SENIOR OFFICIALS ADDRESSING COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS STRESS NEED TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

16.03.2004

High-level Government officials speaking before the Commission on Human Rights this morning repeatedly called for more effective efforts to halt violence against women and for an end to related problems such as trafficking in women and cultural practices harmful to women’s health, such as female genital mutilation.

Eight of eleven speakers from Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Estonia, El Salvador, Yemen, Armenia, Canada and Thailand were women as the Commission began the second day of a “high-level segment” scheduled to run through Thursday. Among other topics mentioned were the effects on human rights of terrorism and of efforts to prevent terrorism; evolving forms of slavery; and the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms as a way of preventing conflict.

Micheline Calmy-Rey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, said in the first of the day’s speeches that violence against women was a silent and daily tragedy -- hundreds and thousands of women were victims of mass rapes in wars and conflicts, and one woman was a victim of rape or violence every minute across the world.

Laila Freivalds, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, told the gathering that there must be no granting of amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including those related to violence against women and girls.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria, said gender-based violence was perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and as long as it continued, no one could claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. It was the responsibility of the Commission to strengthen, but in particular to effectively implement, standards which protected women from such violence.

Jadranka Kosor, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, said that if they could be measured, achievements in human rights with regard to suppressing violence against women would be seen to be poor. Violence against women occurred everywhere and affected women of all ages, ethnic origins and religions.

Margherita Boniver, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, said among other things that despite great progress made in recent decades, in many parts of the world women were still victims of domestic violence, physical and psychological harassment, exploitation and trafficking of the most hideous kind. Gender equality was non-existent in too many parts of the world, and there was a lack of opportunities for women’s growth and development.

Kristiina Ojuland, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia, termed violence against women a global outrage – in fact, violence against the more vulnerable segments of society was a global, political and social problem and should be tackled on all levels, national, regional and international, she said.

Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, Minister for Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, said States had a mission to safeguard the dignity and lives of women, and to ensure that they formed a part of a democratic and egalitarian society in which violence against them had been eradicated.

Amat Al-Aleem Alsoswa, Minister for Human Rights of Yemen, described democratic reforms in the country, including the holding of Yemen’s first-ever presidential elections in 1999, and steps taken to enhance human rights, among them measures to promote women’s equality and their right to participate in political life.

Vartan Oskanian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Armenia, said that in the complex, problematic neighborhood of the Caucasus, heavily burdened with history, human rights, when equally and indiscriminately protected, would mean the ability to protect the safety, security and dignity of entire populations, whole countries and regions. It truly did start with each country, one person at a time.

Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, said it was necessary to consider efforts to fight terrorism in the light of human rights law and obligations, for if human rights were disregarded, this would only create new sources of injustice, thus sowing the seeds of future violence.

And Vitthya Vejjajiva, Special Envoy and Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, said poverty was a denial of human dignity in its worst form -- the root cause of various problems, including armed conflict, terrorism and the exploitation of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Great importance should be attached to the eradication of poverty as an aspect of the promotion of human rights.

Representatives of Zimbabwe, Cuba, the Syrian Arab Republic and Azerbaijan spoke in exercise of the right of reply.

The Commission adjourned its morning session at 1 p.m. and then convened a midday session scheduled to continue through 3 p.m. to continue with its high-level segment. It will conclude its day’s work with an afternoon meeting ending at 6 p.m.

Addresses

MICHELINE CALMY-REY, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, said the recent terrorist attacks in Madrid were utterly condemned by the Swiss Government, which extended sincere condolences to the families of the victims. Violence against women was a silent and daily tragedy. Hundreds and thousands of women were victims of mass rapes in wars and conflicts, and one woman was a victim of rape or violence every minute across the world. At least one woman out of five was ill-treated in the course of a close relationship, and there was no country where women and men enjoyed equal opportunity and status. This was one of the most serious manifestations of breaches of human rights. The fight against poverty and progress in democraticisation could help lead to a significant reduction in violence against women.

The fight against slavery was also ongoing, as slavery evolved into new forms. Trafficking in women was growing, and this modern form of slavery should be fought vigorously. There were international law instruments that helped fight violence against women in this form. To mobilize against such crimes, women needed to be involved and put in positions of influence, and the appointment of a woman to the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights was greatly welcomed. All should intensify their efforts to combat violations of human rights. It was a difficult period, and the functioning of the Commission should be significantly improved in order to be able to face these challenges, and to return to its prime role, that of being the conscience of mankind. Switzerland would continue to work actively in close cooperation with its partners in the process of improving the functioning of the Commission in a spirit of dialogue and transparency.

