SUBCOMMISSION ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES CONCLUDES FIFTIETH SESSION

ROUND-UP
HR/SC/98/32
28 August 1998



Creates Working Group on Transnational Corporations; Requests
Creation of Sessional "Social Forum"; Issues Chairman's Statements
on Kosovo, Bhutanese Refugees


The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities concluded today its fiftieth session following four weeks of discussion on a series of human-rights issues. The panel's annual meeting coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and led to numerous remarks on how the group's work could be adjusted to better achieve the aims of the Universal Declaration and to reflect modern developments in the field of human rights.

Among the results of the debate were a decision to create a sessional working group on the effects on human rights of the activities and working methods of transnational corporations. The Subcommission also requested the Commission on Human Rights to authorize it to establish a sessional "Social Forum" which would exchange information each year on disparities in income distribution and on poverty around the world; would analyse violations of economic, social and cultural rights; and would discuss and propose legal standards and guidelines on those topics.

Another new development was approval of a resolution condemning the murders in recent years of a series of "human-rights defenders", mentioning seven specific names, and requesting the High Commissioner for Human Rights to follow up on the situations of eight other human-rights advocates whose security was considered to be threatened. The action followed adoption by the Commission on Human Rights last spring of a draft declaration on the protection of human-rights defenders and a lively Subcommission debate on whether or not specific names should be used in such a resolution, whether the term "human-rights defenders" was appropriate, what the term meant, and whether all the persons named qualified as "human-rights defenders".

Reports were presented by Subcommission experts on new topics, including the practice of systematic rape and sexual slavery as weapons of war and during armed conflicts; the use and efficacy of educational programmes as a means of combatting racial discrimination -- a paper prepared in cooperation with two members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD); the right to education, including education in human rights; and the effects on human rights of the growing power and influence of transnational corporations.

The panel's working group on administration of justice, meanwhile, offered as part of its report a draft Convention on Protection from Enforced Disappearances. An anticipated paper on terrorism and human rights was unable to be completed on time, and the panel decided to consider it next year.

As at previous Subcommission sessions, the situations of human rights in specific countries were debated with the energetic participation and levelling of allegations by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The panel's 26 independent experts or their alternates adopted resolutions expressing concern about the situations in Belarus and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and reviewing "developments in the situation in Mexico". A proposed resolution on the situation of human rights in Algeria was defeated when a secret ballot ended in a tie; and a draft resolution on the situation in Bahrain was withdrawn after a timely announcement by the Government of Bahrain that it had acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Treatment or Punishment, that it was studying the withdrawal of its reservation to article 20 of the document, and that it had agreed to extend an invitation to visit to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the Commission on Human Rights.

Chairman's statements were approved expressing concern over the situation in Kosovo and over the conditions of Bhutanese refugees and the lack of arrangements for their return.

The panel also urged the Security Council and the international community to lift the economic embargo on Iraq, contending that it had not achieved its aims and was causing human-rights violations and inexcusable suffering among the general population.

Other resolutions approved by the group dealt with such topics as the situation of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime; the convening of an expert seminar on legal standards related to forced population movements; and the restitution of housing and property to returning refugees and internally displaced persons.

The Subcommission also considered in closed session confidential human-rights complaints under its "1503" procedure and forwarded cases it considered appropriate to the Commission on Human Rights.

In closing the year's session this afternoon, Chairman El-Hadji Guissé said that the meeting had started in a spirit of reform of UN machinery. In that context, the Subcommission had first in private and then in public received the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, handing him the experts' opinions and views on possible reforms. Much had been said about the future of the Subcommission, and some had asked for it to disappear; those people should recall that the Subcommission was the only UN body where independent experts, affiliated UN agencies, governmental representatives and NGOs sat together and exchanged views in a constructive way on the protection and promotion of human rights.

