SUB-COMMISSION ON PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS CONCLUDES FIFTY-FIFTH SESSION

Sub-Commission on the Promotion of
Protection of Human Rights
55th session
15 August 2003




ROUND-UP




Adopts 43 Texts, Including on Responsibilities of
Transnational Corporations;
Effects of Counter-Terrorism Measures;
Right to Development; and International Criminal Court of Justice




The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights adjourned this morning its annual three-week session, held from 28 July to 15 August, during which it adopted 43 resolutions and decisions on the promotion and protection of human rights without a vote, with nearly a dozen resolutions adopted unanimously.

Created by the Commission on Human Rights in 1947 and consisting of 26 Experts from five regional groups, the Sub-Commission undertakes studies and makes recommendations to the Commission. Addressing the Sub-Commission during the opening of its session, Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan stressed the strategic role of the Sub-Commission in the protection and promotion of human rights as a think tank -- through research, reflection and recommendations. The best form of protection was prevention and the Sub-Commission must contribute to and deliberate on preventive strategies nationally, regionally and internationally, he said.

During the session, the Sub-Commission adopted several texts recommending legal standards and guiding principles for the protection of human rights and the prevention of violations. Unanimously, the Sub-Commission adopted Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights submitted by the Working Group on this topic. These Norms are to be transmitted to the Commission on Human Rights for consideration and adoption. They cover general obligations; the right to equal opportunity and non-discriminatory treatment; right to security of person; rights of workers; respect for national sovereignty and human rights; obligations with regard to consumer protection; obligations with regard to environmental protection; and general provisions of implementation.

Ensuring compatibility between anti-terrorism measures and international human rights standards was the main purpose behind a resolution adopted on the effects of measures to combat terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights. The Sub-Commission condemned all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whosoever committed, but recalled that States must ensure that all measures adopted to combat terrorism complied with their obligations under international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law. The Sub-Commission decided to study the compatibility of counter-terrorism measures, both legislation and other activities adopted at the national, regional and international levels, particularly those adopted after 11 September 2001, with international human rights standards and appointed one of its Experts as coordinator in this task.

Responding to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2003/83, in which the Commission requested the Sub-Commission to prepare a concept document establishing options for the implementation of the right to development and their feasibility, including an international legal standard of a binding nature and guidelines on the implementation of the right to development, the Sub-Commission appointed one of its Experts to prepare a working paper identifying and analyzing possible alternatives that would enable the Sub-Commission to respond fully to this request.

Also during this session, the Sub-Commission adopted a text on the International Criminal Court and expressed its regret that the immunity allowed to nationals of States parties not parties to the Rome Statute who participated in operations established or authorized by the United Nations Security Council, had been extended by resolution 1487 (2003). The Sub-Commission considered as unacceptable the increasing pressure that was exerted, both at the multilateral and bilateral levels, to hinder the implementation of the International Criminal Court, and recalled that States must observe the principles of the Rome Statute.

Among other measures passed by the panel of human rights Experts covering areas of concern within the human rights community were requests to the Commission on Human Rights to appoint or reappoint Special Rapporteurs on the universal implementation of human rights treaties; harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child; corruption and its impact on the full enjoyments of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; human rights and bioethics; and the rights of non-citizens.

Out of the many studies, working papers and reports that Experts were requested to undertake, new studies were requested on women in prison; human rights and international solidarity; debt; and human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty. The continuation of work by Experts was also requested on reservations to human rights treaties; right to development; difficulties of establishing responsibilities with regard to crimes of sexual violence; criminalization, investigation and prosecution of acts of serious violence; non-discrimination of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; rural poverty and the rights of peasants and other rural communities; discrimination based on work and descent; terrorism and human rights; administration of justice through military tribunals; and the promotion and consolidation of democracy.

The Sub-Commission also took measures, requesting its parent bodies –the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council -- to authorize the Working Group on indigenous populations to meet for five working days prior to the next session of the Sub-Commission; to proclaim a second international decade of the world's indigenous peoples on their rights; to mandate the open-ended Working Group on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to proceed with drafting the substantive text of an Optional Protocol to the Covenant, and that it be conceptualized as both a complaints mechanism and an injury procedure; and to endorse the establishment of a voluntary fund on minority related activities to facilitate the participation in the Working Group on minorities of minority representatives and experts from developing countries.

The Sub-Commission also adopted several other resolutions on administration of justice; economic, social and cultural rights; prevention of discrimination; and specific human rights issues, including women and human rights, contemporary forms of slavery and new priorities such as terrorism and bioethics.

The Sub-Commission decided on the next year’s composition of Experts and Alternates for its working groups on the Social Forum, minorities, slavery, indigenous populations and communications.