Switzerland also intended to tackle important issues during the meeting, including issues of terrorism, as linked to violations of human rights, in particular in the case of countries in which security measures were implemented which were in conflict with human rights. Similarly, in the context of the death penalty, Switzerland was convinced that this had no purpose in a society which respected human rights. The rights of vulnerable groups, particularly minorities, children and the internally displaced needed to be further defended, as did economic and social rights. The debates and resolutions of the Commission should have a calculable impact in improving the situations of those who suffered. Those present should remember that they were present in the Palais des Nations to serve the cause of human rights.

LAILA FREIVALDS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, said the United Nations’ founders had recognized the intrinsic relationship between human rights and security. The lesson that human rights should be protected by the rule of law if humankind was not to be compelled to rebel against tyranny and oppression had been reinforced time after time – in Rwanda, Bosnia and other situations of genocide, mass murder and ethnic cleansing. Thus, the Stockholm International Forum, held last January, had focused on measures to enhance the capacity to prevent genocide. The Secretary-General had underlined the need to make clear the link between massive and systematic violations of human rights and threats to international peace and security. There must be no granting of amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including those related to violence against women and girls.

The empowerment of women and the promotion of gender equality were effective ways to combat poverty and enhance development, Ms. Freivalds said. It was only when men and women enjoyed equal rights and opportunities that sustainable development could be achieved. Recognizing, as in the Beijing Platform for Action, that women were actors in preventing conflicts and in peace negotiations as well as in the rebuilding of war-torn societies, a gender perspective should be integrated into all activities aimed at conflict prevention and solution, in peace agreements, and in peace-consolidation processes. The special needs of women and girls in all stages of such operations must be fully assessed and taken into account. Among other issues, discrimination against women, harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation and crime committed in the name of “honour”, must be addressed.

Other priority issues for the Swedish Government, Ms. Freivalds added, included the abolition of capital punishment, an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, steps to ensure the enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities and action on the issue of corporate social responsibility. Sweden also called attention to the human rights situations in Zimbabwe, China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Chechnya and Belarus, as well as to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The shared vision that every human being was equal in dignity and rights made it a duty to speak out and act of behalf of people suffering negative consequences because they had exercised their fundamental freedoms and human rights. It was to be hoped that this session of the Commission would provide the opportunity for serious discussions based on common aims and duties, that confrontation would be replaced by cooperation, and resistance replaced by involvement and implementation.

BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria, said gender-based violence was perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. As long as it continued, none could claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. It was the responsibility of the Commission to strengthen, but in particular to effectively implement, standards which protected women from such violence. It was also a sad fact that women suffered domestic violence in everyday life in all continents, all cultures, and all segments of society. The importance of human rights education was also a vital topic, as men and women alike needed to be educated about women’s rights.

Sometimes human rights were only seen as one set of ethical or moral values, with other values having equal or even higher relevance, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said. No State should be able to hide behind the notion of traditional practices when it came to guaranteeing respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and that applied notably in the case of female genital mutilation. Women and justice was an equally sensitive issue. It was also a truism that women and girls were particularly affected by the consequences of armed conflict and terrorism because of their status in society, as well as their sex. During conflict, many women became the only breadwinners for their families. They were essentially single parents and sole care-givers for the injured, the elderly and children. Often forced to leave their homes, properties and communities behind, women became particularly vulnerable to violence, disease, and food scarcity. In times of transition from conflict to democracy, the human rights of women were often threatened. Denying or even rolling back these rights to appease political, ethnic or religious factions could never provide the basis for stable societies.

The Secretary-General had recommended stronger measures to integrate women into all steps of peace-keeping, peace-making and peace-building, but simply being present at the peace table was not sufficient, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said. What needed to be ensured was women’s effective participation in all aspects of post-conflict reconstruction and institution-building, in short, in the entire process of building a democratic and prosperous State, from the political level all the way down to the grass roots level. No tool for development was more effective than the education of girls and the empowerment of women. Austria would introduce three resolutions during the session, Ms. Ferrero-Waldner said -- on internally displaced persons, on minorities, and on juvenile justice.