Mr. Guissé said the Subcommission, more than ever, needed to rationalize its agenda, not by reducing the time allotted to its work, but by varying the time given to different items and eliminating all possibilities of duplication. The importance of the volume of work and the little amount of time given to the Subcommission had led to some elements of the agenda being bi-annualized. Until recently, consideration of civil and political rights had received more coverage than other rights; however, economic, social and cultural rights were now given more room on the agenda. More and more experts and NGOs were taking a greater interest in the subject, and for the first time the Subcommission was proposing setting up a working group to study the activities of transnational corporations. It was also proposed that the Subcommission set up a “Social Forum” to consider these issues, and that it undertake a series of studies covering economic rights. Economic, social and cultural rights were the foundation of other rights, with which they were inextricably linked.

The Subcommission is the main subsidiary body of the Commission on Human Rights. It was established in 1947 to undertake studies and make recommendations to the Commission. The panel often is referred to as the human-rights "think tank" of the United Nations.

Action on Resolutions and Decisions

Human Rights Violations in any Country

Regarding violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms anywhere in the world, the Subcommission adopted resolutions in which it:

-- expressed deep concern at reports that the Belorussian authorities unlawfully imprisoned, detained, or otherwise harassed Belorussian political leaders, journalists and human- rights defenders; and at the concentration of legislative power in the executive branch of Government; called on the Government to lift restrictions on freedom of expression, and to take the necessary steps to ensure the independence of the judiciary and encouraged the Government to continue its cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for the protection of human rights in Belarus;

-- urgently called on the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to ensure full respect of the right of anyone to leave any country; strongly urged the Government to allow and facilitate inquiries concerning the current human-rights situation in the country, and to allow publication of such findings; called on international human-rights and humanitarian organizations to devote greater attention to the human rights situation in the country and to provide substantial and effective assistance to the citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;

-- urged each State to take any measures necessary within its own jurisdiction to ensure effective respect of their obligations in the field of human rights; condemned the murders of a series of human-rights workers and activists; called on concerned Governments not to leave crimes committed against human-rights defenders unpunished; requested the Government of Myanmar to ensure the security of Aung San Suu Kyi; and recommended that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights enquire into the situation and safety of the persons on a list attached to the resolution;

-- requested the Mexican authorities to ensure full respect for the international instruments to which it was a party and to attach highest priority to combatting impunity of perpetrators of serious human-rights violations; appealed to the signatories of the San Andres accords to resume the process favouring dialogue.

Chairman's Statements

The Subcommission also adopted two consensus texts, or Chairman's Statements, in which the panel:

-- urged the Governments of Nepal and Bhutan to negotiate a peaceful solution consistent with human rights standards for the situation of ethnic Nepalese refugees from Bhutan who had been residing within camps in Eastern Nepal or in Nepal and India;


-- and expressed serious concern over the deteriorating human-rights situation in Kosovo; condemned firmly all acts of violence; and supported all negotiations which could lead to a peaceful and equitable solution for the protection of the human rights of the people of Kosovo.

Implementation of the Human Rights of Women

Regarding the implementation of the human rights of women, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions through which it:

-- expressed deep concern at the continuous suffering of Afghan women under the prohibitions placed on them by the Taliban; considered that the current policies of the Taliban constituted a flagrant violation of the principles of Islam and of international law; appealed to all States not to encourage the Taliban by extending diplomatic recognition to them; and appealed to commercial enterprises to refrain from entering into financial agreements with the regime until the Taliban ended its discriminatory treatment of women;

-- urged Governments to take all necessary measures to amend their laws, policies, customs, and traditions pertaining to land, property and housing rights which denied women equal rights; recommended that Governments, international financial institutions and other credit facilities review their policies and eliminate any that discriminated against women, and that special consideration be given to single women, and households headed by women;

-- and appealed to all States concerned to intensify efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation; appealed to the international community to provide support to non-governmental organizations and groups working to achieve this goal; recommended that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur be extended; and recommended a draft decision on these matters to the Commission on Human Rights for adoption.

