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

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

ROUND UP


Adopts Resolutions on Anti-Terrorism Measures and Human Rights;
Foreign Military Intervention; Slavery, Colonialism, and Wars of Conquest;
Opposes Immunity Under International Criminal Court;
Recommends Appointment of 3 Special Rapporteurs;
Tries to Halt Execution in Texas;
Calls for Joint Working Paper on Extreme Poverty;
Urges Reference by WTO to Human Rights Standards



The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights adjourned this afternoon its annual three-week session during which it discussed issues ranging from the effects of anti-terrorism measures on human-rights standards, and efforts to limit the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, to World Trade Organization negotiations and whether they should take account of human rights principles.
Among measures passed by the panel of 26 human-rights Experts were requests to the Commission on Human Rights that three Special Rapporteurs be appointed from within the Sub-Commission's ranks to carry out studies on housing and property restitution in the context of refugees and other displaced persons; prevention of human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons; and indigenous peoples' permanent sovereignty over natural resources.
The Sub-Commission called for establishment of a group of experts, a Special Rapporteur, or a Working Group to receive information and to undertake effective measures regarding human rights violations committed by transnational corporations or similar enterprises.
It requested five of its members to prepare a joint working paper on the need to develop guiding principles for implementing existing human-rights standards in the fight against extreme poverty.
The subject of international efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States attracted much debate, and the Sub-Commission, in a resolution titled "the present situation and future of human rights", drew attention to the incompatibility of certain laws, regulations and practices recently introduced by a number of countries, in particularly measures calling into question the judicial guarantees intrinsic to the rule of law, notably in relation to police custody, arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, the right of the defense and the right to an effective remedy. The panel also asked its Special Rapporteur on human rights and terrorism, Kalliopi Koufa, to submit an expanded additional progress report on the topic to the Sub-Commission's fifty-fifth session. And High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, in addressing the opening of this year's Sub-Commission, said it was important to recognize and address the risks posed to human rights by the growing number of anti-terrorism measures being adopted around the world.
In a Chairman's statement, the Sub-Commission drew urgently the attention of United States authorities to the situation of Javier Suarez Medina, a Mexican national detained on death row for thirteen years, who was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on 14 August, in the state of Texas. The Sub-Commission stated that Mr. Medina was barely 19 years old when he was sentenced to death, and that among interferences in his right to a defense had been a failure by U.S. authorities to comply with obligations of the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular relations which guaranteed consular assistance for foreign detainees. The Sub-Commission and the Government of Mexico later expressed regret when Mr. Medina was executed as scheduled.
In other resolutions, the Sub-Commission opposed foreign military intervention contrary to the principles and other provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as all threats to overthrow by means of armed force duly constituted Governments.
It deplored the immunity automatically allowed to nationals of States parties or not parties to the Rome Statute who participated in operations decided or authorized by the Security Council. It said furthermore that the International Criminal Court established under the Rome Statute would depend for its effectiveness on the transparency and impartiality shown in the selection of judges.
It recommended public recognition of the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity, considered that such crimes should be prosecuted by the competent courts, as they were not subject to any statue of limitations, and requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to initiate a process of reflection on matters related to the topic and to the issue of reparations.
It recommended that the secretariat of the World Trade Organization and the members of its Council for Trade in Services include consideration of the human rights implications of the international trade in services and take into account the relevant reports of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and requested the High Commissioner to submit a report on human rights, trade and investment, including specific attention to the human rights implications of privatization, to the Sub-Commission at its fifty-fifth session.
It appealed again to the international community, and to the Security Council in particular, for the embargo provisions affecting the humanitarian situation of the population of Iraq to be lifted.
As in previous years, it called for intensified efforts to eradicate traditional practices harmful to the health of women and girls, urged greater steps to end trafficking in women and children for purposes of prostitution, and for further measures to eradicate child labour, bonded labour, and corruption related to trafficking in women and children. It further said States should provide effective criminal penalties and compensation for unremedied violations in order to end the cycle of impunity with regard to sexual violence committed during armed conflicts.
The Sub-Commission, among other things, requested five of its members to prepare a joint working paper on the need to develop guiding principles in the implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty.
It requested from various Sub-Commission members working papers on corruption and its impact on the enjoyment of human rights; on discrimination based on work and descent in regions other than those already covered; on regulation of citizenship by successor States with respect to nationals of the predecessor States; on the rights of women married to foreigners; on rural poverty; on possible outputs of the seminar on treaties for possible consideration by the Commission on Human Rights; on non-discrimination as enshrined in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and on the universality of human rights treaties.
It requested expanded working papers on the topics of reservations to human rights treaties; on human rights and weapons of mass destruction, or with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering; on bioethics and human rights; on the promotion and consolidation of democracy; on globalization and its full impact on human rights; on the right to drinking water and sanitation; on the rights of minorities; and on traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child.
The Sub-Commission also invited the High Commissioner for Human Rights to explore the possibility of convening a world conference on indigenous peoples in 2004; called for greater support for ensuring the right to food; recommended the holding of further regional seminars on the rights of minorities; and suggested a follow-up workshop on indigenous peoples and their relationships with private sector natural resources and energy and mining companies.
At its last meeting, the Sub-Commission briefly debated a legal opinion provided to the High Commissioner for Human Rights that Sub-Commission resolutions E/CN.4/Sub2./2002/L.37, declaring Erica-Irene A. Daes a "permanent honorary member" of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations; E/CN.4/Sub2./2002/L.43, authorizing Y.K.Y. Sik Yuen, a former member of the Sub-Commission, to prepare a working paper for the Sub-Commission; and E/CN.4/Sub2./2002/L.4, appointing Ms. Daes as a "Special Rapporteur" to carry out a study for the Sub-Commission, appeared to be in contradiction of Sub-Commission rules and procedures calling for Sub-Commission work and membership in its working groups to be carried out by elected, current members. The Sub-Commission decided to take note of the letter presenting the legal opinion, but to take no further action.
In closing the Sub-Commission's three-week session, Chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said the re-invention of the Sub-Commission as the think-tank of the Commission on Human Rights had consolidated its role as an expert forum providing substantial contributions to the central themes of the multilateral agenda on human rights. This year the Sub-Commission had paid particular attention to issues such as terrorism and human rights; prevention of discrimination; the abolition of the death penalty; the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples; women and human rights; administration of justice; and economic, social and cultural rights, including the newly established Social Forum.
The Sub-Commission, which was known until 1998 as the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, was created by the Commission on Human Rights in 1947 and has been credited with spurring worldwide interest in the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and with leading a widening campaign to end harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. According to the Sub-Commission's mandate, it undertakes studies and makes recommendations, keeps abreast of trends in the field of human rights, and explores issues considered important that have not received sufficient attention.
Dates for the fifty-fifth session of the Sub-Commission were not decided; Chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said he would explore with the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights the possibility of moving the annual session of the Sub-Commission from August to December or January to reduce the gap between the end of the session of the Sub-Commission and the first meetings at which the Commission could take action on its resolutions.

