Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan Addresses One-day Meeting of Commission on Human Rights

30 September 2003


This Commission is an important body and we must all do what we can to strengthen it and to increase the impact of its work.

The last time we met in this one-day format our late High Commissioner, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was with us and addressed the Commission for the first time. When the Commission closed at the end of your last session, he offered his good wishes to you. Since then, he has been struck down by a despicable act of terrorism. Today, on behalf of my colleagues and myself, we honour his life, his memory and his work.

The purpose of this one-day session is to exchange information on developments since the Commission last met that are related to the human rights items on the agenda of this year’s General Assembly. You have before you the list of those items and my colleagues will be briefing you on key developments pertaining to them.

1. Tenth Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

This year is the tenth anniversary of the Vienna Conference and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Some governments and organizations are organizing commemorative activities including a conference being organized by the Austrian Government on the role of judges in the protection of human rights. We in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are cooperating on such events and we are planning for the observance of Human Rights Day on 10 December.

2. United Nations Human Rights Prize

This year also, there will be the five-yearly award of the United Nations Human Rights Prize. We have so far received many nominations. The selections will be made later this year by a panel consisting of the President of the General Assembly, the President of ECOSOC, the Chairperson of the Commission, the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Chairperson of the Sub-Commission.


3. The 59th session of the Commission and significant developments thereafter

It is just over five months since the close of the fifty-ninth session of the Commission. You, Madame Chairperson, have briefed the Commission on the work of the Expanded Bureau in following up the last session, as well as preparing for the next.

Sub- Commission

The Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held its fifty-fifth session in July and August this year. Among other things, it recommended: the proclamation of an international year for the world’s minorities. It also considered new working papers on key protection issues such as:
o women in prison;
o criminalization, investigation and prosecution of acts of serious sexual violence;
o and the role of transnational corporations in the protection of human rights.

The role of the Sub-Commission as a think-tank within the United Nations human rights system deserves to be underlined. As a contribution to this, I have asked for a bibliography of all Sub-Commission reports, studies, working papers produced over the years and key academic literature to be prepared and circulated.

Eminent persons

Another event of importance was the first meeting of the independent eminent experts appointed by the Secretary-General to advise and support the High Commissioner on the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The meeting took place on 16, 17 and 18 September here in Geneva with the participation of four of the five Eminent Persons. Noting that the fight against racial discrimination has been a core mandate of the United Nations since its founding, the Experts emphasised that the international legal framework is central in dealing with racial discrimination. Other issues flagged by the Experts included terrorism, access to justice, poverty, and the roles of the media, of civil society, of education and of young people in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

4. GA Report

The annual report we have submitted to the Assembly this year looks at the human rights treaties as the normative foundations of the human rights system, before considering six areas in which human rights have a particular relevance in today’s world: peace and cooperation, development, justice, conflicts, gross violations of human rights, and new challenges such as terrorism, bioethics and the role of the private sector in the promotion and the protection of human rights. The thrust of the report is that human rights activities are central to the achievement of the purposes of the United Nations. Having regard to the difficult international conjuncture, with problems of terrorism, conflicts, poverty, and of legality, the report is mindful of the role of human rights activities in the future of the United Nations. The report is available to you.

5. SG reform proposals

The past five months have seen important developments in the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Second Reform Report, insofar as it relates to the human rights programme. The Secretary-General will be reporting on the implementation of Action Points 2-5 of his report on Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change. In brief, OHCHR has undertaken the following actions to implement these proposals for the strengthening of human rights activities:

(a) Supporting Human Rights at the Country Level

Action 2 of the Secretary-General’s reform programme called upon OHCHR to develop and implement a plan, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and the Executive Committee for Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA), to strengthen United Nations human rights related actions at the country level. The objective is to develop the capacity of the United Nations country teams so that they can support the efforts of Member States in strengthening national human rights promotion and protection systems.

