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SUB-COMMISSION DEBATES QUESTION OF VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
27 July 2005
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Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights
27 July 2005
Non-Governmental Organizations Decry Human Rights
Violations Around the World
The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this morning debated the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation, in all countries, hearing from a series of non-governmental organizations (NGO) who spoke about human rights violations in a number of countries.
In addition to addressing violations in specific countries, some NGO speakers, as well as national delegations, condemned the terrorists acts perpetrated in London, Iraq and Egypt. Pakistan said the international community should act together to fight those criminals who spoke for no religion or ideology. While dealing with those criminals, the international community should resist the temptation to tar nations or civilizations with the terrorists’ brush, thus playing right into their hands. Muslim nations and communities were not terrorists’ backyards or captive constituencies.
Delegations from Nigeria, Pakistan and Argentina offered statements. The following non-governmental organizations also participated in the debate: Dominicans for Justice and Peace, speaking in a joint statement with Dominican Leadership Conference; International Federation of Human Rights Leagues; Franciscans International; International Fellowship of Reconciliation; American Association of Jurists; Europe-Third World Centre; Society for Threatened Peoples; Baha'i International Community; Interfaith International; European Union of Public Relations; International Association against Torture; Indigenous World Association; International Association of Democratic Lawyers; Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights; International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations; International Institute for Peace; Commission to Study the Organization of Peace; International Committee for the Indians of the Americas - INCOMINDIOS; International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations; Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples; World Muslim Congress; International Educational Development; and International Human Rights Association of American Minorities.
The next public plenary of the Sub-Commission will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 28 July when it will continue its debate on the question of violations of human rights in all countries.
Statements on Agenda Item 2 on the Violation of Human Rights in All Countries
PHILIPPE LE BLANC, of Dominicans for Justice and Peace, speaking in a joint statement with Dominican Leadership Conference, said that nearly two and a half years after the armed intervention by the coalition forces in Iraq, the Iraqi people remained victims of extreme violence and were deprived of their basic rights on an ongoing basis. The violence affected all sectors of the population, in particular the civilian population and especially the most vulnerable in society. In addition to being a grave violation of the right to life, the insecurity that prevailed was also an obstacle to the success of efforts for the reconstruction of the country and for ensuring respect and enjoyment of basic rights and freedoms. Since the United Nations terminated the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iraq at the end of the war in March 2003, there was no UN special mechanism for monitoring the human rights situation in Iraq. The Sub-Commission should debate the human rights situation in Iraq at this session and bring to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights the urgency of establishing a special mechanism for monitoring the human rights situation in Iraq.
ALEXANDRA POMEON O'NEIL, of International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, said the League was concerned about the recrudescence of human rights violations, the situation of the Bahai minority and flawed presidential elections in Iran. On 19 July, two boys were publicly hanged in Mashhad, after receiving 228 whips each. Ayaz Marhoni was 18 and Mohamoud Asgari was a minor. They were probably sentenced to death for their sexual orientation. In Uzbekistan, the army had opened fire on thousands of demonstrators on 13 May 2005. About 200 persons were believed to have been killed. Since that incident, many hundred people had sought sanctuary in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. On the Russian Federation, the League deplored the serious regression of the rule of law and human rights in Chechnya. The speaker also highlighted human rights situations in the Israeli-occupied territories, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and the human rights violations by the United States against prisoners in Guantanamo.
ALESSANDRA AULA, of Franciscans International, said human rights violations continued in many countries, violating the dignity of human persons. Although a number of fundamental instruments had been adopted under the auspices of different United Nations bodies, their effective implementation was a matter of concern. The world was not free of barbaric violence, as demonstrated in Darfur. Following the session of the Commission on Human Rights, bloody repressions had taken place in Togo, Turkey and Ethiopia. In Zimbabwe, forced evictions had taken place against vulnerable groups and had prompted thousands of persons to be displaced. The threat of the Government against international humanitarian organizations was also a matter of concern.
MICHEL MONOD, of International Fellowship of Reconciliation, said the Republic of Korea implemented a compulsory military service system, not recognizing the right to conscientious objection to military service and not having in its place any form of legal provision for conscientious objectors. Each year, approximately 700 conscientious objectors were punished. The majority of them were Jehovah Witnesses, with a few members of churches such as the Seventh Day Adventists. Without exception, they were subjected to 18 months to 2 years imprisonment. Stricter standards were applied to conscientious objectors compared to other prisoners and even after they had accomplished their terms, they were disadvantaged for life. They lost their right to enter public services and their choice of employment became restricted due to their criminal record.
JAIME VALDES, of American Association of Jurists, said in Haiti, the oldest and poorest republic in Latin America, the situation had deteriorated since the coup d’etat which was backed by the United States and France. Out of the $ 1,080 million appealed for at the donor conference, only $ 90 millions had been pledged. The UN mission in Haiti lacked material and political resources and was unable to fight the violent gangs set up by the Government. A good part of the population continued to call for the return of Aristide. The unemployment rate was way above 50 percent and 76 percent of the population lived on less than two dollars a day. The United States was strengthening its military forces on the Haitian border. So far, only 200,000 voters out of more than four million had actually been registered, and the new Government coming out of that election would therefore be a puppet one and would not reflect the will of the people. The office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had strongly criticized the Justice and Peace Law which was approved by the Colombian Congress on 22 June. The Sub-Commission should support the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on this issue.
