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SUBCOMMISSION CONTINUES EXAMINATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
12 August 1998
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AFTERNOON
HR/SC/98/13
12 August 1998
The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities continued this afternoon its discussion of economic, social and cultural rights, with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) charging that the activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) often violated human rights and calling for greater regulation of these firms.
A representative of the NGO Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru" said there had to be a code of conduct to control the activities of such corporations; the firms had no morality and were not subject to the jurisdiction of their host countries; their goal was to generate maximum profit through the exploitation of others' resources.
Subcommission alternate expert Yozo Yokota said that corruption and environmental damages were not the only detrimental activities of transnational corporations. TNC activities that had a negative effect on human rights should be regulated while those that had a positive impact, such as employment creation and technology transfer, should be encouraged.
Representatives of the following NGOs also addressed the meeting: Union of Arab Jurists, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Centre Europe -Tiers Monde, Pax Romana, the International Peace Bureau, United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, European Union of Public Relations, International Federation of Human Rights, Pax Christi International, Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, Al-Khoei Foundation, Franciscans International, International Educational Development, Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation, Indian Council of Education, International Institute of Peace, World Federation of Trade Unions, International Organisation for Development of the freedom of teaching in conjunction with Entraide Universitaire Mondiale, and the World Organisation Against Torture.
The Subcommission will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. when it will conclude its consideration of economic, social and cultural rights and begin examination of the implementation of the human rights of women.
Documentation
Under the consideration of economic, social and cultural rights, the Subcommission has before it a Note Verbale, dated 9 June 1998, from the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva, addressed to the Secretariat of the Subcommission, dealing with the realization of economic, social and cultural rights (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/30).
The Note Verbale examines the effect of international sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights in Iraq, stating that they have been applied in a manner that is unprecedented in their arbitrariness. The sanctions have produced a severe shortage of resources available to the State to fulfill its commitments and as a result it was not possible to ensure the fundamental rights of Iraqi citizens to food and medicine. The Note Verbale examines in more detail the effect the sanctions have had in Iraq on family planning and the environment. The Note Verbale recommends, among other things, that international organizations, particularly those concerned with human rights, should demand an immediate lifting of the embargo as it is in conflict with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law.
Statements
ELIAS KHOURI, of the Union of Arab Jurists, said that in earlier statements, it had emphasized the importance of economic, social and cultural rights and had called for them to be strengthened at all levels to improve living standards. However, hegemonistic policies such as worldwide violence and armed intervention still hampered the achievement of such ends. Economic sanctions constituted a challenge to the principles of human rights and the principles of the United Nations. Sanctions imposed against Iraq were a tragedy because of their serious consequences, depriving Iraqi citizens of food, medicine and water. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held that all humans had the right to a decent standard of living. In no case could a people be deprived of their national resources. Because of the hegemony exercised by one or two countries and their control over Security Council resolutions, Iraqis were deprived of food, medicine and education. The United States and the United Kingdom's insistence on blockading Iraq led to the belief that they had as yet unavowed intentions. The blockade could not be justified in moral terms. The Subcommission should condemn the economic blockade, put an end to it, and ensure the application of international human rights instruments.
SHIGERO SATO, of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), said it was necessary to inform the Subcommission of the real situation of Japanese in the workplace, where it was said no Constitution was applicable; the Human Rights Committee had examined the report of the Japanese Government in 1993, but the document was so evasive and so far from reality that the IADL had compiled a "counter-report" for the panel to consider; but after five years it was not clear any effective measures had been taken by the Japanese Government. In the workplace, despotism and absolutism ruled; there was little knowledge of human rights among workers; there were many violations, among them a case where Hitachi dismissed a worker who refused only once to work overtime; if labour unions seriously protected the rights of workers, that would not happen, but the unions could not be counted on. The Kansai Electric Power Co. had a discriminatory policy, in spite of a court ruling defending freedom of thought; there was age discrimination, also accepted by labour unions, in the banking industry, in which wages were cut at age 55. He and the IADL would continue to struggle for Japanese observation of international standards for human rights and labour practices.
C. HENRY, of Centre Europe-Tiers Monde, recalled the words of the Ugandan Minister of Finance, Basoga Nsadhu: "You are seeking to deceive Africa". The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization were institutions devoid of democratic representativity, based on a power structure of benefit to transnational corporations and a few powers with hegemonic intentions. Accepting the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in October 1998 would be to enter into a new totalitarian order of transnational companies. This treaty was designed as a series of globally applicable rules for investment that would give global corporations the power to strictly restrict the possibility any government might have to regulate its own economy. MAI was intended to assist companies, not citizens, and would replace the rights of citizens and the prerogatives of governments. The organization called on members of the Subcommission to consider four proposals in order to strengthen the treatment of economic, social and cultural rights: to decide on the creation of a sessional working group on the activities of transnational companies; to nominate a special rapporteur on the right to economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development and the right to drinking water; to request the Commission on Human Rights to create a mechanism to follow upon the fight against impunity; and to adopt Subcommission expert Jose Bengoa's proposal on the formation of a Social Forum.