In his Annual Report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-ninth session, the late High Commissioner outlined his initiative to invite every government to make a brief submission on the elements of its national system of human rights protection. Participation in the initiative was to be voluntary and would reflect each Member State’s willingness to engage in ‘a simple holistic, transparent self-evaluation exercise’. In following up to this report, the Office sent a note verbale to all Member States of the United Nations on 23 June 2003, in which it invited governments to provide short replies to a number of questions relating to its national system of protection. To date, twenty-four member states have provided replies to the Office.

On 28 April 2003, OHCHR presented a draft Plan of Action to the United Nations Development Group and on 8 May 2003 to the Executive Committee for Humanitarian Affairs. In June 2003, a joint working group established by UNDG and ECHA finalized the Plan, which was approved by the UNDG Programme Group on 28 August 2003. ECHA considered and endorsed it at its meeting on 10 September 2003.

The Plan aims to assist Member States, at their request, to strengthen their national systems for the promotion and protection of human rights.

(b) Human Rights Treaty Bodies

Action 3 called upon the High Commissioner to consult with treaty bodies on new streamlined reporting procedures and to submit his recommendations to the Secretary-General.

In light of the recommendations of the Secretary-General and the OIOS on consolidating reporting under various treaty obligations into a single national report, and with respect to treaty bodies developing harmonized working methods, OHCHR has engaged in wide consultations with human rights treaty bodies, States parties, UN entities and civil society. The result has been a recommendation for streamlining of reporting to human rights treaty bodies by allowing States parties to submit an expanded 'core document', including information of common interest to all the treaty bodies, in tandem with treaty-specific focused or targeted reports. The recommendations of the fifteenth meeting of chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies, which is before the Assembly at this session, encourage expansion of the core document, and targeted treaty-specific reports. Harmonization of the various reporting guidelines issued by the treaty bodies has also been recommended, as has the development of more harmonized working methods by all the treaty bodies.

The Secretariat is currently preparing draft guidelines for an expanded core document and exploring the possibilities for greater harmonization of the treaty reporting guidelines. These will be made available for comment by individual treaty bodies in early 2004 and for consideration by the third inter Committee meeting and the sixteenth meeting of chairpersons both which will take place in June 2004. The OHCHR is also streamlining its servicing of treaty bodies to encourage greater harmonization of working methods and substantive approach amongst treaty bodies.

Emphasis has also been placed on the implementation of treaty body recommendations made in the context of review of States parties' reports and consideration of individual communications at the national level. The OHCHR supports those treaty bodies which have developed follow-up procedures, and ensures dissemination of treaty body recommendations through a widely subscribed electronic list serve. OHCHR activities at the national level also stress implementation of these recommendations.

(c) Improving Special Procedures

In Action 4 of the Secretary-General’s report on Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change (A/57/387), the High Commissioner was asked to undertake a review of the special procedures and report back to the Secretary-General with recommendations on how to enhance their effectiveness and improve the support provided. Paragraph 56 of the Secretary-General’s report (A/57/387) identified two sets of recommended measures: 1) the improvement of the quality of the reports and analyses produced by special procedures, including through the development of clear criteria for the use of special procedures and the selection of appointees, and by establishing better guidelines for their operations and reporting functions; and 2) the need to strengthen the Organization’s capacity to support special procedures, including by appointing more senior professionals and providing better administrative support.

A document detailing the numerous steps taken by OHCHR to enhance support to, and the effectiveness of, special procedures was presented to the 59th session of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2003/124). Such steps include: the drafting and adoption of a manual for special rapporteurs; the drafting of internal guiding principles regarding the working relations between special procedures mandate-holders and OHCHR staff; the introduction and regular up-dating of an induction kit for special procedures mandate-holders; efforts to ensure that mandate-holders are regularly informed about instructions in the area of documentation, which resulted in he timely submission and early availability of reports. Efforts have also been undertaken to strengthen the analytical, communications, information and logistical assistance provided by OHCHR to special procedures, including through the recruitment of additional human resources and the establishment of a Quick Response Desk to handle urgent interventions by mandate-holders and ensure better coordination of and follow-up to their communications with Governments.

