MINISTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ADDRESSES THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

AFTERNOON
HR/CN/99/24
7 April 1999

Commission Hears from 33 Non-Governmental Organizations Alleging
Human Rights Violations in Many Countries Around the World


The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon continued its debate on the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world, with 33 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) alleging violations of human rights in a number of countries.

The NGOs urged the Commission, among other things, to appoint Special Rapporteurs to study the situation of human rights in Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Tibet, and Kosovo. The Commission was also urged to ask countries around the world to end human rights violations and impunity.

Leonard She Otikumdu, the Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in his country, Roberto Garreton, had fulfilled his mandate freely, and had noted the efforts taken by the Congolese Government to protect and promote human rights, despite the war of aggression. He said war was a grave violation of human rights, and the international community should firmly condemn the war of aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Rwanda and Burundi addressed the Commission as it wound up its deliberations on the question of the violation of human rights.

Michel Moussalli, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Rwanda, said that it was necessary to do everything possible to aid the Commission on National Reconciliation and the Commission on Human Rights in the region.

Sergio Paolo Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, said there were positive developments in the country. Political participation had increased and negotiations toward peace had been undertaken. What was important was that the security of the rights of the people had been improved. Much remained to be done to build the state of law, to reform the Judiciary and to establish transparency.

Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations spoke: the World Federation of Democratic Youth, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, Muslim World League, Freedom House, Association of Refugees and Displaced Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, International Union of Socialist Youth, International Peace Bureau, Worldview International Foundation, Aliran, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Baha'i International Community, Transnational Radical Party, International Federation of Free Trade Unions, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches, Franciscans International, African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, Asian Legal Resource Center, National Council of German Women's Association, International Young Catholic Students, Federation Internationale de l’Action des Chretiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture FIACAT, Interna
tional Institute for Peace, Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, Canadian Council of Churches, Society for Threatened Peoples, African Association of Education for Development, Organization tunisienne de l'education et de la famille, France Libertes--Foundation Danielle Mitterand, Federation de Associaciones de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, and International Human Rights Law Group.

The Representatives of India and Pakistan exercised their rights of reply.

The next plenary of the Commission will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 8 April, when it is expected to conclude its debate on the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world by hearing a number of rights of reply. The Commission will then take up the issue of economic, social and cultural rights.

Statements

LEONARD SHE OTIKUMDU, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that although there had been significant advances in promoting and protecting human rights in many countries, including African ones, there was still work to be done on many levels. It was hoped that the resolutions to be passed by the Commission would help these efforts. The world’s many armed conflicts had resulted in grave and massive violations of human rights. The humanitarian consequences in Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and other places merited the full attention of the Commission. A white paper detailed the violations that had occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2 August 1998. The Special Rapporteur, Roberto Garreton, had visited the country. He had fulfilled his mandate freely and had noted the efforts taken by the Congolese Government to protect and promote human rights, despite the war of aggression. He also had noted certain problems and his suggestions to remedy these were welcomed. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo called for cooperation from the international community and help in implementing these suggestions.

Mr. Otikumdu said war was a grave violation of human rights, and the international community should firmly condemn the war of aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. There was no doubt about the international nature of this conflict, since the Governments of Uganda and Rwanda had admitted to the presence of their troops in Congolese territory. These countries had no basis for being there; and since the beginning of the war, the aggressors had committed acts of unprecedented barbarism, as well as systematically pillaging Congolese territory. Tutsi extremists had played at being victims when in fact they were responsible for the war. Genocide had become a marketable service for these Tutsi extremists, and they were not blamed for the acts they committed, simply because they themselves were victims of genocide. The Congolese people did not have a genocidal culture and their traditions ran contrary to this. The aggressors were fought against as aggressors, independent of their ethnicity, religion or social rank. There was no foundation to the accusations of genocide of the Tutsis.

The Minister asked the Commission to condemn the aggressive acts of Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, and to insist upon their retreat from Congolese soil. An international peace force was needed to verify this retreat, and an investigatory committee should be sent to verify the gross and massive violations of human rights that had been committed.