MALIK OZDEN, of Europe-Third World Centre, said one of the reforms that the Secretary-General had called for was the replacement of the Commission on Human Rights with a standing Human Rights Council. If this proposal was to be followed through, the existence of the Sub-Commission would be questionable. The structure and the composition of the proposed Council was not yet known. However, it would depend on the negotiations of the Members States. Within the context of the fight against terrorism, the new Council would have a strong and solid mandate for the protection of human rights. For the Centre, the set up of the Council was inappropriate because of the fact that it would share the tasks of the High Commissioner, the special procedures and the Sub-Commission. Instead of creating new structure such as the Human Rights Council, it was better to strengthen the existing mechanisms.
TENZIN SAMPHEL KATYA, of Society for Threatened Peoples, said the Society was gravely concerned about the current state of human rights in Tibet. In its most serious ever attempt to interfere in Tibet’s traditional system of recognizing Tibetan spiritual teachers, the People’s Republic of China had gone to the extent of saying that Beijing would choose the next Dalai Lama. The eleventh Lama had disappeared since 1995 when he was six years old. On 17 May this year, Tibetans and their supporters around the world organized a “Global Vigil for Tibet’s Panchen Lama” to mark 10 years of this disappearance. That international concern on the whereabouts of the Lama had continued for the past 10 years and had received interventions from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and thematic mandates of the Commission on Human Rights. The Society appealed to the Sub-Commission to pay close attention to the human rights situation in Tibet by reaffirming its resolution in which it urged China to fully respect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people.
DIANE ALA’I, of Baha'i International Community, said that the situation of the Baha’is in the Iran had deteriorated. Early this year, persecution against members of this community had intensified. The worst violence occurred in the city of Yazd, where men equipped with batons and communication devices attacked three Baha’i homes in January. A wave of arrests and imprisonments had followed, and most of the prisoners were arbitrarily detained without any charge being filed against them. The Baha’is were not the only people suffering from recurrent human rights violations in Iran, but they were systematically targeted and relentlessly pressured, for only one reason: they would not give up their faith. The situation of human rights in Iran had been absent from the agenda of the Commission for the past three years, and during that time human rights violations against the Bahai’s had gradually increased. The Community therefore called upon the Experts of the Sub-Commission to join with civil society in expressing grave concern about the situation in Iran.
AHMED SID ALY, of Interfaith International, said that peaceful demonstrations in Western Sahara taking place since 21 May had been put down in the most violent manner. Morocco’s irresponsible response to these demonstrations had been condemned by many international organizations and by countries like Spain, France, and Italy. Morocco was secretly doing the exact opposite of what it preached. Morocco had imposed a siege on Western Sahara. The continued occupation situation in Western Sahara was the main cause of human rights violations in the area that was suffering from 30 years without justice. Interfaith International called for action to protect the civilian population so that they would not be forced to use violence which would then give the Moroccan Government reason to further tighten the screws on the rights of the people. The organization demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in Western Sahara.
SARDAR SHAUKAT ALI KASHMIRI, of European Union of Public Relations, said as a human rights activist from Jammu and Kashmir forced to live in exile for the past several years, he wished to draw the attention of the Sub-Commission to the situation prevailing not only in that bitterly disputed territory, more than one-third of which had been illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan, but within Pakistan as well. The human rights situation in Pakistan occupied Kashmir misleadingly described as “Azad” or Free Kashmir by the military rulers of Pakistan, was but a reflection of the dismal state of human rights in the whole Pakistan. The Sub-Commission should recommend the setting up of a special mechanism to examine the dismal human rights situation prevailing in Pakistan and the parts of Jammu and Kashmir forcibly occupied by it and to suggest concrete methods of redressing the grievances of the victims of human rights violations by the theo-fascist ruling classes of Pakistan.
FERNANDO RUIZ, of International Association against Torture, said that the demands for justice and reparations in Chile had not been met. The Convention against Torture, which was ratified and applied as domestic legislature by Chile in 1988, together with other conventions against torture, were violated by the Chilean Government. The Government of Chile had adopted a law to establish the truth with regard to the victims of torture and the payment of compensation, based on the information provided by the Commission. She demanded compensation for the victims of the violations of the human rights conventions.
NA KOI IKAIKA O KA O LAHUI, of Indigenous World Association, asked how a State could claim to represent another State or people it occupied by imposing domestic law for already recognized subjects of international law. It could only pretend through the colonial eye, by the representation of its interests, and through its colonial institutions and citizens to represent a colony, while actually exploiting and disposessing the colonized. The situations of Hawaii and Alaska were international. Unfortunately, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the unilateral legislation enacted by the Congress of the United States in 1971, was being used as a model for exploiting or dispossessing lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples around the world. The United States continued to violate international law by imposing domestic law through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act model to essentially exploit internationally recognized nations and peoples. The Sub-Commission should address the situation of colonialism and certain situations.
PELPINA SAHUREKA, of International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said in the last year alone tens of thousands of jobless heads of families from the overpopulated Indonesian Island of Java had been sent as settlers into Maluku, causing the original inhabitants to be ousted from their ancestral grounds. The Javanese newcomers had received land titles over the indigenous Alifuru land. The hundreds of internally displaced persons in Maluku could not go back because of new Javanese settlers as well as the Jihad and Mudjahidin warriors who had transformed their lands into training grounds. The proclamation of independence of the Republic of South Moluccas was the national aspiration of the Moluccan people and was implemented in accordance with the international agreements that were signed by all the then colonial people concerned and the colonial power and to which the UN was signatory. However, 55 years later Moluccan nationalists were still being killed, persecuted, mistreated, tortured and detained for hoisting the national flag of the Republic of South Moluccas. Systematic killings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and abductions still occurred. The Sub-Commission should authorize the Chairperson to send a letter to the Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights, indicating its urgent concern with regard to the serious human rights violations in Maluku.
