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SUBCOMMISSION CONCLUDES EXAMINATION OF CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF SLAVERY
14 August 1998
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HR/SC/98/17
14 August 1998
SUBCOMMISSION CONCLUDES EXAMINATION OF CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF SLAVERY
The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities concluded this afternoon its examination of contemporary forms of slavery, with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) alleging that slavery still existed in several countries, including Mauritania and Sudan, and denouncing the refusal of the Japanese Government to accept legal responsibility for the "comfort women" stations established by its army during World War II.
Echoing the concerns of several NGOs, International Educational Development said that the Japanese Government "clings to trivial, legally unsound and, to be frank, insulting excuses" with regard to compensation for the "comfort women" - Koreans, Filipinas and others forced to serve as sexual slaves. International Fellowship of Reconciliation said that the atonement money offered by Japan's Asian Women's Fund was not sufficient compensation for the surviving victims.
A representative of Japan said the Government recognized that the issue was a serious affront to the honour and dignity of many women. Japan had been expressing its apologies and remorse to the former comfort women and had made efforts at atonement along with the Japanese people through the establishment of an Asian Women's Fund. The Government could not agree with the legal interpretations in the Special Rapporteur's report, he said, nor could it accept her conclusions and recommendations that Japan take steps to provide redress beyond what it was already doing.
Subcommission experts Asbjorn Eide, Fan Guoxiang, David Weissbrodt, Erica Irene Daes, Ioan Maxim and Sang Yong Park addressed the meeting.
Representatives of Sudan, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the Philippines also addressed the meeting. Mauritania spoke in right of reply.
The following non-governmental organizations took the floor: Pax Romana, Anti-Slavery International, International Educational Development, African Commission of Health and Human Rights, Liberation, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Asian Women's Human Rights Council, European Union of Public Relations, World Federation of Democratic Youth, World Council of Churches, North South XXI, World Alliance of Reformed Churches
The Subcommission will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Monday, 17 August, when it will begin consideration of the human rights of indigenous peoples.
Statements
ILKA BAILEY, of Pax Romana, said the organization considered the systematic rape that had been organised on higher orders during the riots in Indonesia as a form of torture, and because of its systemic nature, as a crime against humanity. An apology by the Indonesian Government could not therefore be accepted, and the Government should make true efforts to bring the culprits to justice. Complaints of sexual abuse by the Indian army against the Jammu women of Kashmir during counter insurgency operations were registered with alarming frequency. Reports about Tamil women being raped by the army were also on the rise, and only one rape of the thousands reported had resulted in conviction. Violence against women often amounted to threats which could have similar psychological effects on the victims as rape itself, as the situation of women in detention had shown. As there did not seem much hope that the relationship between war and rape would come to an end in the future, the Subcommission was urged to renew
the mandate of Ms. McDougall, the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during wartime, for a one-year period so that she could visit some of these countries and support the setting up of a fact- finding commission on systematic rapes.
AHMED YESSA, of Anti-Slavery International, said slavery persisted in Mauritania; in 1998 four NGO leaders campaigning against slavery had been arrested there, imprisoned, and fined; he had been sentenced in absentia himself, and France had just granted him political asylum; however, international pressure had gotten the Head of State to grant pardons to the detainees. NGOs were subjected to intimidation by the police in Mauritania as soon as they spoke on the issue of slavery; the matter clearly was very sensitive to Mauritania; the Government was not carrying out an anti-slavery policy but was maintaining or condoning in a tradition of servitude that was centuries old. There also was traffic in children as young as 6 for use in camel racing; there was a sale of 40 slaves, essentially women and children, in December 1997, before a traditional judge who misapplied the concept of Islam, although fortunately the new owner freed them. Despite the prohibition of slavery in Mauritanian law, there was no qualification or description of the crime and no specific enforcement of it; the Subcommission must act to prevent such abuses.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said that the organization was especially concerned with the issue of Japan's war rape victims. It was disturbing that the Government of Japan had not budged a bit in its refusal to pay compensation, but instead clung to trivial, legally unsound and insulting excuses why Japan would not pay. There was now compelling evidence that prisoners in at least one Japanese detention centre performed uncompensated labour on automobile parts utilized by Nissan and Toyota motor companies. While the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners allowed unpaid labour that was therapeutic or part of a job-training programme, working for a number of years with no compensation on automobile parts for Japanese companies could hardly qualify for these exceptions. As Japan was not alone in having programmes for uncompensated prison labour, the Working Group was urged to address this issue as well as the credible allegations of slave labour in
Burma.
S. KANE, of the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said slavery must be eradicated as the third millennium began; a slave was not a human being, after all -- he was denied his humanity. Slavery's more modern forms were subtle but mocked all basic human rights; even if freed, slaves suffered from the trauma for the rest of their lives. In European countries, the use of Portuguese and Balkan children as domestic slaves occurred, if little spoken about; nearly 100,000 Haitian children were sold every year to rich families; in Mauritania human beings were sold every year. In Sudan, the tragic consequences of the war in the south of the country had led to slavery; in free economic zones in Latin America, in El Salvador, for example, women worked in conditions that were little more than slavery; some 60 per cent of these "employees" had become child mothers -- their prostitution was one of the unwritten conditions of their work. Efforts to end slavery in Mauritania were increasing, but mo
re international pressure and attention was needed for lasting progress.