LAZARO PARY, of the Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru” said any discussion of economic and development rights required review of the major drive towards deregulation of the global economy, interference by large corporations in national affairs, and increasing poverty; the transnational movement was operating even within the United Nations, and it also sponsored NGOs; anarchic transnational forces were the primary obstacle to progress for the majority of mankind; the power and economic functioning of States was being undermined by corporations free of borders and ethics. There was an absence of an international legal framework to regulate such corporations; there had to be a code of conduct to control their activities; these firms had no morality and were not subject to the jurisdiction of their host countries; their goal was to generate maximum profit through the exploitation of others' resources. Often legislation made no reference to corporate nationality; the activities of the transnationals often involved blatant corruption; crimes and environmental damage were committed with impunity. A gaping legal void involving such corporations had to be eliminated; indigenous peoples and the poorer nations of the world had to be protected. An intersessional working group should be set up to face these problems.
MR. GARCIA, of Pax Romana, said he wanted to highlight some aspects of the draft Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). For the first time, MAI would establish a binding multilateral framework for international investment. Two principles underlay the draft agreement: non-discrimination between national and foreign investors and transparency. The draft agreement as it now stood provided for a liberalization in the investment sphere. However, there was a flagrant imbalance between the rights which MAI granted to foreign investors and the obligations towards the States. The primacy of economics over politics reaffirmed in this draft agreement had disastrous implications for democracy. The proposal in the draft agreement to ban performance requirements had to be rejected. It was also unacceptable that MAI should allow transnational corporations (TNCs) to lodge complaints against States if an investment could not be made, but did not provide for States to initiate a settlement procedure against a foreign investor. The fact that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s guidelines for TNCs, though appended to the draft text, did not provide binding effect was a clear example of the real will on which the agreement was based. The attention of the Subcommission had to be drawn to MAI and to the urgency of a public declaration that would point out all possible reservations on the effects of this draft on implementation of economic, social and political rights; and set up a monitoring process on the compatibility of MAI with international human rights conventions. Support was reiterated for an inter-sessional working group mandated to identify and examine the effects of the work methods and activities of TNCs.
YOZO YOKOTA, alternate expert, said the issues raised on transnational corporations (TNCs) were complex; there were serious adverse effects -- corruption, environmental damage, and criminal activities -- mentioned in the relevant report; he thought there was a need to identify other detrimental effects; some companies engaged in experiment, production, and inhumane weapons, and they should be strictly regulated; transnational corporations running sex tours and involved in the international sex industry should be strictly regulated; the Subcommission had to take a clear decision that TNCs should be held thoroughly responsible for any human rights violations or environmental damage they caused. Even sovereign States, even the United States, could not control the behaviour of some mega-corporations. Another point he wished to make was that TNCs should be very careful about cooperating with or investing in countries which had bad human rights records; even if their business activities were not directly involved with human rights violations, their involvement with such Governments was questionable and did not send a good signal. TNCs should have departments, procedures, and mechanisms within their own structures for receiving and acting on complaints from local sources. It also had to be said, of course, that TNCs had a positive side, including creation of employment and introduction of technology to developing countries; it was necessary to discourage their negative effects and promote their positive ones. He supported the proposal for further study of the issues raised by TNCs.
SADIA MIR, of the International Peace Bureau, said that while Subcommittee expert Mustapha Mehedi's report was comprehensive, there were some areas to which it could have given more attention. There could have been a clearer delineation between the primary right to education and the secondary right to human rights education. With regard to the right to education, the Subcommission could pay more attention to: the impact of colonization and foreign occupation on the realization of the right to education; and how the misuse of education could be prevented. In Kashmir, for example, India was using the right to education to give an alternate view of history. An occupying power would never uphold the "duty to respect parents' right to ensure education and teaching", and this issue could be studied further by the Subcommission. When an occupied people demanded their freedom, the occupying State made it impossible for these people to receive education. How could a State that was an occupying power prevent impunity when the one thing that it wanted above all was to break the will of the occupied people - the Subcommission needed to ponder this point.
HENRY BAUDIER, of United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, asked what was the future for a human being in a world without humanity; there was a fantastic upsurge in scientific and technological progress and at the same time rising illiteracy and poverty; given the unspeakable inequality in development around the world, it was necessary to declare a dedication to universal human rights, and to decide to build a future for all people. There was a duty for all to cooperate actively; a sense of community had to be established; the media had to act ethically in order to use the communications explosion to good ends. Universal human values had to be recognized, including the right for people to have rights; the right to development had to be considered on a par with civil and political rights; disastrous trends had to be reversed, a new international order had to be built that represented all. Science and technology had to be controlled and humanized.
Q. AIYAS HUSSAIN, of the European Union of Public Relations, said the concept of true development required that all people had the opportunity to realize their full potential in the economic, political, social and other spheres. The people of the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan had not seen any development and the concept of the right to development was alien to them. The area, occupied by Pakistan in 1947, had been deliberately kept backward - it had no university, no medical college, the literacy rate was only 15 percent for men, and there was no industry except for brick making. Development demanded skills and the right to development required that opportunities were made available for the creation of skills and for putting them to the best use for the benefit of the people. Pakistan had deprived the people in these areas of education so that it could perpetrate its strangle hold over them. They had been imprisoned in their own land by the colonial system that Pakistan operated, denying adult franchise and recourse to the courts. The Subcommission should transmit the desperate appeal for help of these people to the entire international community, and should call on Pakistan to give them their right to self-rule, to allow the election of their own representatives and to withdraw colonial rule.
