DIRECTOR OF UNAIDS ADDRESSES COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Commission on Human Rights
57th session
11 April 2001
Morning




Special Rapporteur on Torture Discusses Situation in Brazil;
Debate Continues on Rights of the Child



The Executive Director of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) spoke before the Commission on Human Rights this morning, saying that when human rights were not respected the spread and the impact of the disease were worse and that promotion of human rights was the key to effective human and social mobilization against the epidemic.

The Director, Peter Piot, also reported that in sub-Saharan Africa there had been more AIDS deaths last year than ever before, and 3.8 million new infections; that there was explosive growth of the disease in Eastern Europe, especially in the Russian Federation, fuelled by injected-drug use; that in Asia, spread of the epidemic was uneven but significant; and that the Caribbean had become the second-largest affected region.

The Commission’s Special Rapporteur on torture, Sir Nigel Rodley, presented a report on a visit made last year to Brazil, saying among other things that there was widespread public disquiet about the level of ordinary criminality in Brazil, breeding a pervasive sense of public insecurity leading, in turn, to demands for draconian official reaction, sometimes without legal restraint; that torture and similar ill-treatment were meted out on a widespread and systematic basis in most of the parts of the country and at all phases of detention; and that mainly it happened to poor, black common criminal suspects accused of having committed petty crimes or small-scale drug distribution.

A Representative of Brazil said the report, although hard, was a positive and useful tool which would assist Brazil in moving forward in its human-rights policies, especially in combatting torture, and that the Government was taking extensive measures to eradicate such ill-treatment.

The Commission also carried on this morning with debate on child rights, hearing from a series of countries describing national efforts on behalf of children and calling, among other things, for greater efforts to protect children caught up in situations of armed conflict and in trafficking.


Contributing to the discussion were representatives of China, Pakistan, Mexico (on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries), Argentina, Costa Rica, Viet Nam, Venezuela, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

The Commission will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its review of the rights of the child.


Civil and political rights

Before the Commission under continuing consideration of this agenda item is a report (E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2) of Sir Nigel Rodley, Special Rapporteur on torture, on a visit to Brazil from 20 August to 12 September 2000. Among the document’s conclusions and recommendations are that Brazilian legislation has many positive aspects in terms of protection against torture, but that implementation is often lacking, frequently for lack of sufficient funding; that torture and ill-treatment are meted out on a widespread and systematic basis in most of the parts of the country visited by the Special Rapporteur and, as far as indirect testimonies presented to him from reliable sources suggest, in most other parts of the country; that torture generally is carried out against detainees who are poor and black for purposes of obtaining information and confessions and for “lubrication of systems of financial extortion”; that top political leaders need to take vigorous measures to halt torture and impunity for torture; that no statement or confession made by a person deprived of liberty, other than one made in the presence of a judge or lawyer, should have probative value in court, except as evidence against those accused of having obtained the confession by unlawful means; that complaints of torture or ill-treatment should be expeditiously and diligently investigated; that investigations of police criminality should not be under the authority of the police themselves; that long periods of detention or imprisonment should not be imposable for relatively low-level criminality; and that the police should be under civilian authority and civilian justice.


Statements

PETER PIOT, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said that more than a year ago, the Security Council for the first time in its history had debated the situation of AIDS in Africa. This had made history as it was the first time that a health and development issue was discussed in the Security Council. It had also reflected how understanding of AIDS had changed. Now it was seen as having an impact on every aspect of society. It was seen as a human security and development issue. When human rights were not respected, the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS was worse. Also, promoting human rights was the key to effective human and social mobilization.

Mr. Piot said that over the last 12 months, AIDS had been on top of the global political agenda. It had been discussed in many international summits and many Presidents and Prime Ministers had addressed the issue. This created a favourable environment for finally tackling the epidemic which continued to grow. In sub-Saharan Africa, there had been more AIDS deaths last year than ever before, and there were 3.8 million new infections. There was an explosive growth of the disease in Eastern Europe, especially the Russian Federation, fuelled by injected-drug use. In Asia, growth of the epidemic was uneven but significant. The Caribbean had become the second largest affected region. And there was no reduction of the spread of the epidemic in high-income countries and Latin America. All this required a global response which must match the scale of the epidemic. This was not the case yet.