MICHEL MOUSSALLI, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Rwanda, said he had taken note of the statements and recommendations made by Commission members on the state of affairs in the country and felt they reflected the concerns of the international community. He also had listened carefully to the statement of the Representative of Rwanda, who spoke of a climate of general reconciliation prevalent in Rwanda. It was necessary to do everything possible to aid the Commission on National Reconciliation and the Commission on Human Rights in the region. The support of the High Commissioner was vital and most appreciated, and careful coordination of work with her office would be one of the highest priorities of the Special Rapporteur.

SERGIO PAOLO PINHEIRO, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi, said the Commission had heard contradictory statements concerning Burundi. He stressed that positive political participation had increased and negotiations toward peace had been undertaken. What was important was that the security of the rights of the people had been improved since the victims of human rights abuses were being supported. He identified the need to work at reducing the gap between the violation of rights and the desired elimination of abuses and called on supporting negotiations and open peace oriented dialogue. Much remained to be done to build the state of law and to reform the Judiciary and establish transparency. The international community must not forget that it carried much responsibility and must exhibit solidarity toward the human rights efforts in Burundi.

G. ABDELGADI, of World Federation of Democratic Youth, said that after long years of military rule in Nigeria, progress was finally being made, and the Commission should encourage the establishment of a new Government based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Nigeria were fully endorsed. The Great Lakes Region in Central Africa was once again plunged into instability with dangerous repercussions for human security and safety.

In the Sudan, gross and massive violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms were being committed every day by the current fundamentalist Government against real and imaginary political opponents. The situation was best summarised in a memorandum prepared by the pro-democracy political forces on 29 December 1998.

XIAO QIANG, of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, said the High Commissioner for Human Rights had visited China and the Chinese Government had signed the International covenant on Civil and Political Rights, yet despite this, the Chinese Government had adopted two laws that further restricted freedoms of association, expression and information, and had launched a harsh, systematic campaign of arrests against human rights and democracy activists.

The Government of the United States had taken a principled step in deciding to introduce a resolution on China. All members of the Commission should co-sponsor this resolution to ensure that it received the thorough and appropriate discussion that it deserved. All Member States should support a strong resolution on China.

SHABIR AHMED DAR, of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, said a systematic campaign of repression was being imposed by India in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. To sustain its hold over the region, India had deployed approximately 650,000 military and para military troops. In November and December of last year the Indian Government had publicly confirmed that 20,000 troops had been deployed in and around Doda District. The demand by the Kashmiris to exercise their internationally recognized right to self-determination was being suppressed ruthlessly. According to independent estimates, 2,939 Kashmiri men, women and children had been killed by Indian forces and their mercenaries in 1998, including 306 who had died in custody. Extra-judicial executions and political killings, excessive use of force, torture, arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions continued to take place on a daily basis.

Above all the honour of the respectable women of Kashmir was being encroached upon to break the will of determined and peaceful Kashmiris and to deter them from their legitimate demand for self-determination. Former Indian Home Minister and member of the Indian Parliament Mufti Mohammad Saeed had conceded that "human violations were going on unabated in Kashmir." He had called upon the international community to ensure an end to the heinous abuses of human rights being perpetrated there.

SHAH GHULAM QADIR, of the Muslim World League, said that notwithstanding India's claim to be a secular State, the country was driven with communal and caste violence. There was a drive against religious minorities and there had been a sharp increase in attacks against Christian communities and Christian missionaries. Violence against the Muslim community was a common phenomenon. Indians belonging to lower castes such as the Dalits were regularly subjected to physical violence and abuse as well as being persistently suppressed.

What was even more disconcerting was the active involvement and abetment in such abuses by official Indian agencies, including the police. This involvement also extended to peoples who sought to exercise their right to self-determination, such as the Kashmiris and the peoples of the Northeast. The Commission ought to take a serious view of the violence carried out by Indian State actors and demand an immediate end to it.