During the course of 2003, OHCHR embarked on a process of internal consultations with a view to further enhancing the effectiveness of the special procedures mechanisms. The results of this review were shared with special procedures mandate-holders at their tenth annual meeting, held in Geneva from 23 to 27 June 2003. The meeting also provided the opportunity to hold consultations on these issues with the Expanded Bureau of the Commission on Human Rights, the chairpersons of treaty-monitoring bodies and representatives of non-governmental organizations. A number of concrete steps were agreed upon including: joint initiatives amongst mandate holders, such as joint urgent appeals, statements, press-releases, communications and visits; an analysis of the working methods of the various mandate-holders with a view to identifying best practices; systematic debriefing by thematic desk officers to geographic desk officers after country visits in order to facilitate follow-up to their recommendations at the national and regional level, and strengthened cooperation with UN Country Teams in the preparation, conduct of, and follow up to, country visits, with a view to increasing the impact of special procedures at the national level.

In response to the need to strengthen the Organization’s capacity to support to special procedures, the High Commissioner for Human Rights proposed the establishment of a Special Procedures Branch. The newly established Branch will, inter alia, develop proposals for the selection, operations and reporting functions of special procedures mandate holders and facilitate interaction between mandate holders and their partners. This will result in better dissemination of knowledge and awareness of special procedures, which in turn may provide better opportunities to use information developed by these procedures to devise early warning mechanisms, alert relevant UN instances to emerging crisis situations and provide suggestions for an adequate response. In seeking to strengthen OHCHR’s capacity to provide better and more senior support to these procedures, the High Commissioner has requested a new D1 post to head this branch as well as a new P4 position.

(d) Strengthening Management

Action 5 called upon the High Commissioner to develop a plan to strengthen management, taking into account recommendations emerging from the OIOS management review, and to submit a report to the Secretary-General by March 2003.

On 31 March 2003, the High Commissioner for Human Rights provided the Secretary-General with a report on his management improvement plan. That plan took into account the implementation of the recommendations of the OIOS management review of the Office, the implementation of the ideas in the Secretary-General’s reform report and his plans for strengthening the administrative, financial and personnel management of OHCHR. The High Commissioner kept the Secretary-General informed on a regular basis of measures he has taken in this regard and his efforts to streamline the structure of OHCHR.

The Office of High Commissioner is called upon to carry out a broad range of duties including the following: carrying out tasks requested by policy-making organs and the Secretary-General; servicing the Commission on Human Rights, its Sub-Commission on the Promotion and the Protection of Human Rights and six treaty bodies; supporting thirty-five special procedures established by the Commission on Human Rights, producing reports and documentation requested by the General Assembly, ECOSOC, the Commission, the Sub-Commission and other organs, responding to Member States’ requests for technical advice, helping to promote human rights through human rights education and training, promoting human rights through regional and sub-regional outreaches, and making human rights contributions in United Nations peace operations.

Last year the Office produced some 28,420 pages of documentation requested by policy-making organs; processed some 7’032 pages of reports submitted by Member States under treaty-reporting procedures; processed 4’822 pages of reports submitted by special procedures; processed tens of thousands of communications under the procedure established by ECOSOC resolution 1503 (XLVIII); processed 4,162 petitions submitted under petitions procedures established by human rights treaties, and accompanied special procedures mandate-holders on missions to different parts of the world in implementation of their mandates as laid down by the Commission on Human Rights.

The Office of the High Commissioner has 166 posts under the regular budget; and as at 1 September, an additional 116 staff members in Geneva funded from voluntary contributions and some 300 staff members in field presences in 40 countries. The Office follows the system of results-based budgeting laid down by the policy-making bodies of the United Nations, as well as a projects-based approach.

The Administration and Management of the Office has to respond to needs in the areas of: policy development and prioritization; financial controls; managerial planning and oversight; project planning and oversight; staff administration and development; staff security; and coordination; and the need to apply tight controls on documentation.

Policy development and prioritization are effected in respect of resources from the regular budget through the decisions of policy-making organs, the leadership of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner, the Medium Term Plan, the biennial programme budget, and oversight by the CPC, the ACABQ. In respect of extra-budgetary resources, policy development and prioritization are effected through the Annual Appeal and meetings with donors and the Board of Trustees.

