理事会举行关于强迫失踪和当代形式奴隶制的互动对话（部分翻译）

中午
 
苏丹和毛里塔尼亚的贵宾向理事会发言
 
日内瓦（2016年9月15日）——人权理事会在午间会议上听取了强迫失踪问题工作组主席胡瑞亚·埃斯·萨拉米（Houria Es-Slami）和当代形式奴隶制问题特别报告员乌尔米拉·博呼拉（Urmila Bhoola）呈报报告，随后与各位任务负责人举行了互动对话。 
 
理事会还听取了苏丹外交部国务部长卡马尔·伊斯迈尔·赛义德（Kamal Ismail Saeed）和毛里塔尼亚人权和人道主义行动专员谢赫·图拉德·阿布德尔·马利克（Cheikh Tourad Abdel Malick）的发言。 
 
赛义德先生指出，政治化和双重标准在人权理事会没有立足之处。他强调有必要利用国际人权机构和国家当局之间的合作。尽管有诸多挑战，例如1997年以来对苏丹实施的制裁，人权仍是该国最优先的事项。他呼吁理事会不要剥夺苏丹促进和保护人权所必需的资源。
 
阿布德尔·马利克先生表示，全球正面对着各种巨大的挑战，它们使人类无法享有最基本的权利。人们被迫忍受艰难处境，例如有组织犯罪、人口贩运、奴役和冲突；这些都助长了新的移民方式。必需付出更多努力增强发展中国家的和平。毛里塔尼亚决心不遗余力地消除那些障碍，并落实可以促成目标的方案。 
 
埃斯·萨拉米女士呈报了强迫失踪问题工作组的报告，并表示，一些国家的状况令人非常警惕，例如叙利亚，当地失踪人口估计数以千计。在途移民和移民在目的国失踪的现象有越来越多的记录。工作组持续审查的还有一个问题，即非国家行为者实施的绑架行为增多，有时候是大规模的。  
 
博呼拉女士介绍了报告，提醒称，数百万男女老幼仍被困在各种形式的奴役之中，这就迫切需要审查旨在消除那些做法的全球和国家行动受到的阻碍。关于抵押劳工的专题研究明确了这种现象广泛的驱动力和阻碍将其充分消除的因素，并提供了落实人权方针消除抵押劳工的建议。
 
秘鲁、斯里兰卡、土耳其和萨尔瓦多作为当事国发言。
 
在关于强迫失踪的讨论中，一些发言人指出，移民背景下的失踪问题需要紧密关注，特别是无证移民的状况。发言人鼓励工作组继续致力于移民背景下的强迫失踪问题，因为这份呈报的研究提供了有关强迫失踪原因和后果的新鲜视角。同时，一些代表团呼吁工作组在向当事国传达指控时核实其可靠性。
 
在关于现代形式奴隶制的讨论中，多名发言人表示，看到债役和任何形式的奴役存在是不可容忍的。他们提醒道，体面工作是2030年可持续发展议程的一大支柱。然而，抵押劳工这种恶行影响了世界各地。消除抵押劳工需要超越表象，直触根源。一些发言人指出了贩运人口、强迫劳动和债役的交叉联系。
 
在互动对话中发言的有代表海湾合作委员会的沙特阿拉伯、代表伊斯兰合作组织的巴基斯坦、代表拉美及加勒比国家共同体的多米尼加共和国、欧盟、美国、泰国、马尔代夫、沙特阿拉伯、厄瓜多尔、利比亚、巴基斯坦、古巴、法国、澳大利亚、俄罗斯联邦、塞拉利昂、希腊、智利、列支敦士登、委内瑞拉、尼泊尔、阿根廷、印度、摩洛哥、埃及、洪都拉斯、中国、葡萄牙、比利时、联合国儿童基金会、苏丹、博茨瓦纳、伊拉克、加纳、伊朗、菲律宾、英国、玻利维亚、突尼斯、大韩民国、巴林、乌干达、巴拉圭、冰岛、尼加拉瓜和肯尼亚。
 
以下非政府组织也做了发言：国际法学家委员会（International Commission of Jurists）、阿拉伯人权委员会、促进巴林民主和人权的美国人联盟（Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain）、反对一切形式的歧视和种族主义国际运动（International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism）、保护恐怖主义受害者协会（Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism）、人权与和平倡导中心（Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy）、弗朗哥-泰米尔文化巴拉蒂发展中心协会（Association Bharathi Centre Culturel Franco Tamoul）、非洲土著人民协调委员会（Indigenous People of Africa Coordinating Committee）、非暴力国际（Nonviolence International）、国际特赦组织、墨西哥人权保护与促进委员会（Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos）、反奴隶制国际（Anti-Slavery International）、世界环境与资源理事会（World Environment and Resources Council）、亚洲人权与发展论坛（Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development）、和平组织问题研究委员会（Commission to Study the Organization of Peace）。
 