Action on Resolutions and Decisions
Question of the Violation of Human Rights in Any Country
Under this agenda item the Sub-Commission adopted measures:
-- on armed intervention and the right of peoples to self-determination, declaring its firm opposition to all acts of foreign military intervention contrary to the principles and other provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as all threats to overthrow by means of armed force duly constituted Governments; and calling upon those States engaged in such military actions or threats of armed intervention to put an end immediately to such illegal international conduct;
-- on the present situation and future of human rights, emphasizing that all measures adopted against terrorism should be strictly in keeping with international law, and particularly with international norms and obligations in the sphere of human rights; drawing attention to the incompatibility of certain laws, regulations and practices recently introduced by a number of countries, in particular those which called into question the judicial guarantees which were intrinsic to the rule of law, notably in relation to police custody, arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, and the rights of the defense; and asking the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take up as a matter of top priority consideration of the compatibility of measures adopted or applied in the struggle against terrorism;
-- on recognition of responsibility and reparation for massive and flagrant violations of human rights which constitute crimes against humanity and which took place during the period of slavery, colonialism and wars of conquest, requesting all countries concerned to recognize their historic responsibility, the consequences which must derive from it, and the need for just reparations; stating that crimes against humanity and other massive violations of human rights, which were inherent rights, should be prosecuted by the competent courts, as they were subject to no statute of limitations; and requesting the High Commissioner for Human Rights to initiate a process of reflection on the subject of recognition and reparations;
-- and on the accountability of armed forces, United Nations civilian police, international civil servants and experts taking part in peace support operations, requesting Expert Francoise Jane Hampson to prepare a working paper on the subject.

