NGOs URGE ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

AFTERNOON
HR/CN/99/49
20 April 1999



Commission on Human Rights Debates Enhancement of Mechanisms
for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights


A parade of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) this afternoon said that the fact that more countries than ever have abolished the death penalty illustrated the need for the Commission on Human Rights to adopt language calling for an immediate moratorium on capital punishment.

A representative of Bulgaria said the country had not executed anybody in 10 years, and that there had been a moratorium put in place by the Bulgarian Parliament in 1990. Recently, the country had co-authored a draft resolution against the death penalty submitted by the European Union which insisted that capital punishment was a detriment to human dignity.

The testimony came as the Commission continued discussion of its agenda item on the promotion and protection of human rights. Several NGOs, citing killing, torture, and illegal imprisonment of hundreds of human-rights defenders, implored the Commission to appoint a Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders. Besides sending an important signal to States that their treatment of human-rights defenders was being monitored, a Special Rapporteur would be able to investigate individual cases of abuse, the NGOs claimed.

Other speakers told the Commission that it needed to focus more attention on the effect of environmental damage on human rights.

But it was the death penalty that received the most attention. Particularly mentioned were States that still implemented capital punishment. A representative of World Alliance of Reformed Churches described how she had accompanied Judy Buenoano, a 54-year-old American death-row inmate suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, to the electric chair.

Amnesty International and other NGOs took nations still practising the death penalty -- especially the United States -- to task for executing prisoners who had been incarcerated for crimes committed when they were under age 18. The activists insisted that was a violation of international law. The near-universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child -- with only the United States and Somalia abstaining -- was evidence that there was international consensus not to sentence death anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18, these advocates claimed.

Malta, Israel, Bulgaria and Iran addressed the meeting.

The following NGOs also spoke: Transnational Radical Party; World Alliance of Reformed Churches; Christian Solidarity International; Pax Romana; Human Rights Watch; Organization Against Torture; Amnesty International; International Educational Development Inc.; Friends World Committee; Earth Justice Legal Defence Fund; International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination; Commission for the Defence of Human Rights in Central America; International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination; Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University; Human Rights Advocates; Centre for Justice and International Law; International Service for Human Rights; World Federation of Trade Unions; Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples; Association of World Citizens; Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace; JMJ Children's Fund of Canada; International Union of Socialist Youth; International Helsinki Federation of Human Rights; Aliran Kesedaran Negara Inc.; Human Rights Internet; and World Muslim
Congress.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 21 April, to continue its debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Statements

JACQUELINE AQUILINA (Malta) said the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 50 years ago had brought a message of hope for mankind. It had brought together the world community which formally acknowledged the need for recognition of the basic principles which belonged by right to every human being. Malta had always been at the forefront in supporting international action to secure the indivisibility and universality and full development of human rights. The Maltese Government believed that peace and prosperity could not be enjoyed unless a democratic Government was in place that guaranteed full respect for human rights.

The Maltese Constitution fully protected all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Malta supported the European Union’s position on abolition of death penalty, which was an integral part of its human-rights policy. The death penalty had not been used in Malta since 1943 and had been abolished for ordinary crimes in 1971.

TAMAR RAHAMIMOFF (Israel) said the country was aware of the importance of balancing advancements in human rights while protecting society. Recently Israel had passed a law that prohibited the genetic cloning of humans for five years. During those five years, the ethics of the matter would be studied. Israel also had addressed patients’ rights in the field of bio-ethics.

Israeli law said that in times of medical emergency, treatment could not be withheld. Medical providers had to give all available advice and information to their patients. There was a bill being discussed on the confidentiality of information obtained by genetic testing. These advancements were for the benefit of humankind, and should not hinder human rights.

PERKO DRAGANOV (Bulgaria) said no executions had taken place in Bulgaria since 1989 and a moratorium had been introduced by Parliament in 1990. Recently Bulgaria had joined the group of totally abolitionist states. Bulgaria had co-sponsored the draft resolution on the death penalty submitted by the European Union. It fully subscribed to the view that abolition of the death penalty worldwide would contribute to the enhancement of human dignity and the promotion of the right of everyone to life.

Bulgaria joined the appeal which would be made by the Commission if it adopted a resolution on the death penalty calling for all States parties to accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, which renounced the use of capital punishment.

