SUB-COMMISSION HEARS ADDRESSES FROM NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights
55th session
8 August 2003
Afternoon





The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this afternoon heard a series of statements by representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on economic, social and cultural rights.
Many speakers stressed the need for the adoption of a code of conduct for the working methods and activities of transnational corporations in order to establish their civil and criminal responsibilities concerning human rights violations.
The Indian Movement “Tubaj Amaru” said the ardent wish to design a legal context to regulate the conduct of the transnational corporations was not new. Since the transnational companies were so powerful, they always escaped any State regulation affecting them. However, it was essential that the international community expressed its desire to codify the conduct of the transnational corporations operating throughout the world.
The International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies said economic globalization in the sense of a more free flow of information, trade, financial capital and to some extent labour across national boundaries was becoming the order of the day. Transnational corporations were not only responsible for concentration of wealth in a few hands, but in that process, they were violating the human rights of people in many ways; they did that in their employment practices and by a complete neglect of environmental issues, by supporting corrupt regimes, and by using their economic and political influence to force States to adopt policies against labour and welfare.
The Indian Council of Education said that for more than two decades, poor people around the world had been getting poorer and their absolute numbers were rising. It was now becoming quite clear that these conditions reflected the dominant economic trend of the time – globalization. The rhetoric that accompanied this term left people feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.
NGOs raised other issues, including the violation of economic, social and cultural rights in specific countries and regions; the feminization of poverty; and ensuring the economic, social and cultural rights of children, especially indigenous children.
The representatives of the following non-governmental organizations contributed statements: Fraternite Notre Dame, Inc; Amnesty International; Christian Aid; Transnational Radical Party; Voluntary Action Network India; International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations; Europe-Third World Centre; Indian Movement "Tupaj Umaru";International Association of Democratic Lawyers; Franciscans International; American Association of Jurists; Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples; Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization; International Educational Development, Inc.; All for Reparations and Emancipation; International Environmental Law Research Centre; Oxfam GB; European Union of Public Relations; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Defence for children international; Asian Women's Human Rights Council; Women's Sports Foundation; International Institute for Peace; International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies; International Movement ATD Fourth World; Indian Council of Education; and Association Tunisienne pour l'Auto-Developpement et la Solidarite (ATLAS).
When the Sub-Commission reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 11 August, it will continue it debate on economic, social and cultural rights.

Statements
MARIA SABINE LEGRAND, of Fraternite Notre Dame, Inc., said that the missionaries working for Fraternite Notre Dame were undertaking activities aimed at eradicating poverty. Amongst other programmes, villages had been supported and hospitals had been built in Mongolia. Examples in other countries and regions were the establishment of a missionary school, and taking care of people with leprosy. Good will could level mountains, and through small but important initiatives, more and more poor people were beginning to see their economic, social and cultural rights realized.
MELINDA CHING, of Amnesty International, said that her group supported the Draft Norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights. Amnesty International had participated actively in the process of the elaboration of the Draft Norms, and saw the resulting text as comprehensive, authoritative and offering a much needed and practical foundation for ensuring that private companies respected human rights. There was hope that the Sub-Commission would approve the draft. The draft provided a useful statement of the scope of human rights obligations on private companies. There was a large body of international human rights law, and it was not always obvious which of its many provisions would create direct responsibilities for companies. Adopting the Norms and commentary would be an important step and that step should not await further efforts to develop implementation measures. Amnesty International encouraged the Sub-Commission to begin the process of developing mechanisms for implementing the Norms and commentary.
ISABELLA D. BUNN, of Christian Aid, said some forms of corporate activity were detrimental to development, violated human rights, and caused harm to the environment, especially affecting vulnerable and unprotected populations. Christian Aid was involved in the issues of corporate social accountability as a pivotal part of its work on ensuring that international trade and trade rules were used to further the interests of poor people. The interests of poor people were more likely to be met by ensuring that the expansion of corporate activity took place within the context of the evolution and development of a regulatory framework monitored by a global body able to promote the enforcement of minimal standards. Christian Aid saw the United Nations Draft Norms as a potentially important means of harnessing the potential of transnational corporations so that they would be a more positive force in achieving long term development and poverty reduction, helping to build momentum for a comprehensive and legally-binding international instrument. This was not an abstract policy issue on an interesting question of international law – it was a matter for the world’s poor.