Administration of Justice
Under this agenda item the Sub-Commission approved measures:
-- on discrimination in the criminal justice system, recommending the appointment of Expert Leila Zerrougui as Special Rapporteur to conduct a detailed study of the issue with a view to determining the most effective means of ensuring equal treatment in the criminal justice system;
-- on the issue of the administration of justice through military tribunals, requesting Emmanual Decaux to supplement the most recent version of the report on the subject;
-- and on establishment of the International Criminal Court, deeply deploring the immunity automatically allowed to nationals of States parties or not parties to the Rome Statute who participated in operations decided or authorized by the Security Council for the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security, under the terms of resolution 1422 (2002) of the Security Council of 12 July 2002; noting that the transparency and impartiality shown in the selection of judges would to a large extent determine the legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness of the Court; and emphasizing that States must not hinder the implementation of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Regarding economic, social and cultural rights, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:
-- on globalization and its full impact on human rights, requesting the Special Rapporteurs on the topic to prepare their final report;
-- on promotion of the realization of the right to drinking water and sanitation, requesting the Special Rapporteur to continue his study in order to determine the most effective means of reinforcing activities in this field;
-- on housing and property restitution in the context of refugees and other displaced persons, urging all States to ensure the free and fair exercise of the right to return to one's home and habitual residence and to develop effective and expeditious legal, administrative and other procedures to ensure the free and fair exercise of this right; and requesting the appointment o Paulo Sergio Pinheiro Special Rapporteur to prepare a comprehensive study of the matter;
-- on the relationship between the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development, and the working methods and activities of transnational corporations, requesting that the draft norms on responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights be widely circulated; and recommending the establishment of a group of experts, a special rapporteur or a working group to receive information and undertake effective measures with regard to human rights violations or abuses committed by transnational corporations and other enterprises;
-- on the study on non-discrimination as enshrined in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, inviting Expert Fried Van Hoof to prepare a working paper on the topic;
-- on corruption and its impact on the enjoyment of human rights, entrusting Alternate Expert Christy Ezim Mbonu with preparing a working paper on the topic;
-- on the right to food, and international guidelines for its implementation, calling upon the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to extend its cooperation to the Food and Agriculture Organization on the matter; and calling upon civil society to assist the intergovernmental working group constructively, especially by taking into account the voices of the poor;
-- on human rights, trade and investment, recommending that the Working Group on Trade and Investment, the Ministerial Conference and other relevant bodies of the WTO include consideration of human rights and sustainable development implications in their decision-making; requesting the High Commissioner to submit a report on human rights, trade and investment, including specific attention to the human rights implications of privatization; and requesting the High Commissioner to make a comprehensive submission on human rights, trade, and investment to the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO;
-- on the Social Forum, recommending to the Economic and Social Council that it authorize the Sub-Commission to hold a Social Forum session for two days that would permit the participation of 10 members of the Sub-Commission; deciding that the Forum would address the theme of "the relationship between globalization and rural poverty and the rights of peasants, pastoralists and other rural communities"; requesting Expert Jose Bengoa to prepare a working paper on rural poverty;
-- on implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty, requesting Iulia-Antoanella Motoc, Asbjorn Eide, Yozo Yokota, El Hadji Guisse, and Jose Bengoa, with Mr. Bengoa as coordinator and Emmanuel Decaux and Paulo Sergio Pinheiro as alternates, to prepare a joint working paper in three stages on the need to develop guiding principles in the implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty;
-- and on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, urging the Commission on Human Rights to mandate the open-ended working group of the Commission to proceed with the drafting of the substantive text of the optional protocol.

