Default title
18 March 1998
54th session of the Commission on Human Rights
16 March - 24 April 1998
Statement by H.E. Mr. Gohar Ayub Khan,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan
Geneva, 18 March 1998
Mr. Chairman,
It is my great privilege to address this historic session of the Commission on Human Rights.
This year we observe the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Befittingly, this session is being presided over by the representative of South Africa, whose people's struggle for equality epitomized the spirit of the Universal Declaration.
To see a freedom fighter preside over this Commission will give heart to all oppressed people seeking freedom and self-determination.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was expected to become the magna carta for all Mankind.
It crystallised the message of love and tolerance promoted by great religions, prophets and philosophers over the centuries.
Prophet Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him), in his last sermon, said:
"verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over black nor the black over the white…." Mr. Chairman, For Pakistan the principles of the Universal Declaration mirror the values which form an integral part of a just Islamic society.
The Founder of our country - Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah - envisioned Pakistan as "an ideal State based on social justice where all its citizens will enjoy equal rights and be free from fear, want and ignorance".
We have yet to realize this ideal. We have been constrained by poverty and underdevelopment, social and economic structures inherited from colonialism and a hostile external environment.
The Government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is committed to addressing - with - vigour and determination - these economic, social and political impediments in the way of our realisation of the universal norms of human rights. The Pakistan Muslim League's manifesto calls for a war against "lawlessness, injustice and poverty".
Despite external and internal obstacles, our government is making progress in the endeavour to promote human rights in Pakistan through:
- programmes to eliminate exploitative child labour, with the assistance of the ILO;
- social and political action to ensure full equality for women, a cardinal principle upheld by our religion. May I mention that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the Founder of Pakistan, contested elections for the Presidency back in 1964; n n - the elimination of certain anomalous practices in our penal system - such as bar fetters - which are inconsistent with international norms; n n - the integration of human rights education in the training of law enforcement officials. We are seeking to make progress through democratic and good governance and by adherence to the rule of law. This is a difficult endeavour; but its achievements will be genuine and sustainable.
Mr. Chairman,
While the Universal Declaration on Human Rights reflected the progress of human enlightenment, it was born directly from the tragic experience of the bloodiest war in human history.
It signified the international community's resolve to ensure that humanity would not once again descend into barbarism and genocide.
The codification of international norms and the setting up of the mechanisms to ensure global compliance with international human rights standards is indeed a great achievement.
Over the past 50 years - even in the midst of a global battle of ideologies - the world witnessed:
one an historic movement to establish higher standards of human liberty, freedom and well-being; two a significant enlargement of freedom, particularly through the exercise of rights of self-determination by colonized peoples; three unprecedented acceleration in technological advancement and growth in economic and social prosperity. The end of the Cold War reflected the ascendancy of the principles of democracy and free markets.
Unfortunately, the promised "peace dividend" has eluded us.
Conflicts - within and among nations - have proliferated.
Poverty has spread faster than prosperity.
The seeds of future conflicts and violence are being sown by new manifestations of medieval instincts of prejudice, intolerance and the arrogance of power.
In renewing our pledge to abide by and promote the vision of the Universal Declaration, we should not underestimate the challenges that threaten to overwhelm its essence.
Today, there are three principle causes of grave human rights violations;
one, conflicts arising from national and ethnic differences, particularly due to the suppression of the right to self-determination; two, poverty and "under-development" and three, new manifestations of prejudice, intolerance and arrogance.
Mr. Chairman,
Statehood and democracy flow from the full and complete realization of the right to self-determination by peoples.
This right is the foundation of our present system of nation states.
Its realization by all peoples entitled to it under international law is the surest guarantee of peace and stability and, consequently, of the full realization of other rights, civil and political, economic and social.
On the other hand, the suppression of this right is the wellspring of most conflicts.
Since the end of the Cold War, we have welcomed the triumph of freedom in many parts of the world, including in South Africa.
Many new nations are now represented in the United Nations.
But many peoples continue to be denied their right to self-determination, among them the people of Palestine and Kashmir.
Mr. Chairman,
The tragedy of Palestine continues.
The promise of the Peace Process has turned into popular despair and desperation.
Peace can be achieved only if the Palestinian people are enabled to exercise their right to self-determination and statehood through the implementation in letter and spirit, of the resolutions of the Security Council and the Oslo Accords.
Mr. Chairman,
The people of Jammu and Kashmir were promised in Security Council resolutions 91 of 1951 and 122 of 1957 that they would determine their political destiny through the exercise of a free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision.
Prime Minister Nehru stated that if after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said "we do not want to be with India", we are committed to accept that ….. "We will not send any army against them".
