16.04.1999
EVENING
HR/CN/99/44


Countries and non-governmental organizations speaking this evening before the Commission on Human Rights called for improved protection of the rights of migrant workers, minorities, and displaced populations.

Their remarks came as the Commission carried on its debate under the agenda item on 'vulnerable groups and individuals'.

The current large refugee flows from Kosovo were cited repeatedly as an example of the difficulties of protecting the human rights of displaced populations -- and as an illustration of the truism that mass human-rights violations often were the cause of mass exoduses.

Sweden, speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries, said words were inadequate to describe the situation in Kosovo, and went on to cite internal conflicts that had resulted in massive population displacements elsewhere, including Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Colombia. There were some 20 to 25 million displaced people worldwide, and in such circumstances it was vital to protect children and women, the Swedish representative said.

A delegate of Singapore contended that in terms of migrant rights it was important to distinguish between the rights of all human beings, and the rights of foreigners. She said Singapore supported fully all work to bolster the human rights of migrants, including efforts to eliminate racial discrimination and ethnic and religious intolerance, but it was more cautious about extending protections involving the economic rights of migrants, particularly when they infringed on national policies on labour and employment.

A 'vulnerable population' cited by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was the 35 million children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic, while Finland called for more efforts to protect the disabled and those with different sexual orientations.

Among NGOs, the Al-Khoei Foundation decried what it called increasing marginalization and
alienation of Muslims living in Europe, claiming they were suffering the effects of 'Islamophobia'. And the World Jewish Congress applauded the recognition by the United Nations General Assembly that anti-Semitism was a form of racism.

Representatives of the following countries spoke: Singapore, Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic Group), Hungary, Azerbaijan, Finland, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Nicaragua, Cyprus, Croatia, and Armenia.

The Holy See, the International Labour Office, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the following non-governmental organizations also delivered statements: Christian Solidarity International; Soka Gakkai International; International Association for Religious Freedom; Pax Romana; Human Rights Watch; International Commission of Jurists; International Federation of Free Journalists; Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace; Fraternité Notre Dame; Al-Khoei Foundation; Minority Rights Group; Caritas Internationalis; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; World Jewish Congress; Organization for the Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and Other Minorities; International Peace Bureau; Interfaith International; International Council of AIDS Service Organizations; and African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday, 19 April, to continue its discussion of
vulnerable groups and individuals.

Statements

GIUSEPPE BERTELLO (the Holy See) said that in discussing the tragic events in Kosovo, one should talk about 'deportation' and not 'forced displacement of populations'. The situation demanded the international community respond; it could not consider its job fulfilled until the crisis was resolved.

Pope John Paul had said that what was happening in Kosovo had universal relevance for other violent situations and could expand to encompass other situations. Violence must not be answered with violence. Arms and acts of violence must be put aside in order to begin constructive dialogue which would constrain the parties and encourage establishment of an environment of compromise so that different ethnic and cultural communities could live together.

MARGARET LIANG (Singapore) said all migrants, as human beings, should enjoy basic rights and freedoms; on the other hand, Statehood naturally gave rise to differences between nationals and non-nationals. In terms of migrant rights, it was important to distinguish between two aspects -- the rights of all human beings, and the rights of foreigners. Singapore supported fully all work to support the human rights of migrants, including efforts to eliminate racial discrimination and ethnic and religious intolerance.

However, Singapore was more cautious in extending protections involving the economic rights of migrants, particularly when they infringed on national policies on labour and employment. It had been suggested that migrants and nationals should enjoy equal pay and conditions of employment; Singapore disagreed. The labour market should be allowed to find its own equilibrium.

As for immigration policy, it was a State's right to decide who could enter, and for how long.

CATHERINE VON HEIDENSTAM (Sweden), speaking on behalf on the Nordic countries, said one of the greatest challenges to the international community was the mass displacement of persons. Some 20 million to 25 million people worldwide were displaced, and most of them were found in countries characterized by armed conflicts, social violence, lawlessness, and human rights violations. Words were inadequate to describe the situation in Kosovo. That trauma was unimaginable. The international community should ensure the protection of all the Kosovan refugees along with the internally displaced.