KAMEL JENDOUBI, of International Federation of Human Rights, said transnational corporations (TNCs) had power that was often out of all proportion in the countries where they were established; in dictatorships, TNCs often supplied support to regimes that would otherwise be isolated; that was the case with the French oil company Total, which was a major supporter of the brutal junta that ruled Burma; in the global economy, where State power was shrinking, there could be an upside to TNCs -- they could create jobs and introduce technology to developing countries; but far from working to strengthen human rights, TNCs often did the opposite; they demanded from States various concessions that in the end were damaging to ordinary people; by being so mobile, TNCs could weaken the position of States and workers by threatening to move to countries where regulations were less strict; union workers were not wanted. Another problem was environmental damage because of a downgrading of standards as countries competed to attract large TNCs; there also were such abuses as forced displacements of populations, forced labour to build infrastructure the companies demanded, and even murder and disappearances of those opposing the activities of TNCs. Further study and the establishment of international standards for these companies was necessary.
FATOU DIENG THIAM, of Pax Christi International, said that it was vain to claim to help people enjoy civil and political rights if they did not have the means to live. There was a need for available resources to ensure these rights. Globalization resulted in a focalisation of power in the interest of small groups to the detriment of people and nations, and it inevitably led to human rights violations. Globalization was disturbing when it was based on the dogma of ultra liberalization, and when it subjected States to the laws of international capitalism. Globalization would only lead to progress if its objective was the well-being of humans. Very often whole populations were moved in the name of profit and with no thought for their social and cultural rights. Connivance and support of certain multinationals with dictatorships or corrupt governments should be denounced. Rather than imposing structural adjustment on countries whose economic problems were basically due to bad management of the economy and corruption, it would be better to aim at social adjustment, where human rights would really be respected. Multinationals had to take an active role in social development, while respecting environment, health and cultural rights of local populations, and the international community needed to define the responsibility of multinationals.
RIYAZ PUNJABI, of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said the evaluation mechanisms designed by the United Nations to monitor implementation of the right to development were flawed; they were economically specific and by and large ignored the relevance of monitoring conditions that allowed human rights and economic development; they were silent about social and political forces which hampered development and ignored the role of mercenaries and marauders who were responsible for economic devastation; the situation in Afghanistan was a case in point, as was the large-scale violence sponsored by Pakistan for more than eight years in Jammu and Kashmir. This violence had caused large-scale economic destruction, and it would take decades to rebuild the economy of the region. Now that political and economic order had been restored to Kashmir, Pakistan was sending mercenaries to disrupt it; they carried out massacres almost routinely; the Subcommission and the international community must bring pressure to bear on Pakistan to stop this infiltration of mercenaries.
REENA MARWAH, of the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, said that self sufficiency was not just a slogan, it was a creed that had resulted, in the case of India, in a nation that had made significant strides in all fields and boasted a growth rate of 7 per cent. The genius of India had been that despite wars, pestilence, natural calamities, and terrorism, its people had retained their faith in democracy, law and equality. Though poverty, illiteracy and related issues were still a problem, India stood on the threshold of economic resurgence. There was a tendency for successful countries to voice impatience with old societies for not moving fast enough. However, each nation had to determine its own pace, given its cultural and social traditions. The process of development and the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of people were increasingly hostage to the political and ideological predilections of other nations. India had a special responsibility to highlight the benefits from regional cooperation, as did the international and NGO community. Political advice could raise hackles in some countries, and demanding that societies adopt systems and models that had been successful elsewhere could deter the process of development.
YOUSIF AL-KHOEL, of Al-Khoei Foundation, said social and economic development could not be thoroughly discussed without considering patterns of exclusion politics; what concerned the Foundation was that discourse in the arena of liberal secularism could easily play the role of excluding other ways of being; this discourse had few checks and balances as it was the backbone of collective liberal philosophy; yet in its extreme state, this discourse itself became fundamentalist. In some countries, an invisible code of exclusion could cover access to credit, contracts, and hiring; entire sections of an economy could become "out of bounds" to the excluded groups, and when coupled with poor social services, meant the excluded groups were "ghettoised" and did not participate in the workings of the modern economy. Programmes to study or deal with such exclusion had been few and far between, and the Foundation intended to be actively engaged in promoting the debate on the issue.
RODRIGO PERET, of Franciscans International, in collaboration with the Dominicans, said that the activities of the Brazilian Government with respect to the right to life was far from acceptable. Serious violence and impunity was taking place in the Brazilian countryside. Those responsible for the assassinations of landless workers had not been tried or punished. Paramilitary groups were hired by landowners to kill landless rural workers, and this was denounced. Though reported incidents of slave labour had declined between 1995 and 1996, the existence of any slave labour was a shame for Brazil. Twenty-two per cent of the population was estimated to be starving in Brazil. There had been a drought in the north, and though there had been advance warnings of this, the Government had not responded in time. About 30,000 landless families were suffering because of the lack of Government policy. The situation of landless workers in camps in Brazil was serious. The food allowance given by the authorities had been cut off by the Federal Government. By delaying agrarian reform, the Brazilian Government had forced people to live in camps. The situation in Brazil was a clear example of the interdependence between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Only a small part of the Brazilian population had been enriched by outside money.