ALI KHORRAM (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that to aid the implementation of the pertinent recommendations of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Secretary-General should open a dialogue with States that had not yet ratified core international human-rights treaties. Relevant United Nations organs should, as a priority, take practical measures to establish adequate mechanisms to facilitate open discussion among the member States and inter-governmental and non-governmental bodies in order to identify real obstacles to the ratification of core instruments and to seek ways to overcome them.

Identification of grave situations on a non-selective basis, to which all international treaties -- ranging from the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to the instruments on racial discrimination, migrant workers and contemporary forms of slavery -- were equally applicable, would facilitate their universal ratification. It also would help to accord due attention to strengthening those instruments which continued to be inadequately addressed by the UN.

M. BUSDACHIN, of Transnational Radical Party, said four years ago the Commission had voted against the death penalty. The vote had been a political success, and most of the world had shared in that success. Since then, a lot of things had happened. Many Parliaments had changed their penal codes. There was no death penalty any more in South America. There were

more than 100 States that had abolished the death penalty. For the first time this year the resolution on the death penalty would not be offered by States alone but by the entire European Union. Never had so many States been against the death penalty.

The Commission on Human Rights must declare that the death penalty should be abolished for any person. The Commission should at least declare a one-year worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. This year should be the year of such a moratorium.

REV. MELODEE SMITH, of World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said she had witnessed the electrocution of Judy Buenoano, 54, suffering already from Alzheimer's Disease and scoliosis. The moratorium campaign on executions had begun in 1994 at the United Nations General Assembly and subsequent resolutions to suspend executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty would soon be introduced and discussed by the Commission.

The World Alliance strongly supported this effort and urged all member States to reflect on the abolition of the death penalty. The dignity of the human spirit was inherent in even the worst offenders, and while acts of violence were perpetrated by individuals from all economic classes of society, only the poor paid with their lives.

DAVID LITTMAN, of Christian Solidarity International, said the status of the international instrument on human-rights defenders was of major concern to the international community and rightly so. The same problems of ratification and observance were to be found with it as with other international instruments.

In its resolution 1998/19 the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities had noted that the status of ratification of the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956, and the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1949, was still unsatisfactory. What was to be done when States signed and ratified international Covenants and Conventions without any intention of carrying them out? Slavery continued in the heart of Africa without any outcry from either this Commission or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

JOSEPH RAJKUMAR, of Pax Romana, speaking on behalf of another NGO, said 88 countries had the death penalty, yet there was ample evidence that executions did not provide for less-violent societies. Rather, capital punishment and its application tended to further brutalize and escalate social conflicts. Nearly 70 percent of the Governments that retained the death penalty were in Asia and Africa. Today, there was a worldwide appeal for a moratorium on the death penalty.

Pax Romana joined the call for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty in the year 2000, especially regarding the case of Kurdish leader Ocalan. The Turkish Government had to be urged to maintain its current moratorium, as requested by the Council of Europe. Society had the means of protecting itself without definitively denying criminals any chance of reform.

WIDNEY BROWN, of Human Rights Watch, said the organization warmly welcomed the General Assembly's adoption last December of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Human Rights Watch urged the Commission to establish a new Special Rapporteur to monitor implementation of the Declaration. Human-rights defenders had paid a very high price, sometimes the ultimate price, for their activities. Among those killed for pursuing their principles had been Bajram Kelmendi in Kosovo, Rosemary Nelson in Northern Ireland, and many persons in Colombia, Guatemala, the Republic of Congo, and other countries.

Those in countries where work on certain human-rights issues was considered illegal were persecuted and punished, such as Li Hai in China, who had been in detention since 1995 for "prying into and gathering the following information about people sentenced for criminal activities during the June 4, 1989". Cuba had found four leaders of the Internal Dissidents Working Group guilty of sedition for calling for greater freedoms and other changes in the Government's policies and had sentenced them to prison terms of from three and a half to five years. The Commission had to act quickly to protect human-rights defenders worldwide.

