HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS FROM TOGO AND BULGARIA ADDRESS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

6 April 2004


Commission Concludes Debate on Violence against Women,
Takes Up Consideration of Rights of the Child



The Minister for the Promotion of Democracy and the Rule of Law of Togo and the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria this morning addressed the Commission on Human Rights, both emphasizing the need to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights.

Roland Y. Kpotsra, Minister for the Promotion of Democracy and the Rule of Law of Togo, said that his country was determined to continue to work for the promotion, protection, and defence of human rights, as it had deliberately engaged itself to do so many years ago, as per the commitments that it had made. That was why his Government invested itself increasingly every day in the construction of the state of law and the promotion of democracy in order to provide the people of Togo with the possibility of participating actively and fully in the management of public affairs and the process of economic, social and cultural development.

Petko Draganov, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, said that in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Madrid, the international community must reaffirm its determination to combat the looming threat of terrorism. There was an obligation urgently to implement measures to protect the fundamental rights to life of all, and yet to counter terrorism in conformity with international law and universally recognized human rights standards. With regard to the deeply rooted phenomenon of international trafficking in human beings, he said that integral efforts and cooperation at all levels was needed.

Also this morning, the Commission concluded its general debate on the integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective, hearing from a series of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which focused on violence against women. The Committee also started its agenda item on the rights of the child.

Several speakers from non-governmental organizations decried the widespread violence perpetrated against women and girls worldwide. Many of them drew the Commission's attention to the plight of women who were subjected to continued violence in the form of female genital mutilation, sexual abuse, trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, and rape in many countries. They urged the Commission to request States parties to fully implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Dominican Republic and Egypt took the floor to deliver statements on the rights of the child.

Taking part in the debate on violence against women were representatives of the following NGOs: Franciscans International; Amnesty International; Femmes Africa Solidarité; Women's International Democratic Federation; Human Rights Advocates (joint statement with United Nations Watch); Federation of Cuban Women; Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions; Jubilee Campaign; Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation; CIRAC; International Religious Liberty Association; National Union of Jurists of Cuba; Organization for Defending Victims of Violence; Organization for the Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America; Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees; Association of World Citizens; Japanese Workers Committee for Human Right; International Women’s Rights Action Watch; Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development; Indian Council of Education; International Institute for non-aligned Studies; International Humanists and Ethnical Union; World Vision International; Permanent Assembly for Human Rights; International Institute for Peace; World Young Women's Christian Association; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; World Muslim Congress; Anti-Slavery International; Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance; All-China Women’s Federation; Worldview International Foundation; Union nationale de la femme tunisienne; International Islamic Federation of Students Organization; Third World Movement against the Exploitation of Women; Korea Women’s Associations United; MADRE; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Asia-Japan Women’s Resource Centre; Centre Europe –Tiers Monde; Rural Development Foundation; Women’s Human Rights International Association; Minority Rights Group International; and the Netherlands Organization for International Development Cooperation.

The Commission will reconvene at 3 p.m. this afternoon to continue its general debate on the rights of the child.

Statements from the Podium

ROLAND Y. KPOTSRA, Minister for the Promotion of Democracy and the Rule of Law of Togo, said as had already been the case for several years, the current session of the Commission was taking place in an international context that was seriously influenced by crises and armed conflicts, added to which were systematic violations of human rights as well as grave impediments to the right of peoples to self-determination. If it was true that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was still perceived as holding the common ideals for all peoples, it was necessary, after examining the road already travelled, to note that the prescribed goals appeared to still be difficult to reach due to the vicissitudes that characterized inter-State relations, as well as due to the constant lack of regard manifested against the human being.

It was universally agreed that there was interdependence between civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights on the one hand, and on the other hand between democracy and development. However, in the context of the developing world, the realization of economic and social rights had a crucial importance, particularly with regard to the construction of the State of Law and the installation of democracy, thanks to the enrooting of the institutions that incarnated it. It was undeniable that the success of the democratic enterprise, founded on the satisfaction of the rights and duties of each of the elements of society, was not an easy thing to ensure, as the obligation that fell to States to assume appropriately their responsibilities vis-à-vis to their citizens by answering their legitimate aspirations presupposed the mobilization of important financial means which simple national efforts could not guarantee.

The instrumentalisation of issues related to human rights and to political ends could only contribute to the multiplication of the tensions between States and groups of States, and could harm the credibility of the mechanisms and protection bodies set into place by the United Nations and regional organizations. Togo was determined to continue to work for the promotion, protection, and defence of human rights, as it had deliberately engaged itself to do so many years ago, as per the commitments that it had made. This was why the Government of Togo invested itself increasingly every day in the construction of the State of Law and the promotion of democracy in order to provide the people of Togo with the possibility of participating actively and fully in the management of public affairs and the process of economic, social and cultural development.