K. PARKER, of International Educational Development (IED), said there was a clear relationship between economic, social and cultural rights and the imposition of economic sanctions; sanctions programmes must be reviewed before imposition to make sure that such rights would not be negatively affected and that the sanctions were fundamentally just; such regimes also must be evaluated after they took effect to ensure that economic and other rights remained unaffected. A sanction regime that violated international law should be considered void immediately. In a memorandum written by IED on the matter, it had found that while all the current United Nations sanctions regimes had adverse human-rights consequences, those in Burundi and Iraq were of urgent concern. That involving Burundi had evolved into a "personal feud" and was having disastrous effects; the Subcommission should call for lifting of this embargo. The sanctions against Iraq were so severe that there had been an almost total breakdown of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Iraqi people, especially women and children; more than 1.5 million children had died, and others were dying as everyone sat here. The Subcommission should call for all aspects of the sanctions regime against Iraq having any impact on economic, social and cultural rights to be lifted.
NEELAM BHAN, of the Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization, said the fate of Jammu and Kashmir provided a potent example of how the right to development and development itself could be usurped and the struggle of a people to better their lives could be negated. In the past nine years, nearly 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims had been rendered homeless and destitute. Since 1947, the Government of India and successive governments of Jammu and Kashmir had transformed the State's economic profile, though in just eight years the terrorists had undone decades of work. The people of Jammu and Kashmir had realized their right to development until this was interrupted by terrorism. If they, and other peoples who had seen their right to development halted by terrorism, were to be given back that right, the world community had to call on supporters of terrorism to eschew their causes and ideology. The future belonged to realists, and if there was to be progress in the Indian sub-continent, bitterness of the past had to be left behind.
ANJALI GANDHI, of the Indian Council of Education, said that mere focus on material gain was not development in the true sense; development in a positive sense involved a collaborative effort among people living in different parts of the world and having different cultures, races, religions, creeds, and political ideologies. Unfortunately, today the world was witnessing a trend in the opposite direction -- alien ideas and values were being thrust on people in the name of ideology or as conditions for economic help, or even at the point of a gun. Another concern was protection of the concept of the family, as it was being torn apart by modern developmental technologies that showed little respect for family and community processes and instead stressed the importance of individual initiative and success. Tensions born of ideologies or territorial ambitions also pushed once stable and well-rounded societies down the developmental scale. It was necessary to offer the world's progeny a society that had consciously abandoned conflict and had instead adopted the notion of the world as one extended family.
ATTIQUE UR REHMAN, of the International Institute for Peace, said that the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan had traditionally been part of Jamu and Kashmir, but today they did not know where they belonged. For the past 50 years, they had been held in bondage by Pakistan. The people of these areas had no fundamental rights to govern themselves - Pakistan continued to deny the right to vote or choose representatives. Pakistan denied that these areas were a part of it when this was convenient, thus depriving them of any recourse to the law courts of Pakistan. The right to development appeared to be a slogan for the people of these areas. This gathering should uphold humanity by censuring the Pakistani authorities and demanding that they gave the people of these areas the right to self-rule, self-determination and development.
KAREN TALBOT, of World Federation of Trade Unions, said transnational corporations tended to equate creation of material wealth with economic, social and cultural progress and to ignore the impact on human development and basic human rights; Afghanistan was an example; TNCs were vying to exploit hydrocarbon resources there; hence there was the debasing spectacle of UNOCAL, a company from the most wealthy democracy in the world, the United States, cozying up to the Taliban regime, a group of people who could at best be described as barbarians from the Middle Ages. The United States Administration censured countries for narcotics trafficking, yet the Taliban ruled over fertile opium fields and was involved in narcotics trafficking in return for arms and still remained favoured clients of U.S. TNCs. Companies like J.C. Penney and Nike, meanwhile, farmed out production to contractors in China, where young girls worked in conditions that would horrify any American girl. It was a pity that many of the developing countries exploited by transnationals had not joined together to demand better conditions from the companies; in South Asia, the philosophy of profit at all costs had resulted in old civilizations with their own ethos and traditions being dumped to embrace the values of Western nations.
ALFRED FERNANDEZ, of the International Organisation for Development of the Freedom of Teaching, in a joint statement with Entraide Universitaire Mondiale, said that there was a major movement with crucial importance to the right of education world wide that had been born from resolution 1997/7 of the Subcommission. The Subcommission was clearly playing its role as a motor in the system of protection of human rights. Mr. Mehedi's report drew up a substantial catalogue of the issues that needed to be addressed to put in place the international law on the right to education. The steps taken by the Subcommission could well clear the deadlock in which economic, social and cultural rights found themselves. The civil dimension of the right to education was often omitted from consideration. It was necessary to make a compilation of the documents that dealt with the right to education in order to clarify the content of this right. A study on the duties of the state in this regard was necessary, as pointed out in Mr. Mehedi's study. The search for indicators in the field of economic social and cultural rights was a priority. The speakers hoped to see Mr. Mehedi nominated as special rapporteur so that he could finish his important work.
ERIC SOTTAS, of the World Organization Against Torture, said the approach at the end of the century seemed to accept that a single economic model dominated by large States and large corporations was the only way to go, and the fact that neo-liberal globalization could not be stopped. The power of many States was being whittled away to the benefit of large economic actors whose aims could hardly be called compatible with human rights. There had been action against child labour, it was true; but were these proposals and projects really working and were they ever going to succeed? Many families were so poor and destitute that child labour was perhaps the only option; merely to boycott child-labour products without offering a viable alternative accomplished nothing; for many of these children, the choice was either work of this kind or the street. Street children were routinely killed, it should be pointed out -- it happened in a number of countries. Truly effective policies would have to be massive and take practical account of social needs -- even the World Bank's programmes were so limited that they were at most palliative. A levy or tax on international financial transactions was an intriguing idea -- the resulting funds could go toward effective development programmes.
