SUB-COMMISSION HEARS FROM NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AS DISCUSSION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONTINUESAS DISCUSSION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONTINUES

Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights
54th session
7 August 2002
Afternoon


The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights carried on this afternoon with its general debate on economic, social and cultural rights, listening to a series of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on matters ranging from the protection of social and cultural diversity, and local control of national resources, to the prevention of economic or social discrimination against minorities.
A representative of the NGO Centre Europe - Tiers Monde charged that economic globalization was neither natural nor irreversible -- that liberalization of trade and business was a policy pursued by rich nations and transnational corporations that had had negative effects for most of the planet; that societies and economies were disrupted and corruption had increased; and that populations were losing their cultures and stability.
A representative of Interfaith International said discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, language, culture or belief generally stemmed from tyrannical attitudes of majority populations and led to violations of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights.
A trend towards privatization of water supplies was lamented by several NGOs, and Sub-Commission Expert Francoise Jane Hampson said water supply was becoming such a critical matter that there was a real risk of conflict breaking out within the foreseeable future over water resources.
Representatives of the following NGOs addressed the meeting: Liberation; the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization; the International Institute for Peace; the Transnational Radical Party; Centre Europe - Tiers Monde; Interfaith International; International Educational Development; the International Movement for Fraternal Union among Races and Peoples; the Women's Sports Foundation; the European Union of Public Relations; the International Indian Treaty Council; the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues; the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations; the Asian Centre for Organization, Research and Development; Atlas (Association tunisiene pour l'Auto-developpement et la solidarite); the Arab Lawyers Union; Pax Romana; Medecins du monde; the Minority Rights Group; and the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples.
Sub-Commission Expert El Hadji Guisse also spoke.
The Sub-Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 8 August, to hear presentation of a report of a Working Group on the effects on human rights of the activities and working methods of transnational corporations. Over the course of the morning, the Sub-Commission may also begin its debate on prevention of discrimination.

Statements on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
AMBREEN HISBANI, of Liberation, said it had been almost 36 years since the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Pakistan had ratified this Covenant in 1966, yet to this date, Pakistan had not established any laws or executed policies to protect the basic rights of its smaller nations, women, and religious minorities. Crisis and instability in Pakistan derived from the country's composition in its' present form, in which one province, namely Punjab, had an overwhelming domination in all spheres of power. Punjab had dominated Pakistan through the successive military regimes and peoples of smaller provinces, especially Sindh and Balochistan, were being denied their due political, economic, social and cultural rights.
General Musharaf - the self-imposed President of Pakistan - had recently announced a set of "constitutional amendments" legitimizing his military dictatorship. These amendments guaranteed a permanent and dominant role for the military in all future Governments in Pakistan. This setup would deprive the oppressed nations, including Sindh and Balochistan, from having any share in the governance of their own provinces or in the federal Government. The only way to prevent future terrorism activities and ensure permanent prosperity in this part of the world was to de-centralise Pakistan and de-Punjabize its army. The Sub-Commission was called upon to ask the military Government to respect human rights and let the peoples of Pakistan decide their own destiny. Liberation also expressed concern about the controversial building of the Thal Canal, which would have deep environmental and ecological impacts on the people of Sindh, and stressed that water dispute amelioration was as important, more effective, and less costly, than conflict resolution.
U.S SHARMA, of the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, said the right to development referred to the realisation of all the rights - civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights - in their totality as an integrated whole, as all these right were interrelated and interdependent. To illustrate the opportunities and pitfalls in the realization of the right to development, the representative of the organization used the example of his own State of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It was stressed that Jammu and Kashmir had been the third richest state in the Indian Union in terms of per capita income, prior to the advent of externally sponsored and aided militancy and terrorism. A neighbouring country had attempted to highlight alleged electoral irregularities in the mid-1980s and channel the grievances of some people in a different and dangerous direction. How else could one explain the killing of their own people, the destruction of their own economy and the prevention of their own state by the militants? Today, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were only talking about their desire for peace and restoration of normalcy.
More than 85 per cent of the population of Jammu and Kashmir believed that lasting peace and stability, crucial for the realization of the right to development, could only be achieved through economic development; free and fair elections; direct consultations between India and the people of Kashmir; an end to militant violence; and stopping the infiltration of militants across the Line of Control separating India and Pakistan. The organization called for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be given the freedom to use their innate talent and genius to rebuild their shattered society and realize their inalienable right to development through peaceful democratic means.