PETKO DRAGANOV, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, said that in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy in Madrid, the international community must reaffirm its determination to combat the looming threat of terrorism. There was an urgent obligation to implement measures to protect the fundamental rights to life of all, and yet to counter terrorism in conformity with international law and universally recognized human rights standards.

As a State traditionally sensitive to the protection of the most vulnerable, Bulgaria wished to draw attention to the situation in which the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child remained inadequately fulfilled, he said. Children continued to be the victims of the worst forms of violence and exploitation in many parts of the world, including child labour, child soldiers and sexual abuse and trafficking. For its part, Bulgaria had already ratified the two optional protocols to the Convention and a national Agency for Child Protection had been established to supervise the fulfilment of the State’s commitments. Furthermore, Bulgaria welcomed and supported the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of an international convention on the rights and dignity of disabled persons and continued efforts at the national level to provide persons with disabilities with equal opportunities. Also, the continued practice of torture necessitated that further steps are taken to ensure adequate protection for all persons against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

In regard of the deeply rooted phenomenon of international trafficking in human beings, he said that integral efforts and cooperation at all levels was needed. The Bulgarian Chairmanship of the Organization of Cooperation and Security in Europe had emphasized the importance of making the effective implementation of the Action Plan to combat trafficking in human beings a top priority. Countries of origin, transit countries and destination countries must all combat the problem through concerted effort and shared responsibility. Bulgaria would also encourage activities aimed at combating racism, xenophobia, intolerance, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination during its Chairmanship, he said. In that regard, human rights education was of key importance and a powerful tool to achieve security and progress.

The effective implementation of universally recognized human rights standards was recognized as a major challenge before the international community, he added, and the strengthening of national capacity for their promotion and protection was a primary responsibility of each State. The Bulgarian National Assembly had provided for the establishment of a national ombudsman to complement the protection provided by existing mechanisms including traditional parliamentary control, Constitutional jurisdiction, judicial and administrative control, media and non-governmental organizations. Moreover, the Parliament had adopted a comprehensive Protection against Discrimination Act and envisaged setting up a nine-member Commission for Protection against Discrimination as an independent body to supervise law enforcement.

Statements on Human Rights of Women

LILY GEORGE, of Franciscans International, said that around the world, more than 90 per cent of workers were women. Though they were particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses and to multiple forms of exploitation, their situation was widely ignored and outside the domain of regulatory mechanisms. In India, Jordan and Lebanon, Franciscans International ran specific programmes to support and empower domestic women. In all cases the organization was dealing with, it had found that abuses of women domestic workers, whether nationals or migrants, were not linked to their abilities. If their rights and freedoms were denied it was because nearly no protective mechanisms had been established by Governments. At the core of the problem was that domestic work was not recognized as a “job” in a majority of countries. For instance, although India had legalized 122 unorganised jobs, regrettably, domestic work was not among them.

In Lebanon, multiple forms of violence, including physical, sexual, verbal and psychological violence, were committed with total impunity against women domestic workers either by official or private actors. An excessive number of working hours, salaries largely inferior to the work performed, lack of social benefits and job security, racial and gender discrimination, and inhumane and degrading treatment, among other things, were part of the daily lives of these women.

MELINDA CHING, of Amnesty International, said that in the ten years since the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women, some progress had been made towards the realization of this goal, but it was far from enough. Today, from birth to death, in times of peace as well as war, women faced violence at the hands of their States, their communities, and their families. The Commission should do more to eliminate this affront to the human rights of one half of the world’s population.

The underlying cause of violence against women was discrimination. Women were denied equality with men. It was Governments’ responsibility to bring the perpetrators of violence against women to account and to provide redress to the victims. They should also, among other things, enact, reinforce or amend domestic legislation in accordance with international standards to protect women from violence.

EVELYN KANDAKA, of Femmes Africa Solidarité, recalled that the Mano River Women’s Peace Network had been awarded a United Nations human rights prize by the General Assembly last December. This much-deserved recognition should be extended to many other organizations that worked globally to alleviate women’s suffering in conflict and post-conflict areas and to improve women’s status in society.

From a rights perspective, it was self-evident that women should participate in peace negotiations. Due to their different roles in society, women often developed different perspectives on what was needed to sustain societies in the aftermath of war. The Commission was called upon to address the need for gender parity in peace negotiations and to advocate the establishment of codes of conduct for United Nations peacekeeping personnel and humanitarian assistance staff. Moreover, as there must be no impunity for crimes committed against women in war, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women was requested to focus on violence against women in conflict situations, including through missions to Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. In particular, a tribunal should be created in Liberia to address human rights abuses during the conflict there.

SANDRA AGUILA, of Women’s International Democratic Federation, said ten years after the Declaration and Plan of Action of Beijing, and thirty years after the United Nations Decade for Women, the situation of women today in the world had become ever more worrying. Many challenges and engagements of States remained unaccomplished. The effects of globalized neo-liberalism had reinforced the economic order and thrown into poverty two thirds of the world’s population, 70 per cent of which were women. The existing conditions of imperialistic domination and wars of expansion had reinforced violence against women, and during armed conflicts, rape, murders, and forced pregnancies were used as weapons of war. It was unacceptable that in the twenty-first century, women still earned 20 to 30 per cent less than men, and occupied only 1 per cent of management posts.