FERNANDO MEIJA, of World Organization against Torture (OMCT), in a joint statement with International Federation for Human Rights, said that in many countries private groups were carrying out human-rights violations against human-rights defenders. Violence and repression against human-rights defenders had been grave. In July 1997 the OMCT had established an Observatory for the Protection of Defenders of Human Rights; since, the Observatory had received reports of 11 extra-judicial executions, 21 cases of torture, and 83 cases of illegal detention of human-rights defenders. Between last December and last week human-rights workers in Colombia, the United Kingdom, Iran, and Ecuador had been killed.

The Declaration on human-rights defenders had aroused real hope. It showed that there was real support for human rights. The Commission should urge States to set up a monitoring mechanisms to make sure human-rights defenders were not harmed. The Commission also should appoint a Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders.

FLORANCE MARTIN, of Amnesty International, said the organization welcomed progress towards abolition of the death penalty made since the Commission adopted last year a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions. The Commission had urged countries in particular not to impose the death penalty for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age. This punishment for young people was explicitly prohibited in several major international and regional human-rights standards and treaties, and in international humanitarian law. The almost universal ratification of these treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been ratified by all countries except Somalia and United States, was one factor which demonstrated the international consensus against sentencing minors to death or executing anyone for crimes committed when under 18 years of age.

Since 1990, only six countries had executed people who were below age 18 at the time their capital crimes were committed: Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Yemen. The US had carried out the highest number of executions of persons under 18 -- ten. In order to continue imposing the death penalty on persons below age of 18, the US had entered a reservation to article 6 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. The legal killing by a State of people who were under 18 at the time of their offences could not be tolerated in any society.

LYDIA BRAZON, of International Educational Development, said the organization and its members and affiliates had suffered in the course of their defence of human rights and humanitarian law. He personally had suffered because of his role as a defender, and the ultimate price had been paid by Jalil Andrabi, late Chairman of the Kashmir Commission of Jurists, and a late delegate of International Educational Development. Mr. Andrabi had been killed by the Rastriya Rifles and so had not been able to bring representatives from Indian-occupied Kashmir to the Commission and Subcommission. Other defenders had paid dearly, too. The Kurdish question in Turkey had taken a high toll, for example.

The Commission was must take decisive action to defend human-rights defenders. Its Special Rapporteurs and working groups should initiate a review of the situation of human-rights defenders within their mandates, since the Commission did not have a Special Rapporteur for human-rights defenders.

JENNY PICKRELL, of Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), said the group welcomed the two analytical reports of the Secretary-General on the issue of "Fundamental Standards of Humanity" (E/CN.4/1998/87 and E/CN.4/1999/92) and the attention given to this issue by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in her opening statement to the Commission. Essentially the reports were about the better protection of the human rights of individuals in all circumstances, including internal armed conflicts and internal strife. The international community should act to prevent the many abuses carried out by informal armed forces and armed groups -- paramilitaries, armed youth groups, militias, civil defence committees, village guards, and many others.

Insofar as such groups were established, armed, condoned or permitted to bear arms by Governments, the responsibility for them and for their actions remained a Governmental concern. Too little attention was currently being paid to such actors and the violations they committed. The Commission must ensure that Governments were held accountable for the actions of such groups.



NEIL POPOVIC, of Earth Justice Legal Defence Fund, said last year the Commission had decided to defer consideration of the question of human rights and the environment to this year. In the interim, the Commission had asked the Secretary-General to introduce the issue to the General Assembly. But there was only one reply to requests for information on the matter - - from the Food and Agriculture Organization. There was nothing from the Commission on Sustainable Development, UNEP or UNDP. Although the Secretary-General recognized that many human-rights considerations were affected by sustainable development, he did not ask any other body to take up the question of human rights and the environment.

Over the past year, there had been many developments. The UN Economic Commission for Europe recognized that adequate protection of the environment was essential for well-being. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recognized that environmental degradation of the lands of indigenous peoples for the purpose of oil exploration raised a wide range of human-rights issues. The time was now ripe to appoint a Special Rapporteur. That appointment would mandate a comprehensive and coherent approach to human rights and the environment -- it would involve developing human-rights standards, investigating situations, making recommendations, and providing assistance and support to Governments and other international bodies.

ATSUKO TANAKA, of International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), said the important role of education in promoting and protecting human rights had been increasingly recognized in every part of the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, human-rights education had brought new hope to people as they sought to address problems peculiar to the region, such as the hypocrisy of the so-called Asian values promoted by some Asian Governmental leaders; the lack of attention to positive values; the manipulation of religion by political and social institutions; and the hegemonic use of human rights for political purposes leading to the selective application of human-rights standards.

