Opening address by Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 73rd session of the Human Rights Committee

Geneva, 15 October 2001



Chairman, Distinguished Committee members,

I welcome the opportunity to greet you on the occasion of the opening of the 73rd session of the Human Rights Committee.

The terrorist attacks in the United States of 11 September and their tragic, unprecedented, consequences are still fresh in our minds. As the Secretary-General wrote on 21 September 2001, the attack was aimed at one nation and wounded an entire world; it was an attack on all humanity, and all humanity has a stake in defeating the forces behind it.

The UN is uniquely positioned to advance the efforts and to shape the fight against terrorism. On 28 September, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1373 (2001), under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, deciding on wide-ranging steps designed to reduce and ultimately eliminate financing, political support and sanctuaries for terrorism. All 189 member states are required to report on implementation of the Resolution within 90 days. I am aware of concerns voiced in a number of countries including by NGO’s over some provisions in the Resolution notably the references to refugees and asylum seekers. I share those concerns.

Other UN Conventions already provide a legal framework for many of the steps that must be taken to eradicate terrorism. These conventions must be implemented in full; in this context, I urge early ratification of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (as per Resolution A/54/109).

The General Assembly held a week-long debate on how to fight terrorism from 1 to 5 October. Never before did so many representatives and observers address the assembly on a single agenda item, and rarely have they done so in a remarkable display of unity. During the debate, many speakers underlined the links between terrorism, transnational organised crime, the international drug trade, money-laundering and the illicit trade in small arms; they called on member states that have not done so to become parties to the relevant international conventions, and urged the U.N. to strengthen the relevant agencies. The Sixth Committee of the General Assembly is now elaborating a comprehensive convention on the elimination of terrorism and a convention for the elimination of acts of nuclear terrorism.

Beyond the horrors of 11 September, we must not forget that the attacks were acts of individuals, and should not bring about retribution against one people, or one religion. World leaders including the President of the United States have underlined this point repeatedly in the past few weeks, but it bears re-emphasizing. I know you will share my deep concern for the needs of the millions of Afghan civilians inside the country. As winter approaches an estimated 7.5 million are at risk from starvation unless food and humanitarian assistance reaches them.

I consider that the human rights treaty bodies can make important contributions to a global strategy to combat international terrorism, and several of the issues that have been discussed in the G.A. are within your remit. I would like to suggest that treaty bodies contribute to the fight against terrorism as forcefully as they can, within the confines of their respective mandates.

I welcome the adoption, at your previous session, of General Comment No.29 on States of Emergencies and derogations from provisions of the Covenant. This document has been well received, not least by our colleagues in the field, where the General Comment will be a very useful reference document. Respect for the non-derogable provisions of the Covenant must remain an essential consideration for all States parties – and that includes the measures they adopt, as necessary and timely as they are – to fight terrorism. Indeed I should inform you that General Comment No. 29 has been an indispensable guide to my Office in developing our own analysis of the present crisis. It has shaped our immediate contributions on human rights to the new Integrated Management Task Force on Afghanistan, established within the Executive Committee on Peace and Security.

As you are aware, Mr Chairman, I have written to you and the Chairpersons of the other Treaty Bodies soliciting advice on the impact that the ongoing international response to the events of 11 September may have on the human rights protected by your mandate. I sought in particular reflections on how the global community may ensure that the right balance is struck between security and human rights concerns. In that context I would ask whether the concept of human security, a concept used in the OSCE process -if developed further- might not offer fresh insight into that crucial balance. I am mindful also of your own deliberations in previous instances while considering reports of States Parties which were facing the manifold challenges that terrorism poses for the rule of law and democracy as enshrined in the Covenant. I would certainly value the reflections of the Committee on these and the other questions I have raised.

Let me address a word of special thanks to those Committee members who attended the World Conference against Racism, and who contributed very actively to the numerous parallel events organized in Durban. Many of these events, and not least the panel of treaty body and national institution representatives, came up with interesting recommendations. One of them that I believe deserves serious further discussion concerns the possibility of a general comment on issues of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance that would be adopted jointly by all treaty bodies.

My Office is actively engaged in the follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. In that work we are seeking to keep to the fore the concept of equality and non-discrimination as the common ideal that underpins the efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination including racial or ethnic discrimination.

It might be thought that follow up to the World Conference must take less priority given the international crisis precipitated by the terrorist attacks that took place three days after the World Conference ended. To the contrary I see follow up as more not less relevant after the September 11 attacks. Implementation of the Durban documents is central to the preventive part of an effective global campaign against terrorism. The values proclaimed in the Declaration such as the affirmation of cultural diversity as an asset to be enjoyed, accepted and embraced as a permanent feature that enriches all countries, represent the long term antidote to terrorism. The Conference was a phase in a global dialogue. That dialogue must continue if world cultures are to live together as equals. There can be no true dialogue without addressing the sources of hatred and xenophobia. We may be one human family but we remain divided by language religion and culture. We are still separated by poverty and affluence and millions experience racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance on a daily basis. The task of overcoming destructive divisions and their effects was begun at Durban and must continue after Durban.

Your committee, and other treaty bodies, can play a vital role of catalyst, in that you can impress upon States parties to the Covenant the importance of honouring their international obligations, in law and in practice. I would be delighted if, in addition, there could be a coordinated approach from all the treaty bodies on the issue of follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. An example could be the proposal of a common General Comment that I have mentioned. Let me also mention to you for your consideration the decision taken by the Committee on the Rights of the Child which met in Geneva earlier this month. It was decided to include a standard paragraph in the concluding observations for each of the ten countries reporting in this session requesting specific information on measures undertaken by the State Party to follow up the WCAR in its next periodic report. I understand that the question of follow up to the World Conference is on your agenda and no doubt these and other ideas will be discussed.

Let me in concluding refer to the International Consultative Conference on School Education in Relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination will be held in Madrid next month. I commend Mr. Amor and the Spanish Government for this initiative. The conference subject is particularly timely, since education that promotes religious tolerance and that avoids religious stereotyping will help prevent the development of many forms of extremism.

I wish you a very fruitful, productive and successful session.


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