Human-rights progress concerning AIDS over the 20 years of the epidemic had been very disappointing. There were still human-rights abuses affecting people living with HIV. There was still continuing intolerance, stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS by Government actors, private individuals and institutions. This had led to loss of housing, employment, education, respect and dignity, and even loss of lives.

Mr. Piot said that there had been some progress in key areas over the past 12 months. There had been progress in protection of the rights of privacy and confidentiality in the context of HIV/AIDS. The enforcement of HIV/AIDS-related human rights at the national level had also made progress. But there was more to be done. HIV must become more prominent in the agendas of the major non-governmental human rights organizations. National human-rights institutions needed to strengthen their capacities to share information, develop technical expertise, build awareness, and advocate for the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights must continue to champion the issue of HIV/AIDS and human rights. And the United Nations system should try to ensure that human-rights concerns were a central part of national AIDS strategies and plans around the world.

NIGEL RODLEY, Special Rapporteur on torture, introducing a report (E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2) of visit he had undertaken to Brazil, said there was widespread public disquiet about the level of ordinary criminality in Brazil, breeding a pervasive sense of public insecurity leading, in turn, to demands for draconian official reaction, sometimes without legal restraint. A particular problem was the exorbitant powers of heads of police stations in respect to carrying out criminal investigations, which made most external investigations of criminality by law-enforcement officials overtly dependent on their goodwill and cooperation.

Mr. Rodley said torture and similar ill-treatment were meted out on a widespread and systematic basis in most of the parts of the country, and as far as indirect testimonies presented to him from reliable sources suggested, in most other parts of the country. It was found at all phases of detention: arrest, preliminary detention, other provisional detention, and in penitentiaries and institutions for juvenile offenders. It did not happen to all or everywhere; mainly it happened to poor, black common criminal suspects accused of having committed petty crimes or small-scale drug distribution. The consistency of the accounts received, the fact that most detainees still bore visible marks consistent with their testimonies and that the Special Rapporteur was able to discover in almost all police stations instruments of torture as described by alleged victims such as iron and wooden bars made it difficult to refute the numerous torture allegations. Conditions of detention in many places were subhuman.

MARCO ANTONIO DINIZ BRANDAO (Brazil) said the promotion and protection of human rights had been one of the main concerns of the Brazilian Government. Brazil's legal and Constitutional framework was not only compatible with human rights, it gave priority to them. As far as torture was concerned, the Government did not behave, and had never behaved, in a passive way. Several important measures had been adopted in recent years to promote changes in the legal framework and improve its efficiency and efficacy. They also were aimed at inducing changes in social behaviour and enhancing respect for the human rights of inmates, detainees and suspected criminals. The adoption of the anti-torture law of 1997 was a landmark because it was the first time that torture had been typified as a crime and punished accordingly.

In Brazil's perception, the report presented today, although hard, was a positive and useful tool which would assist Brazil in moving forward in its human rights policies, especially in combatting torture. Among measures to be taken by the Government was the launch next month of a national campaign against torture to raise broad awareness on the need of effectively applying the Torture Act of 1997. A broad plan of action aimed at improving prison conditions was under consideration, including capacity building of police and prison guards. Brazil was equally concerned about overcrowded prison facilities and many options were being explored by the Government to tackle this problem. Among his recommendations, the Special Rapporteur had noted three important matters: police investigation, unification of police forces, and federalization of human-rights crimes. The Brazilian Congress had shown its willingness to address these matters.

LI BAODONG (China) said the Chinese Government attached great importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child and fulfilled with sincerely its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Chinese Government had signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention in September related to the sale of children and child prostitution, and had signed several days ago the Optional Protocol to the Convention related to involvement of children in armed conflicts. This fully demonstrated the determination and political will of the Government to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

Furthermore, China had, through promulgating new laws and revising existing laws, formed a fairly complete legal system for the protection of children's rights and interests. The Government had adopted various effective measures which had enhanced significantly the enjoyment by the child of various matters such as nutrition, health care and education. The achievements of China in the field of promoting and protecting the rights of the child had been widely recognized by the international community.