In her concluding remarks, the Chairperson of the Sub-Commission, Halima Embarek Warzazi, said the debate of the Sub-Commission had been fruitful, including the interactive dialogue, which demonstrated the capacity of the Experts. Their reports had allowed the identification of problems encountered in the realization of human rights, often constituting serious violations of the majority of the population. Those violations had also been reported by a number of non-governmental organizations. New initiatives had been taken strengthening studies on current problems and studies containing norms or recommendations.

The problems of globalization, the right to development, the right to drinking water, corruption, and extreme poverty had been given attention by the Sub-Commission, she continued. Initiatives had also been taken aimed at ensuring to all human beings security, justice, and protection against arbitrary detention and all forms of discrimination. This year, the Sub-Commission had also dealt with the problems faced by women and children; terrorism; the misuse of firearms and human rights violations emanating from bioethics. Decisions had been taken in connection with minorities, indigenous peoples and victims of all forms of slavery, thanks to the work achieved by the working groups and intersessional working groups.


Action on Resolutions and Decisions


Question of the Violation of Human Rights in Any Country

Under this agenda item, the Sub-Commission adopted a measure:

-- on the effects of measures to combat terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights, strongly condemning all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whosoever committed; recalled that States must ensure that all measures adopted to combat terrorism complied with their obligations under international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law. It decided, with a view to rationalizing the work of the Sub-Commission on the subject, to re-name the existing sub-item 6c “new priorities, including terrorism” by adding “and counter-terrorism”, to study the compatibility of counter-terrorism measures, both legislation and other activities adopted at the national, regional and international levels, particularly those adopted after 11 September 2001, with international human rights standards, giving particular attention to their impact on the most vulnerable groups, with a view to elaborating guidelines; and decided to appoint Kalliopi Koufa as coordinator, with a mandate to gather the necessary documentation for the effective work of the Sub-Commission.


Administration of Justice

Under this agenda item, the Sub-Commission approved measures:

-- on discrimination against convicted persons who had served their sentence, urging States to examine their treatment of convicted persons after they had served their punishment and to cease any official or unofficial practices of discrimination against such persons;

-- on the International Criminal Court, welcoming the establishment of the International Criminal Court, deeply regretting the fact that the immunity allowed to nationals of States parties not parties to the Rome Statute who participated in operations established or authorized by the United Nations Security Council, had been extended by resolution 1487 (2003);

-- on administration of justice through military tribunals, welcoming the report submitted by Expert Emmanuel Decaux on the administration of justice through military tribunals and the recommendations contained therein, and requesting Mr. Decaux to continue his work on the development of principles governing the administration of justice through military tribunals;

-- on the promotion and consolidation of democracy, deciding to request Expert Manuel Rodriguez-Cuadros to prepare, without financial implications, the final version of his working paper on the promotion and consolidation of democracy;

-- on the working paper on the difficulties of establishing guilt and/or responsibilities with regard to crimes of sexual violence, taking into account the working paper presented by Expert Lalaina Rakotoarisoa, and deciding to request her to submit an expanded working paper on the difficulties of establishing guilt and/or responsibilities with regard to crimes of sexual violence;

-- on women in prison, deciding to entrust Expert Florizelle O’Connor with the preparation, without financial implications, of a working paper on women in prison, including issues relating to the children of women in prison;

-- on the working paper on the criminalization, investigation and prosecution of acts of serious sexual violence, deciding to request Expert Françoise Jane Hampson to submit a working paper on the criminalization, investigation and prosecution of acts of serious sexual violence occurring in the context of an armed conflict or committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population to the sessional working group on the administration of justice;

-- and on the transfer of persons with particular reference to the death penalty, urging all States not to transfer persons to the jurisdiction of States which still used the death penalty, unless there was a guarantee that the death penalty would be neither sought nor applied in the particular case; and not to transfer persons to the jurisdiction of States where the person transferred may be held without trial or subject to an unfair trial.


Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

As regards economic, social and cultural rights, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:

-- on the right to food, and progress in developing international voluntary guidelines for its implementation, urging Member States to consider holding national seminars with relevant stakeholders to initiate or develop a domestic dialogue on the scope of and conditions for implementing the right to adequate food and to be free from hunger in the particular contexts of their countries;

-- on the right to development, deciding to request Expert Florizelle O'Connor to prepare a working paper identifying and analyzing possible alternatives that would enable the Sub-Commission to respond fully and as effectively as possible to the Commission’s request by the date fixed in resolution 2003/83;

-- on responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights, approving the Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights submitted by the Working Group on that topic; and deciding to transmit those Norms to the Commission on Human Rights for consideration and adoption by the Commission;