PANKAJ BHAN, of the International Institute for Peace, said political and social systems intended to create artificial homogeneity severely impaired the potential of their citizens and the ability of different groups to contribute to society. Afghanistan under the Taliban was one example. The constitutional, legal, and institutional structures of nations needed to be fashioned so that majorities had to respect the rights and freedoms of minority groups. The strength of humanity lay in its diversity.
In the case of Pakistan, such national structures had many flaws that ensured negative divisions in society and provided official sanction for discrimination. The Constitution did not permit any minority person to become President of the country, and the laws had declared an entire community, the Ahmedyas, pariahs, and had reduced women to the status of chattels who could be killed to preserve the honour of the menfolk. The international human rights community, for whom the people of Pakistan were valued members of the global family, needed to focus on the processes under way in the country so that other nations could be cautioned about the pitfalls of pursuing misplaced strategic and political ambitions at the cost of the people's welfare.
ENVER CAN, of the Transnational Radical Party, said since 1949 the land of the Uighur people and other non-Han people, located in the centre of Asia, had been occupied by the Chinese regime. Under the Chinese colonial occupation, the Uighurs were experiencing a life and death struggle for survival; their fundamental rights and freedom, including civil, social, political and economic rights, continued to be violated and even deprived. It was common in today's East Turkistan that the Uighurs were arrested, imprisoned and even executed by the Chinese authorities. The Uighurs were persecuted just because they advocated the adherence to human rights and wanted to share equal rights with the Chinese in their political, economic and social life.
Together with population transfers, the present Chinese Government was also applying a series of policies in order to accelerate the economic exploitation in East Turkistan, favouring the Chinese population to the detriment of the indigenous people, particularly in the exploitation of oil, gas and other natural resources. The destruction of the Uighur culture was not a simple phenomenon, but a programmed and systematic process imposed by the Chinese Communist Government. This destruction was carried out to the full, involving the undermining of Uighur terminology, music, gastronomy, clothing and architecture. Furthermore, the Chinese style economic structure was pushing the Uighur educational system aside, and the survival of the Uighur language itself had become a serious question. The Transnational Radical Party called upon the Sub-Commission to send an inquiry mission to verify access by Uighurs to the labour market and to the educational system; to urge China to stop the notorious birth control policy imposed on Uighur women against their will; and to stop illegal population transfers to East Turkistan against the will of the local people, and to repel its recent decision to abolish teaching in Uighur language at the University.
MALIK OZDEN, of Centre Europe - Tiers Monde, said the report on globalization presented last year had said the process was neither natural nor irreversible. In fact, liberalization of trade and business was the policy of rich nations and transnational corporations and had had negative effects for most of the planet; societies and economies were disrupted; corruption increased; populations lost their cultures and stability. The negotiations which recently started in the World Trade Organization on privatization of public services were of great concern. The liberalization of other sectors had had disastrous consequences for most parts of the world, particularly the countries of the South, and even former officials of the international financial institutions had admitted as much.
It was wrong to say that developing countries had been profiting from economic integration. It was necessary to correct inequalities caused by cycles of previous negotiations on world trade; these agreements had been organized and supported by the rich nations, and they had intended to benefit from them and had done so to the detriment of poorer nations. Transnational corporations (TNCs) had developed immense power; the wealth of the largest of them exceeded that of numerous developing countries. A binding legal framework to control the activities of TNCs was needed. As for the right to water, a written statement had been circulated to the Sub-Commission calling attention to the harmful consequences of the privatization of water systems. The right to water was a human right; water could not be treated solely as a good to be bought and sold.
FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Sub-Commission Expert, said she welcomed the great leap forward achieved by the Working Group on transnational corporations. She was delighted that the Sub-Commission also finally had spent considerable time looking at the right to water. She hoped that Mr. Guisse would consider the impact on women of the problem of access to water. Who was it who did not go to school because of the need to get the family's water - girls. Who was it whose agricultural work was disrupted by the hours spent getting water - women. To illustrate the importance of Mr. Guisse's study, she noted that there was a real risk of conflict breaking out within the foreseeable future over water resources. That was why it was so important that a study be undertaken now.