KWON JONG-SUNG, of Liberation and Kyosei Renko Chosadan, said that Ms. McDougall's report was a basis for understanding and solving the issue of slavery in the world. The appendix of the report was especially significant as it clearly pointed out the legal responsibility of the Japanese Government for settling the comfort women issue. Japanese media reports described the activity of comfort women as “a commercial undertaking”. This misunderstanding would only be checked when the Japanese Government disclosed all of the official documents on its war crimes. Japan had attempted to seek a solution through its Asian Women's Fund which was designed to provide consolation money to victims instead of compensation, and had been rejected by the majority of victims as "a fake". Although in 1937, the Supreme Court of Japan had convicted a brothel owner for tricking Japanese women into prostitution, the tricking of Korean women into comfort stations had not been prosecuted. The Subcommission was recommended to adopt and implement Ms. McDougall's report, and to recommend to the Japanese Government that it make public all documents on its past.
JONATHAN ISISSON, of International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), said the organization had been among the first to raise the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery during World War II; it welcomed progress made, such as work done by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women which had referred to the comfort-women issue as an example of State violence against women. However, the Japanese Government had not accepted legal responsibility for these human-rights violations: the Subcommission was reminded that the Special Rapporteur's recommendations included acknowledgement of the system of "comfort stations" as a violation of international law and acceptance of legal responsibility; compensation for individual victims; full disclosure of documents; a public apology in writing; amendment of educational curricula; and punishment of perpetrators. The "atonement money" offered by the Asian Women's Fund set up by Japan was not a sufficient response in the opinion of most of the surviving victims; i
nstead Japan was called upon to accept legal responsibility and to prosecute all those responsible for the military system of sexual slavery; a truth commission should be established to completely establish what had occurred, and who had done what. The Subcommission should take note of the truth commission model as a possible framework for a mandate of a panel of experts to be established by the Commission on Human Rights together with the Japanese Government.
N. YOSHIDA, of Asian Women's Human Rights Council (Japan Federation of Publishing Workers' Unions), said that he wished to inform the Subcommission of the attitude of the Japanese Government regarding comfort women. The new Japanese Prime Minister had said that there was no problem with a statement, later revised, by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery in which he had doubted that the comfort women were really forcibly taken away by the Japanese Army. The political group to which the Minister belonged had demanded the Ministry of Education to strengthen the textbook screening system to delete all references to comfort women. Such incidents demonstrated that the Japanese Government had no intention of accepting war crime responsibility or taking action based on this acceptance. The system of textbook screening by the Government had prevented the Japanese people from realizing the problems of the comfort women, and this system needed to be abolished in order to prevent any contemporary form of slavery emerging in the future.
L. VERZEGNASSI, of the European Union of Public Relations, said child labour and sale of children and child prostitution was still prevalent in various parts of the world; the children of developing countries, for reasons completely beyond their control, were being deprived of their basic needs, and were instead being compelled to become breadwinners for their families and forced to forego normal childhoods; they were sold for bonded labour or prostitution. In Pakistan there were an estimated 3.3 million children between 5 and 14, including 1 million girls, at work; a survey of children from 6 to 11 showed that many had been sexually abused; there were further an estimated 40,000 boys in Pakistan's sex trade; the tantalizing prospect of easy earnings held out to ill-educated and often-naive girls and boys had created a large pool of child prostitutes in south Asia; not surprisingly their patrons were often from affluent societies. It was the demand that needed to be attacked; in the sex trade, market economics were at work in the worst sense; modern legal systems had not been able to curb this evil; perhaps a return to the barbaric punishments of the Middle Ages could provide an answer; the international community must demand of Governments that they pass and enforce laws to very severely punish these abusers of children; substantive action should be forced from Governments, not more protocols drafted.
MR. ABDELBAGI, of the World Foundation of Democratic Youth, said that the world was yet to be freed from old fashioned and contemporary forms of slavery. Slavery and slavery-like issues were so acute in Mauritania and certain parts of Sudan that they deserved the Subcommission's decisive action. Thousands of people in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains were being enslaved by Arabised tribes from the northern parts of the country, with young women and children being primary targets. Though Sudan was signatory to a number of agreements on the abolition of slavery, it had failed to respect any of them, and by arming, protecting and encouraging its security forces and tribal militia men to commit these crimes, the Government of Sudan was responsible in front of the international community. In Mauritania, the practice of slavery was deeply ingrained in the fabric of society, and as many as 90,000 Afro-Mauritanians currently lived in slavery or slavery like conditions. Though the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights had seen a draft resolution on which recognised the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, heavy pressure from the United States and submission from some African States had undermined this draft resolution, thus denying Black African nations an apology similar to that given to other nations.
HENRY THIAGARAJ, of the World Council of Churches, said that if there was one single issue that demanded the Subcommission's attention it was the situation of the Dalits, victims of caste discrimination for centuries in India; they were still subject to contemporary forms of slavery rooted in an ancient social system which had condemned people to dehumanized conditions for over 2,000 years; such discrimination continued; even today Dalits lived in segregated colonies, were denied access to drinking water, accessible roads, and made to live without development opportunities. The Government had passed laws against untouchability but they went unenforced. The condition of Dalit women was especially deplorable; they constituted a major work force doing hard manual labour and were vulnerable to sexual exploitation; abject poverty often forced them into prostitution. Instead of conducting nuclear test explosions, the Indian Government should be persuaded to use its knowledge and resources to solve the problems of its people, to remove poverty and discrimination, and to respect the right to development of millions of Dalits. The Subcommission should undertake a study of untouchability and the caste system.