Human-rights education was a way to address these problems in the region and to support the efforts of many groups which believed in the inherent power of people and therefore adopted participatory human-rights education approaches. The IMADR Japan Committee, together with regional and local NGOs and local Governments, had held an international conference last November in Osaka on human-rights education in the Asia-Pacific region. There were over 150 participants, and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had helped to organize and fund the conference.

CELIA SANJUR, of Commission for the Defence of Human Rights in Central America (CODEHUCA), said CODEHUCA supported steps taken recently by judicial systems and executive bodies to the strengthen the powers of ombudsmen in Central America.

Numerous problems still existed, however, which threatened the credibility of ombudsmen in Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador. CODEHUCA called on the Governments of Central America to financially support and increase the activities of public ombudsmen in the region. It called on international community to increase its aid to all human-rights institutions in the region.

A. CHARAFELDDINE, of International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD), said the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people and the horrific facts cited in regards to what had befallen the people of the Balkans underlined the oppression and persecution that existed in the world today. One of the causes of the problem was the world media, which imposed propaganda in the form of biased and selective reporting techniques. Internationally recognized-human rights instruments and laws must be fully implemented to confront those who knowingly mixed what was false with what was true.

EAFORD called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to condemn the use of military force out of the context of the Security Council; to initiate plans for a United Nations global satellite channel network broadcasting in all official languages; and to promote the just application of the clauses of the United Nations Charter.

THERESA KLEIN, of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a reminder of the rights all should live by. But these rights often took a back seat to social progress, leaving exploitation, violence, and injustice to prevail in one form or another. Rights carried with them a responsibility to exercise them properly.

Humanity had to be seen as one large family. Socially responsible behaviour that led to people's human rights being respected required that the right choices be made. In that regard, it must be remembered that attitudes and actions found their roots in understanding. Without understanding, actions were directionless or liable to be pulled in one direction or another by a passing whim. Instead, efforts to enhance human rights should be based on conscious and committed choices.

JENNIFER FIORE of Human Rights Advocates, said the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibited use of the death penalty against juveniles; all countries which were carrying out such acts against persons under age 18 must stop. These countries included Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United States. Such penalties were a direct violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The US had the highest number of juvenile offenders on death row, and in 1998 and 1999 it was the only country to implement the death penalty in such circumstances.

For years the countries cited above had been called upon to stop employing the death penalty, but unfortunately they had paid no heed. The international community must become active in preventing them from continuing. The public should be educated on the rights of juvenile offenders; the minimum age for the death penalty should in all cases be at least 18. All States also should cooperate with Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, especially Yemen, Iran, and Pakistan.


ISABEL RICUPERO, of Centre for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), said Jamaica had become the first ever State to withdraw from the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Trinidad and Tobago the first country to announce its withdrawal from the American Convention on Human Rights; the intent was to facilitate the use of the death penalty. The ramifications of the trend towards reservations to and withdrawals from international human-rights instruments on the basis of the death penalty were far reaching and extended beyond any geographical region and beyond the question of the death penalty. Other States might likewise make reservations, thereby setting a regressive trend.

The Commission should urge Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana to withdraw their reservations and should urge Jamaica to re-ratify the First Optional Protocol. It also should call upon State parties to international covenants formally to object to incompatible reservations to such human-rights instruments.

DIANE RODRIGUEZ, of International Service for Human Rights, said there had been much discussion this session about the dangers human-rights defenders faced every day. A Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders would not only review implementation of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders but also could investigate individual cases and oversee technical assistance on matters of security.

Following the unanimous adoption of the Declaration, the Commission must now seize the opportunity to create an effective mechanism to safeguard those who fought every day on the front lines. A Special Rapporteur should be appointed immediately.

REFAQUET ALI KHAN, of World Federation of Trade Unions, said UN human-rights instruments were a product of negotiations among nations, initiatives of independent experts and reflections of the collective views of the international community. It was because of this that the Independent Expert Philip Alston in his report submitted in 1997 suggested that universal ratification of the six core UN human-rights treaties would establish the best possible foundation for international endeavours to promote respect for human rights.

