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NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ADDRESS COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
25 April 2005
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Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights
25 April 2005
AFTERNOON
Brief Experts on Situation in Countries
to be Considered by the Committee
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon heard a series of statements from representatives of non-governmental organizations with respect to the reports which Committee Experts will examine during the current session.
Speakers outlined efforts made by States parties to carry out their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and underscored failures in fulfilling these rights. Statements by the representatives addressed the situations in Zambia, China, Serbia and Montenegro and Norway whose reports will be considered by the Committee during the next three weeks.
Among the subjects raised during the course of this afternoon’s meeting were the impact of HIV/AIDS on society; land and inheritance rights; the rights of ethnic minorities, immigrants and asylum seekers; the right to food, to work and education; and the effects of globalization on vulnerable groups.
The representatives of the following non-governmental organizations took the floor: Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection; Women in Law in South Africa; Justice for Widows and Orphans Project in Zambia; Centre for Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE); FIAN International; Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network; Society for Community Organization; Hong Kong Human Rights Commission; Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor; Tibet Support Group Netherlands; Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Human Rights in China; the Dui Hua Foundation; World Organization Against Torture; and FIAN Norway.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 26 April, it will begin its consideration of the initial report of Zambia (E/1990/5/Add.60).
Statements
With Respect to Zambia
SIMSON MWALE, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, said the report which the Centre had prepared, in consultation with other civil society organizations, had gathered a variety of civil society studies and Government documents related to economic, social and cultural rights, including those on women, health, education, housing, land, food security and employment. Zambia was one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 164 out of 177 on the 2004 UNDP Human Development Index, having fallen consistently over the past years, from 136 in 1996 to 153 in 2002. On education, for example, the report reveals that education is gradually becoming a privilege of those who could manage the associated expenses, despite Government commitments to provide free primary education. The report concludes that Zambia’s failure to live up to its economic, social and cultural rights obligations despite its commitments to United Nations covenants to provide an adequate standard of living to all citizens had been due to three factors: poor prioritization of available resources by the Government; failure to include economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution in an enforceable manner; and unjust and ineffective implementation of economic measures by the international financial institutions.
MATRINE B. CHULLU, Women in Law in South Africa, said an absence of economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights of Zambia was a matter of concern; customary law practices also limited women in fully enjoying their human rights. Moreover, HIV/AIDS was a matter of great concern in that many of those infected with the disease were not able to access anti-retroviral drugs due to their high costs and the high rates of poverty in the country.
FLORENCE SHAKAFUSWA, Justice for Widows and Orphans Project in Zambia, addressed the issue of women and orphans in Zambia, where some 20 per cent of the population was infected by HIV/AIDS. A widow's right to own property was marred due to cultural traditions. Moreover, some 80 per cent of the population lived in poverty. There was also a lack of enforcement mechanisms in terms of land rights. Over 25 per cent of the population had no access to health services. Another three million of the children in Zambia were not attending schools. The fact that forced marriages were allowed was a matter of great concern. The group recommended that the Government incorporate the International Covenant into the Constitution; that it review all legislation dealing with property inheritance and marriage; and that it provide assistance to widows and orphans, among other things.
BIRTE SCHOLZ, Centre for Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE), said the issue of inheritance was linked to the issue of land rights as enshrined in the International Covenant. In Zambia the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and traditional and customary policies made inheritance a particularly important issue. There was an urgent need to guarantee that the Interstate Succession Act as well as other legislation dealing with property, inheritance or marriage complied with the Covenant. Moreover, the Government needed to be directed to adequately address the issue of traditional beliefs through popular media and attention. The Government should also support the ongoing efforts of the many non-governmental organizations that were operating to sensitize women and communities at large on women’s rights and traditional practices.
SANDRA RATJEN, FIAN International, drew attention to a pilot project to assist particularly poor households in Zambia, which aimed at targeting the most vulnerable groups, who could not make use of resources, mostly as a consequence of HIV/AIDS. Each household received six USD per month, which was an equivalent of 50 kilograms of maize. The beneficiaries were free to spend the money the way they wanted, however FIAN suggested that the money was spent on the well being of children. The total cost generated by this project amounted to approximately four per cent of the Overseas Development Assistance received by Zambia. There was also concern with regard to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Zambia. FIAN encouraged the Committee to follow up on the development of all related projects dealing with economic, social and cultural rights and encouraged the State party to further explore ways to carry out cost effective programmes and projects to assist people to exercise fully their human rights.