Prevention of Discrimination
Under this agenda item, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:
-- on indigenous peoples' permanent sovereignty over natural resources, requesting appointment of Erica-Irene A. Daes as Special Rapporteur to undertake a study of the topic;
-- on the rights of minorities, recommending that the High Commissioner for Human Rights, when inviting views on how best to protect minorities, also request Governments to provide the names of experts with a view to facilitating their participation in regional and international meetings and in advisory services; and requesting Expert Asbjorn Eide to update, without financial implications, his study on peaceful and constructive approaches to situations involving minorities;
-- on the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, expressing its full support for the continuing need and therefore for the continuation of the Working Group; and requesting the group's Chairman-Rapporteur to contact the Economic and Social Council to request that he be involved in consultations regarding United Nations mandates dealing with indigenous issues;
-- on the rights of non-citizens reminding Governments, intergovernmental organizations, the human rights treaty bodies and non-governmental organizations that replies to a questionnaire and references to additional information concerning the right and status of non-citizens would be helpful for preparation of a final report on the topic;
-- on the recognition of the meritorious work done by Erica-Irene A. Daes as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, declaring her a permanent honorary member of the Working Group;
-- on the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, inviting Expert Miguel Alfonso Martinez to prepare a short working paper identifying themes and possible outputs of the seminar held on treaties between Governments and indigenous groups; and inviting the High Commissioner to explore the possibility of convening a world conference on indigenous peoples in 2004 to review the achievements of the Decade and recommend future action in relation to indigenous peoples;
-- on the presentation of the report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations on its twentieth and twenty-first sessions to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, inviting the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the twentieth session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations to attend the second and third sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2003 and 2004 and to present the reports;
-- on the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, inviting indigenous organizations and the indigenous caucus to submit a working paper on appropriate action that might be undertaken by the Working Group as follow-up to the World Conference against Racism; and recommending that the Commission on Human Rights ensure consistency in matters relating to the participation of indigenous peoples in the work of the United Nations affecting them;
-- on discrimination based on work and descent, entrusting Experts Abjorn Eide and Yozo Yokota with the preparation of an expanded working paper on the topic based on regions other than those already covered;
-- and on the concept and practice of affirmative action, deciding to transmit the final report on the topic by Special Rapporteur Marc Bossuyt to the Commission on Human Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and requesting that it be translated into all official languages of the United Nations and be widely disseminated.

