SUB-COMMISSION CONSIDERS QUESTION OF VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ALL COUNTRIES

Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

14 August 2006


Speakers Raise Question of Clandestine Immigration, Military Attacks on Civilians


The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this afternoon began its consideration of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation, in all countries, raising the issues of clandestine immigration and military attacks on civilians among others.

The topic of clandestine immigration was raised by several Experts during the course of the debate, with the particular plight of young Africans being highlighted. The Experts said that without any means of subsistence, these young people, who had had a long journey, died of thirst and stress, and those who left them knew what their fate would be. The treatment of this migratory phenomenon was at present an egotistical treatment. Young Africans who tried to cross borders were cruelly and inadequately treated most of the time, even more so at a time of globalisation where as much as possible was being done to facilitate the circulation of goods, but not of people. These young people deserved particular and constructive attention, should be treated with humanity and dignity and should be encouraged to stay in their own countries by support for the right to development within those countries. Human rights were for all humans, regardless of the situation in which they were and their material circumstances.

An issue raised by several NGO speakers was military attacks on civilians, including the war in Lebanon. One speaker expressed grave concern over the plight of thousands of innocent victims of recent violence unleashed by the Israeli defence forces in Palestine and Lebanon. The Sub-Commission’s responsibility to protect populations, particularly from the attacks on civil populations through aerial bombing, missiles and other weapon systems continued, and it should respond to the growing challenge of the tasks involved in the termination of existing forms as well as prevailing State practices related to it. Another speaker pointed to Iran and Hezbollah’s vow to destroy Israel.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was also of concern, and several speakers noted the situation in particular with regards to the aftermath of the earthquake, saying that recent international media reports had confirmed fears that some money destined for earthquake victims had ended up elsewhere, and the United Nations should take charge of the relief work so that help could reach the victims of the disaster and that the aid was not diverted to support those who were corrupt and who had anti-people and anti-democracy agendas. The Sub-Commission was asked to send a fact-finding mission to the earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan for a first hand study of the abominable condition of the victims.

Among other issues raised by speakers was the situation of human rights in numerous countries around the world, including Sudan, Colombia, Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tibet, Ukraine, the United States, Sri Lanka, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Greece, Russia, the Maldives and Indonesia; and the rights of women in Iran and in Iraq.

Speaking this afternoon were Sub-Commission Experts El-Hadji Guissé, Mohamed Habib Cherif, Miguel Alfonso Martinez, and Françoise Jane Hampson.

Also speaking was the representative of Iran.

Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations also took the floor: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme (FIDH), Women’s Human Rights International Association, Society for Threatened Peoples, Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, European Union of Public Relations, Association for World Education, Pax Romana, World Peace Council, World Union for Progressive Judaism, Indian Council of South America, Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous Peoples of Crimea, American Indian Law Alliance, and International Educational Development.

The next plenary of the Sub-Commission will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 15 August, when it is scheduled to continue the consideration of this agenda item, namely the question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation, in all countries, with particular reference to colonial and other dependent countries and territories: report of the Sub-Commission under Commission on Human Rights resolution 8 (XXIII).

Statements

ALEXANDRA POMEOW O'NEIL, of International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, expressed concern for the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia. Paramilitaries engaged in the peace process were mainly responsible for these violations, and they enjoyed impunity. There was concern at the resurgence of human rights violations in Iran, in particular arbitrary detentions and convictions to the death penalty violating the right to a fair trial. Iranian women suffered from discriminatory status. The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was encouraging, with regards to the recent elections, however, the goals of the transition to consolidate peace and security had not been achieved, and there was great insecurity among the civilian population. In Darfur, attacks against civilians had been multiplying, and serious violations of international human rights had been taking place in complete impunity, and the deployment of a United Nations peace-keeping force with a strong mandate to protect civilians was essential.