理事会今天举行全天会议，之后将于以雇佣军为手段侵犯人权并阻挠行使民族自决权问题工作组和危险物质及废料的无害环境管理和处置对人权的影响问题特别报告员举行集体互动对话。

Documentation
 
The Council has before it the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (A/HRC/33/51).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances – Mission to Turkey (A/HRC/33/51/Add.1).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances – Mission to Sri Lanka (A/HRC/33/51/Add.2).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances –  Mission to Peru (A/HRC/33/51/Add.3).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances –  Comments by Peru (A/HRC/33/51/Add.4).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances –  Comments by Turkey (A/HRC/33/51/Add.5).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances –  Comments by Sri Lanka (A/HRC/33/51/Add.6).
 
The Council has before it the Follow-up report to the recommendations made by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances - Missions to Congo and Pakistan (A/HRC/33/51/Add.7).
 
The Council has before it the Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery (A/HRC/33/46).
 
The Council has before it an addendum to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery – Mission to El Salvador (A/HRC/33/46/Add.1).
 
Presentation of Reports by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
 
HOURIA ES-SLAMI, Chair of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said that the number of urgent actions sent by the Working Group had increased notably over the previous year.  The situation in some countries was very alarming, such as Syria, with the number of disappearances estimated to be in the thousands.  All States were encouraged to cooperate with the Working Group and put the search for missing persons at the top of their agendas.  There was no time limit, no matter how short, for an enforced disappearance to occur, so accurate information on the detention of any person deprived of liberty and their place of detention should be made promptly available to their family members.  Country visits were a crucial component of the Working Group’s work and mandate. The process did not end with the Working Group visiting a country and presenting a report thereupon; the visit was rather a starting point.  Montenegro was applauded for having been the first – and so far the only – country which had provided the Working Group, outside the follow-up process, with specific information on the measures taken or to be taken to implement the recommendations. 
 
Turning to the visit to Peru, Ms. Es-Slami stated that the recent adoption of the Act on the Search for Disappeared Persons, as well as the allocation of an adequate budget for its implementation and operation, could help to overcome many persisting challenges.  In Sri Lanka, the Working Group had noted the increasing openness of the Government, which was a very positive and encouraging step.  The decision to create an Office of Missing Persons was a positive step, but the transitional justice process had to be made more participatory.  Turkey needed to once and for all come to terms with past disappearances and finally turn that page.  Concern was expressed at the situation in the south-east of the country, where a wide security operation had been underway since July 2015.  In the follow-up report on Pakistan, the Group observed that the situation of enforced disappearances was still very worrisome, with a general climate of impunity surrounding them.
 
The phenomenon of disappearances of migrating individuals in transit and in destination countries was being increasingly documented.  Another issue the Group was continuing to examine was the increasing instances of abductions carried out by non-State actors, sometimes on a massive scale.  Families of the disappeared and non-governmental organizations were sometimes the only voices in their countries calling for truth, justice and reparation for the victims.  States were called upon to take specific measures to prevent such acts and punish the perpetrators, in accordance with the 1992 Declaration.
 
URMILA BHOOLA, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, in introducing her reports, said that this year was significant as it marked the ninetieth and fiftieth anniversaries respectively of the 1926 Slavery Convention and the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.  Those legal standards remained the key touchstones which guided anti-slavery law and policy intervention and the elimination of all contemporary forms of slavery, including forced labour, the worst forms of child labour, forced and servile marriage, bonded labour, servitude, and slavery-like practices.  It was worthy to celebrate the global decrease in the number of children in the worst forms of child labour, the increase in comprehensive legal and policy frameworks, and increased  public awareness and access to justice for victims of slavery.  Still, millions of women, men and children continued to be trapped in various forms of slavery which created an urgent imperative to review the impediments to the global and national efforts to eradicate those practices.  Women, indigenous communities, minority groups, persons with disabilities, migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees, internally displaced persons and children remained the most vulnerable to the extreme forms of exploitation that slavery encompassed.  Efforts must be redoubled to end their horrendous suffering and humiliation through ensuring access to decent work, opportunities for education and financial literacy, economic empowerment and effective redress for rights violations.
 