HR/SC/98/13
12 August 1998
The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities continued this afternoon its discussion of economic, social and cultural rights, with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) charging that the activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) often violated human rights and calling for greater regulation of these firms.
A representative of the NGO Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru" said there had to be a code of conduct to control the activities of such corporations; the firms had no morality and were not subject to the jurisdiction of their host countries; their goal was to generate maximum profit through the exploitation of others' resources.
Subcommission alternate expert Yozo Yokota said that corruption and environmental damages were not the only detrimental activities of transnational corporations. TNC activities that had a negative effect on human rights should be regulated while those that had a positive impact, such as employment creation and technology transfer, should be encouraged.
Representatives of the following NGOs also addressed the meeting: Union of Arab Jurists, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Centre Europe -Tiers Monde, Pax Romana, the International Peace Bureau, United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, European Union of Public Relations, International Federation of Human Rights, Pax Christi International, Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, Al-Khoei Foundation, Franciscans International, International Educational Development, Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation, Indian Council of Education, International Institute of Peace, World Federation of Trade Unions, International Organisation for Development of the freedom of teaching in conjunction with Entraide Universitaire Mondiale, and the World Organisation Against Torture.
The Subcommission will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. when it will conclude its consideration of economic, social and cultural rights and begin examination of the implementation of the human rights of women.
Documentation
Under the consideration of economic, social and cultural rights, the Subcommission has before it a Note Verbale, dated 9 June 1998, from the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva, addressed to the Secretariat of the Subcommission, dealing with the realization of economic, social and cultural rights (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/30).
The Note Verbale examines the effect of international sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights in Iraq, stating that they have been applied in a manner that is unprecedented in their arbitrariness. The sanctions have produced a severe shortage of resources available to the State to fulfill its commitments and as a result it was not possible to ensure the fundamental rights of Iraqi citizens to food and medicine. The Note Verbale examines in more detail the effect the sanctions have had in Iraq on family planning and the environment. The Note Verbale recommends, among other things, that international organizations, particularly those concerned with human rights, should demand an immediate lifting of the embargo as it is in conflict with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law.
Statements
ELIAS KHOURI, of the Union of Arab Jurists, said that in earlier statements, it had emphasized the importance of economic, social and cultural rights and had called for them to be strengthened at all levels to improve living standards. However, hegemonistic policies such as worldwide violence and armed intervention still hampered the achievement of such ends. Economic sanctions constituted a challenge to the principles of human rights and the principles of the United Nations. Sanctions imposed against Iraq were a tragedy because of their serious consequences, depriving Iraqi citizens of food, medicine and water. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held that all humans had the right to a decent standard of living. In no case could a people be deprived of their national resources. Because of the hegemony exercised by one or two countries and their control over Security Council resolutions, Iraqis were deprived of food, medicine and education. The United States and the United Kingdom's insistence on blockading Iraq led to the belief that they had as yet unavowed intentions. The blockade could not be justified in moral terms. The Subcommission should condemn the economic blockade, put an end to it, and ensure the application of international human rights instruments.
SHIGERO SATO, of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), said it was necessary to inform the Subcommission of the real situation of Japanese in the workplace, where it was said no Constitution was applicable; the Human Rights Committee had examined the report of the Japanese Government in 1993, but the document was so evasive and so far from reality that the IADL had compiled a "counter-report" for the panel to consider; but after five years it was not clear any effective measures had been taken by the Japanese Government. In the workplace, despotism and absolutism ruled; there was little knowledge of human rights among workers; there were many violations, among them a case where Hitachi dismissed a worker who refused only once to work overtime; if labour unions seriously protected the rights of workers, that would not happen, but the unions could not be counted on. The Kansai Electric Power Co. had a discriminatory policy, in spite of a court ruling defending freedom of thought; there was age discrimination, also accepted by labour unions, in the banking industry, in which wages were cut at age 55. He and the IADL would continue to struggle for Japanese observation of international standards for human rights and labour practices.
C. HENRY, of Centre Europe-Tiers Monde, recalled the words of the Ugandan Minister of Finance, Basoga Nsadhu: "You are seeking to deceive Africa". The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization were institutions devoid of democratic representativity, based on a power structure of benefit to transnational corporations and a few powers with hegemonic intentions. Accepting the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in October 1998 would be to enter into a new totalitarian order of transnational companies. This treaty was designed as a series of globally applicable rules for investment that would give global corporations the power to strictly restrict the possibility any government might have to regulate its own economy. MAI was intended to assist companies, not citizens, and would replace the rights of citizens and the prerogatives of governments. The organization called on members of the Subcommission to consider four proposals in order to strengthen the treatment of economic, social and cultural rights: to decide on the creation of a sessional working group on the activities of transnational companies; to nominate a special rapporteur on the right to economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development and the right to drinking water; to request the Commission on Human Rights to create a mechanism to follow upon the fight against impunity; and to adopt Subcommission expert Jose Bengoa's proposal on the formation of a Social Forum.