PENNY PARKER, of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, said in the interest of finding new and useful approaches to item 2, the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights had done some research in preparation for this year’s Sub-Commission session, to assess the highest priority human rights problems which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) felt were not being addressed in the world today. The group raised those country situations to the Sub-Commission’s attention and had some specific requests for possible action. The research would be carried out in two ways: first to review and compile human rights country cases that were listed on major NGO websites as of today; and to evaluate the NGO interventions made at this year’s Commission on Human Rights and identify countries which were not addressed in any Commission resolutions. She suggested that, among other things, the authors of working papers and studies for the next year should consider those particular country situations as well as others, which pertained to the topic in the preparation of the report.
SYED FAIZ HUSSAIN NAQSHBANDI, of International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, said that in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India had enacted a series of black laws that facilitated human rights violations. These laws gave Indian occupation forces a free hand to suppress the popular demand for their right to self-determination envisaged in the UN Security Council Resolutions of 1948 and 1949. These black laws which had potently granted the Indian soldiers a license to kill anyone at their discretion, violated not only Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which India was a party, but also the United Nations Body of Principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment. As a subject of international law, India was bound to comply with international laws, covenants and internationally recognized human rights, and was responsible for violations of these rights committed by its armed and paramilitary forces. The Sub-Commission should appoint a Special Rapporteur on Indian- occupied Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the human rights abuses.
MAHAMMAD ZAFAR KHAN, of International Institute for Peace, said at present, Jammu and Kashmir were under two administrations, one under India and the other under Pakistan. Whenever someone spoke of human rights violations in Pakistan, instead of supporting him or her, the Government of Pakistan put all efforts to suppress such voices. The world had changed after terrorist attacks at the international level but Pakistan had still not left its folly of trying to use terrorism as a weapon to attain its strategic objectives. Terrorist camps were still operative. Extremists harassed the local population. These extremists were fully sponsored and supported by the State. Attacks by religious and fundamental elements on peaceful demonstrations and rallies were officially encouraged. The recent example of such attacks was on a peaceful rally held in the capital of so-called Azad Kashmir. The Institute urged the Sub-Commission to urgently examine the deteriorating human rights situation in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which remained under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
SHAUKAT BALOCH, of Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, said the right to life was the most sacred of all the human rights, and this right was flagrantly violated on 7 July, 2005 in London where about 60 innocent civilians lost their lives in suicide attacks and similarly on 22 July, 2005 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where about 90 persons were killed. According to the British Government, the suicide bombers had earlier visited Pakistan and were probably indoctrinated there. This allegation appeared to be correct. Since General Zia-ul-Haq captured power in Pakistan in 1977 and until recently, the Inter-Services Intelligence of the Pakistan Army had been giving military training to religious extremists and financing them. The repetition of the terrorist attacks like those in London could only be prevented if the use of religion as a weapon in politics was sincerely, honestly and completely eliminated all over the world and particularly in Pakistan. Non-governmental organizations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights should pressure the Pakistani Government in this regard.
REYNALDO MARIQUEO, of International Committee for the Indians of the Americas - INCOMINDIOS, said the situation of the Mapuche people was a concern to many non-governmental organizations. Their fundamental freedoms were being violated. Amnesty International had reported that the members of the Mapuche community were subjected to torture. Further concern was also expressed by thematic Rapporteurs with regard to the act of persecution of the Mapuche authorities and their community members. Their movement to restore their rights had received disproportionate repressive measures. In the case of Chile, where those Mapuche people lived, the anti-terrorism legislation was targeted to persecute the Mapuche community. A number of Mapuche leaders were still languishing in prisoners. There were a number of other cases in which police, without any warrant, continued to imprison Mapuche leaders. Police used disproportionate force as a deterrent to curb the movement of Mapuche people. The Mapuche people who claimed their lands were intimidated and penalized for crimes that they did not commit. The Government of Chile was manipulating its own laws in order to persecute the Mapuches who were struggling to recover their lands taken away by farmers supported by the State. Chile did not recognize the rights of the Mapuche people to self-determination and it should stop its repressive measures against the people.
M'HAMED MOHAMED CHEIKH, of International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations, said that since 21 May this year a series of peaceful demonstration against the occupation of Western Sahara had been brutally put down by the Moroccan authorities. There had been several casualties and injuries, as well as numerous arrests. An international campaign had been started in several European countries for the release of political prisoners. Despite the impressive employment of Moroccan security forces and police, the Government had also sent soldiers to hunt down Saharawi militants. Human rights violations like intimidation, harassment, confiscations of documents, and deportation had led to an unprecedented oppression of unarmed civilians. Images of women being beaten and trampled on by Moroccan soldiers and entire families being thrown into the street were symbolic of the situation of the Saharawi people. Eight delegations had been denied entry into Western Sahara, including a Norwegian delegation, which went to survey the situation of prisoners. The United Nations must use its authority to force Morocco to comply with international regulations. This was urgently needed for the protection of civilians.
GIANFRANCO FATTORINI, of Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples, welcomed the decision by the Polisario Front to liberate without conditions all war prisoners it had detained. The Movement continued to express its concern about the evolution of the situation in Western Sahara. Since 21 May, the repression perpetrated by the Moroccan Government had been intensified following the demonstrations that took place in El Ayoun. During the repression, hundreds of people had been arrested. When the Saharawi students in Rabat University expressed solidarity with the demonstrators, police entered the campus and brutally beat up both boys and girls. The journalists who were at the scene were arrested and their materials were confiscated. The Movement drew the attention of the Sub-Commission to the imposition of restrictions by the Moroccan authorities on the right to freedom of opinion. The Movement demanded, among other things, that Morocco investigate all allegations of torture impartially and independently.