D. McCONNELL, of North South XXI, said that answering the questions: who was doing the rape and who was the rape being done to, usually threw light on the motivations behind systematic rape. In Sri Lanka, the politics of the dominant Sinhalese in power had brought about a situation where the Tamils had absolutely no democratic power to change the security situation for Tamil women. There was a war going on against Tamils, and the war was being carried out by the principally Sinhalese security services. In this war situation, rape was being used as a weapon of war by the dominant group against Tamil women who were disempowered and excluded. Sri Lanka had signed up to various conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and had managed to present its progress in the field of women's rights by reporting on progress made for the Sinhalese women. However, in the Tamil areas, systematic rape was used as a way to break the Tamil community; the only place to report rape for Tamil women was to the same military officials who were perpetrating the rape. As the perpetrators of systematic sexual violence were able to carry out the violation because of the armed occupation by the dominant group, the most reasonable course of action was to request the withdrawal of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces from the Tamil's homeland.
H. SHIN, of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said the organization, along with the World Council of Churches, had for years been raising the issue of hundreds of thousands of Asian and Dutch women enslaved by the Japanese Army; the atrocities suffered did not need to be reiterated; still, she was displaying watercolour paintings of three Korean victims, put on postcards, which expressed their painful experiences; one drawing was by Kim Soon-Deuk, another by Kan Duk Kyung; she had testified before the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery in Geneva in 1993; she died in 1997 without ever regaining her lost dignity. The Japanese Government remained liable for the crimes of military sexual slavery during World War II; the Subcommission should adopt a resolution to disseminate as widely as possible Gay McDougall's report on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflict; should request Governments to report progress to the Secretary-General; should establish an international panel of experts to deal with the prosecution of war criminals and seek legal compensation for the victims, in cooperation with the Governments concerned; and should entrust Ms. McDougall to continue her study.
ALI MAHMOUD (Sudan) said that it was obliged to refer to the barrage of lies carried out by one NGO that was using its vast resources and the media to achieve its malign aims. Sudan was a State Party to the Slavery Convention of 1926, and the Supplementary Convention of 1956, and it strongly condemned slavery wherever it existed. The Sudanese Government had created a committee that had toured all the areas where slavery was alleged to exist, and had found no evidence to substantiate the existence of these practices. The allegations of slave trade had been criticised by independent professional human rights groups such as African Rights and Anti-Slavery International. In May 1997, Anti-Slavery International's report had said that "the charge that Government troops engage in raids for the purpose of seizing slaves is not backed by the evidence". The organization that was spearheading the campaign against Sudan knew well the absurdity of its allegations, and the lies that it orchestrated. It also knew that such a campaign was very effective in tarnishing the image of a whole people. The Government of Sudan issued an open invitation to the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery to visit Sudan to ascertain for itself the truth regarding these allegations.
YOSHIKI MISSE (Japan) said the Government, recognizing that the issue of the so-called "comfort women" was a serious affront to the honour and dignity of many women, had been expressing its apologies and remorse to the former comfort women, and had been making great efforts on the issue in cooperation with the Japanese people through the Asian Women's Fund; many persons had received a letter of apology and remorse from the Prime Minister; a number of others had received an atonement of 2 million yen from the Japanese people; medical and welfare-support projects were to be funded with Government resources, among them being 700 million yen for medical and welfare projects of the Women's Fund on behalf of former comfort women in Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan over a 5-year period; further, the Fund had decided to support a project proposed by Indonesia on promotion of social welfare services for elderly people and had agreed on a project with the Netherlands on the comfort-women issue to help enhance the living conditions of those who suffered from physical and psychological wounds during the war. Japanese school textbooks now had references to the issue. The Japanese Government found that in overall the report of the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflicts to be valuable; but regretted that it could not agree with her legal interpretations nor could it accept her conclusions and recommendations that Japan take steps to provide redress beyond what it was already doing. Japan felt the Subcommission was not a proper forum for discussing or rendering decisions on liability and specific legal issues; Japan would like to concentrate on what it could actually do for the victims considering their advanced ages and hoped the Subcommission would reach conclusions consistent with its positive resolutions in the past.
MAN SOON CHANG (Korea) said that Ms. McDougall's report which was truly excellent had concluded that any Government, involved directly or indirectly in the crime or systematic rape, sexual slavery or slavery like practices during armed conflict, had to admit its legal responsibility for its actions. The appendix to the report specifically focused attention on the so-called comfort women issue which had involved the sexual slavery of over 200,000 young women by the Imperial Japanese Army during the World War II. Since this issue had first been addressed by the Subcommission in 1992, the Korean Government had urged the Japanese Government to take appropriate measures acceptable to the victims as a whole: this included expressing deep regret and making a sincere apology. The measures taken by the privately established Asian Women's Fund were insufficient and inappropriate as an attempt to meet the collective demands of the majority of the victims. On 21 April 1998, the Korean Government had decided to provide each of the surviving comfort women with approximately 25,000 dollars. This however was not enough. These women desired that their honour and dignity be restored, and that could only be done by the Japanese Government's admission of responsibility. A just solution had to be achieved with honour and humility to serve the international community as a model.
DENIS SEPATAH (Philippines) said the Philippines recognized the need for concerned parties to address the complex and delicate issue of the comfort women and recognized that the issue had taken on a sense of urgency given the advanced age of the individuals affected. It had taken notice of the position of the Japanese Government and the efforts it had exerted throughout the years to fulfil its moral responsibility, including its assistance in establishment and continued operation of the Asian Women's Fund; the Philippines had cooperated with various activities of the Fund. It also took cognizance of Japan's efforts to address contemporary issues on women through international fora. The Philippines would continue to cooperate with the Fund, but wished to state, as on previous occasions, that it recognized the individual rights of former comfort women to seek legal redress and compensation from the Japanese Government.