Yet, fifty years later, the Kashmiri people still await the fulfilment by India of the legally binding commitments made under the resolutions of the Security Council. Instead, an army was sent against them.
It is now the largest occupation force in history.
The people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir have struggled heroically for the exercise of their fundamental right to self-determination.
They have been cruelly suppressed by an occupation army of over 600,000 troops.
Over 60,000 Kashmiris have been killed.
Thousands have been maimed and injured.
Thousands are held in jails.
Most are routinely tortured.
Murder, rape, arson, looting and kidnapping have become the routine instruments of occupation.
Mercenaries and thugs have been recruited to silence the Kashmiris.
Kashmiri political leaders are threatened and attacked.
Human rights activists, like Jalil Andrabi, are subjected to torture and killed in custody.
This strategy of force has been combined with a fraud and sham "transparency".
In these sham elections, common Kashmiris have been openly coerced to exercise their "democratic rights", as reported by the world media.
Free and fair elections cannot be held in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, or elsewhere, under foreign military occupation.
Democracy cannot be imposed by an alien oppressor.
The Security Council has declared that such electoral exercises do not constitute the free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision by which the Kashmiris are to decide the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir.
The true representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir - the 35 party coalition called the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) - continue to demand the right to freely determine their own destiny, after the withdrawal of the Indian occupation forces and under the supervision of the UN.
They reject rigged elections under foreign occupation.
The people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir cannot be asked to suffer and die in silence.
The people of Pakistan, who are linked by blood, faith and history to the Kashmiri people, cannot be asked to stifle their solidarity with the just Kashmiri aspirations.
No one should deceive himself into believing that they can succeed in robbing the Kashmiri people of their birthright to freedom.
No power should believe that it can intimidate the Pakistani nation into compromising its resolute and principled stand on Jammu and Kashmir.
The world must realize that for the people of Pakistan to betray the Kashmiris would be tantamount to betraying their own nationhood. We will never do so.
Today, we call on the Commission to uphold the just cause of Jammu and Kashmir.
We call on this body to punish and deter the crimes taking place in Kashmir - the burning down of entire villages, the rape of women, the murder of young boys - in Anantnag, Sopore, Bijbehara and other sites of atrocities in Kashmir.
The International Criminal Court should be empowered to punish the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity.
We trust the new High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit occupied Jammu and Kashmir as will other impartial observers and organizations.
We trust that the United Nations' human rights mechanisms will respond to the plight of the oppressed Kashmiri people.
Unless the oppression of the Kashmiri people ends, the prospects for peace between Pakistan and India will remain unfulfilled.
It remains our hope that the dialogue initiated by our Prime Minister will be resumed with the new Indian government and would be accompanied by a halt in the human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The prospects for such dialogue are not improved by the campaign of terrorism to which Pakistan is being subjected today. Since 1995, over 600 innocent people have been killed in various cities of Pakistan as a result of terrorism sponsored from abroad. Recently, we were informed by a friendly country of anticipated terrorist attacks which manifested themselves in the cities of Lahore, Multan and Sukkur killing 16 people and injuring 104. Pakistan will present conclusive evidence in this regard pointing to the so-called largest democracy. State sponsored terrorism against peoples struggling for self-determination, or against other states, is a grave violation of human rights as well as of international law.
Mr. Chairman,
The world community must not allow a repetition of genocide and ethnic cleansing by alien oppressors - whether in Kosovo, Azerbaijan or elsewhere.
Mr. Chairman,
In Afghanistan, our objectives are identical to those of the United Nations. Pakistan is deeply committed to ending the continuing war and the human rights violations in Afghanistan. We will continue to make energetic endeavours to this end. The international community's efforts should, however, avoid selectivity.
Unfortunately, we have not heard a voice raised against the 3000 people massacred in Shibergan and around Mazar-e-Sharif by the Northern Alliance. Even today, serious violations continue since the conflict among the members of the Northern Alliance has not been resolved.
We also urge the immediate initiation of international assistance for reconstruction in areas of Afghanistan where peace prevails. This will not only promote economic revival and encourage the voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran; it could also assist in national reconciliation and amelioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Mr. Chairman,
Poverty is the biggest violator of human rights.
It threatens the most basic human right - the right to life.
According to a WHO Report, abject poverty is world's most efficient and pitiless murderer and executioner. It has claimed more victims than the horrors of war.
Poverty is the main impediment to the realization of the ideals of the Universal Declaration.
In the pantheon of human rights, the Right to Development should occupy the highest place.