ENVER CAN, of Transnational Radical Party, said that people of the autonomous region of eastern Turkestan were experiencing a life and daily struggle for survival. The people – Uighur – were arrested, imprisoned and even executed by the Chinese authorities just for demanding their rights guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution. Their rights and fundamental freedoms, including their civil, political or economic, social, and cultural rights were systematically violated in a country that had ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Uighurs were persecuted because they advocated the adherence to international norms and pleaded to share equal right with the Chinese in their civil, political, economic, social and cultural life. They were often portrayed as separatists, and as a people who resorted to violence to reach their objective, which was untrue.
PRAHBU NARAYAN MISHRA, of Voluntary Action Network India, said the right to live with dignity was the most fundamental of all the human rights. Living with dignity meant that everyone was treated and respected like a human being and had equal opportunities to develop, grow and realize one’s full potential. If the right to live with dignity was not there, other civil rights would be redundant. In certain parts of India, economic development had been at a standstill for a long time. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was a case in point where in spite of excellent resources, both physical and human – the state had not been able to make rapid progress. One major cause of this poor development was terrorism, which had its roots and support outside the physical boundary of India. It had led to an erosion of civil rights, encroached on the dignity of human beings and had hampered economic growth. All around, efforts were necessary to reach the position where people lived with dignity and had adequate economic resources. Such efforts must focus on economic and industrial development on one hand and on curbing all such causes that were detrimental to human rights, including terrorism, on the other hand.
YASMIN SADDIQ, of International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, said that in the modern world, human rights still remained fundamental to global order that was stable and lasting. However, in an increasingly globalized world one needed to agree on a new set of principles which would guide the promotion and protection of human rights with a greater focus on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. This set of fundamental human rights had not only been ignored by the international community for the better part of the history of human rights, but they still remained at the secondary level of implementation despite being declared as fundamental by the Vienna Conference and other international covenants and declarations. Her organization was of the view that there must be an all-inclusive approach towards the promotion, protection and realization of all human rights that was based on economic, social and cultural rights as being integral to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights.
MALIK OZDEN, of Europe-Third World Centre, said that a neo-liberal globalization had been on its way for a while and was leading to further internationalization of institutions and the markets. Its existence and direction depended to a great extent on the institutions and rules established by the international community. The idea that globalization and democracy went hand in hand was far from the truth, the market only worked because it was regulated based on concepts such as “might is right”. The market was developing according to the objectives of a few economically hegemonic states and according to their benefit. At the same time, great parts of the world were experiencing poverty, unemployment, armed conflicts, corruption and a general lack of opportunity. The report presented before the Sub-Commission on globalization and the responsibility of all actors of globalization had been very interesting but it must be expanded to reaffirm the legal obligation of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It should further reaffirm the primacy of human rights in commercial and trade agreements. It was also necessary for the report to stress that the rules that governed relations between States should be founded on international law.
LAZARO PARY, of Indian Movement "Tupaj Umaru", said that within the promotion of the economic, social and cultural rights in the context of globalization, States were questioned on the legal nature of the transnational corporations, which were solidly installed in various manners. The ardent wish to design a legal context to regulate the conduct of those corporations was not new. Since the transnational companies were so powerful, they always escaped any State regulation affecting them. However, it was essential that the international community expressed its desire to codify the conduct of the transnational corporations operating throughout the world. The existence of a legal framework with regard to the conduct of those companies would allow authorities to track down the illicit operation of the companies and to punish them. The transnational companies were the cause of mass unemployment, capital speculation and international financial crisis. According to UNCTAD, in 2002, there were 65,000 such corporations around the world with their 850,000 branches. For example, Nestle was all over the world, including China, Viet Nam and Colombia, and was exploiting cheap labour.
OSAMU NIKURA, of International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said that Japan, a country famous for its pacifist Constitution, was reportedly going to ratify the Protocol to the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights. Already civil societies in Japan such as the Japanese Workers’ Committee for Human Rights had gathered more than 3,000 signatures for a petition on the ratification of the Protocol. It might be true that Japan was a country where no grave violations of human rights were occurring. But it was wrong to say the Japan was among the strong advocates for the implementation of international instruments of human rights. One of the most serious problems faced in this field was delayed remedy in human rights cases. Some people’s cases had taken nearly 16 years to win. Human rights victims suffered twice when they were denied judicial remedies. It was urgent to create or recreate effective and feasible mechanisms for the sake of affording remedies and support to victims of human rights violations.