It was important to remember, however, that Kosovo was only one example. There were many internal conflicts that resulted in displacements, including those under way in Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Colombia. It was important for the international community, working with the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement presented by the Representative of the Secretary-General, to consider the plight of women and children. Children were the most vulnerable, while women had often found themselves victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.

PETER NARAY (Hungary) said the denial of basic rights to minorities could undermine the stability of whole regions and constituted a serious threat to international peace and security. That had been confirmed by developments in Kosovo. The treatment of minorities did not receive from the United Nations the attention it deserved; the international community should pay attention to the human rights situation of minorities not only when genocide or other tragic events were already taking place but much earlier, when catastrophes could be prevented.

The Working Group on Minorities constituted a most useful and unique forum for expert discussion on the promotion of the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The establishment of a voluntary fund, enabling greater participation of minority representatives at its sessions, deserved to be followed up adequately and Hungary supported the Working Group decision that its members should visit countries at the invitation of concerned Governments.

IRENE McCLURE (International Labour Office (ILO)) said migrant workers were often vulnerable to violations of human rights, and the ILO had a Constitutional obligation to protect workers who were employed in countries other than their own. The ILO had two Conventions on Migrant Workers, Numbers 97 and 143, and they had remained the most important international instruments in the field of migration for employment. There was concern, however, over the low level of ratification of the Conventions. The ratifications for the two Conventions were at 41, much lower than for similar labour Conventions.

Much more needed to be done at the international level to address the situation of migrant workers. There was an urgent need for better mechanisms at both the national and international levels. The ILO had welcomed the Commission's Working Group of Intergovernmental Experts on the Human Rights of Migrants. This was a valuable opportunity for the UN to draw international attention to the problems of marginalization, discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and problems faced by migrants across the globe.

LESLEY MILLER (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said there was an enormous
problem of children orphaned as a result of AIDS; they were believed to number 35 million. The scale of this problem showed no sign of abating over the next ten years. The impact of AIDS on children was harsh; many were pulled out of school to care for sick family members; and female orphans were subject to early marriages and other more insidious forms of discrimination.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child had held a general discussion on the theme 'Children Living in a World with AIDS', a meeting UNICEF had supported. Three important steps were identified in respect to protecting children who were orphaned: the mobilization of leaders through increased discussion and dialogue; the support of communities and poor households coping with orphans; and effective legal protection of such children. Orphans had to be shielded from exploitation and discrimination.

SIMA EIVAZOVA (Azerbaijan) said the country was grateful for the support it had received from the international community as a result of the aggression of Armenia. There was still an extremely serious humanitarian situation in Azerbaijan; many refugees had been forced to live for years in tent camps, deprived of food and medicines, and faced every day the threat of epidemic and famine.Every year hundreds of elderly persons, as well as women and children, died at the refugee camps because of disease and famine. Hundreds of towns and cities were still occupied by Armenia, and historical monuments, houses, schools, hospitals, and industrial facilities had been burned, plundered, or destroyed.

Although a cease-fire had been reached in May 1994, a political settlement of the armed conflict had not been achieved, and refugees and the safety of Azerbaijanis remained a top concern of the Government. There were some references in international reports with which Azerbaijan disagreed.

PEKKA HUHTANIEMI (Finland) said it was important to promote minority rights as an essential human-rights issue and to strengthen the specific protections afforded minorities and indigenous peoples by developing international standards and mechanisms. Legally binding documents specifically dealing with minority rights existed in the Conventions of the Council of Europe and the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. The Working Group on Minorities was of utmost importance and Finland supported it.

Another important issue was persons with disabilities; Finland recognized that many international organizations had made considerable efforts to raise consciousness about the rights of the disabled and it joined in the call for States and societies to integrate the rights of persons with disabilities into all their activities. Discrimination against other vulnerable groups or individuals, namely those with different sexual orientations, still occurred. Finland wanted to highlight the fact that the rights of minorities needed the international community's special attention.

LETICIA CASATI (Paraguay) said Paraguay applauded the proposal to appoint a Special
Rapporteur on migrant workers. Paraguay was a big receiver and producer of migrant workers in Latin America. There had been agreements signed with Argentina and other neighbouring countries to ensure respect for their human rights.