ADILA ABASSI, of World Muslim Congress, said the Kashmiris struggle for the realization of their right to self-determination was being labelled as terrorism by the Indian Government to justify its brutal repression of the Kashmiri people. The World Muslim Congress agreed with Ms. Hampson when she said that States had a responsibility to protect people within their territories from terrorism, on the condition that they do not violate human rights standards in the process or commit terrorist acts themselves. The brutality by Indian forces did not end with killing innocent Kashmiri boys and men, thousands of Kashmiri women and girls were also raped. Like any occupation force, the continued presence of Indian forces had severely restricted the freedom of movement in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, torture, rape by police in custody, arbitrary arrests, detention and excessive use of force against the innocent Kashmiris was how India showed its muscles to innocent Kashmiris.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said the group ideally sought full condemnation by both the Sub-Commission and the Commission on Human Rights of any and all situations where Governments had seriously violated the human rights of their own citizens. In that context, the group clearly understood the political motivations of the States that had sought to limit the ability of the Sub-Commission to “name names” by means of country-specific resolutions. While her group accepted the Commission’s first rule limiting Sub-Commission action to situations that the Commission did not have under active review, it regretted the subsequent rule that denied the Sub-Commission the right to address any State in its resolutions. She welcomed the efforts by the Sub-Commission to find alternative avenues for communicating concerns raised by Sub-Commission members and NGOs about specific situations under agenda item 2.
ALTAF HUSSAIN WANI, of International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, said that although the agenda item on the question of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all countries had been under consideration of the Sub-Commission since 1967, the Kashmiris continued to live under occupation due to India’s denial of their right to self-determination. In 58 years of Indian occupation of their soil, Kashmiris remained robbed of their basic human rights. More than 700,000 Indian troops had perpetuated gross and systematic human rights violations including extra-judicial killings, rapes, arbitrary detentions and restrictions, and restrictions of freedom of movement and expression. Over 80,000 Kashmiris had been killed since 1989. Thousands had been arrested and were now missing. The reform of the United Nations system would be meaningless if it failed to secure the realization of people’s legitimate rights. The people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir looked towards the honourable members of the Sub-Commission for their support for an effective international human rights system that would bring an end to their more than half a century old Indian occupation and provide them with a chance to determine their own future.
MASOOD KHAN (Pakistan) said as the human rights architecture was being reconfigured under the reform of the United Nations, some had suggested that the Sub-Commission should be disbanded altogether and replaced with a body of ad hoc appointees. Pakistan thought that it would be a mistake. Since its creation in 1947, the Sub-Commission had served as a forum for dialogue and had produced an impressive body of normative work, including on the right to self-determination and the right to development. It should continue to do that work. Many proposals for new laws and treaties had germinated in the Sub-Commission. The Sub-Commission, as an independent think-thank, should continue to give expert advice to the primary human rights bodies and interpretative inputs for multilateral negotiations. Its cognitive tools were helpful in the development of international human rights law.
Recently, the world had once again been jolted by horrendous terrorist acts – in London, Iraq and Egypt. The international community should act together to fight those criminals, who spoke for no religion or ideology. They were criminals. They should not be treated as ideologues. They had their own perverted agenda. While dealing with those criminals the international community should resist the temptation to tar nations or civilizations with the terrorists’ brush, thus playing right into their hands. Muslim nations and communities were not terrorists’ backyards or captive constituencies. In London, the alleged terrorist bombers were British nationals – born, bred and educated in the United Kingdom – and they had Pakistani lineage. But their philosophy of hate belonged neither to the United Kingdom nor to Pakistan nor any other civilized people. If there was a problem, the international community should fix it together. Attempt should not be made to rationalize it by looking for scapegoats.
MIKE GBADEBO OMOTOSHO (Nigeria) commented on the work of the Sub-Commission in relation to the working paper produced by Ms. Francoise Hampson. Members of the Sub-Commission were appointed on the basis of their expertise and independence, which granted them the capacity to speak on serious human rights violations anywhere in the world. It was in this light that Nigeria found it useful to reiterate yet another important observation made by Ms. Hampson, to the effect that “the greater freedom of action of the Sub-Commission carries with it great responsibilities.” Expert members of the Sub-Commission should ensure that the information provided by non-governmental organizations was factual and that it was not calculated to deliberately embarrass Member States or injure the reputation of individuals. In order to ensure continued harmony and concord between them, the Sub-Commission should encourage greater interaction and dialogue between governments and civil society. Equal significance should be given to reports of violations of human rights regardless of where they occurred. This would have profound importance especially in the way Member States would view the work of the Sub-Commission and any follow-up action that may result thereof.
ALBERTO DUMONT (Argentina), referring to the resolution of the Commission on Human Rights on the right to truth, said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was preparing a follow-up to the resolution by consulting different bodies. Other organizations should join the Office in order to implement the resolution on the right to truth. With regard to impunity, the Argentinean Supreme Court, on 14 June 2005, had declared the law on amnesty, adopted by the Congress in 2003, as being unconstitutional. The law was intended to provide amnesty to all persons who served during the military dictatorship. Concerning the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Government had taken measures to implement them in collaboration with the technical cooperation service of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. A National Plan of Action against discrimination had already been elaborated. For that matter, it was restructuring its institutions that would strengthen anti-discriminatory activities. Within the United Nations reform announced by the Secretary-General, Argentina supported the creation of the proposed Human Rights Council.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
and Protection of Human Rights
27 July 2005
Non-Governmental Organizations Decry Human Rights
Violations Around the World
The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this morning debated the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation, in all countries, hearing from a series of non-governmental organizations (NGO) who spoke about human rights violations in a number of countries.