Several Committee members underlined the importance of the International Covenant in Zambia in playing an essential role in the provision of economic, social and cultural rights.
In response to questions raised, the Representative of FIAN stated that citizens in Zambia had the right to choose whether they wanted to be tried by customary law or statutory law. The issue of conflict of laws was an area where the Government should take effective action while keeping in mind the rights of women and children in particular. There was a need for the justice system of Zambia to be revamped, especially to the benefit of women and children and people living in rural areas.
The Representative of Justice for Widows and Orphans mentioned that there were more than one million orphans in Zambia and there were an increasing number of child-led households which was leading to increasing poverty as a result; school attendance rates were also falling. Another Representative noted that one of the biggest problems in Zambia was that of the dispossession of property by widows. The status of the laws in the country needed to be revised in that regard.
With Respect to China
MURIELLE MIGNOT, Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network, said given the characteristics of political bodies of the United Nations system, including the Commission on Human Rights, no significant attention to Tibet’s occupation had been permitted since the 1960s. Across China, land was treated as State property, which had led to insecure tenure for all peoples living in the State party. The Chinese legal system had progressed recently to protect property rights, including housing property; however the law reflected ideological features that excluded land as a factor of the housing property. Violations of land as a right made clear the need for protection of land as a human right that derived from the human need for land, as both a fundamental element of the inalienable right to self-determination and a resource for adequate housing. The group recommended that the Committee consider the need of China to expand its concept of housing rights to allow for greater protection of land tenure. In rural and urban China, the demographic challenge of a disproportionately aged population also had direct consequences for enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living.
SZE LAI SHAN, Society for Community Organization, noted that there had been great difficulties in terms of family reunification for residents in Hong Kong and recommended that there be a joint coordinating monitoring body to deal with this question. Immigrants from mainland China faced a great deal of discrimination by the local government; some 90 per cent of immigrants faced severe discrimination by the local people. Moreover, the Government had not provided any legal protection for these individuals. Concerning the right to an adequate standard of living, there were over 150,000 people living in so-called "caged homes"; the disparity between the rich and the poor was growing in Hong Kong. In the absence of an adequate employment policy in Hong Kong and rising poverty, this disparity was widening. The group recommended, among other things, that there should be a law on minimum wage.
ANNIE LIN, Hong Kong Human Rights Commission, said those seeking asylum in Hong Kong had not been assisted by the Government. There was no refugee law in Hong Kong. In 2004, there were over 460 new applications for asylum seekers received by the UNHCR and the number of asylum seekers was on the rise. The lack of policy in this area meant that there was no social security for these asylum seekers and many were left homeless. Furthermore, asylum seekers were not eligible to any special funds from the Government. The asylum seekers also did not have a right to work and the children of asylum seekers had no right to education. The Government had indicated that it would propose legislation to combat the discrimination of asylum seekers. The Government also had not implemented any measures for ethnic minorities. There was a high unemployment rate among ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. The group called on the Government to consider legislation to improve the situation of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong overall.
LAW YUK KAI, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, stated that there had been no significant progress in the implementation of the International Covenant in different areas of life in China and the major recommendations in the concluding observations of the Committee had not been implemented. The Government’s proposed law against racial discrimination was flawed in that it did not adequately address the issue of ethnic minorities. There was also a problem in terms of the exclusion of language and religious discrimination in laws against racial discrimination. Concerning the right to work, there was a lack of statutory minimum wage and maximum working hours in Hong Kong. Regarding poverty and the right to social security, there were more than 1,122,000 people living below the poverty line in Hong Kong, which included low-income families, working elderly and the new immigrants from mainland China. Other problems raised were that of reunification of families in Hong Kong, given that some 100,000 families were separated from their relatives in mainland China. The Government's public housing policy was also flawed in that it discriminated against housing applicants on the basis of the length of residence.
TSERING JAMPA, Tibet Support Group Netherlands, said in 2003, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, in her mission report on China, had noted a significant problem with regard to access to education, a high rate of illiteracy in Tibet, and that the quality of education was inferior. The incidence of racial discrimination against Tibetans was worsening which was leading to poor access to basic rights, including the right to education, employment and health services. Women and children in Tibet were as a result suffering due to this lack of basic social services. The exploitation of natural resources was also exacerbating the problem of discrimination against Tibetans. Moreover, the development projects that the Chinese Government had launched in Tibet were having negative effects on the Tibetan people's distinct cultural, religious and linguistic identity. Chinese settlers were also coming to Tibet resulting in the economic marginalization of the Tibetan people.