Specific Human Rights Issues
Regarding specific human rights issues, the Sub-Commission adopted measures:
-- on the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi population, appealing again to the international community, and to the Security Council in particular, for the embargo provisions affecting the humanitarian situation of the population of Iraq to be lifted; urging the international community and all Governments, including that of Iraq, to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi population, in particular by facilitating the delivery of food, medical supplies and the wherewithal to meet basic needs;
-- on international protection for refugees, urging the international community to make greater efforts to address the needs of persons seeking asylum by ensuring access to fair and efficient asylum procedures or, where they did not exist, by facilitating access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in order that it may determine their status; and reminding States of their obligation not to return people to territories where they had a well-founded fear of being persecuted upon their return;
-- on terrorism and human rights, requesting the relevant Special Rapporteur to submit an additional progress report which should include a discussion of national, regional and international measures adopted and/or applied after 11 September 2001, and of the conceptual debate arising therefrom;
-- on the prevention of human rights violations caused by the availability and misuse of small arms and light weapons, encouraging States to adopt laws and policies regarding the manufacture, transfer and use of such weapons that complied with principles of international human rights and international humanitarian law; and requesting the appointment of Expert Barbara Frey as Special Rapporteur to prepare a comprehensive study on the prevention of human rights violations committed with such weapons;
-- on 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 such traditional practices in order to achieve their total eradication; reiterating its proposal that three seminars be held in Africa, Asia, and Europe to review progress achieved since 1985 and ways and means of overcoming obstacles to implementing the relevant plan of action; and requesting the relevant Special Rapporteur to submit an updated report on the subject;
-- on the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, urging States to ensure that their policies and laws did not legitimize prostitution as the victims' choice of work; urging sending, transit and receiving States to reinforce their cooperation in preventing trafficking and prostitution; recommending the creation of special observatories to gather information on these problems; encouraging States to cooperate to address the problems associated with trafficking in children and the worst forms of child labour; calling upon States to ensure that victims of child trafficking were fully protected and not treated as illegal immigrants; inviting States concerned to introduce consolidated legislation on forced labour and to speed up criminal proceedings to punish it; and appealing to all Governments to send observers to the meetings of the Working Group;
-- on the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, noting that twenty-one project grants were provided by the Fund to local non-governmental organizations and appealing to all to respond favourably to requests for contributions to the Fund;
-- on reservations to human rights treaties requesting Expert Francoise Hampson to prepare an extended working paper on the subject;
-- on regulation of citizenship by successor States, requesting Expert Vladimir Kartashkin to prepare a working paper on the topic;
-- on the rights of women married to foreigners, requesting Mr. Kartashkin to prepare a working paper on the subject;
-- on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices, reiterating that States should provide effective criminal penalties and compensation for unremedied violations in order to end the cycle of impunity with regard to sexual violence committed during armed conflicts; and encouraging States to promote human rights education on the issues of systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflicts, paying special attention to the accuracy of textbooks on historical events, in an effort to prevent the recurrence of such violations;
-- on human rights and weapons of mass destruction, or with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, requesting former Sub-Commission Expert Y.K.Y. Sik Yuen to submit an expanded and updated working paper on the topic;
-- on human rights and bioethics, requesting Expert Iulia-Antoanella Motoc to prepare an expanded working paper on the subject;
-- on the right to return of refugees and internally displaced people, urging all parties to peace agreements and voluntary reparation agreements to include implementation of the right of return in safety and dignity, as well as housing and property restitution rights, consistent with the requirements of international law, in all such agreements; and urging them to guarantee the free and fair exercise of the right to return to one's home or place of habitual residence by all displaced persons and to establish an enabling framework to enable return to take place in conditions of physical, legal and material safety, and to restore full national protection of returning displaced persons;
-- on the tenth anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights, expressing the wish that the anniversary might constitute an important step towards the effective realization of the universal ratification of international human rights instruments and requesting States to seize this opportunity to take stock of their commitment in this field;
-- and on issues and modalities for the effective universality of international human rights treaties, requesting Expert Emmanuel Decaux to prepare a working paper on the topic.

Chairman's Statement
In a statement by the Chairman, the Sub-Commission drew urgently the attention of United States authorities to the situation of Javier Suarez Medina, a Mexican national, detained in death row for thirteen years, who was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on 14 August, in the state of Texas. The Sub-Commission stated that Mr. Medina was barely 19 years old when he was sentenced to death and that U.S. authorities had not complied with obligations of the 1963 Vienna Convention on consular relations which guaranteed consular assistance for foreign detainees. It earnestly asked U.S. authorities to do anything to reprieve the execution of Mr. Medina and to re-examine his case so as to guarantee his right to benefit from consular assistance and a fair trial.
It was later announced that Mr. Medina had been executed on 14 August as scheduled.

Organization of Work
Under this agenda item the Sub-Commission adopted measures:
-- on membership of Sub-Commission's working groups, for the fifty-fifth session;
-- and giving equal attention to all items of its agenda, and taking into account the results of the current and previous session at which consideration of item 6 did not receive appropriate attention, deciding to consider agenda items at the fifty-fifth session in the following order: 1,2,6,3,4,5,7;

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, *Lammy Betten (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); Abdel 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 Chairman of the fifty-fourth session was Mr. Pinheiro. Vice-Chairpersons were Leila Zerrougui, Yozo Yakota, and Vladimir Kartashkin. The Rapporteur was Mr. Decaux.



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