YVES SOUDAN, of Franciscans International, said the demarcation line between poverty and extreme poverty might be fluid, but it was very real. The persistence of multiple insecurities over a long period, sometimes several generations, appeared to contribute to the decline from a situation of poverty into one of extreme poverty. Persons and communities were thus deprived of the possibility of assuming basic responsibilities necessary for the full enjoyment of their fundamental rights. This was a global and systemic condition that affected one’s human dignity and impacted on all rights. Franciscans International welcomed the encouragement given by the Sub-Commission for the Ad Hoc Working Group to adopt an approach based on universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelation of all human rights. Extreme poverty was more than the inability to realize a single right, or a given category of rights. Rather it was the inability to realize human rights as a whole. Therefore, it was clear that the fight against extreme poverty would not be successful – and might even be a waste of resources – if it was limited to a purely economic question. The main issue was to reaffirm the human dignity of persons by enabling them and their communities to exercise their rights. The Sub-Commission was recommended to specifically deal with extreme poverty and to adopt a human rights based approach. It was further recommended to encourage the creation of a pertinent set of indicators in order to grasp the reality of extreme poverty.
HERNAN MOTTA MOTTA, of American Association of Jurists, said that the revised document 2003/12 of the draft by the Working Group had shown improvement compared to the initial text, which was four years old. The Working Group did not take into consideration the proposals presented by the Association concerning the responsibilities of transnational corporations and their subcontractors with regard to their involvement in human rights violations. The draft did not include a norm that would make companies accountable for the breaches they committed. In the process of oil transfer to a tanker, for example, if there was environment damage, the owner of the oil was not held responsible. The Association deplored that the Working Group charged with drafting Norms on the working methods and activities of transnational corporations did not take into consideration the proposition it submitted on the responsibilities of the corporations’ branches and subcontractors concerning human rights violations. Such an omission would leave a lacuna in the Norms for impunity. He stressed that the Draft Norms did not mention the civil and criminal responsibilities of the leaders who had taken the decisions to violate human rights.
ROLANDE BORRELLY, of Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples, noted with satisfaction the work that was to be undertaken by the Sub-Commission on the right to development. It was hoped that this work would help the analysis of other related topics. The Sub-Commission had so far only had a rather tangential analysis of the right to development. It would therefore be necessary to identify a solid definition of this right. The needs of people were determined by the state of development in a community, country or region. Freedom to trade and to undertake business activities had been useful in the past, however the history of later-comers in development showed that the greater the gap, the greater the contribution. It was necessary therefore to support and encourage development. The right to development was the matrix of all other rights. It was stressed that the Sub-Commission must adopt a very broad view when dealing with the concept of development.
HAMSA ABDEL-HAMID GENIDY, of Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, said that with the unstable economies of the third world countries, the rate of feminization of poverty had increased. Data indicated that 70 per cent of the poor in the world were women. Women were confronted with more challenges owing to trade liberalization and privatization, which led to an increase in poverty rates. Unemployment gave rise to the feminization of poverty and consequently women were the poorest of the poor. Although the aim of globalization was connecting people from different parts of the world together, communication technology and the digital divide could make the third world countries more and more marginalized. The worrying human rights situation due to the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq and the situation in the Middle East were highlighted. Amid the continuous deterioration of economic human rights, the Sub-Commission was recommended to review all the progress made to develop and improve present and future strategies; and reactivate the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and the Declaration on Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflicts.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, Inc., said that the group was pleased that last year the Sub-Commission had decided to address the impact of corruption to the realization of human rights and had appointed Ms. Mbonu to prepare a working paper that gave a useful overview of this important issue. She had identified the abuse of office, which was considered especially important as a means by which certain governments sought to perpetuate their rule and ideological position rather than governing fairly with concern for what was best for all. At present in the United States, for example, there was a regime which lied to its people and legislative representatives, that distorted the most basic of information needed for democratic processes to its narrow ideological ends, that operated with seemingly complete disdain for national opinion, and that rewarded fiscal corruption with high government posts. The aim of the regime was to maintain a political advantage over its opponents, and to use being in government office to do so.
ARIF AAJAKIA, of All for Reparations and Emancipation, said the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights, including the right to development, entitled every human person and all peoples to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural, civil and political development in which all human rights could be fully realized. But, when some hegemonic groups took control of all State resources and made common people hostages, none of the above could be implemented. In Pakistan, the province of Sindh alone was contributing more than 70 per cent of the revenue annually. However, the province of Sindh itself remained subjugated and deprived of its due share as well as its waters. Sindh was an occupied province being administered by the ruling oligarchy consisting of feudal lords with a view to safeguard the interests of the Province of Punjab at any cost. It was essential that solutions were found that accelerated the pace of economic development, alleviated abject poverty, reduced illiteracy and suffering and that brought about harmony amongst the provinces.