Unfortunately, after the end of the Cold War, the global political commitment to development appears to be dwindling.
Today, the onus for development is placed entirely on the developing countries. They are supposed to create the conditions to attract foreign investment, implement structural adjustment programmes and acquire trade competitiveness.
They must do so while adhering to labour, social and environmental standards not even realized by the developed countries.
They must do so even as the markets of the rich remain closed to the most competitive products of the developing countries.
At this session, the Commission on Human Rights must give serious consideration to adopting decisions that can translate the Declaration on the Right to Development into operational policies of governments and governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Mr. Chairman,
A new and grave challenge which the international community confronts today is the growing climate of intolerance.
After the Cold War, some old warriors appear to be ready to find new enemies to conquer.
Some intellectuals propound the thesis of a clash of civilizations; of the primary threat from foreign terrorism, drugs and proliferation, of the dangers posed by so-called "Islamic fundamentalism" - ignoring the continuing threat of nuclear weapons, great power conflicts and the foreign occupation and suppression of peoples and nations.
The Commission itself has been subjected to the agents of the new intolerance and hatred.
We must decisively halt this.
The clash of civilizations should not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Terrorism and brutality are not the monopoly of any belief or culture.
Peace and cooperation can only be realized through the genuine exercise of tolerance towards different faiths, cultures and practices - even as the world comes together through globalization.
We must oppose the arrogance of power; the follies of triumphalism; the imposition of "political correctness" on a diverse world at different stages of development. Humility and understanding are essential to the collective endeavour to realize the promise of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
We should guard against the attempts to subordinate UN human rights mechanisms to political purposes. It appears that the killing of 60,000 people in Kashmir does not raise an eyebrow; the massacre of 3000 in Shibergan and Mazar-e-Sharif or the 6000 killed in Pakistan by foreign sponsored state terrorism goes unnoticed. Then, how do we measure human rights violations? If this is not enough to rouse world conscience what will?
Mr. Chairman, We are delighted to see the new High Commissioner engaged effectively in the promoting a genuine international consensus on human rights issues.
We are confident that Mrs. Mary Robinson would be able to impart a fresh impetus to our efforts for realising the vision of the Universal Declaration.
We wish her success.
Mr. Chairman,
As we observe the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, we may do well to recall the following words of the political philosopher, Edmund Burke:
"There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity - the law of nature, and of nations". I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
16 March - 24 April 1998
Statement by H.E. Mr. Gohar Ayub Khan,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan
Geneva, 18 March 1998
Mr. Chairman,
It is my great privilege to address this historic session of the Commission on Human Rights.
This year we observe the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Befittingly, this session is being presided over by the representative of South Africa, whose people's struggle for equality epitomized the spirit of the Universal Declaration.
To see a freedom fighter preside over this Commission will give heart to all oppressed people seeking freedom and self-determination.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was expected to become the magna carta for all Mankind.
It crystallised the message of love and tolerance promoted by great religions, prophets and philosophers over the centuries.
Prophet Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him), in his last sermon, said:
"verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over black nor the black over the white…." Mr. Chairman, For Pakistan the principles of the Universal Declaration mirror the values which form an integral part of a just Islamic society.
The Founder of our country - Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah - envisioned Pakistan as "an ideal State based on social justice where all its citizens will enjoy equal rights and be free from fear, want and ignorance".
We have yet to realize this ideal. We have been constrained by poverty and underdevelopment, social and economic structures inherited from colonialism and a hostile external environment.
The Government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is committed to addressing - with - vigour and determination - these economic, social and political impediments in the way of our realisation of the universal norms of human rights. The Pakistan Muslim League's manifesto calls for a war against "lawlessness, injustice and poverty".
Despite external and internal obstacles, our government is making progress in the endeavour to promote human rights in Pakistan through:
- programmes to eliminate exploitative child labour, with the assistance of the ILO;
- social and political action to ensure full equality for women, a cardinal principle upheld by our religion. May I mention that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, the sister of the Founder of Pakistan, contested elections for the Presidency back in 1964; n n - the elimination of certain anomalous practices in our penal system - such as bar fetters - which are inconsistent with international norms; n n - the integration of human rights education in the training of law enforcement officials. We are seeking to make progress through democratic and good governance and by adherence to the rule of law. This is a difficult endeavour; but its achievements will be genuine and sustainable.
Mr. Chairman,
While the Universal Declaration on Human Rights reflected the progress of human enlightenment, it was born directly from the tragic experience of the bloodiest war in human history.
It signified the international community's resolve to ensure that humanity would not once again descend into barbarism and genocide.
The codification of international norms and the setting up of the mechanisms to ensure global compliance with international human rights standards is indeed a great achievement.