Concerning the report on extreme poverty, she agreed with the comments of those who would like to see the issue of gender and the feminization of poverty addressed separately, rather than just dealing with women as one of many vulnerable groups. On the two reports from the Office of the High Commissioner, she said that she agreed with Mr. Weissbrodt's intervention and hoped that it would lead to a specific proposal. An illustration of the problem could be found in the banana case, where the European Union was forced to comply with a decision of the World Trade Organization which had an adverse impact on the enjoyment of human rights in small Caribbean States. If their ability to sell their bananas in Europe was compromised, into what could they diversify? The most obvious and lucrative answer was drugs.
On liberalization of trade in services, Ms. Hampson said she had two areas of concern. First, what the report called commercial presence or mode 3. That referred to the economic activities of foreign companies. The report did make clear that a variety of problems could arise, to which reference had been made by other speakers. There were critical issues of access to the services in question. Commercial enterprises did not usually engage in cross-subsidization but that was often necessary to ensure access to a service for everyone. Second, she had a concern about mode 4 or the presence of foreign persons. She said the report paid inadequate attention to the problems. At one end of the spectrum, there was the movement of highly qualified personnel. This might result in a brain drain. Was a State entitled to prevent such departures if it did not have enough trained personnel to discharge its own obligations, assuming that it was willing to pay the people in question? Could the State require a certain number of years of service in that country? There was also the other end of the spectrum - the hundreds of thousands of unskilled people who took positions in other countries. These often involved domestic services, where the majority of those employed were women. They were often, in effect, domestic slaves. States needed to find ways to protect such workers. Concerns were also raised about the document of the Office of the High Commissioner on intellectual property rights and patent law and their impact on human rights protection.
Ms. Hampson concluded by expressing her gratitude for the participation of the World Bank in the deliberations of the Sub-Commission. It had been particularly useful since what had developed this morning had been a dialogue as opposed to presentations. She hoped that other bodies, such as the IMF, would one day be persuaded of the usefulness of a dialogue and would follow the example of the World Bank.
MOHAMED AHSAN, of Interfaith International, said discrimination against certain groups of people on the basis of ethnicity, language, culture or belief generally stemmed from what was patently called the tyranny of majorities. Since the majority enjoyed the privilege of monopolizing public opinion, this wayward attitude towards the minorities left much to be desired. But when a military junta was at the helm of affairs through usurpation of power, the majority group became all the more assertive and arrogant. Treatment meted out by the ruling oligarchy of Punjab to ethnic, linguistic and cultural minorities of Pakistan in general, and to the citizens of Sindh in particular, presented a classical example of discrimination in economic, social and cultural fields.
Sindh, whose economy essentially depended on agrarian pursuits, had been subjected to a man-made crisis, unjust as well as inhuman. Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority had considerably reduced Sindh's water allocation thereby tearing up the 1991 Water Accord. The measure also vitiated the recommendations of the World Health Organization of ensuring supply of fresh drinking water. It had spelt devastation to the economy of the province and the crops, cattle and peasants were all in the throes of decimation. It was stressed that the Lyari Expressway project in Karachi was yet another conspiracy of the ruling oligarchy of Punjab that was pursuing its insatiable thirst of colonising Sindh. The project would cause the forcible eviction of 25,000 families. The Sub-Commission was appealed to impress upon and seek a commitment from the Government of Pakistan that all discrimination against Sindh and Sindhis was stopped immediately and that they were provided with their respectable place in the national mainstream.
EL HADJI GUISSE, Sub-Commission Expert, said he valued the commentary of his fellow Experts on the reports on drinking water and on poverty. All that had been said about the study on drinking water had been an encouragement; more examples and specific instances had been provided, and these would be incorporated into his continuing work on the matter. Water was already a source of conflict, and if nations now were fighting over oil, in fifteen or twenty years they would be fighting over water. Future reports on poverty also would include the suggestions made by his fellow Experts.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said that the organization considered that the protection of culture was essential to the fulfilment of human rights. Destruction of any part of the world's cultural heritage could constitute genocide. Acts purposely carried out to obliterate cultural references necessary to maintain a particular people or carried out with blatant disregard for cultural heritage must be viewed as reaching the level of intent necessary to meet the definition of genocide. The organization was extremely alarmed at the possibility that the United States would carry out military actions in Iraq in the near future. The use of fuel-air bombs and bunker busters in Baghdad would cause a catastrophic loss of human life and great suffering of survivors - if any. But such a bombing would also destroy the priceless heritage of the cradle of civilization and would cause a disastrous disintegration of the cultural soul of the Iraqi people who survived. The organization was convinced that the "regime change" plans of the United States would also destroy a large part of the Kurdish people and their cultural rights.