In addition to addressing violations in specific countries, some NGO speakers, as well as national delegations, condemned the terrorists acts perpetrated in London, Iraq and Egypt. Pakistan said the international community should act together to fight those criminals who spoke for no religion or ideology. While dealing with those criminals, the international community should resist the temptation to tar nations or civilizations with the terrorists’ brush, thus playing right into their hands. Muslim nations and communities were not terrorists’ backyards or captive constituencies.
Delegations from Nigeria, Pakistan and Argentina offered statements. The following non-governmental organizations also participated in the debate: Dominicans for Justice and Peace, speaking in a joint statement with Dominican Leadership Conference; International Federation of Human Rights Leagues; Franciscans International; International Fellowship of Reconciliation; American Association of Jurists; Europe-Third World Centre; Society for Threatened Peoples; Baha'i International Community; Interfaith International; European Union of Public Relations; International Association against Torture; Indigenous World Association; International Association of Democratic Lawyers; Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights; International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations; International Institute for Peace; Commission to Study the Organization of Peace; International Committee for the Indians of the Americas - INCOMINDIOS; International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations; Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples; World Muslim Congress; International Educational Development; and International Human Rights Association of American Minorities.
The next public plenary of the Sub-Commission will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 28 July when it will continue its debate on the question of violations of human rights in all countries.
Statements on Agenda Item 2 on the Violation of Human Rights in All Countries
PHILIPPE LE BLANC, of Dominicans for Justice and Peace, speaking in a joint statement with Dominican Leadership Conference, said that nearly two and a half years after the armed intervention by the coalition forces in Iraq, the Iraqi people remained victims of extreme violence and were deprived of their basic rights on an ongoing basis. The violence affected all sectors of the population, in particular the civilian population and especially the most vulnerable in society. In addition to being a grave violation of the right to life, the insecurity that prevailed was also an obstacle to the success of efforts for the reconstruction of the country and for ensuring respect and enjoyment of basic rights and freedoms. Since the United Nations terminated the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iraq at the end of the war in March 2003, there was no UN special mechanism for monitoring the human rights situation in Iraq. The Sub-Commission should debate the human rights situation in Iraq at this session and bring to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights the urgency of establishing a special mechanism for monitoring the human rights situation in Iraq.
ALEXANDRA POMEON O'NEIL, of International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, said the League was concerned about the recrudescence of human rights violations, the situation of the Bahai minority and flawed presidential elections in Iran. On 19 July, two boys were publicly hanged in Mashhad, after receiving 228 whips each. Ayaz Marhoni was 18 and Mohamoud Asgari was a minor. They were probably sentenced to death for their sexual orientation. In Uzbekistan, the army had opened fire on thousands of demonstrators on 13 May 2005. About 200 persons were believed to have been killed. Since that incident, many hundred people had sought sanctuary in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. On the Russian Federation, the League deplored the serious regression of the rule of law and human rights in Chechnya. The speaker also highlighted human rights situations in the Israeli-occupied territories, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and the human rights violations by the United States against prisoners in Guantanamo.
ALESSANDRA AULA, of Franciscans International, said human rights violations continued in many countries, violating the dignity of human persons. Although a number of fundamental instruments had been adopted under the auspices of different United Nations bodies, their effective implementation was a matter of concern. The world was not free of barbaric violence, as demonstrated in Darfur. Following the session of the Commission on Human Rights, bloody repressions had taken place in Togo, Turkey and Ethiopia. In Zimbabwe, forced evictions had taken place against vulnerable groups and had prompted thousands of persons to be displaced. The threat of the Government against international humanitarian organizations was also a matter of concern.
MICHEL MONOD, of International Fellowship of Reconciliation, said the Republic of Korea implemented a compulsory military service system, not recognizing the right to conscientious objection to military service and not having in its place any form of legal provision for conscientious objectors. Each year, approximately 700 conscientious objectors were punished. The majority of them were Jehovah Witnesses, with a few members of churches such as the Seventh Day Adventists. Without exception, they were subjected to 18 months to 2 years imprisonment. Stricter standards were applied to conscientious objectors compared to other prisoners and even after they had accomplished their terms, they were disadvantaged for life. They lost their right to enter public services and their choice of employment became restricted due to their criminal record.
JAIME VALDES, of American Association of Jurists, said in Haiti, the oldest and poorest republic in Latin America, the situation had deteriorated since the coup d’etat which was backed by the United States and France. Out of the $ 1,080 million appealed for at the donor conference, only $ 90 millions had been pledged. The UN mission in Haiti lacked material and political resources and was unable to fight the violent gangs set up by the Government. A good part of the population continued to call for the return of Aristide. The unemployment rate was way above 50 percent and 76 percent of the population lived on less than two dollars a day. The United States was strengthening its military forces on the Haitian border. So far, only 200,000 voters out of more than four million had actually been registered, and the new Government coming out of that election would therefore be a puppet one and would not reflect the will of the people. The office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had strongly criticized the Justice and Peace Law which was approved by the Colombian Congress on 22 June. The Sub-Commission should support the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on this issue.