-- on the promotion of the realization of the right to drinking water and sanitation, welcoming the preliminary report of Expert El Hadji Guisse on the right to drinking water and sanitation and the implementation of that right, and requesting the Secretary-General to invite Governments, United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and interested non-governmental organizations to provide the Special Rapporteur with any assistance necessary to enable him to fulfil his mandate;

-- on corruption and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights, urging States to introduce national mechanisms to prevent and combat corruption through the establishment of specific anti-corruption legislation and deciding to appoint Expert Christy Azim Mbonu as Special Rapporteur with the task of preparing a comprehensive study on corruption and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights;

-- on the prohibition of forced evictions, strongly urging Governments to undertake immediately measures, at all levels, aimed at eliminating the practice of forced evictions by repealing existing plans involving forced evictions as well as any legislation allowing for forced evictions and by adopting and implementing legislation ensuring the right to security of tenure for all residents;

-- on housing and property restitution, urging all States to ensure the free and fair exercise of the right to return to one’s home and place of habitual residence by all refugees and internally displaced persons and to develop effective and expeditious legal, administrative and other procedures to ensure the free and fair exercise of that right, including fair and effective mechanisms designed to resolve outstanding housing and property problems;

-- on the study on non-discrimination as enshrined in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, requesting Expert Emmanuel Decaux to prepare a working paper on the topic;

-- on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, urging the Commission on Human Rights at its sixtieth session to mandate the open-ended Working Group of the Commission to proceed with drafting the substantive text of an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

-- on the implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty, requesting Experts Antoanella-Iulia Motoc, Emmanuel Decaux, Yozo Yokota, El Hadji Guisse and Jose Bengoa, with the latter as coordinator, to prepare a joint working paper on the need to develop, on the basis of the various relevant instruments, the ongoing work in other forums, the conclusions and recommendations of the Expert Seminar on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, guiding principles on the implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty;

-- on the Social Forum, reiterating its decision that the Social Forum should meet every year with the mandate to exchange information on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and their relationship to the process of globalization; to monitor situations of poverty and destitution throughout the world, bearing in mind that they amount to complete and permanent denial of human rights; and requesting Expert Jose Bengoa to prepare a working paper on rural poverty, rural development and the rights of peasants and other rural communities;

-- on prevention of corruption, recommending that the Convention against Corruption should provide for strong measures to criminalize corrupt practices, ensure effective international judicial cooperation, and prevent the transfer of illicit funds and also provide for the seizure, confiscation and repatriation of illicit funds to countries of origin, overcoming obstructions posed by bank secrecy laws in some countries;

-- on the working paper on debt, deciding to request Expert El Hadji Guisse to prepare a working paper on the effects of debt on human rights;

--and on globalization and its effects on the full enjoyment of all human rights, welcoming the reports of Special Rapporteurs Josef Oloka-Onyongo and Deepika Udagama, and deciding to submit the reports to the Commission on Human Rights to be published in all United Nations languages.


Prevention of Discrimination

With regard to this agenda item, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:

-- on publishing the final reports of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of non-citizens, deciding to transmit to the Commission a draft decision authorizing the Sub-Commission to appoint one of its members as Special Rapporteur with the task of preparing a comprehensive study of the rights of non-citizens, and that the Commission recommend that ECOSOC decide that the updated and consolidated report on the rights of non-citizens must be published in all official languages of the United Nations and must be given the widest possible distribution;

-- on the rights of non-citizens, deciding to transmit the Special Rapporteur’s final report on the rights of non-citizens to the Commission on Human Rights and to Governments, ILO, IOM, UNHCHR, CERD, and other human rights treaty bodies; urging States to comply with their obligations under international human rights, labour, refugee and humanitarian law, including very helpful interpretations thereof, relating to non-citizens, including refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and trafficked persons; and recommending the reappointment Expert David Weissbrodt as Special Rapporteur;

-- on a voluntary fund on minority-related activities, recommending that the Commission endorse the Sub-Commission’s recommendation that a voluntary fund on minority-related activities be established to facilitate the participation in the Working Group on minorities;

-- on discrimination based on work and descent, calling upon States to formulate and implement without delay at the national, regional and international levels new and enhanced policies and plans of action to effectively eliminate discrimination based on work and descent; decided to entrust Experts Asbjorn Eide and Yozo Yokota with the task of preparing a further working paper on the topic;

-- on the rights of minorities, inviting the Office of the High Commissioner to consider organizing training workshops at the national level on the implementation of the rights of minorities;

-- on human rights implications, particularly for indigenous people, of the disappearance of States for environmental reasons, urgently recommending to the Commission on Human Rights to call on the Secretary-General to prepare a report, with assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the legal implications of the disappearance of States for environmental reasons, including the implications of the human rights of their residents;