Financial controls are effected through internal systems and oversight by OIOS and external auditors. There is an ongoing process of audits of Headquarters-based and field-based activities. There is an Annual Report on the use of voluntary contributions and a Mid-Year Review with donors.

Managerial planning and oversight are carried out through a Management Board that has existed since 1997. The Management Board advises the High Commissioner.

Project planning and oversight are carried out through a Projects Review Committee that has existed since 1998.

Staff administration is effected through a combination of internal arrangements, OHRM administration, the regular appointments and promotions procedures in respect of regular budget posts, and a supplementary Advisory Panel on Personnel Issues that oversees appointments and promotions in respect of extra-budgetary staff. As of 1 January, 2003, all extra-budgetary staff in Geneva was brought under the regime of OHRM, administered by the United Nations Office in Geneva. Efforts are underway to integrate all these staff under the 100 series of the staff rules, with service dedicated to OHCHR. In the future it is intended to bring staff in the field also into this unified regime, except for short-term project staff. It is hoped to do this during the forthcoming biennium.

Staff security, funded entirely by extra-budgetary resources, is completely integrated into the activities of the Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator. OHCHR has appointed a Senior Security Manager, in accordance with the Framework for Accountability for Security Management document, who is a full and active member of the Inter Agency Security Management Network. Staff security is promoted through implementation of MOSS, basic security awareness training and a stringent security clearance, staff tracking mechanism.

Coordination is achieved mainly through the four Executive Committees established by the Secretary-General, as well as through the High Commissioner’s participation in the Central Executives Board.

6. Programme Budget

This year, the General Assembly will consider the draft human rights programme budget for 2004-2005. The Secretary-General’s budget proposals are available to you.

7. Terrorism

On human rights and terrorism, we have prepared and distributed a digest of the jurisprudence of principle human rights bodies in the United Nations and in regional organizations. This digest is in the process of being published by the Department of Public Information. Key insights that have emerged from the digest include the following:

Key issues that have emerged from the Digest:

· States of Emergency: With respect to States of Emergency, the Digest shows that universal and regional systems agree that they should be subject to strict requirements. They must be properly declared and subject to necessity and proportionality, require judicial review and other requirements. Case law p.18

· Non-Derrogable Rights: The Digest shows that all systems acknowledge the existence on certain non-derrogable rights. Notum Bonus: General Comment 29 of the UN HR’s Committee (expansion of Art 4 of the ICCPR). With respect to rights not in the non-derrogable category, their derogation must also be subject to necessity and proportionality. Case law pp 18-24

· Discrimination: The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, at article 4, sets out provisions whereby States, in the context of a public emergency “which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed,” may derogate from certain obligations under the Covenant, provided that the principles of necessity and proportionality are strictly applied. Moreover, such measures can not be “inconsistent with their other obligations under international law, nor can they involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin.” As explained in OHCHR’s Digest of Jurisprudence of the United Nations and Regional Organizations on the Protection of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/digest.doc), measures taken must be appropriate and the least intrusive possible to achieve their objective The principle of non-discrimination must always be respected and special effort made to safeguard the rights of vulnerable groups Counter-terrorism measures targeting specific ethni

· Military Tribunals: The Digest illustrates that there has been deep concern over the use of military tribunals in addition to concern over the treatment of asylum seekers and non-nationals (in relation to asylum procedures and violation to the right of non-refoulement.) Case Law p. 79

· Conditions of Detention: The Digest reflects universal and regional concern regarding detention conditions and special measures for persons accused of terrorism. In particular: incommunicado detention, lack of access to Counsel and conditions which violate Art 10 of the ICCPR regarding human dignity.


Conclusion

In conclusion, let me reiterate the determination of the Secretariat to continue to support the Commission in your endeavours to protect human rights worldwide.

or religious groups are contrary to human rights and carry the additional risk of an upsurge of discrimination and racism In addition to the above, the Digest illustrates that there has been particular concern in the UN Treaty bodies with racial profiling and the harassment of members of certain groups