Internationally speaking, the agreement with Argentina was of great importance because it was a popular destination for Paraguayan migrants. The pact waived the requirement for a work permit. Paraguay was determined to protect the human rights of migrants both in the country and abroad. The Government was interested in working at the global level to enhance the rights of migrant workers.

NORA RUIZ DE ANGULO (Costa Rica) said that because of armed conflicts in the Central
American region it had received massive immigration flows of people in search of work and better living conditions. The avalanche of illegal migrants had surpassed 1 million in a country with a population of 3 million. This large influx had confronted Costa Rica with enormous expenses related to medical services, emergency services, and State hospitalization.

These immigrants had been openly welcomed and cared for because Costa Rica believed in human rights. The country was striving to provide education to these migrants, and considered it important as well to educate its own population on the importance of migrants' rights in order to combat any prejudices which might arise.

KALMAN PETOCZ (Slovakia) said that even before elections held last October, Slovakia already had a number of legal instruments in place dealing with the status and rights of minorities. After the election new mechanisms were established to deal with minority issues and to increase the involvement and participation of persons belonging to national minorities in political decision-making. The Government recently had established a post of Deputy Prime Minister for Human and Minority Rights, and had named a representative of an ethnic Hungarian minority political party to the job. The Hungarian minority made up some 11 percent of the total population of Slovakia.

Because there was barely a country in Central or Eastern Europe in the last 50 to 70 years that had not suffered deportations, expulsions, internal displacement, ethnic cleansing or discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity or race, Slovakia considered it had a moral obligation to help the refugees from Kosovo.

CECILIA SANCHEZ REYES (Nicaragua) said the Government fully supported the statement
made by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) and supported the recommendations of the Working Group on the Rights of Migrants. Because of Hurricane Mitch, the problem of migratory movements had been augmented especially in Honduras and Nicaragua. The situation of migrants demanded consensus and compromise by all countries involved. Nicaragua appreciated the help and cooperation of its neighbor, Costa Rica, and the allowances it had made to help approximately 300,000 mainly Nicaraguan migrants. Trafficking in migrants and the violation of their human rights -- such as separation from their families, lack of basic services, lack of due process of law, and even loss of life -- needed greater attention. The international community must take the necessary steps to implement mechanisms for controlling illegal migration.

PETROS EFTYCHIOU (Cyprus) said the civilian population of an occupied territory should be allowed to live as normally as possible. Violations of this principle could have devastating effects on the people of the occupied territory.

Turkey had invaded Cyprus in 1974. The scale of what happened then was unparalleled. Not a single refugee had been allowed to return to Turkish-occupied Cyprus. In addition, the Cypriot community in the occupied territory, which had been 120,000, had dropped to 60,000. Their appalling living conditions had prompted the Secretary-General to wonder how much longer they could exist. Cyprus had asked that all refugees be allowed to return to their homes. The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty in 1996 for refusing to allow refugees to return. Despite worldwide condemnation, Turkey kept 35,000 troops in Cyprus and prohibited refugees from going home. The international community had a legal and moral obligation to order Turkey to comply with international human-rights standards.

VESNA KOS (Croatia) said minority-rights protection was one of the most important pillars of
global safety and stability. Croatia had in place an integrated framework of protective standards in its regulations and especially in its Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and Rights of National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities. In addition, the Council for National Minorities set up last year was an important forum in which representatives of minority associations exchanged opinions and maintained cooperation with the Government.

Croatia cooperated with minority groups through its Office for National Minorities and suggested measures for exercising minority rights and allocated substantial funds to various minority associations. Despite these efforts Croatia was aware that difficulties remained, and recognized that its legal framework was only a beginning. Croatia had the will to continue despite having been affected by the consequences of aggression, and it would work at overcoming whatever obstacles stood in its way.

KAREN NAZARIAN (Armenia) said it was no mere coincidence that this item had remained on the agenda for so long. Vulnerable populations not only suffered tragedies, but they also became scapegoats for political groups. Specifically, Armenia referred to the crimes committed by Azerbaijan. There had been a cease-fire in the conflict with Azerbaijan since 1994. There were tens of thousands of refugees in Armenia as a result of Azerbaijan's atrocities. Since 1988, Armenia had passed 16 decrees to try to find a solution. Refugees and displaced persons in the country were given the right to buy land. Retirees were given pensions. The Government spared no efforts to extend human rights to these migrants.