Concerning Mr. Guisse's report on water, International Educational Development stressed that scientists were now proposing that one cause of the recent cycles of drought in Africa was the migrating air pollution from North America. Mr. Guisse was requested to look into this issue. Regarding extreme poverty and the right to food, the organization was dismayed that the United States sought to impose genetically modified corn on countries seeking humanitarian food aid to avert starvation. Concerns raised in many quarters were enough to ban the use of genetically altered foodstuffs in emergency food relief and it was hoped that the Sub-Commission would link into this issue.
PAUL BEERSMANS, of the International Movement for Fraternal Union among Races and Peoples, said the population of Kashmir was being terrorized by different groups of terrorists, militants, and mercenaries, many of them supported from across the border. The militancy had its origins in some genuine grievances which had been mishandled by the Indian Government -- normal striving for more autonomy and even independence had been funnelled by foreign mercenaries into a jehad, or holy war of Muslim fundamentalists.
Years of bloodshed and violence had proved that a gun culture did not bring peace and prosperity but only destruction. Economic, social and cultural rights suffered. It was time for a pragmatic approach and bold steps. All parties involved must peacefully seek a lasting solution. The Governments of India and Pakistan were urged to respect their mutual commitments and resume bilateral and meaningful negotiations over Jammu and Kashmir.
WILDA SPALDING, of the Women's Sports Foundation, said one of their programmes "Go Girl Go!" was designed to enable young girls to live responsible lives, not only as part of their sports teams but in the ever larger society that was the global community. Through this process, youth were encouraged to play a meaningful role in the substantive development of life locally and increasingly to voice and participate positively in the issues and formation of a healthy life within the international family. Although education, peace education and health education in particular, were of great concern to youth, sustainable development with all of its facets both nourished by and held accountable to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the primary focus of their message to the Sub-Commission.
Youth urgently called for the continuation of the Working Group on indigenous populations; and the drafting, approval and wide distribution of simplified versions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They requested the Secretary-General to call a trans-generational meeting; urged consideration of the Tobin Tax or similar initiatives; and requested more transnational corporations and United Nations Member States to play an active role in promoting and implementing the Global Compact to ensure respect for human rights, labour law and the environment.
MOHAMMED KHAN, of the European Union of Public Relations, said the denial of economic, social and cultural rights to groups or minorities could amount to an effort to keep certain peoples under subjugation. Both parts of Jammu and Kashmir had such a situation. In the Indian-held part, economic, social and cultural rights had been violated for the past 13 years through militancy by security forces and extremist groups.
The situation in Pakistan-held Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan was equally grim and distressing. People were being deprived of education, clean drinking water and health services. The area of Gilgit Baltistan lacked not only economic, social and cultural rights but was being ruled without a constitution. There were only two hospitals and two colleges. There was no legislative assembly and the denial of rights could not even be appealed in court since the area did not fall under the jurisdiction of Pakistani courts. The grievances of the people of Gilgit Baltistan needed to be viewed sympathetically.
ANTONIO GONZALES, of the International Indian Treaty Council, said there was no doubt that indigenous peoples were peoples in every sense of the word, even though the struggle for the full recognition of indigenous peoples as peoples continued to this day. As peoples they could not be denied their means of subsistence which included the right to drinking water. Indigenous peoples had relied for millennia on their lands and natural resources for their means of subsistence and for their cultural, physical and spiritual survival. This relationship was recognized in international human rights instruments, the studies of experts, and in many declarations, all calling for the recognition, protection and enjoyment of indigenous peoples' right to their lands and the practice of their cultures, languages and religion.
Special Rapporteurs had found that the right to development and other economic and social rights, including the right to food and water, had been adversely affected by policies of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They had identified structural adjustment and foreign debt, globalization and the liberalization of trade as elements in the perpetuation of extreme poverty and hunger. In some countries like the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nicaragua, the populations were still saddled with the debt created by the theft of the proceeds of international loans totalling billions, stolen by Marcos, Mobutu and Somozo. These countries were still bound by the IMF to repay these debts.
In conclusion and with reference to Mr. Guisse's study on the right to water, the Council cited several examples where water, food and development affected the traditional way of life of indigenous peoples. The situations in Colorado and Arizona in the United States and in Cochabamba in Bolivia were highlighted in this context.
