justice.
FENG YUAN, of Freedom House, briefly outlined the current situation of female Falun Gong practioners. Two years ago an official government survey showed that over 70 per cent of Falun Gong practioners surveyed in Guangdond province were women. Since the official count of Falun Dafa practitioners last year was 70-100 million women. The crackdown had directly affected tens of millions of women in China, many of whom had joined Falun Gong because they found it improved their health and well-being. The organization gave a detailed account of several female Falun Gong members and the inhuman treatment they had endured, such as arbitrary arrest, torture and intimidation. All manners of physical torture and psychological terror which was once used at the height of the cultural revolution had resurfaced.
The organization noted that despite the horrors the believers were subjected to, they did not strike back as they did not believe in violence or retaliation; their only recourse had been peaceful appeals to both the Chinese Government and to the international community. The Commission was requested to investigate the issue of violence against women in China and to ensure that China complied with its own Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
LOURDES CERVANTES,of the Organization de solidaridad de los pueblos de Africa, Asia y America Latina, said that women were the main victims of structural adjustment policies in third world countries. They accounted for 70 per cent of the 1.2 billion people who suffered from extreme poverty. Unemployment among Third World women was estimated to be 35 per cent higher than that of men. They also represented 55 per cent of the labour force but received only a third of the income generated. Women in rural areas earned between 20 and 40 per cent less than men. Most did not receive any remuneration for their work. Their socio-economic segregation prevented them from having access to basic services such as health, education and social protection. Every year, 470,000 women died of causes related to abortion and giving birth. More than 95 per cent of these women lived in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Women in underdeveloped countries did not have access to technology and training. Women and children were the main victims of armed conflicts.
ODALYS HERNANDEZ FUENTES, of the National Union of Jurists of Cuba, said that Cuban legislation protected the rights of women in all fields. Their rights to education, to health care and to social security were also fully guaranteed. No woman was detained in Cuba without the due process of the law. In matters of divorce and custody, they were highly protected. They were also protected from domestic violence and legislation was applied in any conflict in the family. Cases of prostitution were inexistent in the country for the simple reason that prostitution was avoided during the first phase of the Cuban revolution.
AKIRA MAEDA, of the Japanese Fellowship of Reconciliation, supported the Special Rapporteur's recommendations to implement State compensation for the victims of military sexual slavery and prosecution of those responsible for setting up and operating rape centres. The use of sexual violence continued as a weapon of war in Afghanistan, Algeria, Burma, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leonoe, Sri Lanka, Uganda and elsewhere. The impetus for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women had been increasing international recognition of the violations committed against more than 200,000 women and girls enslaved in so-called 'comfort stations' of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. There had been no reparations, no official compensation, and no official acknowledgement. Thus Japan had not discharged fully its obligations under international law.
The organization called upon the Commission to endorse the resolution of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to allow the effective prosecution in national courts of all acts of sexual violence committed during armed conflict, and to explore the possibility of setting up an international Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a means of implementing the recommendations by the Special Rapporteurs, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Gay McDougall.
ELIZABETH KHAXAS, of the Coalition of Activist Lesbians Australia, said that the Namibian Government refused to recognize lesbian partnerships because it did not recognize that lesbians had human rights. Telling the Commission her story, the speaker said that she was a Namibian citizen and a lesbian activist. She had been in a lesbian relationship for the last nine years. Her partner was a German citizen. For the past five years, she had been applying for a permanent residence in Namibia but the Immigration Selection Board had refused to grant her permanent residence status. In 1999, the High Court of Namibia ruled on the case and held that gay and lesbian couples had exactly the same rights as heterosexual couples. The Namibian government had decided to oppose this ruling in the Supreme Court. The case was pending.
Further, several senior Namibian officials, including the President, had made statements which dehumanized gay and lesbian people, opening the door to violence and attack against them. Discrimination against lesbians and gay people was not limited to Namibia however. In almost 100 countries around the world there were laws which criminalized sexual relations between people of the same sex.
S. V. KIRUPAHARAN,.of the International Peace Bureau, brought to Commission's attention the situation of Tamil women in Sri Lanka. He requested the Commission to ask the humanitarian organizations operating in the Jaffa peninsular to take immediate and urgent action to secure the safety of the civilians who were being held as human shields. The fact that rape was used as a weapon of war by the armed forces of the Sri Lankan Government was not new to the Commission. In the previous sessions of the Commission and Subcommission, a number of non-governmental organizations had expressed alarm at the horrifying situation faced by Tamil women. Sexual mutilation, killing by exploding a grenade on the women's lower parts, and the mutilation of the body of pregnant women were all referred to in the Special Rapporteur's report in document E/CN.4/1999/68/Add.1. Sri Lanka and its security forces used rape systematically to terrorize the Tamil population in an attempt to subjugate them. The tragedy of those cases required more than an occasional expression of concern.
MELANIE LEVERGER, of France Liberte, drew the attention of the Commission to the situation faced by Afghan women. Girls were deprived from school at 9 years of age, and women were discriminated against in terms of access to medical care. Their rights to health, work, education and human dignity were being violated. This was unacceptable and the Commission was called upon to take the necessary steps to improve the fate of these women. Another concern was the stoning of women that occurred in some countries, particularly in Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The Commission was called upon to intervene urgently and end these inhuman practices. Finally attention was called to the Plan of Action for the integration of women in Morocco, where women were experiencing non-recognition at work, enforced young marriages, and the lack of adequate education. Whether the violations were physical or psychological, the Commission was called upon to bring these practices to an end.
CORRIGENDUM
In press release HR/CN/00/28 of 5 April 2000, the statement of the Netherlands on pages 4 and 5 should read as follows:
SANDER COHEN (the Netherlands) said his delegation wished to express concern about the very serious prison conditions which existed in many countries around the world. There were situations where opening the doors to the cells of prisoners was a courageous act because one would be hit by hot and stinking air. Often, prisoners only had one filthy sink, one tap and one lavatory, which dozens or occasionally even hundreds of them had to share. Virtually no daylight entered the cells and there was often insufficient room for everyone to lie down, sit down, or stand up. It was no wonder that they attracted all kinds of diseases.
The Netherlands was aware of the fact that many international legal instruments existed. The more binding instruments directed themselves to torture and degrading treatment. The existing standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners remain basically unimplemented. There had to be a political will to implement the existing instruments, although they were not legally binding. There had to be political will to achieve that those who had to be punished for one reason or another be allowed to undergo their punishment under humane circumstances. Governments were called upon to implement the existing international instruments.
* *** *