JADRANKA KOSOR, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, reiterated her country’s commitment to the fight against terrorism. Welcoming the Swiss initiative to focus on violence against women, Ms. Kosor said she joined in the declaration of women ministers in that respect. If they could be measured, achievements in human rights with regard to suppressing violence against women would be seen to be poor. Violence against women occurred everywhere and affected women of all ages, ethnic origins and religions.

The Croatian Parliament had adopted a law on protection against domestic violence in July 2003, Ms. Kosor said. The law contained a list of offenses classified as domestic violence, introduced a set of protection measures aimed at preventing such violence, and introduced precautionary measures to protect injured parties from further domestic violence. The Parliament had also adopted a law and appointed an Ombudsman on gender equality, and Croatia had organized a regional conference on implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in central and eastern Europe, in conjunction with UNIFEM. Moreover, preventing violence against women was linked to another area of human rights protection that should be stressed: the prevention and suppression of trafficking in human beings.

In view of its painful experience of aggression, the promotion and protection of human rights remained a worthy challenge for the Croatian Government, Ms. Kosor said. Greater attention should be paid to the inclusion of widows and mothers of missing persons -- as well as of war veterans and disabled persons -- in post-conflict decision-making and in reconstruction processes, as well as to finding all missing persons and resolving their fates. Supportive of the universal ratification of core human rights treaties, Croatia remained committed to the abolition of the death penalty and the prevention of torture and intended to present a resolution on conscientious objection to military service during the Commission’s 2004 session. Among its other human rights priorities were the elaboration of a draft protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the promotion and protection of minority rights, the return of internally displaced persons and restitution of their properties, full cooperation with international courts, and support of the freedom of religion and belief.

MARGHERITA BONIVER, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, said recent events had strengthened Governments’ awareness that efforts to achieve international peace, security and stability were dependent on a steadfast and unyielding commitment to the promotion of human rights and their universality. There was a need to strengthen the system of the United Nations treaties, and to enhance the capacity of the treaty bodies to fully play their institutional functions. It was crucial to not only denounce abuses and violations, but also to identify future crisis scenarios that emerged when fundamental rights and freedoms were denied.

The Commission should be an instrument for concrete action to protect human rights throughout the world, in addition to playing its role as an important forum for dialogue. No economic, cultural, social or religious reasons could justify such crimes as the use of torture, the subjugation of entire populations, or discrimination against people for their beliefs, race, gender, political affiliations or sexual orientation. Establishing peaceful coexistence between nations through mutual understanding and tolerance required that the international community act firmly to punish anyone who violated fundamental rights. However, the international community should also take generous steps to assist and cooperate with those countries that decided to venture down the difficult path of establishing the rule of law and democracy.

Italy was also committed to the universal abolition of the death penalty, a form of punishment with no deterrent effect which denied the universally recognized right to life. Another central pillar in the field of human rights remained the elimination of every form of discrimination against women. Despite the great progress made in recent decades, in many parts of the world women were still victims of domestic violence, physical and psychological harassment, exploitation and trafficking of the most hideous kind. Gender equality was non-existent in too many parts of the world, in addition to the lack of opportunities for growth and development. The political, civil, social and economic advancement of every country required the full participation of women in all decision-making processes, policy-framing and education, acting on an equal footing with men. Consolidating and disseminating democratic institutions was a process that could not be separated from the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

KRISTIINA OJULAND, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, said terrorism posed new challenges to the promotion and protection of human rights, and it was important to make the promotion of all human rights an essential aspect of the fight against that scourge. Violence against women was a global outrage – in fact, violence against the more vulnerable segments of society was a global, political and social problem and should therefore be tackled on all levels: national, regional and international. Internationally, mainstreaming women’s human rights throughout the United Nations system could be achieved through tighter cooperation among the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other treaty bodies, while the close cooperation between the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Human Rights should be reinforced by enhancing the joint work plan of the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

At the regional level, Ms. Ojuland said, the fight against violence against women in the north Baltic region had been intensive and fruitful, with cooperation based on such themes as integrating a gender perspective into regional programmes on financial policy; women and entrepreneurship; trafficking in women; violence against women; men and gender equality; and youth and gender equality. Moreover, various awareness-raising campaigns had been organized regionally, as well as training courses for civil servants and conferences and seminars for politicians, researchers and non-governmental organizations.