ANTOINE MADELIN, of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, said the holding of the Social Forum had been valuable. The recession in Argentina was accelerating with a substantial deterioration in public services in such areas as health and education; poverty had greatly increased. The main responsibility for the deteriorating situation lay with the Government and a minority of leaders who had profited from previous questionable economic behaviour. The IMF's inflexible attitude had contributed to worsening violations of economic, social and cultural rights in the country. In Albania there was a serious lack of health services and industrial and environmental hygiene.
Attention should be given to the new partnership between Africa and the international community. This approach, which vested responsibility and control in Africa and based it on democracy and human rights, deserved support. The international partners to the process should make sure that the emphasis on human rights did not remain a dead letter. Unfortunately, it was a concern that to date the programmes being developed seemed only to reproduce past programmes of the Bretton Woods institutions that had been disastrous for Africa. There was not sufficient emphasis on meeting fundamental needs of populations. The Sub-Commission, meanwhile, should send a message that sustainable development should be stressed in development programmes and as part of efforts to increase respect for human dignity.
NORCEA ARIF, of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, stressed the importance of the right to development. The Working Group on the right to development had important work ahead. One of the tasks of the Working Group was to analyse obstacles to the full enjoyment of this right. In this context, she drew the attention of the Sub-Commission to a situation that had, hitherto, not attracted attention as an impediment to development. Large scale mobilization of armed forces by a State against its neighbouring countries was, in the Federation's opinion, a major obstacle that hindered the achievement of the right to development in a way that no other obstacle did. Just imagine the cost for India to keep half a million troops in battle-ready position for eight months along the Line of Control. With hundreds of millions of its people living below the poverty line, India would indeed be doing a great service to humanity if it were to spend these financial resources on the uplift of billions of its people rather than on soldiers, many of whom had lost their lives when their own landmines, laid to snatch the right to life of anyone who stepped on them, exploded.
The international community had a responsibility, individually as well as collectively, to impress upon India to withdraw its forces to peace time locations.
KIRON WADHERA, of the Asian Centre for Organization, Research and Development, said the Sub-Commission could help the development and protection of democracies by studying several threats that had emerged in recent years. Guidelines would be useful, for example, on how democratic societies could protect themselves against wars that had not been formally declared -- a "grey area" that faced them with problems in terms of protecting their citizens from external attacks yet not taking such draconian measures that citizens' rights were unduly repressed. Similarly, guidelines were needed on how democracies could cope with internal conflicts, wars of genocide, and ethnic cleansing -- how did a society protect itself, its culture, its social fabric, in such extreme situations? Again, in such crises, States had to handle the twin responsibilities of defending themselves and protecting human rights.
Another challenge was that posed by theocratic States which sought to be mono-culture or single-religion States. Internally, their own citizens were divided into those who were privileged and those who were not. Guidelines on how to cope would be useful. An additional threat to democracy was the threat of military dominance through coups or dictatorships or overriding power given to the military apparatus. Even when coups were bloodless, staged elections frequently followed and democracy effectively disappeared. Advice from the Sub-Commission on protecting human rights during civil or military dictatorial regimes would be valuable.
MONCEF BALTI, of the Association Tunisienne pour l'auto-developpement et la solidarite, said the Association was working to combat exclusion and poverty and to promote social, economic and cultural rights. Globalization had characterized recent years and the Association had noted alarming trends that had emerged in opposition to international humanitarian law. In practice, it was interests that were defended and not universal human rights. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements must be in adherence to the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. One could not stress enough the primacy of human rights over commercial agreements.
It was suggested that non-governmental organizations be utilized on a consultative basis in WTO negotiations. The aim of non-governmental organizations was to establish a more just world order where all peoples could enjoy and realize their human rights. It was important to recognize social aspects of trade and their links to human rights. The World Solidarity Fund needed to be supported in order to combat poverty and exclusion.
ELIAS KHOURI, of the Union of Arab Jurists, said the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights could not take place within the framework of wars, violence, and discrimination. International cooperation was vital for resolving such conflicts and bolstering rights so that peace and security were protected. But two maverick States did not respect international standards in these areas. Israel and the United States waged violent conflicts against sovereign States and did not respect rights to self-determination. The situations in Palestine and Iraq were resulting in great violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The economic embargo against Iraq and continued acts of aggression by the United States and its ally, the United Kingdom, which had gone on for 12 years, had resulted in the deaths of 1 million Iraqis.