ALEXANDRE DUFRESNE, of International Environmental Law Research Centre, said that in agriculture, the development of genetically modified plant varieties by transnational corporations relied to a large extent on the incentives provided by intellectual property rights, in particular patents and plant breeders rights. Intellectual property rights also had the potential to restrict existing rights of farmers to save seeds, exchange seeds and replant seeds from their own harvest. In most developing countries, agriculture continued to constitute the backbone of most economies. Most of the population in developing countries worked in the agricultural sector. In this context, agricultural management was of fundamental importance to the fulfillment of the right to food for all. The Sub-Commission must therefore undertake a specific study of the impact of the introduction of intellectual property rights in the agricultural field in developing countries.
HYDER KHAN, of Oxfam GB, said that Oxfam was confident that the Draft Norms were a much needed contribution towards achieving respect for human rights because it recognized the important role that businesses played. Oxfam believed that companies must conduct all aspects of their business in a manner that advanced rather then hindered human development. Meeting this expectation involved the company accepting responsibility for its operations, assessing that impact and responding by mitigating negatives effects and initiating positive ones. By stating that business enterprises were bound to respect human rights and by articulating how they could do so, the Norms invaluably affirmed this expectation. Oxfam had worked over many years with people living in poverty in over 70 countries and it was hoped that Oxfam’s values and experiences would encourage the Sub-Commission to give serious consideration to their support for the Draft Norms.
FIRDOUS SYED, of European Union of Public Relations, said the trouble torn region of Jammu and Kashmir had been caught in the web of violence for almost 15 years. The experience and studies conducted by national and international agencies proved the point beyond any doubt that the mayhem of violence had not only stunned the economic activities in the region but that a downward trend was quite visible. The beginning of the peace process had a very favourable impact on the overall situation in Kashmir. These last four months had undoubtedly been the best period for the people of Kashmir in the last violent decade and a half. There was a great need to sustain this atmosphere, and for international opinion to play a role by isolating the agents of extremism and terrorism. Despite the initiation of the peace process there was no end to cross border infiltration. People in Kashmir had no doubt that the violence was aimed against the peace process and to halt the economic development of Kashmir. The organization earnestly sought the intervention of the Sub-Commission to promote the peace process in Kashmir by all means at its disposal, in order to protect and promote the right to development of the people of Kashmir.
ANNA BIONDI BIRD, of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said that since the 1970s, her Confederation had been calling for the international regulation of international business. The emergence of a global economy had reinforced support for this, making it more urgent and strengthening the case for that logical demand. It should be clear now that the possibilities of development, social justice and the protection of human rights in a global market would follow the same logic that the Confederation had learned from its national experiences. Those experiences were that those possibilities were greatly increased by, and for the most part determined by, the institutional and legal frameworks including those that regulated business activity. There was a need to put in place international frameworks and institutions that sought to minimize the negative consequences and to maximize the positive aspects of international business activity.
DORA GIUSTI, of Defence for children international, said that the concluding observations, general comments and recommendations from thematic discussions of the Committee on the Rights of the Child must be used more extensively. The impact of different types of providers in specific sectors on children’s rights must be further explored and a serious of measures must be implemented to guarantee better compliance with the rights of the child by the different players involved in non-state service provision. The organization urged the Sub-Commission to integrate and follow up the recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in their work. In particular, there was a need to reflect on how to ensure that national standards for child nutrition as well as health and social services were carefully monitored and established by competent and independent authorities guided by the highest criteria of quality, and without undue influence from vested economic interests. Similarly, it was suggested that members of the Working Group on indigenous populations became involved in the day of general discussion of the Committee on the rights of indigenous children. In conclusion, more systematic efforts to mainstream children’s rights into the work of the Sub-Commission were encouraged.
AKIRA MAEDA, of Asian Women's Human Rights Council, drew attention to the recent uproar over whether students at schools for Asian ethnic minorities should be granted equal access to national universities in Japan. For the past six years, the Council had been advocating for the equal access to education in Japan under the same item at the Sub-Commission. Amid protests from the Asian schools, the Japanese Education Ministry had decided to reconsider its plan and was considering extending the exemption of Daiken requirements not only to Western international schools but also to other ethnic schools. The move followed a wave of public criticism and protests from Asian schools together with so many conscientious Japanese people, including politicians, lawyers, teachers and students for being excluded from the plan.