ATTIYA INAYATULLAH (Pakistan) said promotion and protection of the rights of the child occupied a central position in the Government's efforts to promote all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Protection and proper treatment of children in conflict with the law was a basic right. Concerning the right of every child to an identity, Pakistan was actively engaged in realization of this through child-registration certifications and creation of a child-registration database. The Government had also facilitated the setting up of a Child-NGO Coalition, bringing together non-governmental organizations working for children. The highest priority had been accorded to the child's right to education. Pakistan was addressing childhood diseases through an accelerated programme to immunize against the six main diseases.

Efforts were ongoing to improve the nutritional status of children. The Government had not only formulated a national policy and plan of action for eradication of child labour by 2010, but had approved it and was now implementing it. Pakistan was engaged in extensive formal and informal education-awareness campaigns which put principles such as tolerance, justice, peace and democracy into practice. A host of NGOs were engaged in rehabilitation of street children. And Pakistan was on the threshold of signing International Labour Office Convention 182 on abolition of the worst forms of child labour. Pakistan had been hampered by deterioration of the macro-economic situation, and these economic woes had been aggravated by an unstable security situation in the region. However, the Government had accepted the challenge of protecting and caring for its children.

ALICIA ELENA PEREZ-DUARTE Y NORONA (Mexico), speaking on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC), said GRULAC endorsed all the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child but felt that greater effort had to be made to ensure a better quality of life for children. All children deserved protection and respect, and States should adapt their legislation and practices to the progress achieved in the field of human rights, in particular with respect to the rights emerging from the Convention and its Optional Protocols. The international community was urged to undertake all necessary efforts to ensure that the Special Session of the General Assembly on children, to be held in New York in September 2001, would produce positive results, including the adoption of action-oriented measures in favour of this vulnerable group.

In the Santiago Declaration, members of GRULAC had observed with concern the large number of children who were victim of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance in the region and had taken note of the need to take into account these situations of discrimination in developing strategies and programmes, in particular for helping abandoned children, children who worked in the streets, children who were victims of illicit trafficking and economic exploitation, children who were sexually exploited, children affected by armed conflict, and children who were victims of poverty. Children of African descent, indigenous children and migrant children suffered aggravated discrimination both as children and members of vulnerable sectors of society. The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean expressed grave concern at the fact that numerous children worldwide lived in difficult conditions -- this was a lacerating reality for the international community.

HORACIO EMILIO SOLARI (Argentina) said promotion and protection of the rights of the child were among the highest priorities of Argentina and all Latin American countries. Argentina had been very satisfied with the adoption of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on children and armed conflict and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The standards approved in the optional protocols served to protect the rights of children and Argentina believed that it would be able to ratify both instruments soon. Argentina also gave utmost priority to the right to identity and nationality for children. The articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child affecting this issue were of special concern to the country. Argentina reaffirmed the defence of human life from the very moment of conception and the right of the child to grow up in a family. The country was concerned at the large number of cases in which the rights enshrined in the Convention in Articles 9 and 10, concerning the right of children to maintain personal relations with their parents, even if they were separated or in different countries, was infringed upon. The Government was taking measures to halt this situation.

Argentina was facing the challenge of bringing radical change to old procedures dealing with children and adolescents. The challenge was not only because of its international obligations but to enhance the welfare of thousands of children. It had been 10 years since Argentina had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention had been incorporated into the Constitution. Argentina was considering a public policy to promote the social integration of all boys, girls and adolescents into society.

EDGAR UGALDE ALVAREZ (Costa Rica) said adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the General Assembly in November 1989 allowed the international community to have for the first time an instrument which defined universal norms and principles relating to the children. In recent years, the international community had drafted two optional protocols to the convention which had not come into force yet. Costa Rica had incorporated the principles contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and CEDAW in a vast and modern body of laws within the provisions of the Costa Rican Constitution.