Nationally, Estonia had recognized the existence of violence against women, including domestic violence, and had, in recent years, undertaken efforts to combat it, including through revising police statistics on violence against women and creating a sociological databank on the scale and scope of such violence. A large-scale project had been initiated to elaborate a joint scheme between police and social workers to launch preventive activities and to provide help to victims. An action plan to mitigate and prevent violence against women was also being drafted which focused on the strategic objectives of convincing the public of the danger of violence against women, launching a programme entitled “No to domestic violence”, improving existing legislation to criminalize minor cases of domestic violence, raising police capacity, introducing a victim-centered approach and increasing interagency cooperation. It had also been decided to draft a special law on gender equality, and a special commission for elaborating a National Gender Equality Plan for 2004-2008 had been constituted.

MARIA EUGENIA BRIZUELA DE AVILA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, said terrorism was of concern for all who believed in freedom and democracy. The Commission faced the challenge of improving the implementation of its original mandate, which was to promote, protect and preserve human rights in the international sphere. The Commission had to live up to the expectations of acting as a tool for communication in order to improve human rights across the world. Twelve years of armed conflict in El Salvador had had a negative impact on all spheres of life, but at least had had the effect, once a peace agreement was signed, of making everyone aware of the necessity of guaranteeing the process of consolidating peace and democracy. El Salvador had lived up to these goals, as had been recognized by the Secretary-General.

Democracy had been built through State capacity building, with the respect of individual guarantees in an atmosphere of respect for human rights. Areas had been opened up for the various schools of thought to participate in Government. The process of transition from war to peace, peace to democracy, and democracy to development, was a vital process, and one of relevance to the international community. El Salvador had a new vision, which prioritized respect for individual rights, and it was participating in the Commission in this spirit. Civil and political rights were linked to economic, social and cultural rights.

Domestic and social violence against women continued, amounting to violations of their human rights. Work needed to be done to prevent this, and in El Salvador steps had been taken to punish and eradicate violence at many levels, including sexual. This year’s Commission session could serve Governments as a way to reassert their commitment towards eradicating this scourge, and allow partnerships to be formed to this effect. The international community had a mission to safeguard the dignity and lives of women, and to ensure that they formed a part of a democratic and egalitarian society in which violence against them had been eradicated. This goal should be integrated into every country’s agenda. Violence against women was not a problem against women, but one concerning all, and all should shoulder the responsibility for eradicating gender-based violence.

AMAT AL-ALEEM ALSOSWA, Minister for Human Rights of Yemen, said the civilized values of human rights and the noble principles enshrined in all international and national charters and urged by divine religions continued to be violated worldwide, and such violations had reached unprecedented levels since 11 September 2001. In particular, the Palestinian people were victims. Israel’s latest act had been to building an apartheid wall in the West Bank with the express objective of taking lands not belonging to it under the Oslo Accords and of isolating segments of the Palestinian population.

In Yemen, she said, human rights and liberties were Constitutionally maintained and there had been Constitutional and legal reforms aimed at consolidating human rights and public liberties over the last ten years. The most important of these initiatives involved Parliamentary, local and presidential elections, mechanisms which reaffirmed the importance of elections and political parties. Among other landmark elections, the first-ever presidential elections had been held in September 1999. Yemen had also ratified approximately 55 human rights conventions, including the United Nations conventions on the elimination of discrimination against women, the rights of the child, and against torture. The Government had also established and funded human rights institutions and programmes aimed at caring for the most vulnerable, including women, children and disabled persons. Among its activities, Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights sought to spread legal awareness of human rights and received citizens’ complaints, which were then studied and remedies for which were proposed.

The protection of human rights was the joint responsibility of the Government and civil society, and developments since 1990 showed a comprehensive movement toward democracy in Yemen. Some 46 political parties had been established, 22 of which remained active. More than 95 newspapers and magazines had been established, free of censorship, and the media were allowed to criticize policies and to unveil corruption and fraud. Among steps taken to ensure human rights were the reform of the social and economic infrastructure to facilitate a fair distribution of income, the fostering of civil society, the participation of all citizens in decision- and policy-making and the stipulation of women’s equality and the right to participation in political life. Yemen had also hosted and participated in a number of international conferences and seminars on human rights and had hosted dialogues among civilizations and cultures. Thus, in spite some recent experiences which showed that some violations of human rights continued, progress in the country had been pronounced and was continuing.