WILDA SPILDING, of Women's Sports Foundation, said the power of the inner discipline of athletics, the lessons learned through team activities and the dignified “playing the of the game” was a tool not only for the promotion and protection of human rights but for the advancement for healthy individuals and societies which was at the core of creating a world in which enduring peace could advance. Whether in local fields or at global gatherings such as the Olympic Games, sports were an important tool for creating healthy, responsible individuals and societies in which peace and harmony could indeed thrive.
TATIANA SHAUMIAN, of International Institute for Peace, said that in many parts of the world, the rights of children were being violated. Children who should be in schools when they reached school age had been prevented from having education because of the expensive teaching fees and lack of educational structures. Of the 680 million children of primary school age in the developing countries, 175 million did not attend school. In India, 40 million children were not in primary schools, more than a third of the world’s total. However, enrolment did not mean completion. Just over half the children who started primary school finished it. In Ghana, two-thirds of rural families could not afford to send their children to school, and in Accra the inability to pay school fees was the main reason for dropping out.
PRAMILA SRIVASTAVA, of (International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies) said economic globalization in the sense of a more free flow of information, trade, financial capital and to some extent labour across national boundaries was becoming the order of the day. The proponents of globalization had been arguing that the resources of the world would be used more efficiently as a result of this process. In view of this, it was worth examining whether economic growth, the pace of which, it was claimed became quicker during the process of globalization, resulted in improvements in human well being. In fact, the available statistics on any norms of human well being spoke for itself -- one billion were unemployed or underemployed and 11 million children died every year from easily treatable diseases. Transnational corporations were not only responsible for concentration of wealth in a few hands, but in that process, they were violating the human rights of the people in many ways. They did this in their employment practices and by a complete neglect of environmental issues, by supporting corrupt regimes, and by using their economic and political influence forcing the States to adopt policies against labour and welfare. The Institute therefore supported the Sub-Commission initiative to establish a sessional Working Group on the work and activities of transnational corporations. It was hoped that reality would be taken into account in the work of the Working Group. This reality was that a fifth of the developing world’s population went hungry every night and that a quarter lacked access to safe drinking water.
THIERRY VIARD, of International Movement ATD Fourth World, said that the international community should give equal importance to the fight against misery as it did to terrorism. There was an urgency to react. Millions of families and persons were living in extreme poverty, and they were seeking solutions to survive and to give their children a dignifying future. His group, in collaboration with seven non-governmental organizations, had submitted a paper on human rights and extreme poverty. The measures to eliminate extreme poverty should focus on the most vulnerable groups; the right to lead minimum living standards; and on the legal aspects. An approach based on human rights would oblige the political authorities to focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged who were mostly excluded socially. No one should be left on the side of the mainstream.
RAJA GOPALAN ARAVINDAN, of Indian Council of Education, said that for more than two decades, poor people around the world had been getting poorer and their absolute numbers were rising. It was now becoming quite clear that these conditions reflected the dominant economic trend of the times – globalization. The rhetoric that accompanied this term left people feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. Jargon-filled discourse on market forces masked the raw violence of economic exploitation, suggesting that the economy functioned according to scientific principles instead of political choices. Social and political compulsions and biases prevented many industrial countries from taking a laissez-faire attitude toward cross-border flows. Consequently, the global market for unskilled labour remained extremely fragmented. While developed nations kept their doors closed to the free mobility of labour of developing countries, the multinationals of these very developed countries utilized the same poor labour to reduce their production costs, increase their market share and increase their profits. In this context, the Council placed on record its appreciation for the commendable reports produced by the Working Group on extreme poverty and human rights and the Special Rapporteur on globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights and urged the Sub-Commission to impress on members of the international community the need to be faithful to their commitments made through the United Nations Charter and other Declarations.
MONCEF BALTI, of Association Tunisienne pour l'Auto-Developpement et la Solidarite (ATLAS), said that the objective of his association was to improve the income and living conditions of the population living in some disadvantaged rural areas in northern Tunisia. Despite the important achievements during the last few years at the national level, the economic and social development indicators still needed further improvement. Thanks its integrated approach and method, the association was able to change the mentality of the population and develop a spirit of solidarity among its members. Other non-governmental organizations were also involved in the process of solidarity as partners.



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