In recent years, Costa Rica had enjoyed a tourism boom. Regretfully, this boom had been accompanied by the sexual exploitation of children. Unscrupulous foreigners believed they had found in Costa Rica a place to satisfy their sexual impulses. The Government, however, was determined to combat this scourge and had adopted preventive and punitive policies as well as policies aimed at treating victims of this illicit activity. The penal code had been modified to classify and punish the sexual exploitation of children.

DINH THI MINH HUYEN (Viet Nam) said the children of the world were expecting the full implementation of all the international legal instruments which had been adopted on their behalf. This needed not only the manifestation of a strong political will, but also the creation of an enabling environment in which pro-children policies could be effectively achieved. Peace, stability and development were among the key components of such a favourable environment. Viet Nam was among the first countries in Asia to become a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. It had also signed the two optional protocols to the Convention and ratification was underway. Although the country had been faced with many economic and financial constraints, the Government had always given particular attention to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. Viet Nam had successfully implemented its first National Plan of Action for children for the period 1991-2000. At present, more than 93 per cent of Vietnamese children below one year of age received the six basic vaccinations, and literacy and primary education universalization had been attained in all provinces of the country in 2000.

Viet Nam recognized that it was faced with problems related to children in special circumstances such as street children, drug-addicted children and sexually abused children. Malnutrition under the age of five was also high and needed to be reduced. Initial health services needed to be extended to remote and mountainous areas. The second National Plan of Action for children for 2001-2010 concentrated on health and nutrition, provision of clean water, sanitation, quality primary education, recreation, child protection and enhanced youth participation.

VLADIMIR GONZALEZ VILLAPAREDES (Venezuela) said principles of human rights were part of the new Constitution of the country. Venezuela's participation in the United Nations was guided by its concern to support and develop a rights-based approach and ensure the human rights of all. Children were a priority sector for the State. A large number of social policies in the areas of education, health and nutrition targeted boys and girls. The new Constitution promoted and protected the civil and political rights of the population, including children and juveniles.

Measures adopted to promote the rights of the child included the setting up of a forum on the rights of the child, which brought together NGOs and children, two macro programmes which provided for the needs of children and the elderly; establishment of a national assembly of children and adolescents; training of judges for juveniles; and the setting up of an inter-agency network throughout the country to address the needs of children.

SALIM MOHAMED SALIM (Kenya) said the international community had now made children a common cause. Kenya had traditionally attached a great deal of importance to the welfare of children. The Government had finalized the preparation of a draft Children's Bill in 2000 which dealt comprehensively with issues relating to children and provided a better legal and institutional framework that would enhance the protection of children both inside and outside the family environment. It had also addressed the situation of child offenders and had explicitly required judicial officers dealing with child offenders to have regard for the best interests of the child. A Domestic Violence Bill 2000 had been finalized which would benefit women and children living in abusive homes. Kenya had also published a National Programme of Action for children in 1992 whose purpose was to ensure the implementation of the Declaration of the 1990 World Summit for Children. It had also been used as a basis for the preparation of national development plans and policy documents relating to children.

As the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography had pointed out in her report on Kenya to the Commission a few years ago, there were several constraints which the Government faced in protecting the rights of the child. The major problem was poverty, which often resulted in children dropping out of school. Although the Government had sought to raise awareness of the need for all children to have a basic education, it had to be appreciated that the overall problem of poverty must be addressed before significant improvements could be achieved. The problem of rural-urban migration also led to the growth of slums which provided breeding grounds for criminality, aggression, violence, abuse and neglect from which children often suffered the most. That too could only be adequately addressed through a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy which the Government had put in place.

YUN BYUNG-SE (Republic of Korea) said the reality of today's children faced was excessively bleak. Some 200 million children under the age of 5 suffered from malnutrition. Around 250 million children worked, many in hazardous and exploitative conditions. Almost half of all children in least-developed countries did not have access to primary education. Around 540 million children lived in dangerous situations, and some, even younger than age 10, were forced into the armed services. There was global consensus that all exploitative child labour must be eliminated if children were to be like children, play like children and dream like children. It should also be recognized that simply putting these children out of work could sometimes result in immediate hunger.