MALIK OZDEN, of Europe-Third World Centre, said one of the reforms that the Secretary-General had called for was the replacement of the Commission on Human Rights with a standing Human Rights Council. If this proposal was to be followed through, the existence of the Sub-Commission would be questionable. The structure and the composition of the proposed Council was not yet known. However, it would depend on the negotiations of the Members States. Within the context of the fight against terrorism, the new Council would have a strong and solid mandate for the protection of human rights. For the Centre, the set up of the Council was inappropriate because of the fact that it would share the tasks of the High Commissioner, the special procedures and the Sub-Commission. Instead of creating new structure such as the Human Rights Council, it was better to strengthen the existing mechanisms.
TENZIN SAMPHEL KATYA, of Society for Threatened Peoples, said the Society was gravely concerned about the current state of human rights in Tibet. In its most serious ever attempt to interfere in Tibet’s traditional system of recognizing Tibetan spiritual teachers, the People’s Republic of China had gone to the extent of saying that Beijing would choose the next Dalai Lama. The eleventh Lama had disappeared since 1995 when he was six years old. On 17 May this year, Tibetans and their supporters around the world organized a “Global Vigil for Tibet’s Panchen Lama” to mark 10 years of this disappearance. That international concern on the whereabouts of the Lama had continued for the past 10 years and had received interventions from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and thematic mandates of the Commission on Human Rights. The Society appealed to the Sub-Commission to pay close attention to the human rights situation in Tibet by reaffirming its resolution in which it urged China to fully respect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people.
DIANE ALA’I, of Baha'i International Community, said that the situation of the Baha’is in the Iran had deteriorated. Early this year, persecution against members of this community had intensified. The worst violence occurred in the city of Yazd, where men equipped with batons and communication devices attacked three Baha’i homes in January. A wave of arrests and imprisonments had followed, and most of the prisoners were arbitrarily detained without any charge being filed against them. The Baha’is were not the only people suffering from recurrent human rights violations in Iran, but they were systematically targeted and relentlessly pressured, for only one reason: they would not give up their faith. The situation of human rights in Iran had been absent from the agenda of the Commission for the past three years, and during that time human rights violations against the Bahai’s had gradually increased. The Community therefore called upon the Experts of the Sub-Commission to join with civil society in expressing grave concern about the situation in Iran.
AHMED SID ALY, of Interfaith International, said that peaceful demonstrations in Western Sahara taking place since 21 May had been put down in the most violent manner. Morocco’s irresponsible response to these demonstrations had been condemned by many international organizations and by countries like Spain, France, and Italy. Morocco was secretly doing the exact opposite of what it preached. Morocco had imposed a siege on Western Sahara. The continued occupation situation in Western Sahara was the main cause of human rights violations in the area that was suffering from 30 years without justice. Interfaith International called for action to protect the civilian population so that they would not be forced to use violence which would then give the Moroccan Government reason to further tighten the screws on the rights of the people. The organization demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in Western Sahara.
SARDAR SHAUKAT ALI KASHMIRI, of European Union of Public Relations, said as a human rights activist from Jammu and Kashmir forced to live in exile for the past several years, he wished to draw the attention of the Sub-Commission to the situation prevailing not only in that bitterly disputed territory, more than one-third of which had been illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan, but within Pakistan as well. The human rights situation in Pakistan occupied Kashmir misleadingly described as “Azad” or Free Kashmir by the military rulers of Pakistan, was but a reflection of the dismal state of human rights in the whole Pakistan. The Sub-Commission should recommend the setting up of a special mechanism to examine the dismal human rights situation prevailing in Pakistan and the parts of Jammu and Kashmir forcibly occupied by it and to suggest concrete methods of redressing the grievances of the victims of human rights violations by the theo-fascist ruling classes of Pakistan.
FERNANDO RUIZ, of International Association against Torture, said that the demands for justice and reparations in Chile had not been met. The Convention against Torture, which was ratified and applied as domestic legislature by Chile in 1988, together with other conventions against torture, were violated by the Chilean Government. The Government of Chile had adopted a law to establish the truth with regard to the victims of torture and the payment of compensation, based on the information provided by the Commission. She demanded compensation for the victims of the violations of the human rights conventions.
NA KOI IKAIKA O KA O LAHUI, of Indigenous World Association, asked how a State could claim to represent another State or people it occupied by imposing domestic law for already recognized subjects of international law. It could only pretend through the colonial eye, by the representation of its interests, and through its colonial institutions and citizens to represent a colony, while actually exploiting and disposessing the colonized. The situations of Hawaii and Alaska were international. Unfortunately, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the unilateral legislation enacted by the Congress of the United States in 1971, was being used as a model for exploiting or dispossessing lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples around the world. The United States continued to violate international law by imposing domestic law through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act model to essentially exploit internationally recognized nations and peoples. The Sub-Commission should address the situation of colonialism and certain situations.
PELPINA SAHUREKA, of International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said in the last year alone tens of thousands of jobless heads of families from the overpopulated Indonesian Island of Java had been sent as settlers into Maluku, causing the original inhabitants to be ousted from their ancestral grounds. The Javanese newcomers had received land titles over the indigenous Alifuru land. The hundreds of internally displaced persons in Maluku could not go back because of new Javanese settlers as well as the Jihad and Mudjahidin warriors who had transformed their lands into training grounds. The proclamation of independence of the Republic of South Moluccas was the national aspiration of the Moluccan people and was implemented in accordance with the international agreements that were signed by all the then colonial people concerned and the colonial power and to which the UN was signatory. However, 55 years later Moluccan nationalists were still being killed, persecuted, mistreated, tortured and detained for hoisting the national flag of the Republic of South Moluccas. Systematic killings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and abductions still occurred. The Sub-Commission should authorize the Chairperson to send a letter to the Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights, indicating its urgent concern with regard to the serious human rights violations in Maluku.