ASBJORN EIDE, Subcommission expert, expressed his support for the report of Subcommission expert Halima Embarek Warzazi on traditional practices affecting the health of women. The issues addressed in Ms. McDougall's report were contemporary and the analysis was solid. Rape was still a frequent phenomenon, even when there was no armed conflict, and it was necessary to take more action to prevent rape under other circumstances as well. The study should also be taken as a challenge to see that some of the laws that it identified were reformed to give effective protection to women. With regard to rape during armed conflict, it was a major achievement that the Statute of the International Criminal Court had been adopted. Rape was a war crime and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Court. What had been heard from NGOs on the use of rape in war situations was of serious concern. It was important to provide all members of armed forces with information on their responsibility and to inform them of the possibility of being charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. In this context, the expert appealed to all countries that had not signed the Statute of the Court to do so. There had been proposals for the extension of Ms. McDougall's mandate for a year, and the expert supported this proposal.
FAN GUOXIANG, Subcommission expert, said the report on systematic rape and sexual slavery in armed conflicts was comprehensive and well-reasoned; Ms. McDougall's appendix referring to the legal liability of the Government of Japan for comfort women stations established during World War II was on target, in his opinion; the Japanese Government had recently offered a number of public apologies for this military sexual slavery; but despite these apologies, the Government continued to deny legal liability. The Asian Women's Fund was a people's fund supported by the Japanese Government to deal with the matter of comfort women and other issues; it was not a sufficient response; it could not replace the role that should be played by the Japanese Government. As Ms. McDougall concluded, the Japanese Government remained liable for the crimes committed against comfort women; he endorsed those conclusions. As he had said last year, there was an important distinction between the Japanese people and the Japanese Government; it was the Government that was responsible, politically, morally, and legally; the Japanese people were also victims of the then-militarist leaders of Japan. The Government had done some positive things, but not enough; his advice was that the Government should be serious about resolving the problem and should avoid becoming agitated over the criticism it had been receiving. The Swiss banks had dealt seriously with issues raised over their handling of funds during the war; the same approach was advisable for Japan.
DAVID WEISSBRODT, Subcommission expert, said that Ms. McDougall's report highlighted the need for effective remedies that would bring an end to impunity, and which would help to protect women and children who were at special risk during periods of armed conflict. Domestic violence, rape, female infanticide and female genial mutilation were just some of the human rights abuses which threatened the lives and safety of women and children. One aspect of the problem of sexual violence was illicit trafficking in women and children; the focus of next year's Working Group session would provide a special opportunity to address the issue of trafficking within a global context, and would help the Working Group regularize its scrutiny of relevant practices. The seminar on prostitution afforded an important opportunity for organizations and persons concerned with trafficking to develop a common strategy. As the Working Group could focus on specific regions of the world as well as on particular issues, it could help to establish concrete strategies which would end practices in the sex trade such as physical compulsion, fraudulent inducement and abduction. In order to understand the root causes of trafficking, issues of economic disparity and gender inequality had to be brought to the fore. Trafficking was an issue of concern for men as well as women, and men needed to be educated about the consequences of illicit trafficking for themselves and for victims. The Subcommission should support the path-breaking efforts of its Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery as it professionalises and regularizes its efforts to combat the human rights abuses inherent in the sex trade.
ERICA-IRENE A. DAES, Subcommission expert, congratulated the members of the Working Group on slavery and the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflict; she thought the working paper was a valuable contribution to a serious and complex problem; she supported the proposal to continue the study. She disagreed with one point in the paper -- on compensation for the comfort women; she had said on other occasions that during World War II, many crimes were committed, millions were executed, others were subjected to forced labour; whole villages in her home country had been eliminated. After 50 years, at a time when the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was being celebrated, it was time to close the book on the past, especially as the Japanese Government had taken steps to apologize for what had happened.
IOAN MAXIM, Subcommission expert, said that it was necessary to examine the causes of contemporary forms of slavery. In issues such as trafficking or child labour, corruption clearly played a role. However, it was not enough to blame Governments as often they were not in a position to eliminate it totally. Corruption was being discussed in a large number of forums and perhaps next year
it would be possible to examine it even further.
SANG YONG PARK, Subcommission expert, said that he wished to comment on the two important reports that came under item 6. He paid tribute to Mrs. Warzazi and to the other members of the Working Group on the contemporary forms of slavery that had for the first time dealt with issues such as corruption and the misuse of the Internet for sexual repression. He supported the nomination of 2 December as the Day for the Elimination of Slavery in All its Forms. With regard to the appendix of the report by Ms. McDougall, he said that he fully supported the conclusions of the Special Rapporteur who had been unbiased and balanced; her contribution deserved due recognition, and the annexe should be published as an official United Nations document.
Right of Reply
MOHAMED LEMINE (Mauritania), speaking in right of reply, said the Subcommission had considered the matter of slavery in Mauritania more than 20 years ago before deciding to put an end to the consideration; it was a shame that the subject was raised again now. The matter had some emotional content and was being used as an excuse to raise problems that had not been dealt with for some through free and fair elections. The claims made were questionable and came from questionable sources; the same people who had mismanaged the State 18 or 20 years ago were now raising complaints about present Government management; the current Government was achieving practical and real results through its laws and economic and social reforms which were being carried out in a transparent and fair manner. If there were retrograde mentalities in the country, it was because poverty remained a problem; the country was advancing and those criticizing it should look more closely and fairly at it and should reflect the real situation.