PAULO CASACA, of Women’s Human Rights International Association, said the rights of women in Iraq were under special attack from those who misused religion to attack women’s rights. The right of refuge, be it in religious temples, country embassies or foreign countries was one of the oldest and most sensitive human rights, the non-respect for it was one of the most certain symbols of the existence of severe human rights disruptions. The members of the People’s Mojahidin Organization of Iran had been in Iraq for twenty years, fully enjoying political refugee status until 2003, and as protected persons under the Geneva Convention. As the very intense campaign to taint the reputation of the Mojahidin members in Iraq was proved to be based on pure slanders, the enemies decided to use the very same terrorist attacks and political hate speeches by which they had been targeting the Iraqi people.

PHUNTSOK NYIDRON, of Society for Threatened Peoples, said there was a consistent pattern of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Tibetan people, in particular of Tibetan political rights. The Chinese authorities said that prisoners had the right of immunity from corporal punishment and abuses, the right of appeal, the right of communication, the right of meeting family members and relatives, the right to education, the right to rest, and others. Tibetan political prisoners did not enjoy any of these rights today. Former political prisoners had to hide their background to seek employment or other opportunities in society. It was routine for prisoners to be beaten with iron bars and electric shock prods for daring to express their views and for refusing to submit to communist political education. It was routine for Communist China to treat political prisoners as the worst kind of criminals, and with this policy their rights guaranteed in China’s laws were denied.

MOHAMMAD ZIA MUSTAFA, of Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, said that almost one year had passed since the earthquake of 8 October 2005 had devastated most of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. It was well known and documented that in the days immediately following the earthquake, the Pakistan army had been busy evacuating its own personnel and its surrogates: the various militants participating in the so-called freedom struggle in Indian occupied Kashmir from the affected areas, ignoring the poor affected people. If it had not been for the relief efforts of the international community and humanitarian aid agencies, thousands more would have perished. He appealed to the Sub-Commission to send a fact-finding mission to the earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan for a first hand study of the abominable condition of the victims.

EL-HADJI GUISSE, Sub-Commission Expert, said for some time clandestine immigration had been witnessed, which each day led to the deaths of victims, arrests, and incarceration without judgement. Many young people today, in attempting to find work elsewhere, wound up dead in makeshift canoes and poorly equipped ships. When they did make it to other countries, they were arrested, sent to prison, or simply abandoned in the desert. Without any means of subsistence, these young people, who had had a long journey, died of thirst and stress, and those who left them had known what their fate would be. The cost of suffering, the injuries, the beatings, were just a flash in the pan on television to please those who enjoyed such violent shows. Human rights were for all humans, regardless of the situation in which they were and their material circumstances.

Every single country that was a United Nations member was responsible under its own jurisdiction for these types of human rights violations. It was widely known what countries were doing in this regard. The Sub-Commission was denouncing here and now the fact that these young people, Africans for the most part, were mistreated and sometimes killed. When national authorities said they were defending their borders legitimately, and this was why they had performed these killings, it was unacceptable. To ignore the law on such a scale was unthinkable. It was not possible to compare a defenceless, exhausted and almost dead man, faced by an armed soldier, to legitimate defence. This type of treatment was cruel and humanitarian law was supposed to punish it, but today, some people were silent about it, and the clandestine were dying. Clandestine immigration today was almost forgotten and ignored and this led to a sort of discriminatory practice that affected a specific black population. This situation should be denounced. There was a need for increased commitment in order to protect the rights of these young people.

SARDAR SHAUKAT ALI KASHMIRI, of European Union of Public Relations, expressed grave concern over the plight of thousands of innocent victims of recent violence unleashed by the Israeli defence forces in Palestine and Lebanon. The recent collapse of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks and the denial of market access of the developed world to millions of poor farmers from the developing and least developed counties was another dismal failure impacting on the human rights of the poorest of the poor in the world. The world was all too familiar with the now almost permanent derailment of democracy in Pakistan by a military dictator. The voices of millions of ordinary Pakistanis and their yearning for true democracy and good governance continued to remain unheeded despite pretensions of championing the cause of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