Ms. Bhoola also presented the thematic study on debt bondage, also known as bonded labour, which remained one of the most prevalent contemporary forms of slavery despite its prohibition in international law and in most national jurisdictions.  The report identified a range of drivers of bonded labour and the factors preventing its full eradication; this was labour as a commodity in its fullest expression, when human beings ceased to be considered human and became tools of work.  The Special Rapporteur had also provided a set of recommendations on implementing a human rights-based approach to eradicating the practice, and addressing its social and economic impact. 
 
During her visit to El Salvador, the Special Rapporteur had identified a full spectrum of violations manifesting as contemporary forms of slavery that remained largely invisible, and called for urgent attention to be given to sexual abuse of women and girls by gangs in slavery-like conditions, the forced recruitment of children to gang activities, the worst forms of child labour, forced labour and domestic servitude.  The complexity of factors contributing to the perpetuation of slavery required a comprehensive and multifaceted response by the Government, and initiatives should include strengthening the institutional and legal frameworks to address not only human trafficking but also slavery, in addition to addressing high rates of violence, gender inequality, forced and early marriage, lack of opportunities for decent work and full employment, migration, and others.
 
Statements by Concerned Countries
 
Peru, speaking as a concerned country, said that the report acknowledged the progress made by Peru in recent years.  The importance of the visit of the Working Group was highlighted.  The creation of the National Registry of Disappeared Persons and Burial Sites was a significant development.  The national platform was the result of a wide-ranging consultation process.  The Comprehensive Redress Programme was in place and had reached numerous beneficiaries in different areas.  The Congress had appointed a new Public Defender.  Peru expressed appreciation for the support provided by the Working Group. 
 
Sri Lanka, speaking as a concerned country, noted that the visit by the Working Group had taken place just 10 months after the election of a new President and three months after the parliamentary elections.  The Government had embarked on a comprehensive public policy based on a participatory framework with the objective of ensuring the right to truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.  The Office on Missing Persons was just one of the truth-seeking mechanisms that had now been enabled through legislation.  That act did not compromise the victims and their families’ right to justice. 
 
Turkey, speaking as a concerned country,  informed that the Special Procedures had had a standing invitation to visit Turkey for the past 15 years.  The Working Group had visited Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir, and had visited the families who had raised claims of disappeared relatives.  Turkey regretted that the PKK was not referred to as a terrorist organization that had caused the loss of more than 40,000 lives since 1984.  As a response to increasing terrorist attacks, the intervention of security forces by way of comprehensive counter-terrorism operations had been compulsory to restore the public order.  Turkey considered that missing persons on the island of Cyprus did not fall within the mandate of the Working Group.   
 
El Salvador, speaking as a concerned country, reiterated El Salvador’s commitment to the elimination of all forms of slavery, noting that it had adopted a number of measures to that effect, including the creation in 2011 of the Council against Human Trafficking attached to the Ministry of Justice and Security.  El Salvador had adopted the Integral Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, and in 2010, it had drafted a Roadmap to free the country from the worst forms of child labour.  More work was needed on prevention and on raising the awareness of the population about contemporary forms of slavery, and also to protect migrants from dangers they faced.  El Salvador was also working on preventing boys and girls from joining gangs and ensuring that they had a brighter future.
 
Interactive Dialogue
 
Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, took note of the report on debt bondage but regretted that it included incorrect information as the Special Rapporteur had not taken into account laws and regulations set up in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which appreciated the role of migrant workers who contributed to the development of their host countries.  Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, recognized the significance of providing decent work for all.  It was important to effectively capture the relationship between forced labour, slavery and human trafficking.  How could non-State actors be made to respect the law on enforced disappearances?  Dominican Republic, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries, supported the comprehensive vision of a human rights-based migration approach.  The Working Group was encouraged to hold some of its sessions outside of Geneva. 
 
European Union called upon all States to cooperate with the Working Group on enforced disappearances.  A question was asked on which legislation specifically targeted to combat debt bondage had proven to be most effective.  United States called on countries to remove all obstacles to independent and transparent investigations into cases of enforced disappearances.  Concern was expressed over disappearances in Syria, Egypt, “North Korea”, Eritrea and Zimbabwe.  What best practices could be shared in implementing legal prohibitions of debt bondage?  Thailand said that it was preparing an act on the prevention of torture and enforced disappearances.  Thailand had undertaken many efforts to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery, including in the fisheries sector.  
 