LAZARO PARY, of the Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru” said any discussion of economic and development rights required review of the major drive towards deregulation of the global economy, interference by large corporations in national affairs, and increasing poverty; the transnational movement was operating even within the United Nations, and it also sponsored NGOs; anarchic transnational forces were the primary obstacle to progress for the majority of mankind; the power and economic functioning of States was being undermined by corporations free of borders and ethics. There was an absence of an international legal framework to regulate such corporations; there had to be a code of conduct to control their activities; these firms had no morality and were not subject to the jurisdiction of their host countries; their goal was to generate maximum profit through the exploitation of others' resources. Often legislation made no reference to corporate nationality; the activities of the transnationals often involved blatant corruption; crimes and environmental damage were committed with impunity. A gaping legal void involving such corporations had to be eliminated; indigenous peoples and the poorer nations of the world had to be protected. An intersessional working group should be set up to face these problems.
MR. GARCIA, of Pax Romana, said he wanted to highlight some aspects of the draft Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). For the first time, MAI would establish a binding multilateral framework for international investment. Two principles underlay the draft agreement: non-discrimination between national and foreign investors and transparency. The draft agreement as it now stood provided for a liberalization in the investment sphere. However, there was a flagrant imbalance between the rights which MAI granted to foreign investors and the obligations towards the States. The primacy of economics over politics reaffirmed in this draft agreement had disastrous implications for democracy. The proposal in the draft agreement to ban performance requirements had to be rejected. It was also unacceptable that MAI should allow transnational corporations (TNCs) to lodge complaints against States if an investment could not be made, but did not provide for States to initiate a settlement procedure against a foreign investor. The fact that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s guidelines for TNCs, though appended to the draft text, did not provide binding effect was a clear example of the real will on which the agreement was based. The attention of the Subcommission had to be drawn to MAI and to the urgency of a public declaration that would point out all possible reservations on the effects of this draft on implementation of economic, social and political rights; and set up a monitoring process on the compatibility of MAI with international human rights conventions. Support was reiterated for an inter-sessional working group mandated to identify and examine the effects of the work methods and activities of TNCs.
YOZO YOKOTA, alternate expert, said the issues raised on transnational corporations (TNCs) were complex; there were serious adverse effects -- corruption, environmental damage, and criminal activities -- mentioned in the relevant report; he thought there was a need to identify other detrimental effects; some companies engaged in experiment, production, and inhumane weapons, and they should be strictly regulated; transnational corporations running sex tours and involved in the international sex industry should be strictly regulated; the Subcommission had to take a clear decision that TNCs should be held thoroughly responsible for any human rights violations or environmental damage they caused. Even sovereign States, even the United States, could not control the behaviour of some mega-corporations. Another point he wished to make was that TNCs should be very careful about cooperating with or investing in countries which had bad human rights records; even if their business activities were not directly involved with human rights violations, their involvement with such Governments was questionable and did not send a good signal. TNCs should have departments, procedures, and mechanisms within their own structures for receiving and acting on complaints from local sources. It also had to be said, of course, that TNCs had a positive side, including creation of employment and introduction of technology to developing countries; it was necessary to discourage their negative effects and promote their positive ones. He supported the proposal for further study of the issues raised by TNCs.
SADIA MIR, of the International Peace Bureau, said that while Subcommittee expert Mustapha Mehedi's report was comprehensive, there were some areas to which it could have given more attention. There could have been a clearer delineation between the primary right to education and the secondary right to human rights education. With regard to the right to education, the Subcommission could pay more attention to: the impact of colonization and foreign occupation on the realization of the right to education; and how the misuse of education could be prevented. In Kashmir, for example, India was using the right to education to give an alternate view of history. An occupying power would never uphold the "duty to respect parents' right to ensure education and teaching", and this issue could be studied further by the Subcommission. When an occupied people demanded their freedom, the occupying State made it impossible for these people to receive education. How could a State that was an occupying power prevent impunity when the one thing that it wanted above all was to break the will of the occupied people - the Subcommission needed to ponder this point.
HENRY BAUDIER, of United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, asked what was the future for a human being in a world without humanity; there was a fantastic upsurge in scientific and technological progress and at the same time rising illiteracy and poverty; given the unspeakable inequality in development around the world, it was necessary to declare a dedication to universal human rights, and to decide to build a future for all people. There was a duty for all to cooperate actively; a sense of community had to be established; the media had to act ethically in order to use the communications explosion to good ends. Universal human values had to be recognized, including the right for people to have rights; the right to development had to be considered on a par with civil and political rights; disastrous trends had to be reversed, a new international order had to be built that represented all. Science and technology had to be controlled and humanized.
Q. AIYAS HUSSAIN, of the European Union of Public Relations, said the concept of true development required that all people had the opportunity to realize their full potential in the economic, political, social and other spheres. The people of the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan had not seen any development and the concept of the right to development was alien to them. The area, occupied by Pakistan in 1947, had been deliberately kept backward - it had no university, no medical college, the literacy rate was only 15 percent for men, and there was no industry except for brick making. Development demanded skills and the right to development required that opportunities were made available for the creation of skills and for putting them to the best use for the benefit of the people. Pakistan had deprived the people in these areas of education so that it could perpetrate its strangle hold over them. They had been imprisoned in their own land by the colonial system that Pakistan operated, denying adult franchise and recourse to the courts. The Subcommission should transmit the desperate appeal for help of these people to the entire international community, and should call on Pakistan to give them their right to self-rule, to allow the election of their own representatives and to withdraw colonial rule.