JACQUELINE BROWN, of Human Rights Advocates, speaking on behalf of United Nations Watch, said that the trafficking of women and girls into the commercial sex trade involved up to 4 million persons annually. It was a modern day form of slavery that should be abolished. Confronting the demand for women and girls was crucial in combating trafficking.

The first place to start was with military forces. Government and UN officials could not expect to see real strides made in reducing the demand for trafficked women and girls if they themselves could not control their own personnel. The Commission was urged to call upon the Special Rapporteur on violence against women to request information from the Secretary-General and from national Governments on methods taken to reduce the demand within their militaries for trafficked women. Continued attention should be paid to the root causes of trafficking. Poverty was one of the most significant factors contributing to a woman's risk of being exploited by commercial traffickers.

MAGALYS AROCHA, of Federation of Cuban Women, said thousands of Cuban women had been victims of terrorist activities directed against the country by successive United States Governments, which had committed countless human rights violations against the Cuban people. Reports to the Commission about these violations had fallen on deaf ears and had been hushed up.

Cuba had and would continue to defend the rights of women, in particular in the case of the five anti-terrorist campaigners imprisoned under false allegations in the United States, and whose families, wives, and mothers were not allowed to visit them.

BIRTE SCHOLZ, of Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, said that, denied ownership, access and control to housing and land in their own right, women throughout the world were at the mercy of male relatives and in-laws to satisfy their needs for housing or land. Women were denied any rights to inherit the land and housing they had shared with their husband or fathers. Laws and policies were often weak, with large gaps in protection for women.

Without security of tenure, women were vulnerable to violence in the home, as with no options for housing on their own, they were forced to make the choice between homelessness and domestic violence. Of the 1.6 billion people worldwide considered either homeless or inadequately housed, 70 per cent were female. The denial of their right to adequate housing constituted a form of violence against women, often leading to death from exposure to the elements or from cruelty. States’ failure to address the issue and to respect women’s right to adequate housing and land amounted to a failure to meet obligations under international law.

SUE YOON-LOGAN, of Jubilee Campaign, said reliable reports estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 refugees from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea now lived in China, over half of them women. The large majority of these women were trafficked and forced into sexual servitude as prostitutes, brides to Chinese men, or sexual entertainers in clubs.

Chinese authorities had been prosecuting humanitarian workers under their trafficking laws simply for providing safe haven to Korean refugees in China. However, Chinese authorities failed to prosecute the real perpetrators who trafficked women and forced them into depraved and inhumane situations. The Commission should urge the Chinese Government to seek out and prosecute the true perpetrators -- those who trafficked women into forced sexual and physical labour.

SYED MAQBOOL KAZMI, of Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said the Commission had been doing a commendable job in addressing the issue of violence against women. The Special Rapporteur had rightly pointed out that such violence was a manifestation of the historically unequal relations between men and women, and that it was a mechanism for forcing women into subordination.

Women in conflict situations suffered gravely, and their rights were violated in new ways. In Jammu and Kashmir, violence against women at the hands of mercenaries and militants was common. The framework of violence against women should be deplored. There was a need to find new solutions to the problem, and it was hoped that the Commission would consider this aspect of violence against women which constituted a grave breach of their human rights.

ARIF AAJAKA, of Comite international pour le respect et l'application de la charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples, said women were more than half of the world’s population, and still they were waiting for their just rights. Their rights were violated significantly, constantly and brutally, with total impunity.

Women were a tool for settling political and social disputes in many countries. Honour killings were common in Pakistan; thousands of women had been slaughtered in the name of honour. Rape had a horrendous political dimension and had been used by one group as an instrument of control over another. There was a need to eradicate the menace of feudalism and to enable women to attain a respectable place and equality in society.

GIANFRANCO ROSSI, of International Religious Liberty Association, said women’s human dignity was equal to that of men and, consequently, they should enjoy the same rights and liberties as men. Unfortunately, many women worldwide continued to be victims of discrimination, in both the private and the social spheres.

Much of this discrimination was based upon erroneous interpretations of religion or outdated religious rules. For example, some elements of Sharia law that Islamic extremists insisted upon applying were strongly discriminatory with regard to women. However, eminent Muslim experts affirmed that such laws clearly contradicted the true spirit of Islam. Islamic countries such as Tunisia and Morocco, which had recognized the equality of all before the law and had reformed their legislation accordingly, must be applauded as positive examples to be followed by other Islamic States. The Commission should call upon States not to use religious traditions to evade their obligations to eliminate legislative measures discriminating against women.