RAYMOND TANG, Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong, said there were two matters of concern to the Equal Opportunities Commission, one of which was the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. Such a Commission would be an essential measure to ensure the equal access to and value of all rights for all the citizens of Hong Kong. The body would play a role to promote and protect all human rights in the region. Consultation should commence immediately to allow for the development of such a body to ensure the development of the protection of human rights. The second issue of concern was that of the care of mental health patients. The group called for the creation of a council with broad-based participation to address the rights of mental health patients in Hong Kong.
RAQUEL GONZALEZ, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said the Confederation was concerned by the fact that China had made a reservation to the International Covenant's article on the freedom to join trade unions; therefore the group believed this was in breach of international laws and principles on this matter. There was an overwhelming oppression of any attempt to form trade unions in China. The Government of China systematically oppressed all attempts to the establishment of any trade unions and organizers of workers groups and employers were often arrested and others sentenced to terms of forced labour when they attempted to do so. The right to strike was also prohibited. A number of workers protests had taken place over the past several years although most of them were curtailed by Government forces and resulted in several arrests. China did not respect workers rights as enshrined in the International Covenant. The only legally recognized trade union was to promote Government policies.
SHARON HOM, Human Rights in China, noted that the report of China presented disaggregated data, which attempted to portray how State policies had been implemented. The Government failed to acknowledge where the vulnerable populations were disadvantaged and failed to provide adequate systems for redress. The vulnerable populations in China were still largely excluded from the benefits of China's economic growth due to both the preferential development of urban areas and to mechanisms such as the hukou registration system. This system prevented migrants from having equal access to housing, healthcare and work benefits. Moreover, the Government failed to adhere to the principles laid out in the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted by the Committee, to adopt national policies that promoted fair distribution of the benefits of development and equal opportunity for all in their access to basic resources, health services, food, housing, employment and the fair distribution of income.
JOHN KAMM, the Dui Hua Foundation, said that for the past 15 years the Foundation had been engaged in a dialogue with the Chinese Government on matters pertaining to economic, social and cultural rights. Although the counter-revolution law was removed from criminal law several individuals remained in Chinese prisons for related crimes. The report being considered today was written two years ago and was already in need of updating. The factors stemming for China’s recent economic growth and the number of protests and factory strikes related to that were not addressed in the report. On 25 January 2005, a communication was received from the Chinese Government whereby it volunteered information on four prisoners the Foundation was unaware of. Another noteworthy fact was that recently the Government allowed foreigners to attend trials in China. The Foundation hoped that the Government of China would take more steps to enhance transparency and step up its cooperation with the United Nations, other governments, and non-governmental organizations in the common effort to promote and protect human rights.
With Respect to Serbia and Montenegro
CAMILLE COSENDAI, World Organization Against Torture, said the principle of non-discrimination was not ensured in practice in Serbia and Montenegro and was endangered in many ways. Roma had poor access to education and few women were in decision-making positions. Concerning the right to work, there was an inappropriate legislative framework in terms of insecurity of employment. A policy on the right to work was absent and workplace safety policies were also lacking. Moreover, the health system was no longer a Governmental priority. A large number of citizens were not reimbursed for medical treatment. The negative impact of this was manifested in the exclusion of Roma children and IDP children in receiving proper medical treatment. With regard to the protection of the family, there was also a lack of effective protection. Despite certain new laws, protection standards were not adequate. Limited financial support for families in need led to an increase of children in State institutions. Serbian legislation on the economic exploitation of children was good in principle but there was a lack of a monitoring mechanism for it. Moreover, a human trafficking law was enacted recently which led to measures for the protection of victims of this phenomenon, although the implementation of these measures were slow.
With Respect to Norway
CECILE HAARE, FIAN Norway, said according to the Norwegian law the International Covenant took precedence in cases pertaining to economic, social and cultural rights. Today there was an increasing focus on multilateral cooperation between Norway and its international partners. Norway was sensitive to the importance of land ownership and the need for women to own land. While economic globalization presented opportunities, it also posed potential problems. FIAN Norway stressed that the realization of the right to food should be central to any discussion on trade negotiations. Norwegian development coordination policies should not support countries where there was a lack of respect for the principle of the right to food. A specific chapter should be added on extra-territorial obligations in order to prevent hunger and malnutrition while realizing the right to food, which should be a priority of the Government of Norway.