-- on the Working Group on indigenous populations, deciding in the light of discussions held under the principal theme “Globalization and indigenous peoples”, to invite the Office of the High Commissioner to organize a second workshop on indigenous peoples, mining and other private sector companies and human rights with a view to preparing guidelines based on respect for the cultures and traditions of these communities and the principle of free, prior and informed consent;

-- on the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, strongly recommending that the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples be adopted as early as possible and, to this end, appealing to all participants in the intersessional Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights and to all others concerned to put into practice new, more dynamic ways and means of consultation and consensus-building, in order to accelerate the preparation of the draft declaration;

-- and expressing its deep appreciation to Erica-Irene Daes for her very comprehensive preliminary report on the study on indigenous peoples’ permanent sovereignty over natural resources and welcoming the rich debate that ensued.


Specific Human Rights Issues

Concerning specific human rights issues, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:

-- on the prevention of human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons, welcoming the preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur Barbara Frey and deciding to request the Secretary-General to transmit a questionnaire elaborated by the Special Rapporteur to Governments, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to solicit information required in connection with her study;

-- on the universal implementation of human rights treaties, deciding to appoint Expert Emmanuel Decaux Special Rapporteur with the task of undertaking a detailed study on the topic;

-- on human rights and bioethics, deciding to appoint Expert Antoanella-Iulia Motoc Special Rapporteur to undertake a study on human rights and the human genome based on her working paper;

-- on terrorism and human rights, requesting Special Rapporteur Kalliopi Koufa to continue her work with a view to completing her study on the conceptual aspects of terrorism and human rights;

-- on reservations to human rights treaties, deciding to request Françoise Jane Hampson to update her expanded working paper;

-- on the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, encouraging Governments, regional organizations and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to explore further the potential support and contribution to human rights education of all relevant partners;

-- on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices, encouraging States to promote human rights education on the topic during armed conflicts, ensuring the accuracy of accounts of historical events in the educational curricula, in an effort to prevent the recurrence of such violations and to encourage better understanding between all peoples;

-- on the report of the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery, urging Governments to establish and implement national policies and action plans to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including their gender-based manifestation, as recommended in the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism; and welcoming the entry into force on 1 July 2003 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families;

-- on the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, inviting the Board of Trustees of the Fund to continue to promote the participation at the annual sessions of the Working Group of individuals and organizations from as large a number of countries as possible;

-- on harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child, appealing to all States concerned to intensify efforts to develop awareness of, and mobilize national public opinion concerning, the harmful effects of all forms of harmful traditional practices, in particular through education, information and training, in order to achieve the total eradication of those practices; and decided to renew for a further three-year period the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

-- and on human rights and international solidarity, recalling Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/73 in which the Commission requested the Sub-Commission to undertake a study on the implementation of the resolution, deciding to request Rui Baltazar Dos Santos Alves to undertake, without financial implications, a working paper on human rights and international solidarity.


Membership of the Sub-Commission

The members and alternates (*) of the Sub-Commission are Miguel Alfonso Martinez, *Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios (Cuba); Jose Bengoa (Chile); Chen Shiqiu, *Liu Xinsheng (China); Emmanuel Decaux, *Michele Picard (France); Rui Baltazar Dos Santos Alves, *Cristiano Dos Santos (Mozambique); Asbjorn Eide, *Jan Helgesen (Norway); El Hadji Guisse (Senegal); Francoise Jane Hampson (the United Kingdom); Fried van Hoof (the Netherlands); Vladimir Kartashkin, *Oleg S. Malguinov (the Russian Federation); Kalliopi Koufa, *Nikolaos Zaikos (Greece); Antoanella-Iulia Motoc, *Victoria Sandru-Popescu (Romania); Florizelle O'Connor (Jamaica); Stanislav Ogurtsov (Belarus); Soo Gil Park, *Chin Sung Chung (the Republic of Korea); Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, *Marilia Sardenberg Zelner Goncalves (Brazil); Godfrey Bayour Preware, *Christy Ezim Mbonu (Nigeria); Lalaina Rakotoarisoa (Madagascar); Manuel Rodriguez-Cuadros (Peru); Abdul Sattar, *Khaled Aziz Babar (Pakistan); Soli Jehangir Sorabjee (India); Halima Embarek Warzazi (Morocco); David Weissbrodt, *Barbara Frey (the United States); Fisseha Yimer (Ethiopia); Yozo Yokota, *Yoshiko Terao (Japan); and Leila Zerrougui (Algeria).

The Chairperson of the fifty-fifth session was Halima Embarek Warzazi. Vice-Chairpersons were Abdul Sattar, Florizelle O'Connor, and Kalliopi Koufa. The Rapporteur was Stanislav Ogurtsov.





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