MAGALYS AROCHA, of National Union of Jurists of Cuba, said that the expansion of neo-liberal globalization had proved its incapacity to integrate the development of the majority of people. In the United States, for example, 42 per cent of the population did not have medical insurance, of which 25 per cent were of Asian origin while 23 per cent were Afro-Americans. A woman in that country was ill-treated every 9 seconds. In the European Union, a study had shown that domestic violence killed women between 16 and 44 years of age more than cancer incidents. In Cuba, the conditions of women were by far better since the revolution started. The political will of the Government had been manifested by being the first country in the world to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In that country, women constituted 45 per cent of the labour force, 66 per cent of the technical and professional work, and 35 per cent occupied governmental functions while 36 of women held diplomatic and parliamentary posts.

YADOLAH MOHAMMADI, of Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, said the equality of all mankind, be it man or woman, in enjoying fundamental freedoms and human rights, alongside the notion of liberty and tolerance, were the fundamental pillars of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Despite the passage of over half a century since the proclamation of the Declaration, discrimination was still caused on the basis of gender, and the lack of recognition of women’s rights and fundamental freedoms. The Islamic Republic of Iran had seen important developments in the field of women’s rights over the last few decades, but in spite of this, women in Iranian society were still suffering from a lot of problems.

LURDES CERVANTES, of Organization for the Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America, said women suffered from many forms of discrimination. They received less salary than men, and made up the majority of poor workers. They made up two-thirds of the illiterates on the planet, and more than half a million died each year due to pregnancy or childbirth. Every year 2 million girls were bought and sold as sexual slaves. Women were the greatest victims of warfare and conflict. Poverty, hunger, illiteracy, despair and social injustice were visible in the developing world, but the West was not immune from the gender imbalance proper to these scourges. There should be full participation in development of women, as well as political participation in order to achieve equality and ensure inclusion of the gender perspective in public life.

MARIA LUISA TOLEDO, of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, said that many of the victims of enforced disappearance were women. Moreover, women constituted the majority of those involved in the search for disappeared detainees. There could be no form of violence against women more extreme than enforced disappearance, during which women suffered rape, abuse and separation from their children. Disappearances had also formed a new sort of violence against women for reasons not yet well known. The kidnapping of women and girl children for sexual exploitation, prostitution and pornography were also of grave concern. The Federation appealed to Governments and institutions and those organizing campaigns against disappearances to combat this phenomenon.

YOKO KANEKO, of the Association of World Citizens, said that, as a member of Falun Gong, she had been held hostage in China for 548 days by the regime of Jiang Zemin. In those months, she had been moved back and forth from police stations to a detention centre to various hospitals, then to a labour camp. Among other mistreatment, there had been attempts, at the hospital, to make her renounce her beliefs, including through handcuffing her so tightly she was cut and bled, force feeding and the insertion of a catheter. She had subsequently been sentenced to one and one-half years forced labour reeducation. In the labour camp, she had been deprived of sleep and subjected to brainwashing. She had almost gone blind and had begun having heart trouble. However, she had been treated fairly easily in comparison to other Falun Gong practitioners, as it was known she had married a Japanese man. The possibility of being tortured to death hung over the detainees at every moment. Today, more than 951 Falun Gong practitioners had been confirmed dead, more than 100,000 had been sent to labour camps and prisons, several thousand had been sent to mental hospitals and countless others had been forced to attend brainwashing classes. The persecution had done much damage, was it not time to bring it to an end?

AKIRA MAEDA, of Japanese Workers’ Committee for Human Rights, said one of the most egregious examples of the violation of the human rights of women was the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. It was estimated that as many as 200,000 women of Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Dutch, Indonesian and Malaysian origin were forced to serve as so-called comfort women in comfort stations during World War II. Special Rapporteurs had established that military sexual slavery by Imperial Japan was an example of State-sponsored violence against women, and the Japanese Government had to fulfil its obligation in this respect. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women should investigate the recent situation on the sexual slavery during armed conflicts and elaborate guidelines for the protection and compensation of war victims including sexual slavery.

REA A. CHIONGSON, of International Women’s Rights Action Watch, said that the persistence and intransigence of crimes against women required continued and concerted efforts by Governments and civil society at the national and international levels. Such efforts must be based upon a clear analysis of the causes and consequences of violence against women, in which regard greater attention was due to the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee’s work, taken with the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, could produce the required analysis, monitoring and accountability on violence against women. Purposeful collaboration between Governments and non-governmental organizations was also needed. Non-governmental organizations had pioneered work in the field and had produced much valuable knowledge and information that should inform the work of Governments. All States parties to the CEDAW Convention should be mindful of their obligations. They were also urged to ratify the optional protocol to the Convention.