Review of Further Developments in Fields of Concern

Following its annual review of further developments in fields with which it has been or may be concerned, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions through which it:

-- reiterated its commitment to international cooperation in the field of human rights; and invited governmental and non-governmental observers of the Subcommission to carry out constructive dialogue and consultations on human rights issues;

-- requested the Special Rapporteur on human rights and terrorism to submit a preliminary report to the fifty-first session of the Subcommission and a final report at the fifty-third session;

-- requested Subcommission expert Clemencia Forero Ucros to submit her working paper on weapons of mass destruction or with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering to the fifty-first session of the Subcommission;

-- decided to continue consideration of the adverse consequences of economic sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights at its fifty-first session;

-- decided to request Subcommission expert Francoise Jane Hampson to prepare a working paper on reservations to human-rights treaties for its fifty-first session;

-- appealed to the international community and, in particular, to the Security Council for the embargo provisions affecting the humanitarian situation of the population of Iraq to be lifted; and urged the international community and all Governments, including that of Iraq, to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi population;

-- urged States that had not yet done so to sign or ratify the relevant conventions on conventional weapons and landmines; urged all countries responsible for laying anti-personnel landmines in foreign territories to assume responsibility for the necessary mine-clearance operations; and encouraged Governments, organizations and individuals to contribute to the United Nations mine-clearance programme, or to increase existing contribution.

-- requested Subcommission expert Vladimir Kartashkin to prepare a working paper on ways by which the Subcommission could examine the observance of the human rights and fundamental freedoms contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by States which were not parties to United Nations human-rights conventions and to present it to the fifty-first session of the Subcommission;

Administration of Justice

Under this item, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions in which it:

-- decided to transmit a draft international convention on the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances to the Commission on Human Rights for its consideration;

-- and endorsed the decision of the Working Group related to transmission of the draft convention to the Commission on Human Rights.

Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Regarding the elimination of racial discrimination, the Subcommission:

-- appointed Subcommission expert Marc Bossuyet as Special Rapporteur on the concept and practice of affirmative action;

-- entrusted Subcommission expert David Weissbrodt with the preparation of a working paper on the rights of non-citizens;

-- declared all types of racism and xenophobia to be among the most serious violations of human rights; encouraged educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and the mass media to promote ideas of tolerance and understanding among peoples; requested Subcommission expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro to prepare a paper on proposals for the work of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;

-- and entrusted Subcommission expert Joseph Oloka-Onyango with the preparation of a working paper on globalization in the context of the increase in incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.

Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

With respect to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, the Subcommission adopted resolutions in which it:

-- recommended that the Commission on Human Rights authorize the appointment of Subcommission expert El-Hadji Guissé as Special Rapporteur on the promotion of the realization of the right to drinking water;

-- supported the Declaration on the Right to Development; considered that it should constitute the basis for work undertaken on the relationship between human rights and the activities of transnational corporations; decided to establish a sessional working group of the Subcommission to examine this relationship;

-- requested again that the Commission on Human Rights transmit to the UN Secretary-General the full text of the Subcommission's resolution on the "Tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development" adopted in 1996;

-- requested Subcommission expert Asbjorn Eide to review and update his study on the right to food and to submit the updated study to the fifty-first session of the Subcommission;

-- urged Governments to undertake measures immediately to eliminate the practice of forced evictions; urged them to protect all persons threatened with forced evictions; and recommended that all Governments provide immediate restitution, compensation and\or alternative accommodation to persons and communities that had been forcibly evicted;

-- appealed to competent authorities of receiving countries as well as to members of civil society to pay particular attention to the protection and defence of women migrant workers; drew attention to the need of States to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; appealed to Governments to adopt comprehensive civil anti-discrimination legislation; and considered that misuse of information technology particularly in this context should be monitored;

-- requested Subcommission expert Mustapha Mehedi to prepare a more detailed working paper on the realization of the right to education, and particularly human rights education, and to submit the paper to the Subcommission at its fifty-first session;

-- urged UN Agencies to be conscious of and respect the human-rights obligations of the countries with which they worked; urged Member States of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to review the draft text of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment to ensure that all its provisions were fully consistent with their human-rights obligations; and decided to entrust a Subcommission expert with the task of preparing a working paper on the ways and means by which the primacy of human-rights norms and standards could be better reflected in international and regional trade, investment and financial policies, agreements and practices;

-- decided to recommend to the Commission on Human Rights adoption of a draft decision endorsing establishment by the Subcommission of follow-up machinery on the question of the impunity of perpetrators of violations of economic, social and cultural rights;

-- and decided to submit to the Commission on Human Rights for adoption a draft resolution that would establish within the Subcommission a forum on economic, social and cultural rights that would be called the "Social Forum".