LISA DAVIS/PAUL MARSHALL, of Freedom House, said that despite hopeful trends in human rights, there were many States whose governments systematically and with extreme brutality suppressed the basic rights and fundamental freedoms of their citizens. Serious human-rights situations existed in Cuba, the Yugoslavian region of Kosovo, and Sudan.

Freedom House had prepared a report on "worst violators" and had made it available to the Commission. Among other things, the Commission should adopt a resolution censuring China for gross violations of human rights.

JELKA SCHILT, of the Association of Refugees and Displaced Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, strongly condemned the bloodshed, deportations and expulsions taking place in Kosovo. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians arriving in Albania and Macedonia told appalling stories of violence and of the severest kinds of violations of human rights -- offences aimed at destroying their collective identity. The atrocities committed against defenceless and innocent civilians seemed to be an exact repetition of those in Bosnia and Herzegovina a few years ago and were occurring at the hands of the same perpetrators. There must be an immediate end to ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, three and half years after the Dayton Peace Agreement, hundreds of thousands of refugees continued to live away from their homes because these were on the territory of opposing sides in the conflict. The organization feared that the Kosovo crisis would have a negative impact on the process of minority returns. In spite of the Kosovo emergency the international community should not loose sight of the displaced persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To date, “project-driven” minority returns had proved to be less effective than returns on an individual, spontaneous basis. The organizations and institutions involved in the return process in Bosnia and Herzegovina should adopt the principle "resources follow in the return". Furthermore, they should cooperate with Bosnian refugee associations and so profit from their experiences and their first-hand information on individual returns.

HTSUKO TALAKA, of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, said the organization appreciated the efforts made by the Government of Sri Lanka to appoint commissions to investigate disappearances and further to successfully conclude two cases of human rights violations, namely, the case of Krisanthy Kumaraswamy of Jaffna and the massacre of 23 students in Embilipitiya. However, recent reports indicated that the Government had failed to keep its promises to its people and the assurances it had given to the international community that it would facilitate establishment of the democratic process and that it would respect the rule of law. The Minister of Defence had stated in Parliament on 8 October 1998 that two police officers found guilty of violations of human rights had been given promotions.

An alarming and vicious campaign had been carried out against the free media movement and independent journalists since they exposed the corruption and violence of the Vayambe election held last January. A journalist had been abducted by gunmen reporting corruption of brigadier in the armed forces. Freedom of association of NGOs guaranteed by the Constitution also was threatened.

CHOEKYONG WANGCHUK, of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), said human-rights violations in Chinese-occupied Tibet were a grim reality. Among other things, since the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance had visited Tibet in 1994 the Chinese had banned the public display of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's photograph and had jailed 9-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the Eleventh Panchen Lama of Tibet; the deaths of 60 known Tibetan political prisoners as a direct result of torture had been recorded in Tibet; and of 1,083 known Tibetan political prisoners in Chinese prisons, the majority were monks and nuns.

The Commission on Human Rights was urged to appoint a Special Rapporteur to investigate the human-rights situation in Tibet, as recommended by the International Commission of Jurists.

SEIN WIN, of International Peace Bureau, said the results of the 1990 general elections in Burma were still being ignored by the military junta that held power; the International Peace Bureau hoped the Commission might help accelerate the process of democratization, which would be a vital step towards improvement of the human-rights situation in that country.

The response of the regime to the constructive recommendations made by the Commission was an extremely defensive, blanket denial. The regime showed a lack of respect for internationally accepted human rights norms. It had stepped up its campaign of illegal and inhumane tactics to wipe out the democratic movement. The democratically elected Parliament of Burma had not been allowed to convene, and democratically elected members of Parliament and their families had been imprisoned and harassed. The Parliament was the repository of democratic legitimacy in Burma, and the attempts of the military to demolish the legally existing National League for Democracy and suppress the legally elected representatives of the people were unlawful acts that deserved the strongest possible condemnation by the Commission.