NARINDA TUKHAMMEE, of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, drew attention to the ongoing sexual violence against ethnic women in Burma perpetrated by the Burmese military regime, also known as the State Peace and Development Council. There had been a number of well-documented reports on sexual violence committed by the regime's military in all of Burma's ethnic areas. In June 2002, the Shan Women's Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation jointly released a report entitled "Licence to Rape", which documented more than 173 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving more than 600 women and girls committed by the troops in Shan state. Only in one case was the perpetrator punished. Despite the repeated denials of the regime since the publication of the report last year, and their attempts to obstruct flows of information, reports of sexual violence had continued to reach the Forum from inside Shan state. The cases of a further 150 women and girls had also been compiled.

ANIKUR SRIVASJAVA, of Indian Council of Education, said that women continued to be deprived of the enjoyment of their human rights and to be treated as a sub-species in many cultures. Gender stereotyping had led to mental conditioning by which girls learned early to accept and internalize their subservient position within the family, workplace and the world at large. The family – the strongest and most important unit of society – often carried out discriminatory practices against its female members in matters of food, work, education and freedom. Mothers and homemakers were not given respect and recognition though they comprised a massive part of the work force constituting society. Women involved in unorganised labour sectors such as domestic servants and migrant construction work had no support systems and often lived in appalling conditions. Trafficking in women at all levels constituted a gross violation of women’s rights and the causes behind the reprehensible practice were poverty, alienation and illiteracy. All out efforts were needed to curb the scourge.

PRAMILA SRIVASTAVA, of International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, said in an age which set such a high premium on freedom and equality, women still remained deprived of their rights in many countries of the world. Infanticide caused some to be deprived of the right to life, whereas those who were born often suffered discrimination even within the family. Marriage and motherhood were the goals instilled into the minds of girls from childhood, with the result that their ambitions were limited and their lives equally limited. Constitutional laws were often promulgated by Governments to protect women’s rights, but they were often not applied. It was a matter of great concern that they were subjected to abuses such as rape, with no effective redress. There was a need to improve education, since it led to women’s empowerment, allowing them to realize their potential and exercise their human rights.

MOHAMMED YOUNUS SHEIKH, of International Humanist and Ethnical Union, said that despite efforts being made by some members of the interim Iraqi Administration, there was strong opposition from many religious leaders to the creation of a society in which women could play their full part. The contribution of every Iraqi woman would be vital in the massive task of reconstruction following the years of bloody dictatorship and war, exacerbated by economic sanctions. But the interim Constitution failed to give adequate protection to women's human rights in at least three critical areas where women in the Middle East had historically suffered discrimination: it offered no explicit guarantee that women would had equal rights to marry, within marriage, and at its dissolution; it did not explicitly guarantee women the right to inherit on an equal basis with men; and it failed to guarantee Iraqi women married to non-Iraqis the right to confer citizenship to their children. There was an increasing problem in Iraq of violence against women.

SARAH ELIASON, of World Vision International, said there were crucial international commitments that stipulated the importance of protecting girls and women from violence, inter alia domestic, sexual, physical, mental and economic violence. Integrating the human rights of women was paramount if women were to live in a society where there was equal access and opportunity in employment, social services, ownership of property, and participation in policy making, governance, and the law. In order to attain gender equality, issues concerning involvement in decision-making processes, representation in leadership and empowerment should be addressed.

BRENDA VUKOVIC, of Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, said that laws guaranteeing equality of opportunity and the elimination of discrimination against women in Argentina were insufficient to change reality without being linked to Government policies that addressed the issue at all levels of society. The reality was that the gap between rich and poor in Argentina continued to widen, with the richest 10 per cent of the population earning 40 per cent of GDP, while the poorest 10 per cent earned only 1.5 per cent. Such poverty disproportionately affected women and women served in many cases as the sole heads of poor households. Within this crisis women served as leaders in the community, organizing soup kitchens and child care facilities. However, poor women remained in ignorance of their rights. Furthermore, violence against women had continued – 25 per cent of couples had been characterized as violent. There was also concern over the rights of women to reproductive health in the country. Back street abortions were the third leading cause of death in Argentina among women of childbearing age and women’s HIV/AIDS infection rates had also increased alarmingly – women were four times more likely to be infected than men.

SAMINA IBRAHIM, of International Institute for Peace, said that women continued to suffer mentally, physically and emotionally from violence despite efforts to eradicate the phenomenon at the national and international levels. All women were potential victims but such groups as indigenous women, women from ethnic minorities, female refugees and internally displaced women, migrant women and girls in situation of armed conflicts were more exposed to the violence. Eighty per cent of all refugees and displaced persons were women and children; 20,000 Bosnian women were raped during the Balkan war between 1992 and 1995; 50,000 Rwandese women were raped in the 1994 genocide; female genital mutilation continued in Africa; and honour killings continued in Pakistan. Trafficking in women for the sex industry and domestic slavery in some post-war countries was considered to be a particularly dangerous crime against women and girls.