Maldives said that it had openly shared the full details of the investigation into the case of the disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan, the only case of that kind in Maldives.  Populations that were more vulnerable were more victimized.  The Constitution stated that no one should be held in slavery or servitude.  Saudi Arabia said it was party to 16 international labour conventions, as well as Convention 105 on bonded labour.  Wages were protected according to the law and had to be dispersed in a timely manner.  Relations between employers and domestic workers were well defined, and there was a hotline in place for migrant workers.  Ecuador stated that it had undertaken measures to prevent and eradicate debt bondage, and to help victims.  Legislation included protection measures in accordance with international treaties, and a national plan against trafficking was also in place. 
 
Libya said it was going through a transitional phase marked by many political, security and humanitarian challenges, which, coupled with activities of terrorist and organized crimes groups, had led to a number of enforced disappearances.  Measures were being taken to tackle the current security threats, particularly terrorism, and to eradicate this practice.  Pakistan had set up the High Level Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances which vigorously pursued all cases brought to its attention and it also continued to implement the recommendations made to it by the Working Group.  Cuba encouraged the Working Group to continue working on the issue of enforced disappearances in the context of migration and asked about the Working Group’s opinion about policies that encouraged illegal and insecure migratory flows that might lead to trafficking in persons. 
 
France agreed that even short-term enforced disappearances should be qualified as such in order to allow legal recourse and encouraged the Working Group to continue its study into disappearances in the context of migration.  The fight against modern forms of slavery was an important part of French diplomacy and the Special Rapporteur could count on France’s support.  Australia welcomed the passage of legislation in Sri Lanka establishing an Office of Missing Persons and said that it must be adequately resourced and integrated with other transitional justice mechanisms.  How could greater international collaboration lead to preventing human trafficking and slavery, detecting, investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators, and protecting and supporting victims?
 
Sierra Leone stated that forced disappearances of migrants needed to be given due attention, especially of undocumented migrants.  There was an intersection of trafficking in human beings, forced labour and debt bondage.  The Government sought to put in place enforceable legislation which respected human rights.  Greece noted that the situation of disappearing migrants was becoming even more precarious when migrants entered irregularly since they were not recorded and remained unaccounted for.  Greece had contributed 40,000 euros in 2013-2014 to the work of the Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.  Chile was committed to truth and justice for violations of human rights between 1973 and 1990.  It was intolerable to see the existence of debt bondage and any form of slavery which had been abolished at the onset of independence.  The 2030 Agenda had a human-rights based approach, and decent work was one of its pillars.
 
Liechtenstein noted that contemporary forms of slavery were closely related to a number of forms of exploitation, including human trafficking.  The Special Rapporteur was asked how to best involve the private sector in efforts to combat exploitation.  Venezuela informed that its Constitution prohibited any public, civil or military authority to conduct or tolerate enforced disappearance.  Enforced disappearances were an established crime in Venezuela.  The practice of debt bondage affected the most vulnerable groups; structural causes, such as poverty, ought to be combatted.  Nepal informed that since 2009, Nepal had adopted various legal, institutional and procedural measures to ensure the welfare and rights of freed bonded labourers.  Land and monetary or material assistance were provided to freed bonded labourers for housing and skill training.  Bondage labour legislation was being prepared in Nepal.
 
Argentina welcomed the section of the report with observations on enforced disappearances in migration and highlighted the importance of the declassification of documents for the construction of collective memory.  India said the scourge of bonded labour affected all parts of the world, including India, though the country’s constitution abolished it.  Eliminating bonded labour needed to go beyond the symptoms to address the root causes.  Morocco commended the Working Group’s decision to study enforced disappearances in the context of migration.  Events and tensions in the world were leading to increases in migration.  Egypt said that the study presented a fresh perspective on the causes and consequences of enforced disappearances, but called on the Working Group to verify the credibility of allegations before conveying them to the country concerned.  Honduras said that the issue of disappearances in the context of migration was a phenomenon that deserved deep attention, and reiterated Honduras’ intention to continue to work with both mandates. 
 