* *** *
This press release is not an official record and is provided for public information only.
and Cultural Rights
25 April 2005
AFTERNOON
Brief Experts on Situation in Countries
to be Considered by the Committee
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon heard a series of statements from representatives of non-governmental organizations with respect to the reports which Committee Experts will examine during the current session.
Speakers outlined efforts made by States parties to carry out their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and underscored failures in fulfilling these rights. Statements by the representatives addressed the situations in Zambia, China, Serbia and Montenegro and Norway whose reports will be considered by the Committee during the next three weeks.
Among the subjects raised during the course of this afternoon’s meeting were the impact of HIV/AIDS on society; land and inheritance rights; the rights of ethnic minorities, immigrants and asylum seekers; the right to food, to work and education; and the effects of globalization on vulnerable groups.
The representatives of the following non-governmental organizations took the floor: Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection; Women in Law in South Africa; Justice for Widows and Orphans Project in Zambia; Centre for Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE); FIAN International; Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network; Society for Community Organization; Hong Kong Human Rights Commission; Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor; Tibet Support Group Netherlands; Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Human Rights in China; the Dui Hua Foundation; World Organization Against Torture; and FIAN Norway.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 26 April, it will begin its consideration of the initial report of Zambia (E/1990/5/Add.60).
Statements
With Respect to Zambia
SIMSON MWALE, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, said the report which the Centre had prepared, in consultation with other civil society organizations, had gathered a variety of civil society studies and Government documents related to economic, social and cultural rights, including those on women, health, education, housing, land, food security and employment. Zambia was one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 164 out of 177 on the 2004 UNDP Human Development Index, having fallen consistently over the past years, from 136 in 1996 to 153 in 2002. On education, for example, the report reveals that education is gradually becoming a privilege of those who could manage the associated expenses, despite Government commitments to provide free primary education. The report concludes that Zambia’s failure to live up to its economic, social and cultural rights obligations despite its commitments to United Nations covenants to provide an adequate standard of living to all citizens had been due to three factors: poor prioritization of available resources by the Government; failure to include economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution in an enforceable manner; and unjust and ineffective implementation of economic measures by the international financial institutions.
MATRINE B. CHULLU, Women in Law in South Africa, said an absence of economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights of Zambia was a matter of concern; customary law practices also limited women in fully enjoying their human rights. Moreover, HIV/AIDS was a matter of great concern in that many of those infected with the disease were not able to access anti-retroviral drugs due to their high costs and the high rates of poverty in the country.
FLORENCE SHAKAFUSWA, Justice for Widows and Orphans Project in Zambia, addressed the issue of women and orphans in Zambia, where some 20 per cent of the population was infected by HIV/AIDS. A widow's right to own property was marred due to cultural traditions. Moreover, some 80 per cent of the population lived in poverty. There was also a lack of enforcement mechanisms in terms of land rights. Over 25 per cent of the population had no access to health services. Another three million of the children in Zambia were not attending schools. The fact that forced marriages were allowed was a matter of great concern. The group recommended that the Government incorporate the International Covenant into the Constitution; that it review all legislation dealing with property inheritance and marriage; and that it provide assistance to widows and orphans, among other things.
BIRTE SCHOLZ, Centre for Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE), said the issue of inheritance was linked to the issue of land rights as enshrined in the International Covenant. In Zambia the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and traditional and customary policies made inheritance a particularly important issue. There was an urgent need to guarantee that the Interstate Succession Act as well as other legislation dealing with property, inheritance or marriage complied with the Covenant. Moreover, the Government needed to be directed to adequately address the issue of traditional beliefs through popular media and attention. The Government should also support the ongoing efforts of the many non-governmental organizations that were operating to sensitize women and communities at large on women’s rights and traditional practices.
SANDRA RATJEN, FIAN International, drew attention to a pilot project to assist particularly poor households in Zambia, which aimed at targeting the most vulnerable groups, who could not make use of resources, mostly as a consequence of HIV/AIDS. Each household received six USD per month, which was an equivalent of 50 kilograms of maize. The beneficiaries were free to spend the money the way they wanted, however FIAN suggested that the money was spent on the well being of children. The total cost generated by this project amounted to approximately four per cent of the Overseas Development Assistance received by Zambia. There was also concern with regard to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Zambia. FIAN encouraged the Committee to follow up on the development of all related projects dealing with economic, social and cultural rights and encouraged the State party to further explore ways to carry out cost effective programmes and projects to assist people to exercise fully their human rights.