THAUNG HTUN, of Worldview International Foundation, said that the human rights situation in Burma had deteriorated over the last ten years, mainly with respect to civil and political rights. This was due to mismanagement and the unjust economic and development policy of a regime whose main interest was to build up the armed forces at the expense of other sectors. The confiscation of land had exacerbated the deteriorating situation. Worldview International Foundation cited the report of the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar (E./CN.4/199/35) and urged the Commission to request the Special Rapporteur in his future reports to look into the violations of human rights in Burma not only from the aspect of civil and political rights but also from the aspect of economic, social and cultural rights.

DEBORAH STOTHARD, of Aliran Kesederan Negara: National Consciousness Movement, expressed surprise at the denial by the Burmese Government of injustices and human rights violations. The military regime of Burma had violated human rights of hundreds of thousands of the Burmese people. Hundreds of thousands of people had fled in fear of their safety and well-being and were denied the basic needs of food and shelter. Members of the democratic movement were denied family visits. She challenged the military Government of Burma to look carefully at the situation before it made such denials and to live up to its public and political commitment to convene a genuine democratic dialogue led by the leader of the opposition democratic movement.

CARMELO MOCONG ONGUENE, of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said that the Commission had appointed a Special Rapporteur to study the situation of human rights in Equatorial Guinea in 1979. There had been no progress in the situation since, and the Special Rapporteur in his report had described it as "stagnating". The international community had continued to condemn the situation of human rights in that country. It was necessary to encourage the process of democratization in Equatorial Guinea. Impunity should be halted, and abuses of human rights should be prevented from re-occurring. The lack of the commitment of the Government to the democratic process was evident in its repeated disregard of the municipal, legislative, and presidential elections, and its manipulation of the system. The Special Rapporteur was to be congratulated for his report, and the Commission was asked to do something in this country.

TECHESTE AHDEROM, of Baha'i International Community, raised the issue of human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran which had imprisoned 15 Baha'is and sentenced four to death. The report of the Special Representative, Abdelfattah Amor, (E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2) called on the Government of Iran to grant the Baha'is, among other things: security of the person and physical integrity; civil rights and the freedom to manifest one's belief; equal treatment by the judiciary; and the re-establishment of the Baha'i institutions. The Commission was called upon to encourage the Government of Iran to begin implementing the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance and the Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran.

WEI JINGSHENG, of the Radical Party Transnational and Transdivisional, said that he, Wei Jingsheng, was arrested in 1979 and jailed because he was involved in the Democracy Wall Movement of Beijing, and had advocated the 5th modernization for China-Democratization. He spent 18 years in prison. Non-governmental organizations and many country delegates were thanked for their efforts to get him released. With a small minority of friends, he was forced into exile and was not allowed to go back to China. This showed clearly that the Chinese Government did not respect human rights. He and his friends were not only deprived of their most fundamental political rights, but also their personal rights were violated. China had also began a new and massive wave of arrests. Wang Youcai, Wang Di, Xu Wenli, Zhang Shan and other pro-democracy and human activists had been detained and had received extremely harsh sentences. In addition, 2,000 publishers of non-official publishing houses had been arrested.

Mr. Wei said he and his friends did not oppose the United Nations and efforts by countries to hold an effective dialogue with the Chinese Government on the question of human rights. But they were against a secret dialogue and giving up pressure in favour of dialogue. The Chinese Government was urged to comply with the international conventions it had signed and also with its own laws. Since China had signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it should release all dissidents and non-official publishers arrested recently.

ANNA BIONDI BIRD,of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, denounced the grave violations of human rights and crimes against humanity. Violations of human and trade union rights were crimes against humanity. The situation in China was worsening, despite the fact that the Government had signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The dramatic recent developments in the Kosovo crisis had made the Confederation urge the Secretary-General to take initiatives with the view to promoting a diplomatic settlement of the crisis. In Pakistan, the trade union movement was under threat for its very existence. Gross violations occurred in many other countries, including Croatia, Belarus, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Columbia, Guatemala and Ecuador.