Television brought images of child soldiers carrying weapons bigger than they were. They were pushed onto the battlefield at a very early age, learning to kill before learning to read. Another abominable crime was sexual abuse and exploitation of children. In spite of growing awareness, children continued to run higher risks of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Girls were the most vulnerable and disadvantaged group and faced double discrimination.

ABDURACHMAN MATTALITTI (Indonesia) said Indonesia hoped that the upcoming Special Session of the General Assembly on children would give an overall focus to development issues such as health care, education, poverty and neglect, as well as the future implications of globalization.

The negative impact that the financial crisis in Indonesia had had and continued to have on children was abundantly clear. Despite the fact that progress had been made in some areas, the number of children requiring special assistance had increased, and this situation was not unique to Indonesia. Some progress had been made. However, the crumbling economy had given vent in several areas of the country to ethnic violence and had resulted in population displacements which of course included children. Indonesia had established a National Commission for Child Protection as well as independent child protection bodies. It was working to strengthen its social safety net and to ensure the integrity of the family unit. However, many of its targets would not be met unless it received increased support from the international community, including in the form of increased official development assistance.

SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said millions of children around the globe remained deprived of their basic rights for various reasons but primarily because of widespread poverty. The Indian Constitution provided a framework for protection, development and welfare of children. The adoption of the National Policy for Children in 1974 had been a landmark development. It laid down that the State shall provide adequate services to all children. A National Children's Fund was also created to provide financial assistance to voluntary organizations for undertaking innovative child-welfare programmes. A separate Department of Women and Child Development was set up in 1985. This Department formulated the National Plan of Action for Children in 1992 covering priority areas such as health, nutrition, education and water.


India believed that children must not be recruited for warfare. However, this was not the case with non-state actors who recruited children, often forcibly because they were malleable and strangers to danger and therefore convenient instruments for mindless violence. Regrettably, the phenomenon of schools and seminaries being misused to instill in young and impressionable minds the negative passions of hatred and intolerance continued in the region. These youngsters were then sent to Afghanistan and elsewhere as cannon fodder and to carry out terrorist outrages.

PHANTIPHA IAMSUDHA (Thailand) said the Thai Government was committed to the development and protection of children who were very valuable resources and in fact were the future. The Government had submitted the candidature of the first woman cabinet minister in Thailand to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and it had ratified International Labour Office Convention 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. It was also in the process of finalizing a draft Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia on the protection and prevention of trafficking in women and children.

Since the World Summit for Children in 1990, in addition to increasing the survival rate of children and children's access to basic social services, Thailand had also put much effort, energy and resources into actions to improve the situations of marginalized and underprivileged groups of children, including children whose rights were being violated, neglected children, juvenile delinquents and physically and mentally disabled children. On the question of trafficked children, there were now 84 shelters. There were homes throughout the country where basic necessities, medical treatment, social work services and psychological rehabilitation were offered to assist trafficked children and women. Although Thailand was still slowly recovering from the economic and social ravages of the financial crisis of 1997, the Government was determined to pursue further the tasks of eradication of evil crimes committed against children and was dedicated to promoting the rights and development of children.

ABDULWAHAB ABDULSALAM ATTAR (Saudi Arabia) said the country attached the utmost importance to the question of children, bearing in mind the comprehensive precepts of Islam which guaranteed the basic rights of the child and respected the child's identity and dignity and the child's right to a decent life free from violations of person, body, privacy, home or family. It was on this basis that the Kingdom had acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Its principal priorities included the welfare of deprived children, such as orphans, foundlings, juvenile delinquents and disabled children, and protection of their rights to education, training, care and participation in public life.

Street children and other phenomena which had an adverse effect on the lives of children were non-existent in the Kingdom. This was in keeping with the stipulations of the Kingdom's Basic System of Government, which made provision for full support and protection of the family and children, encouraged family cohesion, protected its members, prevented the employment of children under 18 in the public or private sectors, and prohibited the employment of children in arduous work and their exploitation in or exposure to harmful occupations.




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