Several Committee members underlined the importance of the International Covenant in Zambia in playing an essential role in the provision of economic, social and cultural rights.
In response to questions raised, the Representative of FIAN stated that citizens in Zambia had the right to choose whether they wanted to be tried by customary law or statutory law. The issue of conflict of laws was an area where the Government should take effective action while keeping in mind the rights of women and children in particular. There was a need for the justice system of Zambia to be revamped, especially to the benefit of women and children and people living in rural areas.
The Representative of Justice for Widows and Orphans mentioned that there were more than one million orphans in Zambia and there were an increasing number of child-led households which was leading to increasing poverty as a result; school attendance rates were also falling. Another Representative noted that one of the biggest problems in Zambia was that of the dispossession of property by widows. The status of the laws in the country needed to be revised in that regard.
With Respect to China
MURIELLE MIGNOT, Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network, said given the characteristics of political bodies of the United Nations system, including the Commission on Human Rights, no significant attention to Tibet’s occupation had been permitted since the 1960s. Across China, land was treated as State property, which had led to insecure tenure for all peoples living in the State party. The Chinese legal system had progressed recently to protect property rights, including housing property; however the law reflected ideological features that excluded land as a factor of the housing property. Violations of land as a right made clear the need for protection of land as a human right that derived from the human need for land, as both a fundamental element of the inalienable right to self-determination and a resource for adequate housing. The group recommended that the Committee consider the need of China to expand its concept of housing rights to allow for greater protection of land tenure. In rural and urban China, the demographic challenge of a disproportionately aged population also had direct consequences for enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living.
SZE LAI SHAN, Society for Community Organization, noted that there had been great difficulties in terms of family reunification for residents in Hong Kong and recommended that there be a joint coordinating monitoring body to deal with this question. Immigrants from mainland China faced a great deal of discrimination by the local government; some 90 per cent of immigrants faced severe discrimination by the local people. Moreover, the Government had not provided any legal protection for these individuals. Concerning the right to an adequate standard of living, there were over 150,000 people living in so-called "caged homes"; the disparity between the rich and the poor was growing in Hong Kong. In the absence of an adequate employment policy in Hong Kong and rising poverty, this disparity was widening. The group recommended, among other things, that there should be a law on minimum wage.
ANNIE LIN, Hong Kong Human Rights Commission, said those seeking asylum in Hong Kong had not been assisted by the Government. There was no refugee law in Hong Kong. In 2004, there were over 460 new applications for asylum seekers received by the UNHCR and the number of asylum seekers was on the rise. The lack of policy in this area meant that there was no social security for these asylum seekers and many were left homeless. Furthermore, asylum seekers were not eligible to any special funds from the Government. The asylum seekers also did not have a right to work and the children of asylum seekers had no right to education. The Government had indicated that it would propose legislation to combat the discrimination of asylum seekers. The Government also had not implemented any measures for ethnic minorities. There was a high unemployment rate among ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. The group called on the Government to consider legislation to improve the situation of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong overall.
LAW YUK KAI, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, stated that there had been no significant progress in the implementation of the International Covenant in different areas of life in China and the major recommendations in the concluding observations of the Committee had not been implemented. The Government’s proposed law against racial discrimination was flawed in that it did not adequately address the issue of ethnic minorities. There was also a problem in terms of the exclusion of language and religious discrimination in laws against racial discrimination. Concerning the right to work, there was a lack of statutory minimum wage and maximum working hours in Hong Kong. Regarding poverty and the right to social security, there were more than 1,122,000 people living below the poverty line in Hong Kong, which included low-income families, working elderly and the new immigrants from mainland China. Other problems raised were that of reunification of families in Hong Kong, given that some 100,000 families were separated from their relatives in mainland China. The Government's public housing policy was also flawed in that it discriminated against housing applicants on the basis of the length of residence.
TSERING JAMPA, Tibet Support Group Netherlands, said in 2003, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, in her mission report on China, had noted a significant problem with regard to access to education, a high rate of illiteracy in Tibet, and that the quality of education was inferior. The incidence of racial discrimination against Tibetans was worsening which was leading to poor access to basic rights, including the right to education, employment and health services. Women and children in Tibet were as a result suffering due to this lack of basic social services. The exploitation of natural resources was also exacerbating the problem of discrimination against Tibetans. Moreover, the development projects that the Chinese Government had launched in Tibet were having negative effects on the Tibetan people's distinct cultural, religious and linguistic identity. Chinese settlers were also coming to Tibet resulting in the economic marginalization of the Tibetan people.