Statement by the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sudan
 
KAMAL ISMAIL SAEED, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sudan, noted that politicization and double standards had no place in the Human Rights Council.  He underscored the need to draw on cooperation between international human rights bodies and national authorities.  Human rights were of the utmost priority in Sudan.  The current Sudanese strategy on human rights was being implemented despite numerous challenges.  There had been some progress in Sudan’s cooperation with international human rights bodies and the Government had been able to adopt some of the recommendations.  It had adopted a number of international human rights instruments.  At the same time, the sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1997 had deprived the Sudanese people from exercising their right to education, health and decent living.  Mr. Saeed thus called on the Council to promote measures that would limit the consequences of any unilateral coercive measures. 
 
Sudan was keen to end the problem of armed groups and to find a peaceful solution.  It had housed hundreds of thousands of people from other countries and was committed to tackle human trafficking and smuggling.  The Government of Sudan had established a national institution to fight against terrorism and extremism.  Mr. Saeed reminded that Israel continued to perpetrate human rights violations against the Palestinian people and reaffirmed the importance of the restoration of sovereignty in Yemen.  In conclusion, he called on the Council not to deprive Sudan of the resources necessary for the promotion and protection of human rights. 
 
Statement by the Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Action of Mauritania
 
CHEIKH TOURAD ABDEL MALICK, Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Action of Mauritania, said that the world was facing enormous challenges which deprived human beings of the enjoyment of their most basic rights.  People were pushed to immense hardship such as organized crime, human trafficking, slavery and conflicts; all of that was fuelling new ways of migration.  More had to be done to strengthen peace in developing countries.  Mauritania was determined to spare no effort to erase those obstacles and to put in place programmes which would allow the achievement of goals.  Mauritania had submitted its reports to the treaty bodies according to schedule.  It had also adopted was a multi-sectoral plan and laws for the implementation of international treaties.  Outreach campaigns had targeted people who could become victims of slavery.  A network of tribunals had started to operate within the frame of its mandate.  Mauritania reaffirmed its determination to proactively pursue its goals to promote and protect of human rights.
 
Remarks by the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and the Chairperson of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances
 
URMILA BHOOLA, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, welcomed all opportunities to engage with Member States and discuss opportunities for continued collaboration and cooperation.  With regard to issues raised about legislation, the Special Rapporteur took positive note of additional legal measures that countries had adopted to eliminate bonded labour and that effective access to justice was ensured for the victims.  Especially commendable were the measures aiming to increase opportunities for compensation, reintegration into the community, and employment.  The Special Rapporteur welcomed the commitment of El Salvador to eliminate some of the worst forms of slavery identified in her report and the development of protocols to address challenges related to forced labour, worst forms of child labour, exploitation of migrants, and gang violence.  There were some countries which had already implemented good practices and adopted model laws or good practice laws, which contained effective means to end contemporary forms of slavery.  The key components of a model law would ensure that it was in compliance with the 1956 Supplementary Convention which obliged States to progressively abolish all practices similar to slavery, namely through ensuring access to effective remedies to victims, providing for the liquidation of debt of a bonded labourer, immediately releasing bonded workers, and ensuring their access to effective rehabilitation.  It was essential to address the linkages between conflict, trafficking, migration and extreme forms of exploitation.
 
HOURIA ES-SLAMI, Chair of the Working Group on enforced disappearances, said she was pleased that many of the Group’s recommendations had either been implemented or were under way to be implemented in Peru.  As for Sri Lanka, the Working Group commended the Government for its comments and welcomed the announcements about the enactment of the reconciliation mechanism and the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Witnesses.  The Working Group thanked Turkey for its reports and for having supported the Working Group’s visit in spite of difficult security conditions in certain parts of the country.  Although it recognized the security challenges faced by Turley, the Working Group noted that anti-terrorism measures could not justify enforced disappearances.  As for Pakistan, Ms. Es-Slami expressed satisfaction that an inquiry had been launched to better fight impunity and enforced disappearances.  Ms. Es-Slami commended all the observations that had been presented by State delegations during the discussion. 
 
Interactive Dialogue
 
China said that enforced disappearances were extreme acts of human rights violations.  It was necessary to address these issues using domestic laws.  The Working Group should strictly follow its mandate and maintain an objective and impartial position.  On contemporary forms of slavery, China hoped that the Special Rapporteur would give more attention to slavery in history to prevent its recurrence.  Portugal said that the report’s information about enforced disappearances was very worrying, and that cases remained underreported.  On slavery, it was worrying that the practice of debt bondage endured around the world.  Belgium said that country visits were an integral part of the mandate of the Working Group, and regretted the lack of progress in establishing a United Nations focal point.  Regarding slavery, it was intriguing that lack of decent work was a driver of the problem.