SUBCOMMISSION COMPLETES DEBATE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

MORNING

HR/SC/99/13
13 August 1999




The Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights completed discussion this morning of its agenda item on economic, social and cultural rights -- including the right to development and the right to education, and debate on the effects on human rights of the activities of transnational corporations -- and began consideration of the implementation of human rights with regard to women.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and observer Governments contended, among other things, that the right to education and the right to development were inextricably linked to the realization of all other human rights. A representative of the NGO Franciscans International charged that development in poorer nations was being stymied by such problems as heavy foreign-debt burdens and the unsupervised activities of transnational corporations (TNCs). The speaker said TNCs should be regulated by an international code of conduct.

A delegate from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), meanwhile, stressed that human-rights education should be a part of the curriculum at all levels of learning. Human-rights education, this official said, was essential for fighting ignorance, selfishness and violence.

A delegate from Mexico described bilingual and bicultural education efforts there, saying they had helped reduce illiteracy, while the delegations of Iraq and Cuba alleged that the United States was violating human rights through economic sanctions imposed against their countries.

Opening the Subcommission's debate on human rights and women was Expert Halima Embarek Warzazi, who introduced her latest report on harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and girls. Action should be taken to end such practices, she said, but the manner chosen for doing so was important -- the approach had to be careful, respectful, and cooperative.

Subcommission Experts Erica-Irene A. Daes, Louis Joinet, Mustapha Mehedi, Joseph Olaka-Onyango, and Asbjorn Eide participated in the morning’s debate.

Representatives of Iraq, Sudan, Malaysia, India, Mexico, Cuba, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization spoke, as did representatives of the following NGOs: European Union of Public Relations; Franciscans International; December 12th Movement International Secretariat; and International Commission of Jurists (in a joint statement with Habitat International Coalition).

Iraq spoke in right of reply.

The Subcommission will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its examination of human rights with regard to women.

Documentation

Before the Subcommission under its agenda item on the implementation of human rights with regard to women was a report submitted by the Secretary-General (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/13) on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, submitted in accordance with Subcommission resolution 1998/17, which highlights principal areas of concern (in health, education and employment), reviews United Nations programmes and strategies, and offers a number of conclusions and recommendations.

Also before the Subcommission under this agenda item was a report submitted by Halim el Embarek Warzazi (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/14) on the situation regarding the elimination of traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child, which provides a historical background and examines national, regional and international initiatives related to the topic. The report also reviews information communicated to the Special Rapporteur and offers summaries and conclusions.

Statements

NAZIMA MUNSHI, of European Union of Public Relations, said Nepal had consciously had a very smooth transition to a democratic system, aware of the experiences of other democratic nations engaged in the development process. The human resources of Nepal were most precious. For this reason, it frequently had sent its youth to India for higher education, fully aware that India provided the democratic environment that was the essence of true education.

There had been many reports about education in Pakistan. Children were kept shackled and only religious dogma was fed to them. Democratic principles were derided and modernization and scientific and technological advances were deemed the enemy. The Taliban were the most visible manifestation of what such an education could do to a country. The impact on Pakistan's polity was already evident. The authorities in Pakistan and the Pakistani media had established the nexus between these religious schools and terrorist groups such as Harkat ul Ansar and others, and the burgeoning sectarian killings in Pakistan. The European Union of Public Relations feared similar developments could soon take place in Nepal because names such as Harkat ul Jehad and Taliban had already begun to make the rounds in Bangladesh. It would only be a matter of time before the newly established religious schools in Nepal became a breeding ground for cadres of such groups.

JOHN QUIGLY, of Franciscans International, said three obstacles to development should be discussed. One was the lack of opportunities, especially educational opportunities, for girls. The second was the debt burden, which had led to a downward spiral and worsening economies in many countries, resulting in a flight of capital. The IMF’s macro-economic policies were not the answer. Third, many transnational corporations had unsupervised activities. There had been little talk about the worldwide increase in paramilitary contracts to secure land then purchased by or leased to TNCs. Colombia was one example.

The State had the main responsibility for protecting the human rights of its citizens. When countries hosted TNCs, these rights were often put aside. Countries too often turned a blind eye to the activities of TNCs. A code of conduct for TNCs should be established. The Subcommission should investigate the link between TNCs, private security services and para-military groups, and the impact of these links on the right to development.