Contemporary Forms of Slavery

Under this agenda item, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions in which it:

-- called for enactment of legislation to allow effective prosecution as international crimes in municipal courts of all human rights violations concerning systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict including internal armed conflict; called on States to consider legislation to provide jurisdiction in their municipal courts for crimes of this type committed in other States; and recommended that the Special Rapporteur's mandate be extended for one year

-- recommended that 2 December be proclaimed the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery in all its Forms; encouraged States to enact and revise laws to ensure adequate protection and assistance to victims and survivors of the traffic in persons; urged States to strengthen monitoring, prosecution and punishment of police and Government officials responsible for complicity in trafficking and prostitution; declared that trans-border trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation was a contemporary form of slavery and recommended that States take immediate and effective measures at prevention; and urged States to adopt and enforce measures to protect child domestic workers and to enact specific legislation to define the offense of debt bondage and to provide for the punishment of those responsible;

-- and urged all Governments, NGOs, other private and public entities and individuals to contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.

Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Under this agenda item, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions through which it:

-- requested the Special Rapporteur on indigenous land rights to submit her final paper to the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at its seventeenth session and the Subcommission at its fifty-first session;

-- requested the Special Rapporteur on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations to submit a new version of his final report by 31 March 1999;

-- urged Governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations to contribute to the Voluntary Fund for the Decade on Indigenous People; and recommended that a permanent forum for indigenous peoples be established within the United Nation system;

-- and recommended that the Working Group on Indigenous Populations adopted as its principal theme at its seventeenth session "indigenous peoples and their relationship to land".


Prevention of Discrimination Against and Protection of Minorities

Under this item, the Subcommission requested the Secretary-General to invite the specialized agencies and United Nations bodies to provide information to the working group on their activities in the field of minority protection; and urged the inclusion on the agenda of issues relating to the legacies of the slave trade on the Black communities throughout America.

Freedom of Movement

Concerning freedom of movement, the Subcommission:

-- urged all States to ensure the free and fair exercise of the right to return and to develop effective and expeditious legal, administrative and other procedures to ensure it;

-- and decided to convene an expert seminar to make practical recommendations for the further work of the Subcommission on the right to freedom of movement.

Methods of Work

Concerning methods of work, the Subcommission adopted resolutions and decisions through which it:

-- decided to request Subcommission expert Ribot Hatano to prepare a further working paper on the topic and submit it to the Subcommission at its fifty-first session;

-- decided on the membership of the Working Groups for the fifty-first session.

Membership of Subcommission

The members and alternates (*) of the Subcommission are Miguel Alfonso Martinez, *Marianela Ferriol Echevarria (Cuba); José Bengoa (Chile), *Alejandro Salinas Rivera; Marc Bossuyt, *Guy Genot (Belgium); Volodymyr Boutketvitch, *Oleg Shamshur (Ukraine); Erica-Irene A. Daes, *Kalliopi Koufa (Greece); Asbjorn Eide, *Jan Helgesen (Norway); Fan Guoxiang, *Zhong Shukong (China); Héctor Fix-Zamudio, *Alfonso Gomez-Robledo Veduzco (Mexico); Clemencia Forero Ucros, *Alberto Diaz Uribe (Colombia); Rajenda Kalidas Wimala Goonesekere, *Deepika Udagama (Sri Lanka); El-Hadji Guissé (Senegal); Francoise Jane Hampson, *Helena Cook (United Kingdom); Ribot Hatano, *Yozo Yokota (Japan); Louis Joinet, *Emmanuel Decaux (France); Ahmad Khalifa, *Ahmed Khalil (Egypt); Ioan Maxim, *Antoanella Iulia Motoc (Romania); Mustapha Mehedi (Algeria); Joseph Oloka-Onyango (Uganda); Sang Yong Park, *Myung Chul Hahm (Republic of Korea); Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, *Marilia S. Zelner Goncalves (Brazil); Teimuraz O. Ramishvili, *Vladimir Kartashkin (Russian Federation); Yeung Kam Yeung Sik Yuen (Mauritius); Soli J. Sorabjee (India); Halima Embarek Warzazi (Morocco); David Weissbrodt, *Gay J. McDougall (United States of America); and Fisseha Yimer (Ethiopia).