PENNY PARKER, of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, said in the interest of finding new and useful approaches to item 2, the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights had done some research in preparation for this year’s Sub-Commission session, to assess the highest priority human rights problems which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) felt were not being addressed in the world today. The group raised those country situations to the Sub-Commission’s attention and had some specific requests for possible action. The research would be carried out in two ways: first to review and compile human rights country cases that were listed on major NGO websites as of today; and to evaluate the NGO interventions made at this year’s Commission on Human Rights and identify countries which were not addressed in any Commission resolutions. She suggested that, among other things, the authors of working papers and studies for the next year should consider those particular country situations as well as others, which pertained to the topic in the preparation of the report.
SYED FAIZ HUSSAIN NAQSHBANDI, of International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, said that in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India had enacted a series of black laws that facilitated human rights violations. These laws gave Indian occupation forces a free hand to suppress the popular demand for their right to self-determination envisaged in the UN Security Council Resolutions of 1948 and 1949. These black laws which had potently granted the Indian soldiers a license to kill anyone at their discretion, violated not only Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which India was a party, but also the United Nations Body of Principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment. As a subject of international law, India was bound to comply with international laws, covenants and internationally recognized human rights, and was responsible for violations of these rights committed by its armed and paramilitary forces. The Sub-Commission should appoint a Special Rapporteur on Indian- occupied Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the human rights abuses.
MAHAMMAD ZAFAR KHAN, of International Institute for Peace, said at present, Jammu and Kashmir were under two administrations, one under India and the other under Pakistan. Whenever someone spoke of human rights violations in Pakistan, instead of supporting him or her, the Government of Pakistan put all efforts to suppress such voices. The world had changed after terrorist attacks at the international level but Pakistan had still not left its folly of trying to use terrorism as a weapon to attain its strategic objectives. Terrorist camps were still operative. Extremists harassed the local population. These extremists were fully sponsored and supported by the State. Attacks by religious and fundamental elements on peaceful demonstrations and rallies were officially encouraged. The recent example of such attacks was on a peaceful rally held in the capital of so-called Azad Kashmir. The Institute urged the Sub-Commission to urgently examine the deteriorating human rights situation in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which remained under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
SHAUKAT BALOCH, of Commission to Study the Organization of Peace, said the right to life was the most sacred of all the human rights, and this right was flagrantly violated on 7 July, 2005 in London where about 60 innocent civilians lost their lives in suicide attacks and similarly on 22 July, 2005 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where about 90 persons were killed. According to the British Government, the suicide bombers had earlier visited Pakistan and were probably indoctrinated there. This allegation appeared to be correct. Since General Zia-ul-Haq captured power in Pakistan in 1977 and until recently, the Inter-Services Intelligence of the Pakistan Army had been giving military training to religious extremists and financing them. The repetition of the terrorist attacks like those in London could only be prevented if the use of religion as a weapon in politics was sincerely, honestly and completely eliminated all over the world and particularly in Pakistan. Non-governmental organizations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights should pressure the Pakistani Government in this regard.
REYNALDO MARIQUEO, of International Committee for the Indians of the Americas - INCOMINDIOS, said the situation of the Mapuche people was a concern to many non-governmental organizations. Their fundamental freedoms were being violated. Amnesty International had reported that the members of the Mapuche community were subjected to torture. Further concern was also expressed by thematic Rapporteurs with regard to the act of persecution of the Mapuche authorities and their community members. Their movement to restore their rights had received disproportionate repressive measures. In the case of Chile, where those Mapuche people lived, the anti-terrorism legislation was targeted to persecute the Mapuche community. A number of Mapuche leaders were still languishing in prisoners. There were a number of other cases in which police, without any warrant, continued to imprison Mapuche leaders. Police used disproportionate force as a deterrent to curb the movement of Mapuche people. The Mapuche people who claimed their lands were intimidated and penalized for crimes that they did not commit. The Government of Chile was manipulating its own laws in order to persecute the Mapuches who were struggling to recover their lands taken away by farmers supported by the State. Chile did not recognize the rights of the Mapuche people to self-determination and it should stop its repressive measures against the people.
M'HAMED MOHAMED CHEIKH, of International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations, said that since 21 May this year a series of peaceful demonstration against the occupation of Western Sahara had been brutally put down by the Moroccan authorities. There had been several casualties and injuries, as well as numerous arrests. An international campaign had been started in several European countries for the release of political prisoners. Despite the impressive employment of Moroccan security forces and police, the Government had also sent soldiers to hunt down Saharawi militants. Human rights violations like intimidation, harassment, confiscations of documents, and deportation had led to an unprecedented oppression of unarmed civilians. Images of women being beaten and trampled on by Moroccan soldiers and entire families being thrown into the street were symbolic of the situation of the Saharawi people. Eight delegations had been denied entry into Western Sahara, including a Norwegian delegation, which went to survey the situation of prisoners. The United Nations must use its authority to force Morocco to comply with international regulations. This was urgently needed for the protection of civilians.
GIANFRANCO FATTORINI, of Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples, welcomed the decision by the Polisario Front to liberate without conditions all war prisoners it had detained. The Movement continued to express its concern about the evolution of the situation in Western Sahara. Since 21 May, the repression perpetrated by the Moroccan Government had been intensified following the demonstrations that took place in El Ayoun. During the repression, hundreds of people had been arrested. When the Saharawi students in Rabat University expressed solidarity with the demonstrators, police entered the campus and brutally beat up both boys and girls. The journalists who were at the scene were arrested and their materials were confiscated. The Movement drew the attention of the Sub-Commission to the imposition of restrictions by the Moroccan authorities on the right to freedom of opinion. The Movement demanded, among other things, that Morocco investigate all allegations of torture impartially and independently.