HR/SC/98/17
14 August 1998
SUBCOMMISSION CONCLUDES EXAMINATION OF CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF SLAVERY
The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities concluded this afternoon its examination of contemporary forms of slavery, with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) alleging that slavery still existed in several countries, including Mauritania and Sudan, and denouncing the refusal of the Japanese Government to accept legal responsibility for the "comfort women" stations established by its army during World War II.
Echoing the concerns of several NGOs, International Educational Development said that the Japanese Government "clings to trivial, legally unsound and, to be frank, insulting excuses" with regard to compensation for the "comfort women" - Koreans, Filipinas and others forced to serve as sexual slaves. International Fellowship of Reconciliation said that the atonement money offered by Japan's Asian Women's Fund was not sufficient compensation for the surviving victims.
A representative of Japan said the Government recognized that the issue was a serious affront to the honour and dignity of many women. Japan had been expressing its apologies and remorse to the former comfort women and had made efforts at atonement along with the Japanese people through the establishment of an Asian Women's Fund. The Government could not agree with the legal interpretations in the Special Rapporteur's report, he said, nor could it accept her conclusions and recommendations that Japan take steps to provide redress beyond what it was already doing.
Subcommission experts Asbjorn Eide, Fan Guoxiang, David Weissbrodt, Erica Irene Daes, Ioan Maxim and Sang Yong Park addressed the meeting.
Representatives of Sudan, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the Philippines also addressed the meeting. Mauritania spoke in right of reply.
The following non-governmental organizations took the floor: Pax Romana, Anti-Slavery International, International Educational Development, African Commission of Health and Human Rights, Liberation, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Asian Women's Human Rights Council, European Union of Public Relations, World Federation of Democratic Youth, World Council of Churches, North South XXI, World Alliance of Reformed Churches
The Subcommission will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Monday, 17 August, when it will begin consideration of the human rights of indigenous peoples.
Statements
ILKA BAILEY, of Pax Romana, said the organization considered the systematic rape that had been organised on higher orders during the riots in Indonesia as a form of torture, and because of its systemic nature, as a crime against humanity. An apology by the Indonesian Government could not therefore be accepted, and the Government should make true efforts to bring the culprits to justice. Complaints of sexual abuse by the Indian army against the Jammu women of Kashmir during counter insurgency operations were registered with alarming frequency. Reports about Tamil women being raped by the army were also on the rise, and only one rape of the thousands reported had resulted in conviction. Violence against women often amounted to threats which could have similar psychological effects on the victims as rape itself, as the situation of women in detention had shown. As there did not seem much hope that the relationship between war and rape would come to an end in the future, the Subcommission was urged to renew
the mandate of Ms. McDougall, the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during wartime, for a one-year period so that she could visit some of these countries and support the setting up of a fact- finding commission on systematic rapes.
AHMED YESSA, of Anti-Slavery International, said slavery persisted in Mauritania; in 1998 four NGO leaders campaigning against slavery had been arrested there, imprisoned, and fined; he had been sentenced in absentia himself, and France had just granted him political asylum; however, international pressure had gotten the Head of State to grant pardons to the detainees. NGOs were subjected to intimidation by the police in Mauritania as soon as they spoke on the issue of slavery; the matter clearly was very sensitive to Mauritania; the Government was not carrying out an anti-slavery policy but was maintaining or condoning in a tradition of servitude that was centuries old. There also was traffic in children as young as 6 for use in camel racing; there was a sale of 40 slaves, essentially women and children, in December 1997, before a traditional judge who misapplied the concept of Islam, although fortunately the new owner freed them. Despite the prohibition of slavery in Mauritanian law, there was no qualification or description of the crime and no specific enforcement of it; the Subcommission must act to prevent such abuses.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, said that the organization was especially concerned with the issue of Japan's war rape victims. It was disturbing that the Government of Japan had not budged a bit in its refusal to pay compensation, but instead clung to trivial, legally unsound and insulting excuses why Japan would not pay. There was now compelling evidence that prisoners in at least one Japanese detention centre performed uncompensated labour on automobile parts utilized by Nissan and Toyota motor companies. While the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners allowed unpaid labour that was therapeutic or part of a job-training programme, working for a number of years with no compensation on automobile parts for Japanese companies could hardly qualify for these exceptions. As Japan was not alone in having programmes for uncompensated prison labour, the Working Group was urged to address this issue as well as the credible allegations of slave labour in
Burma.
S. KANE, of the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said slavery must be eradicated as the third millennium began; a slave was not a human being, after all -- he was denied his humanity. Slavery's more modern forms were subtle but mocked all basic human rights; even if freed, slaves suffered from the trauma for the rest of their lives. In European countries, the use of Portuguese and Balkan children as domestic slaves occurred, if little spoken about; nearly 100,000 Haitian children were sold every year to rich families; in Mauritania human beings were sold every year. In Sudan, the tragic consequences of the war in the south of the country had led to slavery; in free economic zones in Latin America, in El Salvador, for example, women worked in conditions that were little more than slavery; some 60 per cent of these "employees" had become child mothers -- their prostitution was one of the unwritten conditions of their work. Efforts to end slavery in Mauritania were increasing, but mo
re international pressure and attention was needed for lasting progress.