JED MICHEL, of December 12th Movement International Secretariat, said development as a human right was in the simplest sense the right which enabled a person or a group of persons to progress or move forward, particularly in the areas of economics, politics, society and culture. It was the result of the struggle for an optimal quality of life for masses of people. Underdevelopment was a phenomenon that occurred when the living situations of persons or groups of persons grew at a much slower rate than for the upper echelons of society. Any social scientist understood well that if there was an under, there must by default be an over.

Once could focus on two regions -- the United States and the continent of Africa -- as examples of the obstacles to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. In the United States, blacks had been stolen from Africa, sold on the market as chattel, and forced to work long hours for hundreds of years with absolutely no compensation. This free labour was what had fuelled the economies of the United States and Europe. The situation facing Africa now was exacerbated by the current political and economic realities of this one superpower. The report linking racism and globalization must be used in analyzing the realities facing the world, particularly Africa and the African diaspora, as the World Conference against Racism was being prepared. The Subcommission should conduct a study on the damaging effects of the transatlantic slave trade. There should also be an in-depth analysis of the question of compensation for Africa and the African diaspora -- the victims of this crime against humanity.


NATHALIE PROUVEZ of International Commission of Jurists and Habitat International Coalition (joint statement), said economic, social and cultural rights needed to be strengthened. A system for examining individual and group cases was needed if these rights were to receive equal treatment with political and civil rights. The adoption of an optional protocol would, among other things, strengthen the recognition of economic, social and cultural rights as full-fledged rights and promote a better understanding of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of the human-rights protection system within civil society.

Many rights, such as the rights to food and housing, had a group component and therefore especially effected indigenous peoples, tribal group and migrants. An optional protocol could also help protect vulnerable communities affected by globalization. The responsibility of TNCs was an important issue that needed to be tackled. A system of individual and group complaints would provide an opportunity for clarifying the nature of third-party responsibility for violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The High Commissioner for Human Rights should call for a working group to consider a draft optional protocol. Pressure from NGOs and various sectors of civil society for such a protocol was likely to grow.

ANNAR CASSAM, of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said children knew the value of education, and many of them knew they had the right to education and thus the right to their own survival as dignified human beings. But the paramount human right, which was the foundation and precondition of all others, the right to life and to peace, was not yet respected by adults. Wherever barbarity, fanaticism, extremism and exclusion held sway, it was of the utmost urgency to instill in people's minds universal human values such as tolerance and solidarity. Human-rights education was essential for the fight against ignorance, selfishness and violence. Ignorance and poverty provided the fertile soil in which exclusion and anger thrived, and that was what unleashed so much violence.

To eradicate violence, there must be an end to imbalances, inequalities and injustices through an equitable distribution and sharing of resources. How could 20 per cent of humanity continue to appropriate 80 per cent of resources of every kind without the deprived and desperate majority seeking to redress such an inequity? How was it possible to continue to exclude women from fora for debate and decision-making? Democracy must be implanted and developed everywhere, at all levels, in all practices, for democracy alone could make legality synonymous with justice and justice synonymous with peace for everybody.

ERICA-IRENE A. DAES, Subcommission Expert, said the right to drinking water supply and sanitation services was a basic human right of everyone. It was the essential element of health and life and should be duly protected. She believed the study undertaken by Mr. Guisse would analyze all aspects and problems related to this right so that the Subcommission would be in a position next year to adopt concrete proposals and recommendations for the recognition, definition and protection of this vital human right.

On the complex topic of human rights as the primary objective of trade, the issue needed further study and thorough consideration. International economic activities should take place within a human-rights framework, with human development as the ultimate goal. She supported the recommendation that a preliminary but substantial report be elaborated on this topic and submitted to the Subcommission next year.

The updated study on the right to food was of great importance. The original study on the right to adequate food had been a valuable contribution to the recognition and the protection of basic human rights. Every State should now develop a national strategy to implement the right to food.

SAAD HUSSAIN (Iraq) said this was an era of unprecedented contradictions. On the one hand many enjoyed the fruits of highly technical societies. On the other hand, there was great poverty and apparent economic regression. The most noticeable problem that had led to the deterioration of economic, cultural and social rights was the imposition of sanctions. The imposition of sanctions on Iraq had turned the country from a strong, prosperous country into one that was in great need. The war launched by the US and Britain had turned Iraq back to the pre-industrial age. More than 1.5 million people had died as a result of the economic embargo; most of them were women, children and the elderly.