NINO PEIKRISHVILI, of World Young Women’s Christian Association, said trafficking had become a global issue that affected almost every nation. It was now the world’s fastest growing illegal trade and quite possibly the world’s most blatant human rights violation. Trafficking in women was therefore a topic that required special attention by the Commission in order to ensure the human rights of those women. Making human rights the foundation of anti-trafficking policy would force States to consider the needs of the trafficked person, and to confront the root problems of poverty, unemployment, war and migration which made trafficking a multi-dimensional issue. Fighting against it required urgent, effective, and coherent action, and there was an urgent need to establish mechanisms of cooperation.

ANNA BIONDI BIRD, of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said that in connection with its “Women for Unions” campaign, the Global Unions group had launched a season of actions focusing on women in the informal sector and women in export processing zones. The objective was to give unprotected women workers a chance to assert their rights for the sake of solidarity and the future of the trade union movement as a whole. One particular focus had been the launching of a two-year campaign to unionize the women of North African countries – Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania – who had been the hardest hit by International Monetary Fund structural reforms. Falling union membership among women could be partially attributed to cultural issues, but also to globalization and the job insecurity resulting therefrom. Even in the most organized sectors, trade union rights had not been fully recognized and trade union leaders ran the risk of being fired. Nevertheless, courageous women leaders knew that the only way forward was to carry out campaigns directed at women, stressing the need to join a union as a means of reinforcing their power and gaining effective equality in the world of work and in society.

TABASSUM AMIN, of World Muslim Congress, said that despite the significant and rightful expansion in the international human rights agenda that marked the inclusion and identification of gender-specific abuses and violations as human rights violations, the international community was short on action. Violations against women remained a pervasive and stubborn phenomenon. The protection gaps were conspicuous in situations of armed conflicts and wars where women constituted soft targets since they were not likely to defend themselves or to offer armed resistance. Indian-occupied Kashmir was one such theatre where those crimes against frailty were being systematically perpetrated through weapons of mass humiliation, like rape and other forms of gender-based violence against women. An iron curtain was hanging across Kashmir as India refused to allow public, unfettered and independent monitoring of the situation.

CHRISTIANE DEHOY, of Anti-Slavery International, said women in Myanmar continued to be deprived of their most basic rights and freedoms, and to be subjected to the most serious human rights violations, in particular the Rohingya women. The root causes of the problems faced by these women lay with the policies of exclusion and discrimination carried out by the Burmese military regime against this Muslim population, and also conservative cultural and religious practices gave the Rohingya women a subordinate status within their own community. Their voices should no longer be left unheard. Measures should be put in place urgently to allow them to live in full human dignity. The Commission should address their situation of statelessness within Myanmar and should do everything within its power to ensure that their fundamental rights were respected and guaranteed.

LOUIE CRISMO, of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances, said that he would like to draw attention to the situation of women whose lives had been affected by the disappearances of their loved ones. It could not be denied that in such cases of disappearance, the victims were not limited to those who had disappeared. The enforced disappearances left families with feelings of uncertainty and caused economic disruption. Among those most affected by enforced disappearances were the wives and mothers of more than 100,000 victims of disappearances in the Philippines. Among the problems faced by these women were the need to be the sole breadwinner and parent of the family’s children. They often had problematic relationships with the children, especially when the children were required to grow up fast and help the family make ends meet. Moreover, in their attempts to find help mates in raising their children, the women often exposed their children to abuse from new men.

MU HONG, of All China Women’s Federation, said violence against women was a global concern since it was a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which had led to discrimination and the prevention of women’s advancement. It was one of the things that forced women into a subordinate position. The United States had a patriarchal system that disadvantaged women, with serious sexual and domestic violence against women across the country. One third of women murdered each year were killed by current or former partners. Different forms of violence against women had evolved in different spheres of society, including the military. The United States regarded itself as a perfect country, and gave instructions to other countries on what to do, but it should remedy its own situation first.

MERCY SUANCHING, of Worldview International Foundation, said that the Burmese military regime's well-documented failure to respect basic human rights had led to specific gender-based human right abuses against women. Such violations included State-sponsored rape and sexual assault, forced labour, prostitution and trafficking, forced relocation, and political oppression. As part of those hostilities, sexual violence towards women in Burma occurred with alarming frequency. Women were subjected to rape and other sexual assault in a variety of contexts. That type of sexual violence was experienced by women from ethnic minorities, female political activists and prisoners. Women in Burma had been subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, imprisonment, and torture by the military authorities not only due to their political beliefs and activities, but also for simply supporting the struggle for democracy and human rights.

NAJOUA MILADI, of Union Nationale de la Femme Tunisienne, said the Constitution of Tunisia stipulated clearly that the country guaranteed the fundamental freedoms and human rights in their universal, global, complementary and interdependent definition. Tunisia had achieved the conciliation of the universal on one hand, and the private and the public on the other hand. Rights of the law were considered as a means for political and social development. The transformation of society through the law was an acquired right where tradition opened up to modernity and modernity preserved traditional values. Hardly any discrimination existed today with regard to women, who had a privileged status and enjoyed their full rights thanks to an unchangeable political will and a social project which ensured that next to the woman’s public life she enjoyed a certain number of acquired rights as a mother, the foundation of the family. Thus, private and public life completed each other in the heart of the family but also in the heart of society. Women had been integrated into the process of sustainable development and were involved in the public sector, both professionally and politically.