WILLIE NWIIDO, of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, addressed the situation in Indonesia and Nigeria. The former was experiencing a series of crisis, including a crisis of religious and ethnic tolerance. Clashes between demonstrators and military personnel, attacks on ethnic Chinese minorities, destruction of churches and mosques and Christian-Moslem clashes had resulted in gross human rights violations and loss of lives. The Indonesian authorities had done little to prevent these violations and to bring those responsible before the courts of law. There was a need for a number of measures to be taken, including the apprehension of those responsible for ethnic and communal violence; credibility of the forthcoming elections; an expeditious resolution of the demands of the people in East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya; an enactment of legislation giving greater autonomy for the provinces; and a national dialogue on the basis of the demands, expectations and aspirations of the people of Irian Jaya.

Mr. Nwiido said in Nigeria, the recent elections should usher in a period of democracy, justice and peace. The Nigerian people, however, still suffered grave and serious violations of human rights, and these would have to be seriously addressed by the new Government. Repressive decrees would have to be removed from the statutes, all political prisoners should be released, freedom of the press should be granted, as should that of assembly.

JOHN QUIGNEY, of Franciscans International raised the question of human rights violations in Mexico, Pakistan, and Colombia. The representative asked that the Commission take action on the human rights situation in Mexico by considering appointing a Special Rapporteur on the situation in that country. He cited the organization’s joint background paper on the situation of religious minorities in Pakistan and underlined its six recommendations that urged the Government of Pakistan to promote and protect the rights of minorities. Finally, the organization strongly recommended that the next session of the Commission call for a Special Rapporteur on Colombia to be appointed.

ASMOROM LEGESSE, of the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said a substantial rural population of ethnic Eritreans who lived in Tigray and Ethiopia was dispossessed and driven out of Ethiopia into adjoining regions of Eritrea. Such deportation occurred in many sites along the length of the Ethiopian-Eritrean border. Their deportation was more massive and more sudden than that of urban deportees. The farmers were harassed in many ways: they were prohibited from selling their produce or livestock in Eritrea, using pastures and deprived of remunerations for work they did in public works and penalized severely for any infractions of the new rules imposed upon them. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia had agreed to disarm the militias that had supported their liberation fronts during the long war. Eritrea disarmed their militias, but Ethiopia did not. Hence the military imbalance along the border that caused the creeping invasion, and ultimately the outbreak of armed conflict.

Mr. Legesse said after the deportees settled in Eritrea, their tents were bombed by Ethiopian Antonov bombers at night. Many lost their lives, or were wounded and fled into ravines to shelter them from the air bombardments. There was a deliberate targeting of the civilian community, previously deported from Ethiopia. In February 1999, six civilian communities in southern Eritrea had been subjected to bombardments, sometimes using napalm and sometimes cluster bombs. This showed three things were happening: a creeping invasion supported by a peasant militia, massive deportations and ethnic cleansing by provincial authorities, and aerial bombardments of civilian communities. The organization called upon the Commission to examine these violations of humanitarian law.

KHAIRANI ARIFIN, of the Asian Legal Resource Center, said that Indonesia had experienced vast changes after Mr. Suharto had stepped down and had been replaced by President Habibie. However, human rights abuses in many of the regions were not stopped or investigated. There were cases of grave human rights violations in the regions of Pidie, north Aceh and east Aceh in which more than 500 houses had been burnt down by the military. The Commission should urge the Indonesian Government to invite the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings to visit Indonesia and Aceh in 1999. Further, the Commission should recommend the inclusion of relief and rehabilitation programmes and compensation to the victims and survivors of human rights violations in Aceh.