KAMEL JENDOUBI, of International Federation of Human Rights, said transnational corporations (TNCs) had power that was often out of all proportion in the countries where they were established; in dictatorships, TNCs often supplied support to regimes that would otherwise be isolated; that was the case with the French oil company Total, which was a major supporter of the brutal junta that ruled Burma; in the global economy, where State power was shrinking, there could be an upside to TNCs -- they could create jobs and introduce technology to developing countries; but far from working to strengthen human rights, TNCs often did the opposite; they demanded from States various concessions that in the end were damaging to ordinary people; by being so mobile, TNCs could weaken the position of States and workers by threatening to move to countries where regulations were less strict; union workers were not wanted. Another problem was environmental damage because of a downgrading of standards as countries competed to attract large TNCs; there also were such abuses as forced displacements of populations, forced labour to build infrastructure the companies demanded, and even murder and disappearances of those opposing the activities of TNCs. Further study and the establishment of international standards for these companies was necessary.
FATOU DIENG THIAM, of Pax Christi International, said that it was vain to claim to help people enjoy civil and political rights if they did not have the means to live. There was a need for available resources to ensure these rights. Globalization resulted in a focalisation of power in the interest of small groups to the detriment of people and nations, and it inevitably led to human rights violations. Globalization was disturbing when it was based on the dogma of ultra liberalization, and when it subjected States to the laws of international capitalism. Globalization would only lead to progress if its objective was the well-being of humans. Very often whole populations were moved in the name of profit and with no thought for their social and cultural rights. Connivance and support of certain multinationals with dictatorships or corrupt governments should be denounced. Rather than imposing structural adjustment on countries whose economic problems were basically due to bad management of the economy and corruption, it would be better to aim at social adjustment, where human rights would really be respected. Multinationals had to take an active role in social development, while respecting environment, health and cultural rights of local populations, and the international community needed to define the responsibility of multinationals.
RIYAZ PUNJABI, of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said the evaluation mechanisms designed by the United Nations to monitor implementation of the right to development were flawed; they were economically specific and by and large ignored the relevance of monitoring conditions that allowed human rights and economic development; they were silent about social and political forces which hampered development and ignored the role of mercenaries and marauders who were responsible for economic devastation; the situation in Afghanistan was a case in point, as was the large-scale violence sponsored by Pakistan for more than eight years in Jammu and Kashmir. This violence had caused large-scale economic destruction, and it would take decades to rebuild the economy of the region. Now that political and economic order had been restored to Kashmir, Pakistan was sending mercenaries to disrupt it; they carried out massacres almost routinely; the Subcommission and the international community must bring pressure to bear on Pakistan to stop this infiltration of mercenaries.
REENA MARWAH, of the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, said that self sufficiency was not just a slogan, it was a creed that had resulted, in the case of India, in a nation that had made significant strides in all fields and boasted a growth rate of 7 per cent. The genius of India had been that despite wars, pestilence, natural calamities, and terrorism, its people had retained their faith in democracy, law and equality. Though poverty, illiteracy and related issues were still a problem, India stood on the threshold of economic resurgence. There was a tendency for successful countries to voice impatience with old societies for not moving fast enough. However, each nation had to determine its own pace, given its cultural and social traditions. The process of development and the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of people were increasingly hostage to the political and ideological predilections of other nations. India had a special responsibility to highlight the benefits from regional cooperation, as did the international and NGO community. Political advice could raise hackles in some countries, and demanding that societies adopt systems and models that had been successful elsewhere could deter the process of development.
YOUSIF AL-KHOEL, of Al-Khoei Foundation, said social and economic development could not be thoroughly discussed without considering patterns of exclusion politics; what concerned the Foundation was that discourse in the arena of liberal secularism could easily play the role of excluding other ways of being; this discourse had few checks and balances as it was the backbone of collective liberal philosophy; yet in its extreme state, this discourse itself became fundamentalist. In some countries, an invisible code of exclusion could cover access to credit, contracts, and hiring; entire sections of an economy could become "out of bounds" to the excluded groups, and when coupled with poor social services, meant the excluded groups were "ghettoised" and did not participate in the workings of the modern economy. Programmes to study or deal with such exclusion had been few and far between, and the Foundation intended to be actively engaged in promoting the debate on the issue.
RODRIGO PERET, of Franciscans International, in collaboration with the Dominicans, said that the activities of the Brazilian Government with respect to the right to life was far from acceptable. Serious violence and impunity was taking place in the Brazilian countryside. Those responsible for the assassinations of landless workers had not been tried or punished. Paramilitary groups were hired by landowners to kill landless rural workers, and this was denounced. Though reported incidents of slave labour had declined between 1995 and 1996, the existence of any slave labour was a shame for Brazil. Twenty-two per cent of the population was estimated to be starving in Brazil. There had been a drought in the north, and though there had been advance warnings of this, the Government had not responded in time. About 30,000 landless families were suffering because of the lack of Government policy. The situation of landless workers in camps in Brazil was serious. The food allowance given by the authorities had been cut off by the Federal Government. By delaying agrarian reform, the Brazilian Government had forced people to live in camps. The situation in Brazil was a clear example of the interdependence between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. Only a small part of the Brazilian population had been enriched by outside money.
K. PARKER, of International Educational Development (IED), said there was a clear relationship between economic, social and cultural rights and the imposition of economic sanctions; sanctions programmes must be reviewed before imposition to make sure that such rights would not be negatively affected and that the sanctions were fundamentally just; such regimes also must be evaluated after they took effect to ensure that economic and other rights remained unaffected. A sanction regime that violated international law should be considered void immediately. In a memorandum written by IED on the matter, it had found that while all the current United Nations sanctions regimes had adverse human-rights consequences, those in Burundi and Iraq were of urgent concern. That involving Burundi had evolved into a "personal feud" and was having disastrous effects; the Subcommission should call for lifting of this embargo. The sanctions against Iraq were so severe that there had been an almost total breakdown of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Iraqi people, especially women and children; more than 1.5 million children had died, and others were dying as everyone sat here. The Subcommission should call for all aspects of the sanctions regime against Iraq having any impact on economic, social and cultural rights to be lifted.