Armenia had paid the equivalent of US$10 million to help Azerbaijani refugees in Armenia who had fled their native country. Azerbaijan had chosen to ignore this fact. The human rights machinery of the United Nations should pay more attention to problems resulting from Azerbaijan's human-rights violations.

DAVID LITTMAN, of Christian Solidarity International (CSI), referred to non-governmental
organization reports on racism leading to genocide and slavery in the Sudan and slavery and rape of women and girls there. The Special Rapporteur on Sudan also had identified horrific violations against women in Sudan.

Sudanese delegates had habitually denied these allegations and had threatened to cut off all ties with UNICEF if it did not retract its use of the word 'slavery' in reference to the country. CSI asked the Commission, quoting Roman Catholic Bishop Paride Taban of Torit, in Harare, at the World Council of Churches: 'Are we not human life? Is there anybody, anywhere, who really cares?'

KAZUNARI FUJII, of Soka Gakkai International United Nations Liaison Office, said it was known that armed conflict often caused flows of refugees and displaced persons. Battling this problem took an international effort. There was always a danger upon reintegration that the refugees were returning to a country that was fragile and unstable. It was very important to realize that there was a danger of the recurrence of the same problems that had caused them to flee originally.

Soka Gakkai in the last three years had offered support for refugees and displaced persons from or in Zaire, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Nepal, Central Ghana, Afghanistan, and Tanzania. Returning refugees often found destruction of physical infrastructure, unsanitary conditions and medical facilities, and destroyed schools, irrigation systems, and traffic and communication systems. Further, there was often trauma, especially among women and children, and that, too, affected the recovery process.

GIANFRANCO ROSSI, of International Association for Religious Freedom, said minorities had the right to practice their own religions in private or public, freely and without interference or discrimination, as proclaimed in the Declaration of the Rights of Minorities. Certain religious minorities had severe problems in exercising these rights in countries with Communist ideologies such as China, Vietnam and North Korea.

In other countries, such as India, Pakistan, Iran and Indonesia, individuals had been victims of violence caused by religious fundamentalism. The Commission was requested to urge the States concerned to take all necessary measures to assure that religious minorities were able to exercise their full rights without discrimination and in safety.

JOANNA WESCHLER, of Human Rights Watch, said 50 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the promise of the Declaration rang hollow for the Kosovo Albanians. Testimony at the borders had made it clear that the Serbs were practicing a policy of persecution and ethnic cleansing. Those who fled Kosovo were bona fide refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Countries outside the region had offered only temporary asylum, however, which -- as the international community learned from the Bosnian crisis -- meant long-term limbo.

Human Rights Watch urged the Commission to declare that Kosovar refugees enjoyed unhindered status in their countries of asylum. Refugees' full rights should be protected.

MONA RISHMAWI, of International Commission of Jurists, emphasized the urgency of taking new steps to address the denial and abuse of the human rights of migrants occurring around the world. Countries must ratify the relevant international Convention. The recommendations made by the Working Group on Minorities were to be commended.

An ongoing mechanism within the United Nations human-rights system was needed to monitor the protection of human rights of migrants. The ICJ offered its full cooperation to any Special Rapporteur appointed to promote and assure ongoing attention to the state of the human rights of migrants.

ALGIS TOMAS GENIUSAS, of International Association of Free Journalists, said the tragedy of unrelenting genocide in Kosovo had been ignored and winked at by the inveterate vindicators of these crimes against humanity for the usual well-known reasons, but the responsibility rested with all humanity. Europe had given birth to thousands of different ethnic groups, each of which had its own language, customs, and culture. The multi-
ethnic Baltic States had experienced ethnic cleansing and forcible population transfers during the Nazi and Soviet occupations from 1940 to 1991.

Journalists had been discriminated against, attacked, arrested, and killed for telling the truth. At the end of 1998, at least 118 journalists in 25 countries were in jail, and in 1998, 24 journalists in 17 countries had been killed.

MOHAMMAD AHSAN, of Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, said the largest national
minority in Pakistan was the Mohajirs, and they had been denied their minority rights by the Pakistan Government.