ELKE KESSLER, of the National Council of German Women's Organisations, read from a letter by an Afghan woman who wished to remain anonymous. She spoke of the plight of the women of Afghanistan who had nothing left to hope for beyond their mere existence and a lifelong ordeal of pain and misery. Afghan women were denied their status as human beings in Afghanistan. All the people of Afghanistan, but women especially, were in need of healing. Women’s rights were human rights, and forcing the Taliban to accept this would only be a part in the process of helping Afghan women in their cause. Women needed to be empowered through economic independence, education and better health facilities. Projects for this flourished under the supervision of non-governmental organizations, for whilst the Taleeban were busy consolidating their grip on power, they could put little effort towards suppressing institutions that served public purposes and were nothing less than the lifeline of the community. Neglecting the cause of Afghan women at this juncture would hold no advantage. All Governments and United Nations agencies were asked to urge respect of women’s human rights in Afghanistan as a part of all their work and criteria for assistance. The Special Rapporteur and the United Nations Special Envoy to Afghanistan were urged to continue their efforts to negotiate peace and to include women’s human rights as an issue in those negotiations.

KHAM HARN FAH, of Anti-Slavery International, said the forced relocation programmes conducted by the Burmese military regime since 1996 still affected the lives of people in Shan State. The mass forced relocations which took place in 1996, 1996, and early 1998 had displaced over 300,000 people from 1,478 villages in Central Shan State. These forced relocations continued to take place. In most areas the relocated villagers were still strictly forbidden from going beyond 3 miles of the relocated sites. The people were at risk of being shot if they returned to their old villages. Extra-judicial killings had continued during 1998. On 16 January, 1998, 36 village elders and community leaders were tortured and killed by forces. Some 58 cases of rape by the regime’s troops in 1998 had been documented. People throughout the Shan State were being forced to work without payment by military authorities. The organization urged the international community to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the internally displaced persons in Burma.

SUZANNA VILLARAN, of International Young Catholic Students, said the shortcomings of the traditional system in Guatemala continued with impunity measures and such was the case of the assassination of Mr. Gerardi. The organization denounced the judiciary apparatus as it continued to violate rules of law. The threats and intimidations by police were a threat to the judicial system. The situation in Guatemala unfortunately called for in-depth and long-term monitoring of the human rights situation. The process and technical assistance should also be monitored by the United Nations. The Government of Guatemala was urged to undertake its commitment and invite the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on the freedom of opinion and expression to visit the country.

ARTURO REQUESENS GALNARES, of Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture, drew the Commission's attention to the situation of human rights in Mexico. Torture and other cruel and degrading punishments occurred with frequency in Mexico, as detailed by the Special Rapporteur on the issue. The Special Rapporteur had made recommendations, none of which were applied by the Mexican Government which had not ratified the International Convention against Torture. In September 1998, there was another report on the situation of human rights in Mexico by the Inter-American Group. None of the recommendations made by this group were implemented. Impunity for the authors of civil rights violations was the norm, and there was concern for the plight of civil rights defenders. Many Mexican soldiers had been trained at the School for the Americas in methods defying civil rights. The Commission was urged to adopt measures against these civil rights violators, and to urge the Mexican Government to ratify the Agreement on Torture. The closure of the School for the Americas would also be a step forward.

SYBILLE RUPPRECHT, of the International Institute for Peace raised the issue of the violation of human rights in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kosovo perpetrated at the hands of bigoted groups which used the language of religion as a basis for their actions. The Taliban forces in Afghanistan had committed a large number of political as well as other extra-judicial killings. Whether it was the Taliban or Harkat-ul-Ansar or the Lashkar-e-Tayba, the entire spectrum of such groups that were mushrooming in Pakistan displayed a common ideological pattern consisting of bigotry and the use of weapons and terror to demolish all norms of civil society. The organization also expressed concern over the current crisis in Kosovo and the serious danger of its extension through south-eastern Europe. The Commission should address these abuses and call upon the countries to desist from encouraging the forces of extremism, terrorism and obscurantism.

JUDITH GALARZA CAMPOS, of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, said that Mexico had signed various international commitments to guarantee human rights, but the situation of these rights was deteriorating day by day in that region. In the state of Chihuahua, the population lived in a state of terror, due what had happened to the women of that region. There had been 180 cases of murders of women since 1993. Some 80 per cent of these women had suffered extremely cruel treatment before being murdered. The families of the victims had not been given any support, either legal or otherwise. The municipal and state authorities have blamed the victims for their death. Non-governmental organizations had sought to have a special organisation set up to investigate the matter. The situation was part of a pattern of human rights violations occurring constantly in Mexico. The Commission should urge Mexico to investigate this matter, to implement recommendations made by United Nations bodies, and to appoint a Special Rapporteur for Mexico to detail the state of human rights in that country, specially emphasizing the rights of women.