ADILA ABASSI, of World Muslim Congress, said the Kashmiris struggle for the realization of their right to self-determination was being labelled as terrorism by the Indian Government to justify its brutal repression of the Kashmiri people. The World Muslim Congress agreed with Ms. Hampson when she said that States had a responsibility to protect people within their territories from terrorism, on the condition that they do not violate human rights standards in the process or commit terrorist acts themselves. The brutality by Indian forces did not end with killing innocent Kashmiri boys and men, thousands of Kashmiri women and girls were also raped. Like any occupation force, the continued presence of Indian forces had severely restricted the freedom of movement in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, torture, rape by police in custody, arbitrary arrests, detention and excessive use of force against the innocent Kashmiris was how India showed its muscles to innocent Kashmiris.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said the group ideally sought full condemnation by both the Sub-Commission and the Commission on Human Rights of any and all situations where Governments had seriously violated the human rights of their own citizens. In that context, the group clearly understood the political motivations of the States that had sought to limit the ability of the Sub-Commission to “name names” by means of country-specific resolutions. While her group accepted the Commission’s first rule limiting Sub-Commission action to situations that the Commission did not have under active review, it regretted the subsequent rule that denied the Sub-Commission the right to address any State in its resolutions. She welcomed the efforts by the Sub-Commission to find alternative avenues for communicating concerns raised by Sub-Commission members and NGOs about specific situations under agenda item 2.
ALTAF HUSSAIN WANI, of International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, said that although the agenda item on the question of violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all countries had been under consideration of the Sub-Commission since 1967, the Kashmiris continued to live under occupation due to India’s denial of their right to self-determination. In 58 years of Indian occupation of their soil, Kashmiris remained robbed of their basic human rights. More than 700,000 Indian troops had perpetuated gross and systematic human rights violations including extra-judicial killings, rapes, arbitrary detentions and restrictions, and restrictions of freedom of movement and expression. Over 80,000 Kashmiris had been killed since 1989. Thousands had been arrested and were now missing. The reform of the United Nations system would be meaningless if it failed to secure the realization of people’s legitimate rights. The people of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir looked towards the honourable members of the Sub-Commission for their support for an effective international human rights system that would bring an end to their more than half a century old Indian occupation and provide them with a chance to determine their own future.
MASOOD KHAN (Pakistan) said as the human rights architecture was being reconfigured under the reform of the United Nations, some had suggested that the Sub-Commission should be disbanded altogether and replaced with a body of ad hoc appointees. Pakistan thought that it would be a mistake. Since its creation in 1947, the Sub-Commission had served as a forum for dialogue and had produced an impressive body of normative work, including on the right to self-determination and the right to development. It should continue to do that work. Many proposals for new laws and treaties had germinated in the Sub-Commission. The Sub-Commission, as an independent think-thank, should continue to give expert advice to the primary human rights bodies and interpretative inputs for multilateral negotiations. Its cognitive tools were helpful in the development of international human rights law.
Recently, the world had once again been jolted by horrendous terrorist acts – in London, Iraq and Egypt. The international community should act together to fight those criminals, who spoke for no religion or ideology. They were criminals. They should not be treated as ideologues. They had their own perverted agenda. While dealing with those criminals the international community should resist the temptation to tar nations or civilizations with the terrorists’ brush, thus playing right into their hands. Muslim nations and communities were not terrorists’ backyards or captive constituencies. In London, the alleged terrorist bombers were British nationals – born, bred and educated in the United Kingdom – and they had Pakistani lineage. But their philosophy of hate belonged neither to the United Kingdom nor to Pakistan nor any other civilized people. If there was a problem, the international community should fix it together. Attempt should not be made to rationalize it by looking for scapegoats.
MIKE GBADEBO OMOTOSHO (Nigeria) commented on the work of the Sub-Commission in relation to the working paper produced by Ms. Francoise Hampson. Members of the Sub-Commission were appointed on the basis of their expertise and independence, which granted them the capacity to speak on serious human rights violations anywhere in the world. It was in this light that Nigeria found it useful to reiterate yet another important observation made by Ms. Hampson, to the effect that “the greater freedom of action of the Sub-Commission carries with it great responsibilities.” Expert members of the Sub-Commission should ensure that the information provided by non-governmental organizations was factual and that it was not calculated to deliberately embarrass Member States or injure the reputation of individuals. In order to ensure continued harmony and concord between them, the Sub-Commission should encourage greater interaction and dialogue between governments and civil society. Equal significance should be given to reports of violations of human rights regardless of where they occurred. This would have profound importance especially in the way Member States would view the work of the Sub-Commission and any follow-up action that may result thereof.
ALBERTO DUMONT (Argentina), referring to the resolution of the Commission on Human Rights on the right to truth, said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was preparing a follow-up to the resolution by consulting different bodies. Other organizations should join the Office in order to implement the resolution on the right to truth. With regard to impunity, the Argentinean Supreme Court, on 14 June 2005, had declared the law on amnesty, adopted by the Congress in 2003, as being unconstitutional. The law was intended to provide amnesty to all persons who served during the military dictatorship. Concerning the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Government had taken measures to implement them in collaboration with the technical cooperation service of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. A National Plan of Action against discrimination had already been elaborated. For that matter, it was restructuring its institutions that would strengthen anti-discriminatory activities. Within the United Nations reform announced by the Secretary-General, Argentina supported the creation of the proposed Human Rights Council.
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