Over the past 50 years - even in the midst of a global battle of ideologies - the world witnessed:
one an historic movement to establish higher standards of human liberty, freedom and well-being; two a significant enlargement of freedom, particularly through the exercise of rights of self-determination by colonized peoples; three unprecedented acceleration in technological advancement and growth in economic and social prosperity. The end of the Cold War reflected the ascendancy of the principles of democracy and free markets.
Unfortunately, the promised "peace dividend" has eluded us.
Conflicts - within and among nations - have proliferated.
Poverty has spread faster than prosperity.
The seeds of future conflicts and violence are being sown by new manifestations of medieval instincts of prejudice, intolerance and the arrogance of power.
In renewing our pledge to abide by and promote the vision of the Universal Declaration, we should not underestimate the challenges that threaten to overwhelm its essence.
Today, there are three principle causes of grave human rights violations;
one, conflicts arising from national and ethnic differences, particularly due to the suppression of the right to self-determination; two, poverty and "under-development" and three, new manifestations of prejudice, intolerance and arrogance.
Mr. Chairman,
Statehood and democracy flow from the full and complete realization of the right to self-determination by peoples.
This right is the foundation of our present system of nation states.
Its realization by all peoples entitled to it under international law is the surest guarantee of peace and stability and, consequently, of the full realization of other rights, civil and political, economic and social.
On the other hand, the suppression of this right is the wellspring of most conflicts.
Since the end of the Cold War, we have welcomed the triumph of freedom in many parts of the world, including in South Africa.
Many new nations are now represented in the United Nations.
But many peoples continue to be denied their right to self-determination, among them the people of Palestine and Kashmir.
Mr. Chairman,
The tragedy of Palestine continues.
The promise of the Peace Process has turned into popular despair and desperation.
Peace can be achieved only if the Palestinian people are enabled to exercise their right to self-determination and statehood through the implementation in letter and spirit, of the resolutions of the Security Council and the Oslo Accords.
Mr. Chairman,
The people of Jammu and Kashmir were promised in Security Council resolutions 91 of 1951 and 122 of 1957 that they would determine their political destiny through the exercise of a free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision.
Prime Minister Nehru stated that if after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said "we do not want to be with India", we are committed to accept that ….. "We will not send any army against them".
Yet, fifty years later, the Kashmiri people still await the fulfilment by India of the legally binding commitments made under the resolutions of the Security Council. Instead, an army was sent against them.
It is now the largest occupation force in history.
The people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir have struggled heroically for the exercise of their fundamental right to self-determination.
They have been cruelly suppressed by an occupation army of over 600,000 troops.
Over 60,000 Kashmiris have been killed.
Thousands have been maimed and injured.
Thousands are held in jails.
Most are routinely tortured.
Murder, rape, arson, looting and kidnapping have become the routine instruments of occupation.
Mercenaries and thugs have been recruited to silence the Kashmiris.
Kashmiri political leaders are threatened and attacked.
Human rights activists, like Jalil Andrabi, are subjected to torture and killed in custody.
This strategy of force has been combined with a fraud and sham "transparency".
In these sham elections, common Kashmiris have been openly coerced to exercise their "democratic rights", as reported by the world media.
Free and fair elections cannot be held in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, or elsewhere, under foreign military occupation.
Democracy cannot be imposed by an alien oppressor.
The Security Council has declared that such electoral exercises do not constitute the free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision by which the Kashmiris are to decide the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir.
The true representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir - the 35 party coalition called the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) - continue to demand the right to freely determine their own destiny, after the withdrawal of the Indian occupation forces and under the supervision of the UN.
They reject rigged elections under foreign occupation.
The people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir cannot be asked to suffer and die in silence.
The people of Pakistan, who are linked by blood, faith and history to the Kashmiri people, cannot be asked to stifle their solidarity with the just Kashmiri aspirations.
No one should deceive himself into believing that they can succeed in robbing the Kashmiri people of their birthright to freedom.
No power should believe that it can intimidate the Pakistani nation into compromising its resolute and principled stand on Jammu and Kashmir.
The world must realize that for the people of Pakistan to betray the Kashmiris would be tantamount to betraying their own nationhood. We will never do so.
Today, we call on the Commission to uphold the just cause of Jammu and Kashmir.
We call on this body to punish and deter the crimes taking place in Kashmir - the burning down of entire villages, the rape of women, the murder of young boys - in Anantnag, Sopore, Bijbehara and other sites of atrocities in Kashmir.
The International Criminal Court should be empowered to punish the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity.