One of the goals of the US-orchestrated bombing campaign against Iraq was to destroy the morale of the Iraqi people and to undermine their social cohesion. The effect on children, particulary, had been considerable. The deprivations caused had led the country to be cut off from the outside world, and had damaged family life, among other things. The Iraqi GDP had decreased significantly, with disastrous effects. The right to development and economic, cultural and social rights were very important. The negative effects of sanctions on these rights had been mentioned by the Secretary General in 1995. The need was pressing. The results of the embargo must be monitored so that they did not result in genocide as was now the case in Iraq.



HASSAN EL TALIB (Sudan) said the Government of the Sudan, under its Constitution, provided for the sanctity of earning and the right to own property, and had established various organizations/agencies to bring this about. The Ministry of Social Planning had attempted to alleviate poverty by providing credit to small, family-run enterprises. Training for people in the handicraft industries had been started. A project on petroleum development had been launched recently.

Primary education in the Sudan had been made mandatory. The goal was to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2005. The number of high schools, colleges and colleges of various specialities has increased considerably. University education was the area where the greatest advances had been made. Human-rights education, particulary within the military and law-enforcement agencies, had also increased. The Government of Sudan was in consultation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, seeking technical cooperation to further human-rights education in the country.

RAJA NUSHIRWAN (Malaysia) said globalization was a fact of life. No one could deny that. It was also the defining phenomenon of the last decade of this millennium. It was also increasingly clear that globalization had not merely economic, but also social, political, environmental, cultural and legal ramifications. As such, no one could deny that it had an impact on the full enjoyment of all human rights. While there were diverse points of view, globalization’s impact on human rights had not been studied in an in-depth and comprehensive manner by a UN human-rights mechanism.

During the course of the negotiations on a resolution on globalization in the Commission on Human Rights, arguments were forwarded to the effect that it was merely an attempt to divert attention from the failings of States, particularly developing ones, to promote and protect the human rights of their citizens. But on this issue, the resolution categorically asserted that the promotion and protection of human rights was first and foremost the duty of States.

SHARAT SABHARWAL (India) said democracy alone could not guarantee that people enjoyed the right to participate in and benefit from the development process. Unfortunately, a rights-based approach to development lacked clarity and imposed conditionalities on development aid. A developmental approach to human rights was needed. International cooperation to strengthen the right to development was needed. There was an intrinsic relationship between the international economy and the ability of people to fully enjoy human rights, particularly the right to development.

It was necessary, among other things, to arrest and reverse the declining trend in official development aid, to cancel foreign debt, and to provide for the transfer of technology to developing countries on reasonable terms. The Government of India added its voice to the requests made to further study "Globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of all human rights."

LOUIS JOINET, Subcommission Expert, said the report on the right to education was important. There was a collective right and an individual right to education, as Mr. Mehedi had noted. He especially appreciated the contention of the report that States had a positive obligation to provide educational systems that were free, unrestricted, and centred on the personal development of each individual in the context of his local community and also in a wider, universal context. There was a correlation between the development of the personality and individual liberty, and it was true that the objective of education was to permit the free development of one’s thought and character, which in the end served as the best antidote to various forms of indoctrination.

ELEAZAR RUIZ YAVILA (Mexico) said that at the end of a century of great scientific and technological advances, half the world's people lived in poverty and many people were not able to have their basic needs for food and water met. New forms of racism and the suppression of cultural differences had appeared. It was important to face the problems of poverty. Agents of institutionalized globalization should move forward together with agencies interested in securing and maintaining human rights.

Education was an important area for furthering these goals. In Mexico, a system of bilingual, bicultural education for indigenous children and women had been successful. Illiteracy had declined through these programmes. Students had access to texts in their indigenous languages. The challenge was to develop a culture where racial and political discrimination was eliminated. The Government was looking for a social strategy which would overcome extreme poverty. The fight against poverty was not easy; it demanded tolerance and tenacity.

JEORGE FERRER RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) said the study on the right to food contained a series of useful recommendations that could help the realization of that right.

The World Conference in Vienna in 1993 had asked States not to adopt measures that were not consistent with UN standards. In clear defiance of that, the US had inflicted 61 items of economic sanctions that affected 42 per cent of the world's population. One, against Cuba, had been in affect for 30 years, and had cost Cuba US$60 billion. These sanctions should end immediately because they were abuses of human rights against massive numbers of people.

IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said that development was one of the fundamental purposes of the United Nations. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action stressed the need for countries to cooperate with each other to eliminate extreme poverty. The intedependence of democracy and human rights was no longer questioned, but the broadest spectrum of human rights had to be considered. Poverty was not a problem of lack of resources but the result of inadequate distribution of resources. A study of disarmament, development and human rights would be a worthy project for the Subcommission.

The human-rights obligations of multinational instututions should be studied, too. In Bangladesh, the Government and NGOs were particulary concerned with alleviating poverty, particularly through community participation with an emphasis on women. System-wide coordination within the UN was needed; all relevant UN programmes should have the right to development mainstreamed into their work.

FAROOQ HASSAN (Pakistan) said the delegation was of the view that the starting point of any examination of the human-rights aspect of trade, investment and finance policy and practice should be the contribution of such policy and practice to the realization of the right to development. In this regard, studies and analyses should question to what extent were the traditional policy prescriptions of liberalization, privatization and deregulation contributing to broader goals? There were doubts regarding the efficacy of relying exclusively on such policies in pursuit of development objectives. It was noted that the World Bank itself was reviewing the effects of such prescriptions, and that UNCTAD, in preparation for its tenth Conference, was deliberating on the need to formulate new development strategies which would incorporate elements other than these prescriptions.

Human-rights discourse relating to economic issues should not be allowed to be used by those who wanted to employ human rights as conditionalities for access to markets and capital. Protectionism and economic coercion in the guise of human rights was a danger and needed to be guarded against. Indeed, there must be an unequivocal rejection of the use of human rights as a pretext to restrict the access of developing countries to markets and sources of capital.

MUSTAPHA MEHEDI, Subcommission Expert, responding to comments on his report on the right to education, said a study of various experiences of the international community concerning education would be useful. Other problems regarding the right to education, including illiteracy and external indebtedness, needed further exploration. The problems of the girl child and of rural women still needed to be addressed. Attention paid to obstacles to the implementation of the right to education should be increased as well. In implementing the right to education there should be a real focus on human beings. Human-rights literacy was important.

JOSEPH OLOKA-ONYANGO, Subcommission Expert, said it would be difficult to address all the queries raised about the report on human rights and international trade and finance. The vision and phenomenon of globalization was a contested one. It was important to continue to come to full grips with the phenomenon and its negative and positive impacts. If nothing else, it was clearly demonstrated that the categories of human rights could not be considered in pristine isolation. In the absence of the right to peace, the exercise of the right to food would be impossible, the right to express yourself would be impossible, and the right to life would be impossible.

Paramount to constructive engagement on the topic of globalization was the role of and the action taken by those institutions created to address the global problems, including the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Also Governments, whether they were in the North or South.

ASBJORN EIDE, Subcommission Expert, in concluding remarks on his updated study on the right to food, said that much could be achieved through discussion of the right to food within the platform of the Subcommission. One example was the recommendation by the Subcommision to the World Food Summit. Attention to the right to food had been increased within other UN agencies as a result of this forum at the Subcommission.

On the subject of globalization, the Subcommission was particularly concerned with the human-rights aspect. Human-rights education and obstacles to education needed further exploration as well.

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Subcommission Expert and Special Rapporteur on traditional practices harmful to the health of women and the girl child, said that two months ago she had had to make a choice whether or not to submit a report to the Subcommission, since there had been a lack of responses to her requests for information; the other option was to hold fast by drafting a report spelling out the history of the issue of harmful and traditional practices and their relation to human rights.

It appeared that the question of harmful traditional practices should be analyzed in regional seminars. The Special Rapporteur recognized that such action should be eliminated, but in what manner? Condemnation and the measures taken to combat the practice should not come in a scorning tone through which one party felt superior to the another. Only by means of good understanding leading to consequent action could such practices be eliminated effectively.

Rights of reply

SAAD HUSSAIN (Iraq), speaking in right of reply, said the study on the right to food had referred to the economic situation in Iraq because of the embargo placed upon the country 10 years ago. The author had not been objective on the situation of human rights issues in Iraq. During the period referred to, Iraq had not been allowed to export its oil. It was to be hoped that the complaints voiced by the Iraqi delegation would be relayed to the Secretary-General. The human-rights violations caused by economic sanctions imposed against Iraq were very clear, and it was obvious that the United States and Britain were carrying out genocide. This tragedy should be remembered as Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been remembered.

ASBJORN EIDE, Subcommission Expert, responding, said his report did comment on the situation in Iraq. Those who had initiated the sanctions against Iraq remained responsible for ensuring the right to food.