KAUKAB-UL-SABAB, of International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, said that the phenomenon of violence against women existed in its worst form in areas marred by armed conflict and foreign occupation. Women there were subjected to gross injustices and were frequently the targets of human rights violations. In most cases, they were victimized as a result of the deliberate policy of occupying forces to humiliate and terrorize the subject population. Kashmiri women faced unending tragedy; they had suffered from unprecedented molestation at the hands of Indian security forces and had been used as a tool for subjugating the freedom struggle. Gang rape had emerged as a method of collective punishment. Military crackdowns, extrajudicial killings and custodial killings deprived women of their sole breadwinners. Nor had innocent children escaped the wrath of Indian security forces – more than 100,000 Kashmiri children had been orphaned during the past 14 years. In response, the Commission and its Special Rapporteur on violence against women must look into such systematic and organized violence.

EPI NARTI, of Third World Movement against the Exploitation of Women, said in Indonesia, security forces were responsible for perpetrating violence against women, in particular in certain areas. Only 1 percent of the total cases were brought to justice, worse still, the punishment imposed on perpetrators was usually not commensurate with the crimes committed, and reparation for victims did not exist. There had been no attempt by the Government to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators, most of whom belonged to the State security apparatus. The international community should urge the Government to take measures for the legal protection of women from all forms of discrimination and violence, and urge it to seriously consider the legal reform on discriminating laws and policies, to investigate, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators of violence against women, and to follow up the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur.

HEISOO SHIN, of Korean Women's Associations United, said that just the day before yesterday, another victim of the Japanese military sexual slavery had passed away at the age of 82. She was the second victim who had died this year alone. Out of the estimated 200,000 women drafted from Asia as sex slaves for the Japanese Army, the surviving victims were less than 1,000 in total. In South Korea, there were now 131 survivors. There were also living victims in other pars of Asia. For 12 years, the survivors of the Japanese military sexual slavery had been holding demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday at noon. The survivors were now mostly in their 80s and 90s with the youngest being 75 years old. The Japanese Government was neither willing to extend any formal apology nor legal compensation.

WENDY ISAACK, of MADRE, said that no woman could determine the direction of her life without the ability to determine her sexuality. Sexuality was an integral, deeply ingrained part of every human being and should not be subject to debate or coercion. Anyone truly committed to human rights must recognize that every woman had the right to determine her sexuality free from discrimination. There was a need for attention to be paid to the issue of hate crimes generally, and sexual violence against lesbians specifically. In many countries, lesbians were subjected to violence – including rape – in the belief that it would “cure” them of their sexual orientation. Women who lived according to their own sexual determination challenged the men-centered patriarchal system and in that respect, violence against lesbians was clearly linked to violence against women in general and to a worldwide patriarchal attitude. The defence of lesbian rights was integral to the defence of all women’s rights to determine their own sexuality, to work at jobs they preferred and to live as they wished. The United Nations should recognize and remedy gross human rights violations against women on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.

NURSEL KILIC, of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, said that the most effective part of the system of domination by men was that of taking the body and sexuality of women under their control. Because of this, the principal reason for violence was no other than the system of men’s domination which fed on the traditional, hierarchical and religious values. Every year, hundreds of women were massacred by crimes of honour and tradition in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Yemen, Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan, and millions of women were victims of female genital mutilation. In the regions where wars continued, women were victims of collective rape and torture. Violence took place in all the domains of life of women, and the home was one of the most dangerous. Governments contented themselves with merely observing violence practiced against women, and this should not be the case.

TOMO SHIBATA, of Asia-Japan Women’s Resource Center, said that sexual violence had been used to establish “masculine power” and the domination of women’s bodies. The orthodox notion of “masculine power” – the capacity to conquer and dominate the other – must be thoroughly problematized and transvalued in public discourses and critique of that power must be taught at all levels of human rights education. Another cause of sexual violence was sexual objectification, which interacted with the establishment of masculine power and forwarded the global phenomenon of sexual intrusion. Sexual objectification repetitively enacted in pornography and media subliminally conditioned the viewer to perceive women as objects, as means to the viewer’s end of provoking sexual pleasure. Juridical intervention was necessary to undo this cause of sexual violence. Instead, inter-subjective sexuality – identifying with the other’s emotions, wishing good for the other’s sake and treating the other as an end in herself – should be taught from the earliest stage of human rights education.