KWON JONG-SUNG, of Liberation and Kyosei Renko Chosadan, said that Ms. McDougall's report was a basis for understanding and solving the issue of slavery in the world. The appendix of the report was especially significant as it clearly pointed out the legal responsibility of the Japanese Government for settling the comfort women issue. Japanese media reports described the activity of comfort women as “a commercial undertaking”. This misunderstanding would only be checked when the Japanese Government disclosed all of the official documents on its war crimes. Japan had attempted to seek a solution through its Asian Women's Fund which was designed to provide consolation money to victims instead of compensation, and had been rejected by the majority of victims as "a fake". Although in 1937, the Supreme Court of Japan had convicted a brothel owner for tricking Japanese women into prostitution, the tricking of Korean women into comfort stations had not been prosecuted. The Subcommission was recommended to adopt and implement Ms. McDougall's report, and to recommend to the Japanese Government that it make public all documents on its past.
JONATHAN ISISSON, of International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), said the organization had been among the first to raise the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery during World War II; it welcomed progress made, such as work done by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women which had referred to the comfort-women issue as an example of State violence against women. However, the Japanese Government had not accepted legal responsibility for these human-rights violations: the Subcommission was reminded that the Special Rapporteur's recommendations included acknowledgement of the system of "comfort stations" as a violation of international law and acceptance of legal responsibility; compensation for individual victims; full disclosure of documents; a public apology in writing; amendment of educational curricula; and punishment of perpetrators. The "atonement money" offered by the Asian Women's Fund set up by Japan was not a sufficient response in the opinion of most of the surviving victims; i
nstead Japan was called upon to accept legal responsibility and to prosecute all those responsible for the military system of sexual slavery; a truth commission should be established to completely establish what had occurred, and who had done what. The Subcommission should take note of the truth commission model as a possible framework for a mandate of a panel of experts to be established by the Commission on Human Rights together with the Japanese Government.
N. YOSHIDA, of Asian Women's Human Rights Council (Japan Federation of Publishing Workers' Unions), said that he wished to inform the Subcommission of the attitude of the Japanese Government regarding comfort women. The new Japanese Prime Minister had said that there was no problem with a statement, later revised, by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery in which he had doubted that the comfort women were really forcibly taken away by the Japanese Army. The political group to which the Minister belonged had demanded the Ministry of Education to strengthen the textbook screening system to delete all references to comfort women. Such incidents demonstrated that the Japanese Government had no intention of accepting war crime responsibility or taking action based on this acceptance. The system of textbook screening by the Government had prevented the Japanese people from realizing the problems of the comfort women, and this system needed to be abolished in order to prevent any contemporary form of slavery emerging in the future.
L. VERZEGNASSI, of the European Union of Public Relations, said child labour and sale of children and child prostitution was still prevalent in various parts of the world; the children of developing countries, for reasons completely beyond their control, were being deprived of their basic needs, and were instead being compelled to become breadwinners for their families and forced to forego normal childhoods; they were sold for bonded labour or prostitution. In Pakistan there were an estimated 3.3 million children between 5 and 14, including 1 million girls, at work; a survey of children from 6 to 11 showed that many had been sexually abused; there were further an estimated 40,000 boys in Pakistan's sex trade; the tantalizing prospect of easy earnings held out to ill-educated and often-naive girls and boys had created a large pool of child prostitutes in south Asia; not surprisingly their patrons were often from affluent societies. It was the demand that needed to be attacked; in the sex trade, market economics were at work in the worst sense; modern legal systems had not been able to curb this evil; perhaps a return to the barbaric punishments of the Middle Ages could provide an answer; the international community must demand of Governments that they pass and enforce laws to very severely punish these abusers of children; substantive action should be forced from Governments, not more protocols drafted.
MR. ABDELBAGI, of the World Foundation of Democratic Youth, said that the world was yet to be freed from old fashioned and contemporary forms of slavery. Slavery and slavery-like issues were so acute in Mauritania and certain parts of Sudan that they deserved the Subcommission's decisive action. Thousands of people in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains were being enslaved by Arabised tribes from the northern parts of the country, with young women and children being primary targets. Though Sudan was signatory to a number of agreements on the abolition of slavery, it had failed to respect any of them, and by arming, protecting and encouraging its security forces and tribal militia men to commit these crimes, the Government of Sudan was responsible in front of the international community. In Mauritania, the practice of slavery was deeply ingrained in the fabric of society, and as many as 90,000 Afro-Mauritanians currently lived in slavery or slavery like conditions. Though the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights had seen a draft resolution on which recognised the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, heavy pressure from the United States and submission from some African States had undermined this draft resolution, thus denying Black African nations an apology similar to that given to other nations.
HENRY THIAGARAJ, of the World Council of Churches, said that if there was one single issue that demanded the Subcommission's attention it was the situation of the Dalits, victims of caste discrimination for centuries in India; they were still subject to contemporary forms of slavery rooted in an ancient social system which had condemned people to dehumanized conditions for over 2,000 years; such discrimination continued; even today Dalits lived in segregated colonies, were denied access to drinking water, accessible roads, and made to live without development opportunities. The Government had passed laws against untouchability but they went unenforced. The condition of Dalit women was especially deplorable; they constituted a major work force doing hard manual labour and were vulnerable to sexual exploitation; abject poverty often forced them into prostitution. Instead of conducting nuclear test explosions, the Indian Government should be persuaded to use its knowledge and resources to solve the problems of its people, to remove poverty and discrimination, and to respect the right to development of millions of Dalits. The Subcommission should undertake a study of untouchability and the caste system.