While there had been some progress with regard to ratification of some treaties, it was a matter of concern that quite a number of countries had not yet ratified even the core treaties. As reported last June, 137 States had ratified, acceded or succeeded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and 140 states to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Effective progress in human-rights promotion worldwide depended to a large extent on the willingness of Governments to fulfill their human-rights obligations.

JEAN FRANCO/CHRISTINE GOSTEN, of Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples (MRAP), asked in a joint statement with Centre Europe - Tiers Monde that the authorities of the Canton of Geneva dismantle the excessive security barricades around the Palais des Nations. MRAP also called attention to the situation in Burma, which was still governed by a military regime. The people of Burma lived in a state of fear and intimidation, without the freedom of expression; the first line of victims there consisted of human-rights defenders.

Other areas of concern were the Kurdish people of Iraq, who had been the largest civilian population ever attacked with chemical and biological weapons. There should be increased awareness about the urgent need for the international community to help the victims. Human-rights defenders in Syria and Turkey also needed protection.

MICHAEL FINUCANE of International League for Human Rights, said the role of human-rights defenders could not be underestimated. There had been more and more attacks against these people, often carried out with full impunity and even with the sanction of States.

His father and a friend of his had been subjected to the worst of abuses in Northern Ireland. They were human-rights defenders, and because of that they were murdered. In the case of his father, Patrick Finucane, there was evidence that there was knowledge in advance that he was to be murdered, but nothing was done to prevent it. The situation was intolerable. The murder of Rosemary Nelson in March showed that the situation had not changed in the 10 years since his father was murdered. Such violations must be stopped. They should never be allowed to happen again.

HORACE PERERA, of World Federation of United Nations Associations, said that with an effective programme of public information and education the ideals enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could be achieved. The Federation highly appreciated the programme of information and to some extent of education carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Information Service in Geneva (UNIS). In fact that was an understatement. The programmes had been targeted at all age levels; they had been conducted in the widest possible variety of forms; and, finally, they treated all human-rights instruments as an indivisible whole. OHCHR and UNIS had made a significant contribution to the promotion of awareness of human rights. But unless Governments and the NGO community took up where OHCHR and UNIS left off, the programmes would merely adorn the shelves of libraries and archives. Awareness had to be translated into conviction and action.

Hence concrete programmes had to be directed at the entire teaching profession, and for this effective cooperation must be established and maintained with organizations of classroom teachers. Every organization dealing with one or another aspect of human rights should realize that the full significance of the specific rights for which they were campaigning could be understood if studied in the context of all other rights set forth in the Declaration. Synagogue, church, and mosque should join in this educational programme.



TITINA LOIZIDOU, of International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and Other Minorities, said she had been prevented from walking home to her home in Kyrenia on the northern coast of Cyprus. Turkey had not complied with the European Court of Human Rights which had ruled that she was the legal owner of her property, that Turkey was responsible for depriving her of it, and that she was entitled to compensation.

Since Turkey had not complied with this ruling, she continued to be denied the use of her rightful property. She called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take action to ensure that the judgements of the Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe were implemented, as the relevant Convention provided.

PIERRE POIRET, of Association of World Citizens, said there must be movement beyond the current state of violence and militarism in the world. No one wanted to see murders by States. There must be a culture of peace. This must be established through the work of Governments. In recent years, the oppression of minorities had increased.

A culture of peace would benefit the world's children. Violence in video games had a tremendous impact on children, and the ramifications of these games should be carefully considered. It also was necessary to address problems of the sexual exploitation of women and children if there was to be a culture of peace.

COLIN McNAUGHTON, of Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, said that on February 21, 1998, a human-rights promoter named José Tila Lopez Garcia had given testimony concerning human-rights violations committed by the Mexican army and paramilitary groups. He had spoken of these problems before the European-based International Civil Commission for Human Rights, which was conducting a two-week tour of the conflict zone in Chiapas. The following day he was assassinated by the paramilitary group Paz Y Justicia after being beaten, tied up and dragged off. He was killed with machetes and his body tossed in a river. In Mexico, details of innumerable cases had been received in which human-rights defenders had been threatened and human-rights offices broken into, vandalized, and robbed. It was not uncommon for human-rights defenders to receive death threats against themselves and their families.

In Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, violations were being committed against human-rights defenders by the India Government. In April of 1996, Ghulam Rasool Dar of Srinagar, Kashmir, had addressed the Commission concerning continued human-rights violations committed by India and its paramilitary groups. Upon return, Mr. Rasool was arrested and brutally tortured for three days. Human-rights defenders provided the vital link between victims of violations and the international instruments designed to eradicate these violations. The physical integrity of human rights defenders must be protected.



M. J. FERRARI, of JMJ Children's Fund of Canada, Inc, said the health rights of children were under threat. There were many affordable steps that could and should be taken to improve the health of women and children, including reproductive health care and maternal health care.

Humanitarian aid could only be truly humanitarian if one had the facts and truly wanted to provide what was required.

HARRY WU, of International Union of Socialist Youth, said this century had proved to be one of the most brutal in human history. Humanity could only look back with horror and shame -- but perhaps it would be able to look forward with hope. One reason for hope was the number of countries that had realized that it was intolerable for Governments to sentence their citizens to death. In the last century, public executions were the norm in large parts of the world. It was a sign of humanity when many Governments gave up the power to execute people. For the UN to call for a worldwide moratorium on executions would help usher in the new century like a gust of cleansing wind.

When there was talk of the death penalty, China had to be mentioned. The number of people executed there every year was a State secret. Amnesty International in 1997 reported that at least 1,876 people had been executed in China, and in 1996, at least 4,367 had been killed. That was over 80 people a week. Use of the death penalty must be stopped.

NINA WESSEL, of International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, said the times were better for defenders of human rights in Europe since the fall of Berlin wall. But in most Central and East European States, and in Central Asia, intimidation, physical violence, abusive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, threats to personal freedom, threats to family members, restriction to freedom of movement, and death threats were part of life for many individuals working on behalf of human rights. It had become routine for human-rights defenders to be accused of damaging the images of their States when they reported on human-rights violations.

Human-rights activists in most countries of the former Soviet Union faced prosecution on fabricated charges. Physical assaults by unidentified persons ( which were never investigated) and beatings by policemen were common problems in the region. Undue restrictions and lack of freedom of the press had been reported in Serbia, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan. The adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders was a matter of great importance, and all possible concrete actions should be carried out to improve the conditions under which those who fought for the human rights of their fellow citizens conducted their work.

DEBORAH STOTHARD, of ALIRAN Kesedaran Negara, Inc., said that as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) moved towards progress and consistency in the area of free trade, many of its members had failed to ratify basic human-rights treaties. Malaysia had witnessed a surge of human-rights violations. Police brutality was apparently supported by the Government, since no action had been taken against these violations nor had the perpetrators been punished. Human-rights defenders had been severely beaten and arrested, including Tian Chua and Abdul Malik. Malaysians continued to be liable to indefinite detention without trial under the Internal Security Act. The Home Minister could order two-year detentions under the Act if he wished.

The Commission should intervene on behalf of Malaysian human-rights defenders. As a start, police and riot police in Malaysia should be given proper human-rights training and the Government of Malaysia should ratify the necessary treaties and implement them.

LAURIE WISEBERG, of Human Rights Internet, said a Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders should be appointed. It was good to see the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in December. Now it was time for the next step. There were restrictive laws that impeded the abilities of such people to carry out their work. There were attacks on those who were simply exercising their rights in monitoring human-rights violations.

In Columbia and Guatemala, human-rights defenders faced death threats. In Algeria, they had disappeared. The litany continued. A Special Rapporteur would be able to monitor such attacks and protect those who were threatened. It was understood that many member States were reluctant to establish such a post. . But if these people’s rights were not protected and respected, everyone's rights were in danger.

GHULAM MOHAMMAD SAFI, of World Muslim Congress, said that although international human-rights law had evolved extensively since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the two International Covenants in 1966, armed conflicts had become more frequent in a growing number of countries. The World Muslim Congress was of the opinion that the most vulnerable in such situations besides women and children were human-rights defenders. They faced the wrath of their oppressors in form of detention, torture and even murder. Members of their families were harassed, their houses were burned; they suffered physical and mental harm.

The World Muslim Congress strongly supported the proposal to appoint a Special Rapporteur on human-rights defenders. A mechanism was urgently needed under which Governments could be held accountable for their treatment of human-rights defenders.