We trust the new High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit occupied Jammu and Kashmir as will other impartial observers and organizations.
We trust that the United Nations' human rights mechanisms will respond to the plight of the oppressed Kashmiri people.
Unless the oppression of the Kashmiri people ends, the prospects for peace between Pakistan and India will remain unfulfilled.
It remains our hope that the dialogue initiated by our Prime Minister will be resumed with the new Indian government and would be accompanied by a halt in the human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The prospects for such dialogue are not improved by the campaign of terrorism to which Pakistan is being subjected today. Since 1995, over 600 innocent people have been killed in various cities of Pakistan as a result of terrorism sponsored from abroad. Recently, we were informed by a friendly country of anticipated terrorist attacks which manifested themselves in the cities of Lahore, Multan and Sukkur killing 16 people and injuring 104. Pakistan will present conclusive evidence in this regard pointing to the so-called largest democracy. State sponsored terrorism against peoples struggling for self-determination, or against other states, is a grave violation of human rights as well as of international law.
Mr. Chairman,
The world community must not allow a repetition of genocide and ethnic cleansing by alien oppressors - whether in Kosovo, Azerbaijan or elsewhere.
Mr. Chairman,
In Afghanistan, our objectives are identical to those of the United Nations. Pakistan is deeply committed to ending the continuing war and the human rights violations in Afghanistan. We will continue to make energetic endeavours to this end. The international community's efforts should, however, avoid selectivity.
Unfortunately, we have not heard a voice raised against the 3000 people massacred in Shibergan and around Mazar-e-Sharif by the Northern Alliance. Even today, serious violations continue since the conflict among the members of the Northern Alliance has not been resolved.
We also urge the immediate initiation of international assistance for reconstruction in areas of Afghanistan where peace prevails. This will not only promote economic revival and encourage the voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran; it could also assist in national reconciliation and amelioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Mr. Chairman,
Poverty is the biggest violator of human rights.
It threatens the most basic human right - the right to life.
According to a WHO Report, abject poverty is world's most efficient and pitiless murderer and executioner. It has claimed more victims than the horrors of war.
Poverty is the main impediment to the realization of the ideals of the Universal Declaration.
In the pantheon of human rights, the Right to Development should occupy the highest place.
Unfortunately, after the end of the Cold War, the global political commitment to development appears to be dwindling.
Today, the onus for development is placed entirely on the developing countries. They are supposed to create the conditions to attract foreign investment, implement structural adjustment programmes and acquire trade competitiveness.
They must do so while adhering to labour, social and environmental standards not even realized by the developed countries.
They must do so even as the markets of the rich remain closed to the most competitive products of the developing countries.
At this session, the Commission on Human Rights must give serious consideration to adopting decisions that can translate the Declaration on the Right to Development into operational policies of governments and governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Mr. Chairman,
A new and grave challenge which the international community confronts today is the growing climate of intolerance.
After the Cold War, some old warriors appear to be ready to find new enemies to conquer.
Some intellectuals propound the thesis of a clash of civilizations; of the primary threat from foreign terrorism, drugs and proliferation, of the dangers posed by so-called "Islamic fundamentalism" - ignoring the continuing threat of nuclear weapons, great power conflicts and the foreign occupation and suppression of peoples and nations.
The Commission itself has been subjected to the agents of the new intolerance and hatred.
We must decisively halt this.
The clash of civilizations should not become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Terrorism and brutality are not the monopoly of any belief or culture.
Peace and cooperation can only be realized through the genuine exercise of tolerance towards different faiths, cultures and practices - even as the world comes together through globalization.
We must oppose the arrogance of power; the follies of triumphalism; the imposition of "political correctness" on a diverse world at different stages of development. Humility and understanding are essential to the collective endeavour to realize the promise of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
We should guard against the attempts to subordinate UN human rights mechanisms to political purposes. It appears that the killing of 60,000 people in Kashmir does not raise an eyebrow; the massacre of 3000 in Shibergan and Mazar-e-Sharif or the 6000 killed in Pakistan by foreign sponsored state terrorism goes unnoticed. Then, how do we measure human rights violations? If this is not enough to rouse world conscience what will?
Mr. Chairman, We are delighted to see the new High Commissioner engaged effectively in the promoting a genuine international consensus on human rights issues.
We are confident that Mrs. Mary Robinson would be able to impart a fresh impetus to our efforts for realising the vision of the Universal Declaration.
We wish her success.
Mr. Chairman,
As we observe the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, we may do well to recall the following words of the political philosopher, Edmund Burke:
"There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity - the law of nature, and of nations". I thank you, Mr. Chairman.