The decision of the Working Group on minorities to transmit the details of minorities' human rights situations was commendable but it was incomplete without the replies of Governments being made public. The Commission should ask Pakistan to allow more political freedom to the Mohajirs in keeping with international standards for respect of the human rights of minorities.

SISTER MARIE-SABINE, of Fraternite Notre Dame, said all suffering from discrimination
deserved deep understanding and care. At the dawn of the third millennium, it was unconscionable that the question of minorities was still murky. Young people grew up with a feeling of injustice. Young minorities were left to their distresses and often were faced with hopeless futures. They fell into despair. It was necessary to consider the pain of these neglected people if one wanted to avoid international conflict.

Fraternité Notre Dame had witnessed persecutions of smaller religions by bigger religions. It had seen much suffering among people who had lost their jobs because of stress from religious persecution. Every religious group had the right to operate without intolerance.

YOUSIF AL KHOEI, of Al-Khoei Foundation, said Muslim minorities resident in Europe were
being increasingly marginalized and alienated at the State and civil-society levels. 'Islamophobia' had been coined to describe the rising trend of fear and dread in the West towards Islam and Muslims. This hostile attitude was having an adverse effect on Muslim youth in the West.

Al-Khoei Foundation was pleased that the Government of the United Kingdom apparently was taking the problem seriously by increasing its interest and awareness through interaction and discussion with Muslim community leaders It called on other European Governments to do the same. Al-Khoei Foundation urged that the United Nations framework address the problem of Islamophobia.

ANA MARIA BIRO, of Minority Rights Group International (MRGI)), said racism towards ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo had been endemic for decades, and the violent conflict now under way was no surprise. One example of practical yet essential measures to avoid such problems were bilateral agreements between Bulgaria and Macedonia allowing cross-border trades and minority rights. MRGI's new report on Southeast Europe reviewed the situation of minority groups in the region. One common feature was that each had suffered many violations, which often resulted in entrenched positions of distrust.

The region also had lived with borders drawn during and following the two world wars and the breakup of Yugoslavia at the beginning of the 1990s. That had led to some States with one ethnicity or group being dominant. Defining themselves on an ethnic basis, the countries would have had been better served to define themselves on the basis of a civic sense of belonging. This would have lessened the tensions and potential for conflict that was prevalent today.


MARY TOM, of Caritas Internationalis, addressed the question of internally displaced persons and applauded the work done by Francis Deng, the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons. Aspects of his report deserved noting, including news that a system of inter-agency collaboration was in place; that a workshop on Internal Displacement in Africa had been held in 1998; that legal norms had been complied and analyzed; and that guiding principles on internal displacement were available.

Caritas endorsed the High Commissioner for Refugees' statement regarding the refugees in Kosovo and the internally displaced that 'we must have effective, safe access to displaced people if we are to assist and protect them from the worst excesses of conflict.' It recommended that the guiding principles developed by Mr. Deng be more widely disseminated and that safe access for humanitarian relief be enforced as a matter of high priority where necessary.

ANNA BIONDI, of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said the globalization of the economy had resulted in unprecedented levels of migration, which made it imperative and urgent to address abuses of the human rights of migrants. Because of the recent economic crisis, migrant workers were the first to be targeted for layoffs and to suffer benefit cuts. For example, it was recently estimated that more than 1 million of the 6.5 million migrant workers in East and Southeast Asia had lost their jobs because of the economic crisis there.

Governments should be encouraged to set up bilateral negotiations for the coordination of
programmes and policies between sending and receiving countries. They should also be encouraged to review their labour-market policies, including discrimination issues and social protection schemes, and they should set up programmes to facilitate the reintegration of returning migrants. Social disintegration was intensifying in several countries and its most worrisome consequence was the serious marginalization of vulnerable groups of people, which included migrant workers and their families.

MICHELLE KATZ, of World Jewish Congress, applauded the important and long-awaited action taken by the General Assembly last December in specifically recognizing anti-Semitism as a form of racism -- a step already taken by the Commission when it included anti-Semitism in the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia.

Despite these efforts the rights of persons belonging to religious minorities had continued to be curtailed. There were problems for Buddhists in China, Baha'i in Iran, Jews in Russia, and Christians in Sudan. The absence of State protection of religious rights always led to social inequity and civil mischief of varying degrees. The World Jewish Congress called on the United Nations and all Member states to adopt strategies of education, action and cooperation to guarantee protection of religious minorities.