MOHAMMAD NOURI, of the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, said its major goal was the promotion of the culture of human rights at the national and international levels. In Iran during the last year, two issues were drawn to the attention of the public. One was the trial of the mayors and their expressions on mistreatment during the time of their detention, and the second related to the hateful assassinations and murders which had resulted in the resignation of the Minister of Intelligence. The investigations should continue and the public should be informed of the results.

Mr. Nouri said that in Afghanistan, the adoption of extremist religious and ethnic policies had brought appalling conditions of life for the Afghan nationals, which in turn caused involuntary ethnic and religious displacement of Afghan people. In Kosovo the gross violations of human rights were taking place. Ethnic cleansing had pushed 2 million ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo, this way their right to self-determination had been violated. In Iraq the situation of human rights deserved the deep concern of the international community, in particular limitations imposed on Shi'a clerics and the assassinations of Grand Ayatolla Mohammad Sadeq a-Sadr and his 2 sons. The suppression of Kurds in the north and the Shi'te in the south by use of mercenaries was also an issue. Attention was also drawn to the continued violations of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including East Jerusalem. Violations that included assassinations of Palestinians, detentions without trial and expropriation of the Palestinian land were a result of Israel’s expansionist policies.

SUZANNE RUMSEY, of the Canadian Council of Churches, recognised that no country, including Canada, could claim to fully respect the rights of its citizens. At the same time, there were some country situations of particular concern. In Sudan, the civil war continued to claim an astonishing number of civilian lives. It had been alleged that the Sudanese Government was guilty of genocide, and the Commission was therefore urged to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for Sudan, and to call for an international investigation. In Nigeria, the situation was promising, but the Special Rapporteur for Nigeria should also have his mandate extended. In Sri Lanka, all parties continued to violate human rights. The Commission should urge the Sri Lankan Government to implement immediately the recommendations made by the three Commissions on Disappearances. In Indonesia, critical levels of violence and poverty contributed to a highly unstable political environment. An international presence was necessary. In East Timor, there was also need for a United Nations presence. There was also a need for radical changes in Columbia, and a need for a report on the situation. The human rights situation in Mexico had deteriorated, and the High Commissioner needed to visit the country to assess how the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights could best address the country's human rights crisis.

FRANK SELBMANN/ARMANDO VALBUENA, of the Society for Threatened Peoples, cited violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Kosovo and stated that according to information, the Yugoslav and Serb Governments had committed deeds which had to be regarded as genocide according to articles of the United Nation's Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. The Commission was called on to condemn the crimes perpetrated against the Albanian population of Kosovo by the Yugoslav Government and to initiate a reform of the Security Council which would allow the prevention of genocide in the future.

The Society for Threatened Peoples also cited human rights violations committed by the Government of Colombia against the indigenous population. It called on the Commission to consider its list of cited recommendations.

ABRAHAM YAHYEH, of the African Association of Education for Development, said he spoke on behalf of Ethiopians and Eritreans who suffered from the catastrophe of a senseless war. The causes of the war were outlined. The regime in Ethiopia had continued its acts of intimidation and harassment of Eritreans residing in Ethiopia. It had expelled illegally tens of thousands of Eritreans from Ethiopia and confiscated their properties. There was a continuous mental and physical torture by the Ethiopian regime against innocent Eritreans which demanded a close observation by the international community. At the same time, the Eritrean Government had reciprocated equally in the manners of the Ethiopian regime in handling the Ethiopians living in Eritrea. This continuous violation of human rights by both sides was leading the people of both countries to a serious danger tantamount to that of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The international community , and particularly the Governments of countries which had political and economical influence upon the two Governments, should exercise their power not only to bring peace and reconciliation but to establish the basis of democratic governance.