D. McCONNELL, of North South XXI, said that answering the questions: who was doing the rape and who was the rape being done to, usually threw light on the motivations behind systematic rape. In Sri Lanka, the politics of the dominant Sinhalese in power had brought about a situation where the Tamils had absolutely no democratic power to change the security situation for Tamil women. There was a war going on against Tamils, and the war was being carried out by the principally Sinhalese security services. In this war situation, rape was being used as a weapon of war by the dominant group against Tamil women who were disempowered and excluded. Sri Lanka had signed up to various conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and had managed to present its progress in the field of women's rights by reporting on progress made for the Sinhalese women. However, in the Tamil areas, systematic rape was used as a way to break the Tamil community; the only place to report rape for Tamil women was to the same military officials who were perpetrating the rape. As the perpetrators of systematic sexual violence were able to carry out the violation because of the armed occupation by the dominant group, the most reasonable course of action was to request the withdrawal of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces from the Tamil's homeland.
H. SHIN, of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said the organization, along with the World Council of Churches, had for years been raising the issue of hundreds of thousands of Asian and Dutch women enslaved by the Japanese Army; the atrocities suffered did not need to be reiterated; still, she was displaying watercolour paintings of three Korean victims, put on postcards, which expressed their painful experiences; one drawing was by Kim Soon-Deuk, another by Kan Duk Kyung; she had testified before the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery in Geneva in 1993; she died in 1997 without ever regaining her lost dignity. The Japanese Government remained liable for the crimes of military sexual slavery during World War II; the Subcommission should adopt a resolution to disseminate as widely as possible Gay McDougall's report on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflict; should request Governments to report progress to the Secretary-General; should establish an international panel of experts to deal with the prosecution of war criminals and seek legal compensation for the victims, in cooperation with the Governments concerned; and should entrust Ms. McDougall to continue her study.
ALI MAHMOUD (Sudan) said that it was obliged to refer to the barrage of lies carried out by one NGO that was using its vast resources and the media to achieve its malign aims. Sudan was a State Party to the Slavery Convention of 1926, and the Supplementary Convention of 1956, and it strongly condemned slavery wherever it existed. The Sudanese Government had created a committee that had toured all the areas where slavery was alleged to exist, and had found no evidence to substantiate the existence of these practices. The allegations of slave trade had been criticised by independent professional human rights groups such as African Rights and Anti-Slavery International. In May 1997, Anti-Slavery International's report had said that "the charge that Government troops engage in raids for the purpose of seizing slaves is not backed by the evidence". The organization that was spearheading the campaign against Sudan knew well the absurdity of its allegations, and the lies that it orchestrated. It also knew that such a campaign was very effective in tarnishing the image of a whole people. The Government of Sudan issued an open invitation to the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery to visit Sudan to ascertain for itself the truth regarding these allegations.
YOSHIKI MISSE (Japan) said the Government, recognizing that the issue of the so-called "comfort women" was a serious affront to the honour and dignity of many women, had been expressing its apologies and remorse to the former comfort women, and had been making great efforts on the issue in cooperation with the Japanese people through the Asian Women's Fund; many persons had received a letter of apology and remorse from the Prime Minister; a number of others had received an atonement of 2 million yen from the Japanese people; medical and welfare-support projects were to be funded with Government resources, among them being 700 million yen for medical and welfare projects of the Women's Fund on behalf of former comfort women in Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan over a 5-year period; further, the Fund had decided to support a project proposed by Indonesia on promotion of social welfare services for elderly people and had agreed on a project with the Netherlands on the comfort-women issue to help enhance the living conditions of those who suffered from physical and psychological wounds during the war. Japanese school textbooks now had references to the issue. The Japanese Government found that in overall the report of the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflicts to be valuable; but regretted that it could not agree with her legal interpretations nor could it accept her conclusions and recommendations that Japan take steps to provide redress beyond what it was already doing. Japan felt the Subcommission was not a proper forum for discussing or rendering decisions on liability and specific legal issues; Japan would like to concentrate on what it could actually do for the victims considering their advanced ages and hoped the Subcommission would reach conclusions consistent with its positive resolutions in the past.
MAN SOON CHANG (Korea) said that Ms. McDougall's report which was truly excellent had concluded that any Government, involved directly or indirectly in the crime or systematic rape, sexual slavery or slavery like practices during armed conflict, had to admit its legal responsibility for its actions. The appendix to the report specifically focused attention on the so-called comfort women issue which had involved the sexual slavery of over 200,000 young women by the Imperial Japanese Army during the World War II. Since this issue had first been addressed by the Subcommission in 1992, the Korean Government had urged the Japanese Government to take appropriate measures acceptable to the victims as a whole: this included expressing deep regret and making a sincere apology. The measures taken by the privately established Asian Women's Fund were insufficient and inappropriate as an attempt to meet the collective demands of the majority of the victims. On 21 April 1998, the Korean Government had decided to provide each of the surviving comfort women with approximately 25,000 dollars. This however was not enough. These women desired that their honour and dignity be restored, and that could only be done by the Japanese Government's admission of responsibility. A just solution had to be achieved with honour and humility to serve the international community as a model.
DENIS SEPATAH (Philippines) said the Philippines recognized the need for concerned parties to address the complex and delicate issue of the comfort women and recognized that the issue had taken on a sense of urgency given the advanced age of the individuals affected. It had taken notice of the position of the Japanese Government and the efforts it had exerted throughout the years to fulfil its moral responsibility, including its assistance in establishment and continued operation of the Asian Women's Fund; the Philippines had cooperated with various activities of the Fund. It also took cognizance of Japan's efforts to address contemporary issues on women through international fora. The Philippines would continue to cooperate with the Fund, but wished to state, as on previous occasions, that it recognized the individual rights of former comfort women to seek legal redress and compensation from the Japanese Government.