VARTAN OSKANIAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Armenia, said the freedoms enjoyed in many countries, the freedoms that made some societies the envy of the world, were the right of each individual man, woman and child. The Commission’s 60th session was symbolic of all hard-earned lessons: the struggle to articulate, explain, codify, legislate, impose, and ensure human rights in each society had been both international and local. All wished to achieve universal access to and guarantee human rights for all the world’s citizens. Whether motivated by altruism or enlightened self-interest, all wanted the same civil liberties for old and new democracies, the big and small powers, the developed and developing nations. While symbols should not be mistaken for substance, they also should not be dismissed as insubstantial. The gains made were testimony to the truism that what was right was also good. Many of today’s social ills, as well as today’s economic ones, would be well on their way to disappearing if human rights were accepted, absorbed, respected, and implemented as inarguable, inalienable, unalterable rights.

This was why older democracies were determined to instill good governance mechanisms around the world, and why international organizations included the human dimension as a significant component of their security concerns. The elimination of human rights violations had been discussed as one way of finding a solution to the problem of terrorism. The driving force was not just philosophy and idealism, but also politics and pragmatism. Societies which respected the human rights of their own people were more likely to respect the rights of their neighbors. But the world was not perfect, for even as the world championed human rights, excessive human wrongs were tolerated, as often they happened in distant lands. Those who had suffered such crimes had declared that the best way, the only way to restore faith and confidence, was for perpetrators and victims to acknowledge the past, and move on towards the future.

In the region around Armenia, today’s grievances were the consequences, expressions and manifestations of human rights abuses, not their causes. In a complex, problematic neighborhood, heavily burdened with history, human rights, when equally and indiscriminately protected, would mean the ability to protect the safety, security and dignity of entire populations, whole countries and regions. It truly did start with each country, one person at a time.

BILL GRAHAM, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, said that every year, as Governmental representatives met at the Commission, all were reminded how far they were from making the Commission live up to its full potential. Reinvigorating it was central to the vision of the late Sergio Vieira de Mello, and it was the responsibility of those present to ensure that his work continued. The credibility of the Commission had been damaged of late through a widening North-south divide and through increasing politicization around a number of issues, including the Middle East situation. While a disproportionate amount of time was spent singling out one country, the Commission failed to address other specific country situations, due to hardening divisions between regional groups.

It was a time when the news was dominated by conflicts and violence and by the world’s responses to it, Mr. Graham said. Many issues considered by this forum related to violence and its aftermath. During violent conflict, the protection of civilians was paramount. In the aftermath of violence, all States had the responsibility to prosecute those most responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This session would be called upon to consider efforts to fight terrorism in the light of human rights law and obligations, for if human rights were disregarded, this would only create new sources of injustice, thus sowing the seeds of future violence. All should work together to ensure that counter-terrorism measures respected human rights and fundamental freedoms, and complied with international law, if the Commission was going to succeed in its aim of making this a safer world.

The struggle to fulfill the human rights of all was not only about combating violence and discrimination, of course; it was also about securing conditions under which all could fully enjoy their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. National Governments bore the primary responsibility for their citizens’ realization of the right to development.

VITTHYA VEJJAJIVA, Special Representative and Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, said respect for human rights formed the foundation of a free society in which peace, democracy and development could flourish. The international community had a duty to promote and protect human rights, and it should be stressed that all human rights – civil, political, economic, social, cultural and the right to development – were equally important and mutually reinforcing. The promotion of those rights should be translated into the empowerment of people, especially at the grassroots level. The right to development offered a balanced approach to address the issue of human rights. More efforts should be undertaken to promote the right to development, both in principle and practice, at the national and international levels and developed and developing countries should work closely together in a spirit of cooperation to achieve this goal.

Poverty was a denial of human dignity in its worst form, Mr. Vejjajiva said. The poor were often deprived of the right to life and sustainable human development. Poverty was the root cause of various problems, including armed conflict, terrorism and the exploitation of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Therefore, great importance should be attached to the eradication of poverty as an aspect of the promotion of human rights. For its part, Thailand had integrated the Millennium Development Goals into its Ninth National Economic and Social Development Plan and had begun registering the poor in order to compile an accurate database and determine the best strategy for overcoming poverty within the stated time frame. Other policies aimed to strengthen grassroots conditions, including through low-cost housing, micro-credit and universal health care.