MONCEF ACHOUR, of the Organisation Tunisenne de l'Education et de la Famille, said that despite many achievements and progress in the fields of human rights, there were grounds for concern in many areas of the world. The increase of intolerance, religious fanaticism, slavery, racism and ethnic wars were all worrying. This was happening in Kosovo, as well as in Africa. These violations extended to all social strata, including women and children. The hope that the machinery of the Commission would give greater attention to economic and social rights was expressed. Beyond purely political considerations, these rights were important for civil society as a whole, and transcended political traditions as a whole. Human rights ought to be viewed from a global point of view.

ANITA TEXIER, of France Libertes, cited violations of human rights in Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Mexico and Myanmar. The representative asked the United Nations to take necessary measures to bring to light the question of disappeared persons in Algeria, to establish a review of the grave and persistent violations of human rights in Mexico and to have the High Commissioner of Human Rights visit Mexico.

FERNANDO MARINO, of Federacion de Asociaciones de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, said violations of human rights in East Timor were an indication of Indonesia’s repressive measures against its people. There were reports of arbitrary arrests, detentions, the absence of freedom of expression and offensive military offences against the civilian population among others. The Government of Indonesia allowed these activities to go on and therefore it was not complying with the international laws.

There were also violations in the Western Sahara in Morocco which were in violation of the international human rights covenants that clearly protected the right of self-determination of the people.

DOUGLAS SCOTT, of the International Human Rights Law Group, drew the Commission's attention to Afghanistan, Nigeria, Peru and the United States of America, all countries where grave violations were occurring. In Afghanistan, the human rights situation had deteriorated since last year. All warring factions continued to commit gross human rights violations against men, women and children in all areas of the country. The report the new Special Rapporteur was welcomed, as was the appointment of a human rights advisor. All Member States were requested to provide support and resources. In Nigeria, whilst the political changes culminating in elections were welcomed, much remained to be done, such as the repeal of repressive decrees and the limitation of rights to freedom of assembly, expression and the press.

Mr. Scott said that as for the situation in Peru, whilst improvements had been made in preventing some human rights violations, there were still serious problems arising from the failure to remedy past human rights abuses. The Commission should appeal to the Peruvian Government to withdraw the amnesty law and to conduct fair and public investigations and trials. Finally, the institutionalisation of human rights violations in the United States were highlighted. There was support for the steps taken by the Commission monitoring abuse in many contexts. The United States had not prioritised the elimination of all human rights violations that continued to adversely affect racial minorities, women, indigenous population, children, gay and lesbian groups and other citizens under United States control such as refugees, asylum seekers an immigrants. The burden lay on the Government of the United States to demonstrate that it was making measurable progress by cooperating fully. The Commission needed to follow-up on those reports already issued which revealed the gap between promise and practice in US human rights protection.

Rights of Reply

JAWED ASHRAF (India), in exercise of right of reply, stated that the Foreign Minister of Pakistan had taken liberties with the truth. India categorically rejected all allegations raised by the delegate of Pakistan as well as the Foreign Minister, including those related to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir which he said were unfounded and self-serving. Pakistan should adhere to building measures for the peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues through direct bilateral dialogue.

SYRUS QAZI (Pakistan), exercising his right to reply, said that he could fully understand the discomfort of the Indian delegation at the speech made by the Pakistani Foreign Minister, since the stark facts remained that India was guilty of human rights violations in the state of Kashmir as had been fully documented. The fate of Kashmiris for past 50 years had been agony and misery. The only result of the response was that it highlighted the fact that it did not respond to those points raised by Foreign Minister. The Indian delegate was asked whether he denied that the Security Council had adopted many resolutions determining that the final solution for the State of Kashmir needed to be expressed by the people of Kashmir, and that this was agreed to by India and Pakistan, but it had not been allowed to take place due to Indian obfuscation. The solution lay in dialogue and peace. The Commission should not allow this opportunity to slip away.