ASBJORN EIDE, Subcommission expert, expressed his support for the report of Subcommission expert Halima Embarek Warzazi on traditional practices affecting the health of women. The issues addressed in Ms. McDougall's report were contemporary and the analysis was solid. Rape was still a frequent phenomenon, even when there was no armed conflict, and it was necessary to take more action to prevent rape under other circumstances as well. The study should also be taken as a challenge to see that some of the laws that it identified were reformed to give effective protection to women. With regard to rape during armed conflict, it was a major achievement that the Statute of the International Criminal Court had been adopted. Rape was a war crime and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Court. What had been heard from NGOs on the use of rape in war situations was of serious concern. It was important to provide all members of armed forces with information on their responsibility and to inform them of the possibility of being charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. In this context, the expert appealed to all countries that had not signed the Statute of the Court to do so. There had been proposals for the extension of Ms. McDougall's mandate for a year, and the expert supported this proposal.
FAN GUOXIANG, Subcommission expert, said the report on systematic rape and sexual slavery in armed conflicts was comprehensive and well-reasoned; Ms. McDougall's appendix referring to the legal liability of the Government of Japan for comfort women stations established during World War II was on target, in his opinion; the Japanese Government had recently offered a number of public apologies for this military sexual slavery; but despite these apologies, the Government continued to deny legal liability. The Asian Women's Fund was a people's fund supported by the Japanese Government to deal with the matter of comfort women and other issues; it was not a sufficient response; it could not replace the role that should be played by the Japanese Government. As Ms. McDougall concluded, the Japanese Government remained liable for the crimes committed against comfort women; he endorsed those conclusions. As he had said last year, there was an important distinction between the Japanese people and the Japanese Government; it was the Government that was responsible, politically, morally, and legally; the Japanese people were also victims of the then-militarist leaders of Japan. The Government had done some positive things, but not enough; his advice was that the Government should be serious about resolving the problem and should avoid becoming agitated over the criticism it had been receiving. The Swiss banks had dealt seriously with issues raised over their handling of funds during the war; the same approach was advisable for Japan.
DAVID WEISSBRODT, Subcommission expert, said that Ms. McDougall's report highlighted the need for effective remedies that would bring an end to impunity, and which would help to protect women and children who were at special risk during periods of armed conflict. Domestic violence, rape, female infanticide and female genial mutilation were just some of the human rights abuses which threatened the lives and safety of women and children. One aspect of the problem of sexual violence was illicit trafficking in women and children; the focus of next year's Working Group session would provide a special opportunity to address the issue of trafficking within a global context, and would help the Working Group regularize its scrutiny of relevant practices. The seminar on prostitution afforded an important opportunity for organizations and persons concerned with trafficking to develop a common strategy. As the Working Group could focus on specific regions of the world as well as on particular issues, it could help to establish concrete strategies which would end practices in the sex trade such as physical compulsion, fraudulent inducement and abduction. In order to understand the root causes of trafficking, issues of economic disparity and gender inequality had to be brought to the fore. Trafficking was an issue of concern for men as well as women, and men needed to be educated about the consequences of illicit trafficking for themselves and for victims. The Subcommission should support the path-breaking efforts of its Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery as it professionalises and regularizes its efforts to combat the human rights abuses inherent in the sex trade.
ERICA-IRENE A. DAES, Subcommission expert, congratulated the members of the Working Group on slavery and the Special Rapporteur on systematic rape and sexual slavery during armed conflict; she thought the working paper was a valuable contribution to a serious and complex problem; she supported the proposal to continue the study. She disagreed with one point in the paper -- on compensation for the comfort women; she had said on other occasions that during World War II, many crimes were committed, millions were executed, others were subjected to forced labour; whole villages in her home country had been eliminated. After 50 years, at a time when the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was being celebrated, it was time to close the book on the past, especially as the Japanese Government had taken steps to apologize for what had happened.
IOAN MAXIM, Subcommission expert, said that it was necessary to examine the causes of contemporary forms of slavery. In issues such as trafficking or child labour, corruption clearly played a role. However, it was not enough to blame Governments as often they were not in a position to eliminate it totally. Corruption was being discussed in a large number of forums and perhaps next year
it would be possible to examine it even further.
SANG YONG PARK, Subcommission expert, said that he wished to comment on the two important reports that came under item 6. He paid tribute to Mrs. Warzazi and to the other members of the Working Group on the contemporary forms of slavery that had for the first time dealt with issues such as corruption and the misuse of the Internet for sexual repression. He supported the nomination of 2 December as the Day for the Elimination of Slavery in All its Forms. With regard to the appendix of the report by Ms. McDougall, he said that he fully supported the conclusions of the Special Rapporteur who had been unbiased and balanced; her contribution deserved due recognition, and the annexe should be published as an official United Nations document.
Right of Reply
MOHAMED LEMINE (Mauritania), speaking in right of reply, said the Subcommission had considered the matter of slavery in Mauritania more than 20 years ago before deciding to put an end to the consideration; it was a shame that the subject was raised again now. The matter had some emotional content and was being used as an excuse to raise problems that had not been dealt with for some through free and fair elections. The claims made were questionable and came from questionable sources; the same people who had mismanaged the State 18 or 20 years ago were now raising complaints about present Government management; the current Government was achieving practical and real results through its laws and economic and social reforms which were being carried out in a transparent and fair manner. If there were retrograde mentalities in the country, it was because poverty remained a problem; the country was advancing and those criticizing it should look more closely and fairly at it and should reflect the real situation.