The Thai Government was committed to delivering more transparent, democratic and accountable administration that placed people’s interests at the forefront of all policies, Mr. Vejjajiva said. Close attention had been paid to issues such as the rights of vulnerable groups, including those living with HIV/AIDS and disabled persons, to trafficking in human beings and to narcotics trafficking. At the regional level, Thailand remained committed to the 1998 Tehran Framework for Regional Cooperation for Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific, and had hosted the Third Workshop on the ASEAN Regional Mechanism on Human Rights in May 2003. Finally, to make sustainable the international human rights regime, human rights education must be promoted vigorously, and Thailand had put tremendous effort into integrating human rights into all school curricula and into disseminating human rights knowledge to the public at all levels.

Rights of Reply

A Representative of Zimbabwe, speaking in right of reply, said that, as expected, the Minister from Sweden had been unable to resist the opportunity to abuse fellow delegates with hostile propaganda about Zimbabwe. There was an explanation behind that bitterness that had nothing to do with human rights. The Swedish Minister continued to cite an inaccurate report on youth training camps in Zimbabwe, and this pathetic display showed her ignorance of the country. There was no training of youths for torture, rape or any form of violence in Zimbabwe. All civil activities in the country had to take place within the laws of the land. The Swedish Minister’s frustrations emanated from the fact that the newspaper to which she had referred had been closed after its refusal to register in compliance with the law. That paper had been funded by Sweden, which the Minister had conveniently forgotten to mention.

Sweden and other countries seeking regime change in Zimbabwe through lies and other propaganda would be rewarded with failure. No country could force regime change on another without the ghost of that action coming back to haunt it, as recently witnessed. The issue was not human rights abuses, but the Government’s taking away of land from the whites, which the whites had stolen. Instead of supporting this noble programme of land redistribution, Sweden had chosen to denigrate it.

A Representative of Cuba said in a right of reply that a very disturbing experience had been undergone by those present, notably in the circumstances of the speech by Sweden, which was racist and imperialist. The statement had been a collection of rhetorical ideas and racist facts against the countries of the South, with no references made to the violations of human rights that took place in the North. The Representative of Sweden lacked courage when she refused to speak of the violations carried out in Guantanamo by the United States, as well as U.S. policy of capital punishment, and Cuba wondered why there was no condemnation of the serious xenophobic and racist crimes taking place in Europe, and the cruel treatment of immigrants for example in Sweden, which had some of the most repressive laws in the world. Cuba rejected the lies spoken about it during this speech. Further, Cuba regretted the absence of the delegation of Sweden during this response, which showed Sweden’s lack of concern for the democratic process.



A Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic, speaking in right of reply, said in response to the Minister of Sweden that Syria had hoped that all would recognize that the emergency state in Syria could not be dealt with in isolation from the current regional situation, including the occupation of the Syrian Golan. Syria had the right to take all measures necessary for the protection of its citizens. The Swedish Minister should know that the main concern of the Syrian President since taking office had been to reinforce respect for economic and social reforms. Thus, it was hoped that the Minister would visit the country so she could witness firsthand the improvements that had been made.

Syria placed high priority on respect for human rights. It also felt that the Commission should be a forum for finding means of reinforcing cooperation and helping States to reinforce human rights nationally. The human rights of women, children and citizens were sacred in Syria, as stated in its Constitution and as demonstrated by its behaviour. Only two months had elapsed since the holding of a conference on human rights in Syria.

A Representative of Azerbaijan said in a right of reply that Azerbaijan regretted that the rostrum had been abused by Armenia to justify its policy of abuse of international law through its illegal occupation of Nagorno Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan in opposition to the will of the international community. Today, when speaking of ways and means of improving the work of the Commission, there was a need to bring aggressor States like Armenia to justice, since it had clearly disregarded its duties in invading a sovereign State. As a result of Armenia’s policy of expelling the Azeri population, many people had been forcibly expelled from their lands. These crimes were accompanied by a policy of killing and ethnic cleansing. Nagorno Karabakh had always been and would continue to be part of Azerbaijan, as a historic and cultural center.