LOURDES CERVANTES, of Organization for the Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, said the Commission must pay attention to events that happened every day that the media rarely covered -- that was, the plight of migrant workers.

Human population movements from less-developed areas to highly developed areas were less and less likely to stem from armed conflict. The main reason was poverty. Poverty today reached unprecedented levels. Poor countries were unable to pay their foreign debts, and that resulted in thousands of victims. More should be done by the United Nations to help heavily indebted States.

NICHOLAS THEODOSIOU, of International Federation for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and other Minorities, said the Turkish Army had 'ethnically cleansed' his family together with other families in Cyprus. They had been forced out of their homes and into buses.

The Presidential Report to the Congress of the United States reviewing the Turkish invasion of Cyprus years ago had found that 'soldiers went house to house forcing Greek Cypriots from their homes and into the town square where women were separated from men and then young boys under the age of 15 from those over 15'. Overall the report read like reports on events in Kosovo now. The Commission should pursue a humanitarian solution to the Cyprus problem whereby displaced persons could return to their homes and families were informed about the fates of their missing relatives; and whereby Turkey's manipulation of Cyprus's demographic structure stopped.

ROHITHA RASHANA ABEYWARDANE, of International Peace Bureau, said one of the many tragic consequences of war was the displacement of people, driven to flee from their homes in search of safety. There were over 50 countries where there was conflict-induced displacement and the numbers of displaced persons in these countries varied from 6,000 to 4 million. In times of armed conflict, food and medicine had been used a weapons of war. This was totally unacceptable. Consequent malnutrition and the ensuing illnesses and lack of resistance to disease could cause desperate situations.

There had been 16 years of war in Sri Lanka that had led to major population movements. In
October 1995, Sri Lankan Army had launched a sustained offensive and invaded Jaffna, causing half a million people to flee aerial bombings and devastation in 48 hours. They became internally displaced, and most were still displaced. There were nearly 1 million displaced persons in the Vannie, a collective name for an agricultural and forest area that comprised four districts between the Jaffna lagoon and the town of Vavuniya. Such people urgently needed international help.

KASHINATH PANDITA, of Interfaith International, said there was religious-ethnic persecution
and discrimination against minorities, including ethnic cleansing and demographic changes being forced on the Pandit religious minority in Kashmir by extremist religious militias. This had led to the exodus of the entire Pandit community of 300,000 persons.

The religious militia of the Taliban had massacred nearly 8,000 ethnic Hazaras and Uzbeks when Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamiyan in Afghanistan had fallen to the Taliban onslaught. The media could play a constructive role in preventing misunderstandings among various religious and ethnic groups. Interfaith International shared with the Special Rapporteur the apprehension that irresponsible reporting and biased media analyses were damaging to peaceful coexistence among communities.

DAVID PATTERSON, of International Council of AIDS Service Organizations, said the
Commission should take more active measures to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In El Salvador, a man had been beaten by death squads for handing out condoms to people who were at risk of HIV infection. In India, the Supreme Court had effectively stated that doctor-patient confidentiality did not apply to people infected with HIV. In Romania, the penal code denied gay men and lesbians the opportunity to organize to fight AIDS. In South Africa, a woman was stoned and beaten to death by her neighbours because she spoke about her HIV infection on television.

The only preventive measures truly useful today were the testimony of people with HIV/AIDS. However, their the right to privacy should be respected. Special Rapporteurs to the Commission, in particular the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion and expression, torture, arbitrary detention, and violence against women, should examine and address HIV\AIDS-related abuses within in their mandates.

MAHMOUD LAVASSANI, of African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters,
called for protection when necessary of communities which qualified as ethnic , religious, and linguistic minorities referred as 'majority minorities.' The Kosovo people were a majority but had a minority position in their own land. An example of a religious manifestation of this was the Shiite community which constituted a majority of the Iraqi people. It was difficult today to justify the international economic embargo imposed on Iraqis, and hence on Shiites. How could it be justified in a world that guaranteed the right of minorities?

The Commission should exercise its influence to reverse the tendency which reduced majorities to the level of minorities and it should end the economic embargo against the innocent majority of the Iraqi people.