DAVID LITTMAN, of Association for World Education, said Darfur merited the special attention of the Sub-Commission. The large number of deaths due to fighting and conflict-related illness, the massive displacement of people, the refugee flows to neighbouring Chad, the systematic and multiple rapes of women and girls, and other forms of torture, and the widespread destruction of the agricultural infrastructure of wells, livestock and grain-storage buildings in Darfur had been highlighted by Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights and staff of United Nations agencies. There was a need for the United Nations system to discuss the situation in Darfur clearly, and to safeguard humanitarian efforts carried out by United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations. Post-conflict rebuilding was an important prerequisite for the prevention of future conflicts, and an emphasis needed to be placed on mending relations and restoring trust and cooperation among people

SOOA LEE, of Pax Romana, said Pax Romana had closely followed the Sub-Commission resolutions 2005/10 and 2005/2 concerning the attacks on persons entitled to protection as civilians and the prohibition of military operations against medical facilities, transport and personnel entitled to protection during armed conflict. The World Summit Outcome of 2005 had proclaimed the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. On the other hand, the responsibility to protect populations, particularly from the attacks on civilian populations through aerial bombing, missiles and other weapon systems, continued. The art of warfare had drastically changed leaving civilian populations totally vulnerable to such barbarous methods. Recent violations in Lebanon and northern Israel by the belligerents had clearly exposed that category of vulnerability. Moreover, there had been a systematic and consistent pattern of aerial attacks on physical infrastructure. Concerning the state of emergency, while the list of States declaring state of emergency had been biannually reported to the former Commission on Human Rights, there was no rigorous attention given by all the UN human rights mechanisms.

SHABIR CHOUDHRY, of World Peace Council, said Pakistan was established on the great ideals of Islam, but unfortunately, like many other undemocratic and despotic societies in the world, Pakistan had not been able to shake off imperialistic and undemocratic practices. Israel was the exception to this rule: it had democracy at home yet it was the worst offender of human rights in the world. There was concern for the human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Recent international media reports had confirmed fears that some money destined for earthquake victims had ended up elsewhere, and the United Nations should take charge of the relief work so that help could reach the victims of the disaster and to ensure that the aid was not diverted to support those who were corrupt and who had anti-people and anti-democracy agendas.

DAVID LITTMAN, of World Union for Progressive Judaism, said the special session of the Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution calling for permanent peace in the Middle East. The World Union for Progressive Judaism had submitted a report to the Council on the details of the destruction inflicted by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The leader of Hezbollah had vowed to destroy Israel, saying that the only remedy to the problem was to completely wipe out the Israeli State. The position of the leadership of Hezbollah in Iran had been well documented. The Iranian leader had said that Israel should be annihilated from the map. Hezbollah insisted on the elimination of the Jewish people. Last Friday, the Union had called for the condemnation of Hezbollah, whose incitement to genocide was known to the world.

MOHAMED HABIB CHERIF, Sub-Commission Expert, said the clandestine immigration of young Africans was a cause for concern. Poverty had an effect on human rights violations. The treatment of this migratory phenomenon was at present an egotistical treatment. Young Africans and those from the Maghreb who tried to cross borders were cruelly and inadequately treated most of the time, even more so at a time of globalisation where as much as possible was done to facilitate the circulation of goods, but not of people. These young people deserved particular and constructive attention, should be treated with humanity and dignity and should be encouraged to stay in their own countries by supporting the right to development within those countries.

RONALD BARNES, of Indian Council of South America, said during the last ten years, the Human Rights Commission had reduced the mandate of the Sub-Commission, including suspending the ability to address county specific issues that the Commission itself did not address. In this day of transition, it was important that the Council should keep open item 2 of the Sub-Commission and also should keep item 5 of the former Commission to address the issues of violations of the right of self-determination, including the issue of colonial countries and peoples.