NEELAM BHAN, of the Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization, said the fate of Jammu and Kashmir provided a potent example of how the right to development and development itself could be usurped and the struggle of a people to better their lives could be negated. In the past nine years, nearly 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims had been rendered homeless and destitute. Since 1947, the Government of India and successive governments of Jammu and Kashmir had transformed the State's economic profile, though in just eight years the terrorists had undone decades of work. The people of Jammu and Kashmir had realized their right to development until this was interrupted by terrorism. If they, and other peoples who had seen their right to development halted by terrorism, were to be given back that right, the world community had to call on supporters of terrorism to eschew their causes and ideology. The future belonged to realists, and if there was to be progress in the Indian sub-continent, bitterness of the past had to be left behind.
ANJALI GANDHI, of the Indian Council of Education, said that mere focus on material gain was not development in the true sense; development in a positive sense involved a collaborative effort among people living in different parts of the world and having different cultures, races, religions, creeds, and political ideologies. Unfortunately, today the world was witnessing a trend in the opposite direction -- alien ideas and values were being thrust on people in the name of ideology or as conditions for economic help, or even at the point of a gun. Another concern was protection of the concept of the family, as it was being torn apart by modern developmental technologies that showed little respect for family and community processes and instead stressed the importance of individual initiative and success. Tensions born of ideologies or territorial ambitions also pushed once stable and well-rounded societies down the developmental scale. It was necessary to offer the world's progeny a society that had consciously abandoned conflict and had instead adopted the notion of the world as one extended family.
ATTIQUE UR REHMAN, of the International Institute for Peace, said that the northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan had traditionally been part of Jamu and Kashmir, but today they did not know where they belonged. For the past 50 years, they had been held in bondage by Pakistan. The people of these areas had no fundamental rights to govern themselves - Pakistan continued to deny the right to vote or choose representatives. Pakistan denied that these areas were a part of it when this was convenient, thus depriving them of any recourse to the law courts of Pakistan. The right to development appeared to be a slogan for the people of these areas. This gathering should uphold humanity by censuring the Pakistani authorities and demanding that they gave the people of these areas the right to self-rule, self-determination and development.
KAREN TALBOT, of World Federation of Trade Unions, said transnational corporations tended to equate creation of material wealth with economic, social and cultural progress and to ignore the impact on human development and basic human rights; Afghanistan was an example; TNCs were vying to exploit hydrocarbon resources there; hence there was the debasing spectacle of UNOCAL, a company from the most wealthy democracy in the world, the United States, cozying up to the Taliban regime, a group of people who could at best be described as barbarians from the Middle Ages. The United States Administration censured countries for narcotics trafficking, yet the Taliban ruled over fertile opium fields and was involved in narcotics trafficking in return for arms and still remained favoured clients of U.S. TNCs. Companies like J.C. Penney and Nike, meanwhile, farmed out production to contractors in China, where young girls worked in conditions that would horrify any American girl. It was a pity that many of the developing countries exploited by transnationals had not joined together to demand better conditions from the companies; in South Asia, the philosophy of profit at all costs had resulted in old civilizations with their own ethos and traditions being dumped to embrace the values of Western nations.
ALFRED FERNANDEZ, of the International Organisation for Development of the Freedom of Teaching, in a joint statement with Entraide Universitaire Mondiale, said that there was a major movement with crucial importance to the right of education world wide that had been born from resolution 1997/7 of the Subcommission. The Subcommission was clearly playing its role as a motor in the system of protection of human rights. Mr. Mehedi's report drew up a substantial catalogue of the issues that needed to be addressed to put in place the international law on the right to education. The steps taken by the Subcommission could well clear the deadlock in which economic, social and cultural rights found themselves. The civil dimension of the right to education was often omitted from consideration. It was necessary to make a compilation of the documents that dealt with the right to education in order to clarify the content of this right. A study on the duties of the state in this regard was necessary, as pointed out in Mr. Mehedi's study. The search for indicators in the field of economic social and cultural rights was a priority. The speakers hoped to see Mr. Mehedi nominated as special rapporteur so that he could finish his important work.
ERIC SOTTAS, of the World Organization Against Torture, said the approach at the end of the century seemed to accept that a single economic model dominated by large States and large corporations was the only way to go, and the fact that neo-liberal globalization could not be stopped. The power of many States was being whittled away to the benefit of large economic actors whose aims could hardly be called compatible with human rights. There had been action against child labour, it was true; but were these proposals and projects really working and were they ever going to succeed? Many families were so poor and destitute that child labour was perhaps the only option; merely to boycott child-labour products without offering a viable alternative accomplished nothing; for many of these children, the choice was either work of this kind or the street. Street children were routinely killed, it should be pointed out -- it happened in a number of countries. Truly effective policies would have to be massive and take practical account of social needs -- even the World Bank's programmes were so limited that they were at most palliative. A levy or tax on international financial transactions was an intriguing idea -- the resulting funds could go toward effective development programmes.