IRMA YANNY, of Europe-Third World Centre, said that the current process of globalization brought with it great threats to the countryside, the environment, traditional cultures and models of production, to make space for the universalization of massive centres of genetically modified productions far from the ideal of sustainability. That process which imposed patterns of life on women, who were already facing sexual discrimination, continued to affect them. Worldwide, estimations indicated that 842 million people suffered from chronic, persistent hunger, one-seventh of human family. Millions of people including 6 million children under the age of five died from hunger each year. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides directly affected the health of the producers and mostly women, who did not benefit from a social security system to provide them with adequate attention.

SYLVIE O’CALLAGHAN, of Rural Development Foundation, said that, while some progress had been made in a number of States since the international community had first recognized violence against women as a blatant violation of human rights, the same could not be said of States that served as the primary perpetrators of the violence carried out against women as a form of terrorism to subdue the people. The best example of such State violence occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, where years of unrelenting State violence had had a profound affect on the mental and physical health of women. Raising awareness of such violence was important, especially as, since 11 September, the Government of India had conducted a massive disinformation campaign to reinterpret the Kashmiri freedom struggle as a terrorist movement. That tactic enabled the State to continue its violence against women with impunity.

FATIMA AHMARI, of Women’s Human Rights International Association, said women’s movements were improving everywhere in the world, but there were currents opposing this process. These mostly acted in the name of religion, but they were in fact fundamentalists. The women’s movement belonged to all women of the world, whatever their ethnicity, religion or social class. Religion was no obstacle to total equality between men and women. It was mainly States which used religious pretexts to avoid giving women their rights, and this was an inexcusable abuse. Islam had the capacity of being a religion of compassion, emancipation, and total equality between men and women, as long as abuses were ended.

CHRIS CHAPMAN, of Minority Rights Group International, said that women belonging to minorities suffered from multiple discrimination because of their ethnicity and their gender. As women, they were also subject to discrimination from both within and without their communities and suffered disproportionately from the economic, social and political marginalization affecting their communities as a whole. Among those communities in which women were the victims of such bi-fold discrimination were the Twa or “Pygmies” of the Great Lakes region of Africa, the women of the Darfur region of Sudan and Roma women in southeastern Europe. All United Nations bodies working on discrimination against women, as well as those looking at discrimination against minorities, should specifically address the situation of minority women and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women should consider holding a thematic discussion on minority women. Women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and minority NGOs should coordinate efforts to tackle the situation of minority women more effectively. Intergovernmental bodies should have clear, long-term strategies for working on gender equality and minority rights and donors should provide resources and capacity building support to minority and women’s organizations.


USMAN HAMID, of Netherlands Organization for International Development Cooperation, said there was serious concern for the continuing violence against women in Indonesia, where women were facing cultural and religious interpretation and dealt with a biased State apparatus. At the workplace, violence against women continued as commonplace. The situation affected the lives of women from lower classes, led to the feminization of migration, and the feminization of poverty, which was also reflected in the high number of women’s deaths when giving birth. At the same time, education for women was low. The international community should urge the Government to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur by ensuring legal reform and enact the draft laws on domestic violence, and, of course, to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of all violence against women.

Start of General Debate on the Rights of the Child

DILIA LETICIA JORGE MERA (Dominican Republic) said that her Government was committed to the nation’s children and adolescents. The President had appointed a Commission to advise on reforms to laws concerning children and adolescents and a new code thereon had subsequently been promulgated. That process had been made possible due to the earmarking of two per cent of the national budget to the question. Among the aspects of the process that she described, there had been a proposal at the time of the first National Council on young people in April 2001, to focus on three areas of activity, including: the right of children to name and nationality; rights and guarantees for adolescents in conflict with the law; and restitution of the rights of child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

On this last, the Government had sought to ensure that sexual abuse and exploitation of children was seen as one of the most flagrant violations of human rights. A national institution had been established, in conjunction with non-governmental organizations and civil society, to combat that phenomenon, including, among other initiatives, through a media campaign; the implementation of a national code of conduct by hotels, restaurants, cinemas and other service-sector businesses; the implementation of World Tourist Organization training on preventing sexual exploitation of children in the tourism sector; and the development, with members of the national police, of training on responding to instances of abuse and exploitation. The Dominican Republic would continue to give priority to ensuring the human rights of the youth, since the future of the country lay in their hands.

OMAR SHALABY (Egypt) said the Egyptian Government's policies and guidelines reflected the rights of the child with the view of promoting and protecting these rights. The Government was focusing on the rights of children. It had declared the past two decades as the "Decades of the Child". The State had ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols. The Egyptian authorities had also carried out special programmes for children. The recently established Council on the Rights of the Child had been endeavouring to promote and protect the rights of children. The Council was providing assistance to children and mothers in need. The First Lady of Egypt was also making efforts to improve the situation of children in the country. A series of programmes and projects had been implemented to integrate street children and other marginalized children. The Government, in collaboration with the private sector, was mobilizing resources that could be channelled to the efforts to protect and promote child rights. With regard to Palestinian children, they were suffering right from their mothers' womb due to the Israeli practices. The international community should aid the Palestinian children to grow up in dignity.