The Union of Arab Jurists urged the Sub-Commission to support the Palestinian people in their quest to obtain their rights, and urged the Sub-Commission to call for an end to the economic embargo against Iraq.
SIPHO MNGUNI, of Pax Romana, drew the attention of the Sub-Commission to the inadequate regard paid by many Governments in developing countries, especially in Africa, to their responsibility in ensuring the availability and accessibility of clean and healthy drinking water. This was a clear violation of the right to life. This violation was heightened further by the privatization of the few available water supply services. By doing so, Governments placed corporate benefits above the interests of the poor. A public asset, which was part of nature, was transferred into the hands of a few without human rights safeguards due to privatization of water services by some local and national governments. Privatization placed the cost of water beyond the reach of many urban poor, thereby denying them the right to water.
Most of the African poor drew water for domestic use directly from rivers, wells and lakes. Sadly effluents from industries, often with impunity, had extensively polluted many of these sources of water. Sewerage and drainage systems were either defective or totally non-existent. Pax Romana urged Governments to reconsider the privatization of water and other resources without looking at profit. Privatization of water resources must be a shared and common responsibility of peoples and governments. It was also recommended, among other things, that the Sub-Commission undertake a more in-depth study of privatization of water; and evaluate how the right to safe drinking water could be integrated into the agenda of Governments.
ALEXANDRE KAMAROTOS, of Medecins du monde, said the recent meeting of the Social Forum was welcomed, along with the creation of the post of a Special Rapporteur on the right to health. Still, there were repeated violations of the right to health. The case of Argentina was a crying example of a dramatic violation of the right to health based on the effects of globalization. Regional and local governments had stopped providing essential medicines because of the current economic crisis. Medecins du Monde of Argentina had requested the pharmaceutical industry to respect the right to health by placing the public welfare above profit. In spite of that request, the situation had not improved.
Medicines had to be thought of as a social benefit rather than as something to be bought and sold. The public sector had the responsibility to guarantee access to health care for all, even if this principle was opposed by certain private forces. Beyond the shortcomings of national policies for protecting the right to health was a crucial problem at the world level. This was a shortage of essential medicines -- to fight against tuberculosis, for example, sufficient quantities of effective medications were needed. In other cases, the prices of certain medicines placed them out of the reach of the populations of many countries. Such complicated health matters should be studied in depth. The Sub-Commission should formulate an optional protocol to make violations of economic, social and cultural rights punishable, and should create a formal complaints procedure.
CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN, of the Minority Rights Group International, said that for the first time in 2001, the Commission on Human Rights had recognized that "special attention" must be given to persons belonging to minorities and to indigenous people. Putting these words into practice meant paying "special attention" to minorities and indigenous groups who globally were the targets of racism and discrimination. Explicitly naming minorities and indigenous peoples was essential, because it gave leverage to these groups to ensure that their rights in development - which required particular processes and outcomes in development - were recognized. With regard to the Millennium Goals, the Group warned that States might divert resources to achieve the goals, enabling the more visible and politically influential majority groups to achieve the goals, whilst the situation of minorities and indigenous peoples was allowed to deteriorate further or was ignored.
Minority Rights Group International recommended that the Sub-Commission invite States to submit information on how their policies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals were impacting on the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples. In this regard, consideration must be given to the acknowledgement that discrimination against minorities and indigenous people was a key factor in the perpetuation of their exclusion; ensuring participation of minorities and indigenous people in the articulation of Millennium Goals approaches; monitoring the impact of these policies; undertaking to strengthen the capacity of governmental authorities and minority groups to engage with one another; and respecting the rights of minorities and indigenous people in all stages of the development process.
JULIEN MENDOZA , of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, said the impact of globalization had produced a broad acceptance of the right to self-determination as a way of resolving conflicts and improving democracy. In many cases, globalization worked out as a domination or an exercise of sovereignty over peoples; often groups or communities were in direct opposition to the interests of nation States that controlled them. States did not disappear but were redefining their powers in new contexts, including through regional integration processes such as the European Union.
But the trend towards universalization, regionalisation and globalization ran counter to the struggle of peoples for their own identities. As a result there had been since World War II some 250 low-intensity wars, including 54 now under way, some of them not so low in their intensity. The International League recommended a study leading to the creation of a specialized observatory of the UN to examine the activities of transnational corporations, focusing on good ethical practices. The League also wanted to reassert the right to self-determination as a universal and collective right to which all people were entitled.



* *** *