The Representative of Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous Peoples of Crimea, said all field protest activities of Crimean Tatars had been declared illegal. There was a new stage of the mass anti-Crimean Tatars violence inspired in the Ukraine. Russians had attacked Crimean Tatar protesters with weapons and gas. Crimean Tatars had been injured. In order to protect the human rights of the indigenous peoples, their right to self-determination should be recognised, and there should be a prohibition of paramilitary groups used by the Government to refute its responsibility for acts of violence. Signs of neo-Nazism in Russia and the Crimea should be fought. Indigenous peoples should immediately be settled on their own territories.

JOE KENNEDY, of American Indian Law Alliance, said that the Western Shoshone once spanned across approximately 60 million acres of land within the borders of the United States. The United State now claimed that the indigenous lands were federal or public lands – the Government had no legitimate basis for that claim, in fact that claim was in direct violation of their rights as indigenous peoples and of the 1893 Treaty of Ruby Valley that the United States signed with the indigenous leaders. Despite ongoing federal seizures of livestock and continued harassment and intimidation of their peoples, they continued to live on and use lands according to their traditions and their spiritual teachings. The United States ignored the respected human rights bodies and continued to threaten them with privatization of their lands, ongoing military testing, and open cyanide heap leach gold mining which dewatered from their arid lands at rates of up to 70,000 gallons of water per minute for one mine alone.

KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said the Sub-Commission should condemn the attacks of the United States on protected medical facilities and personnel in Iraq. The Human Rights Council should also call for action regarding several other conflicts in which targeting of protected facilities and persons was equally serious. One of these was the conflict in Sri Lanka, and Special Rapporteur Jean Ziegler had stated that the deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers was a serious violation of the basic principles of international and humanitarian law and the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders. The situation of Tamil civilians was also bad as so many Tamils were still displaced by the Tsunami and most of the international aid raised on their behalf was not allowed to be delivered. The United States had given the Government of Sri Lanka a green light to undertake actions that violated humanitarian law. The Sub-Commission should inform the Human Rights Council of its concerns regarding Sri Lanka and the Tamil people and request that it act.

FOROUZANDEH VADIATT (Iran) said there was a general rule for respect in statements, and that had been forgotten in the statement of a well-known NGO earlier. Iran continued to listen to the statements of NGOs on certain issues, and these should continue to be focussed on the agenda and mandate of the session.

MIGUEL ALFONSO MARTINEZ, Sub-Commission Expert, said that in spite of the fact that he had not been referred to in name, he had been referred to in his function as Vice-President in a statement made by the Representative of Iran. If he had believed that the statement had gone beyond the permissible, he would have called the speaker to order. It was a judgement that was under the exclusive authority of the Chair of the meeting. Nothing in the statement had gone beyond acceptable language in his opinion.

FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Sub-Commission Expert, said the question had been raised of whether the Sub-Commission could do anything worthwhile under agenda item 2 and it had also been suggested that there should be some sort of follow-up. There was evidence that the Sub-Commission could do something useful by passing detailed thematic resolutions, which NGOs could then use for their own purposes. Some years ago, the Sub-Commission passed a resolution saying that the imposition of the death penalty on a person aged under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence was a breach of customary international law. A couple of years ago, the US Supreme Court had recognized that the imposition of the death penalty in such cases was cruel and inhuman punishment. Iran, which was bound by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, was still executing juveniles. In Equatorial Guinea, people were held for long periods without charge or trial. Some were held incommunicado and at the end their whereabouts was unknown. In Brazil, torture and ill-treatment were widespread in the prison system and the conditions of detention were such that they often gave rise to serious prison violence.

In Greece, there were allegations of ill-treatment by the police especially of members of the minorities, such as Roma and irregular migrants. In Russia, conditions in some over-crowded pre-trial detention facilities were so poor that they had been alleged to amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In the Maldives, the State was currently experiencing a wide range of human rights problems, during the course of a difficult process of political change. In Indonesia, 81 per cent of prisoners arrested between January 2003 and April 2005 in detention centres were tortured or ill treated.
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