Officers for the 1998 session were: Chairman, Mr. Guissé; Vice-Chairpersons, Mr. Weissbrodt, Mr. Fan, and Mr. Alfonso Martinez; Rapporteur, Mr. Maxim.

Working Groups and their Chairpersons

Working Group on Indigenous Populations Erica-Irene A. Daes
Working Group on Minorities Asbjorn Eide

Working Group on Contemporary Forms Halima E. Warzazi
of Slavery

Working Group on Communications Fisseha Yimer

Subcommission Special Rapporteurs

Special Rapporteur on indigenous Erica-Irene A. Daes
peoples and their relation to their
lands

Special Rapporteur on treaties, Miguel Alfonso Martinez
agreements and other constructive
arrangements between States and
indigenous populations
Special Rapporteur on the evolution Halima E. Warzazi
of the situation concerning elimination
of traditional practices affecting the
health of women and girl children

Special Rapporteur on terrorism and Kalliopi K. Koufa
human rights
Special Rapporteur on the relationship José Bengoa
between the enjoyment of human rights
and income distribution

Expert entrusted with completion of Gay J. McDougall
report on systematic rape, sexual
slavery and slavery-like practices
during armed conflict

Subcommission Members Asked to Prepare Studies

Common working paper on article José Bengoa and
7 of the International Convention on Mustapha Mehedi
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial (with two members
Discrimination (education against of the Committee
discrimination) on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination)

Working paper on affirmative action on Marc Bossuyt
elimination of racial discrimination

Background document on the relation El-Hadji Guissé
between human rights and the activities
and working methods of transnational
corporations

Working paper assessing the utility, Clemencia Forero Ucros
scope and structure of a study on
weapons of mass destruction or with
indiscriminate effect, or of a
nature to cause superfluous injury
or unnecessary suffering

Working paper on the right to Mustapha Mehedi
education, particularly human rights
education

Working paper on the promotion of El Hadji Guissé
the right of access to drinking water
and sanitation services

Updated study on the right to food Asbjorn Eide

Other mandates

Permanent mandate to exchange Erica-Irene A. Daes
information with all elements
of the United Nations system
having activities touching on the
patrimony of indigenous peoples, with
the aim of improving cooperation and
coordination and promoting the full
participation of all such indigenous
peoples in these efforts

New mandates proposed in 1998 by the Subcommission to the Commission on Human Rights

Special Rapporteur on the relationship El-Hadji Guissé
between economic, social and cultural
rights and the right to access to
drinking water and sanitation services

Special Rapporteur on the practical
application of affirmative-action Marc Bossuyt
policies

Follow-up mechanism on impunity for perpetrators of violations of economic, social and cultural rights

"Social Forum" for economic, social and cultural rights and income distribution to meet during annual sessions of the Subcommission

Working group on the activities and working methods of transnational corporations

Working paper analyzing the Multilateral Agreement on Investments from the point of view of human rights

Working paper on the rights of persons David Weissbrodt
who are not citizens of the countries
in which they live

Working paper on possible themes for Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
the World Conference against Racism

Working paper on reservations by Françoise Jane Hampson
States parties to human-rights
treaties

Working paper on the observance of Vladimir Kartashkin
human rights and fundamental freedoms
contained in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights by States which are
not parties to United Nations
human-rights conventions

Working paper on globalization in the Joseph Oloka-Onyango
context of an increase in incidents of
racism, racial discrimination
and xenophobia

Working paper in greater depth on the Mustapha Mehedi
right to education, particularly
human-rights education