RAYMOND TANG, Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong, said there were two matters of concern to the Equal Opportunities Commission, one of which was the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. Such a Commission would be an essential measure to ensure the equal access to and value of all rights for all the citizens of Hong Kong. The body would play a role to promote and protect all human rights in the region. Consultation should commence immediately to allow for the development of such a body to ensure the development of the protection of human rights. The second issue of concern was that of the care of mental health patients. The group called for the creation of a council with broad-based participation to address the rights of mental health patients in Hong Kong.
RAQUEL GONZALEZ, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said the Confederation was concerned by the fact that China had made a reservation to the International Covenant's article on the freedom to join trade unions; therefore the group believed this was in breach of international laws and principles on this matter. There was an overwhelming oppression of any attempt to form trade unions in China. The Government of China systematically oppressed all attempts to the establishment of any trade unions and organizers of workers groups and employers were often arrested and others sentenced to terms of forced labour when they attempted to do so. The right to strike was also prohibited. A number of workers protests had taken place over the past several years although most of them were curtailed by Government forces and resulted in several arrests. China did not respect workers rights as enshrined in the International Covenant. The only legally recognized trade union was to promote Government policies.
SHARON HOM, Human Rights in China, noted that the report of China presented disaggregated data, which attempted to portray how State policies had been implemented. The Government failed to acknowledge where the vulnerable populations were disadvantaged and failed to provide adequate systems for redress. The vulnerable populations in China were still largely excluded from the benefits of China's economic growth due to both the preferential development of urban areas and to mechanisms such as the hukou registration system. This system prevented migrants from having equal access to housing, healthcare and work benefits. Moreover, the Government failed to adhere to the principles laid out in the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted by the Committee, to adopt national policies that promoted fair distribution of the benefits of development and equal opportunity for all in their access to basic resources, health services, food, housing, employment and the fair distribution of income.
JOHN KAMM, the Dui Hua Foundation, said that for the past 15 years the Foundation had been engaged in a dialogue with the Chinese Government on matters pertaining to economic, social and cultural rights. Although the counter-revolution law was removed from criminal law several individuals remained in Chinese prisons for related crimes. The report being considered today was written two years ago and was already in need of updating. The factors stemming for China’s recent economic growth and the number of protests and factory strikes related to that were not addressed in the report. On 25 January 2005, a communication was received from the Chinese Government whereby it volunteered information on four prisoners the Foundation was unaware of. Another noteworthy fact was that recently the Government allowed foreigners to attend trials in China. The Foundation hoped that the Government of China would take more steps to enhance transparency and step up its cooperation with the United Nations, other governments, and non-governmental organizations in the common effort to promote and protect human rights.
With Respect to Serbia and Montenegro
CAMILLE COSENDAI, World Organization Against Torture, said the principle of non-discrimination was not ensured in practice in Serbia and Montenegro and was endangered in many ways. Roma had poor access to education and few women were in decision-making positions. Concerning the right to work, there was an inappropriate legislative framework in terms of insecurity of employment. A policy on the right to work was absent and workplace safety policies were also lacking. Moreover, the health system was no longer a Governmental priority. A large number of citizens were not reimbursed for medical treatment. The negative impact of this was manifested in the exclusion of Roma children and IDP children in receiving proper medical treatment. With regard to the protection of the family, there was also a lack of effective protection. Despite certain new laws, protection standards were not adequate. Limited financial support for families in need led to an increase of children in State institutions. Serbian legislation on the economic exploitation of children was good in principle but there was a lack of a monitoring mechanism for it. Moreover, a human trafficking law was enacted recently which led to measures for the protection of victims of this phenomenon, although the implementation of these measures were slow.
With Respect to Norway
CECILE HAARE, FIAN Norway, said according to the Norwegian law the International Covenant took precedence in cases pertaining to economic, social and cultural rights. Today there was an increasing focus on multilateral cooperation between Norway and its international partners. Norway was sensitive to the importance of land ownership and the need for women to own land. While economic globalization presented opportunities, it also posed potential problems. FIAN Norway stressed that the realization of the right to food should be central to any discussion on trade negotiations. Norwegian development coordination policies should not support countries where there was a lack of respect for the principle of the right to food. A specific chapter should be added on extra-territorial obligations in order to prevent hunger and malnutrition while realizing the right to food, which should be a priority of the Government of Norway.
* *** *
This press release is not an official record and is provided for public information only.
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