COMMISSION TAKES UP HUMAN RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS, RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

2 April 1996

Press Release
HR/CN/722

COMMISSION TAKES UP HUMAN RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS, RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

19960402 Concludes General Debate on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Right to Development

GENEVA, 29 March (UN Information Service) -- Non-governmental organizations speaking before the Commission on Human Rights this morning alleged violations of the right to freedom of religion of Christians around the world.

As the Commission opened its general discussion on religious intolerance, the rights of minorities and the situation of migrant workers, the International Association for Religious Freedom charged that in some Islamic countries, certain signs of religious freedom were lacking, stating that in Egypt, for example, it was difficult for Christians to obtain permission to build a church. That claim was echoed by the International Association for the Defence of Religious Liberty, whose representative said discrimination against Christians existed in many forms in Egypt.

The International Association of Educators for World Peace said the Central Committee of China's Communist Party considered religion a major threat to political stability. Any church operating independently was illegal, its members subject to arrest and imprisonment for counterrevolutionary acts. In the United States, the group said, the ideology of "freedom from religion" was taking hold. Another non-governmental organization, the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, drew attention to what it called threats to multi-religious societies in Kashmir and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and alleged mistreatment of Shi'a leaders in Iraq.

Those statements followed the conclusion of general debate on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, the right to development, the status of the International Covenants on human rights and the functioning of United Nations human rights treaty bodies. The discussion saw, among others, representatives of African countries call for stricter control on dumping of toxic waste in their continent, which they claimed adversely affected development.

Representatives of Angola, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China took part in the debate, as did the observers from Kenya, Nigeria and Poland.

Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations also made statements: International Institute for Peace, International Association of Educators for World Peace, American Association of Retired Persons, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches, International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, International Association for Religious Freedom, International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty, International Association of Educators for World Peace, United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples, World Peace Council and African Health and Human Rights Promoters Commission.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission on Human Rights met to discuss measures to improve the situation and ensure the human rights and dignity of all migrant workers; the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; and the implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

The Commission has before it a report of the Secretary-General on the Status of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and Efforts made by the Secretariat to Promote the Convention which confirmed that the Convention had now been ratified by Morocco and the Philippines, acceded to by Egypt, Colombia and Seychelles and signed by Chile and Mexico.

Concerning minority rights, the Commission will consider a report of the Secretary-General concerning the measures taken by States to give effect to the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The report indicates that in view of the few replies received by the Centre for Human Rights to its requests for information, and the lack of substantive information those replies contain, it was difficult to arrive at conclusions of a general nature concerning the implementation of the Declaration. None the less, the report concludes that the Working Group on Minorities of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities has proved successful in identifying some of the key issues relating to the practical realization of the Declaration, and that information provided by Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances illustrated the vulnerability of persons belonging to minorities.

The Commission will also have before it a report by Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance, in which he stresses the importance of prevention in the effort to end intolerance and discrimination, hatred and violence, including violence motivated by religious extremism. In

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a section of the report devoted to his visit to Pakistan, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the authorities should check that Hudood ordinances were compatible with human rights and urged that Hudood penalties -- because they were exclusively Muslim -- should not be applied to non-Muslims. Moreover, no mention of religion should be included on passports, identity card application forms or any other administrative documents.

Regarding a visit to Iran, the Special Rapporteur writes that he was disturbed by the fact that many members of non-Muslim minority groups had left Iran to the detriment of the country's cultural and ethnic wealth and diversity. Referring specifically to the socio-cultural field, he makes a number of recommendations, including that practical steps should be taken to ensure strict respect for the principle that religious laws should be applied in personal and community affairs, thereby excluding the application of the Shari'a to non-Muslims; that there should be freedom of dress; and that minorities should collaborate closely in the formulation of educational programmes through written contributions. In the judicial sector, the Special Rapporteur was concerned about the fact that judges sometimes handed down iniquitous decisions against members of minorities. Proper training of the judiciary in human rights would be highly appropriate. The Special Rapporteur calls upon the Iranian authorities to review, or set aside, the death sentences passed on Baha'is and promulgate amnesties or any other appropriate measures to prevent the enforcement of the penalties imposed.

Statements

ADRIANO PARREIRA (Angola) said the working group on the right to development had been courageous to take up the demanding task of identifying obstacles to the realization of the Declaration on the Right to Development, but it seemed that the contents of the Declaration was precisely what was lacking in the group's report. Angola could not help but agree with the dissent voiced by the Cuban expert members of the group in the report. The Angolan delegation did not share the opinions expressed by the main report, which did not reflect the real world of the very poor, who faced hunger, poverty and shantytowns. It was those people who had the right to development, and the conceptual network established for realizing that right must focus on them. The role of States and their sovereign powers was important, too -- the concept of sovereignty gave meaning to the right to development and gave it its force and dynamic character.

TAJ HAIDER (Pakistan) said the right to development occupied a permanent and important place in the deliberations of the Commission. However, there was concern that those seeking to promote the realization of the right to development were themselves shrinking from the "real" duty of promoting "real" human rights. The right to development had still to be realized by the vast majority of nations because of, among other things, the inadequacy of national

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measures, but also due to a lack of international cooperation. The report of the working group on the right to development had provided a useful context for deliberations on the subject. However, the document did not reflect different positions taken by various countries and regions as clearly as it would have been wished. The rigid stand taken by developed countries had blocked positive recommendations which could pave the way for the rapid development of the underdeveloped nations. As long as the right to development remained an unrealized promise, the promotion of other rights would remain a difficult challenge.

ESTHER TOLLE (Kenya) said developing countries -- especially those in Africa -- were poverty stricken, their economic development lagging far behind the rest of the world. They were overwhelmed by the enormous debt burden, by inadequate and fast-shrinking development finance and by the diversion of capital flows. A global approach relating to all categories of debt was required, while conditions ensuring a balanced and equitable exchange of resources between the North and South should be established. Of particular concern was the dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes and materials in the developing countries. Those countries had neither the resources nor the capability to deal with the health and other consequences of such action. Kenya would like to see the issue of dumping such wastes included in the list of obstacles to the realization and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and strongly endorsed the establishment of a focal unit within the Centre for Human Rights to follow up matters relating to the adverse effects of dumping.

CYRIL GWAM (Nigeria) said the Commission should request the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization to take into account the principles enunciated in the Declaration on the Right to Development in the formulation of their policies. An expert body should be established to elaborate a strategy for realizing the right to development; this body should have a small membership of no more than 10 persons in order to be efficient and effective. Nigeria also was concerned about the illegal dumping of toxic wastes in developing countries, having suffered from such abuses itself. It supported the undertaking of the Special Rapporteur investigating the topic to assemble a blacklist of dumpers and a list of persons killed, maimed or otherwise injured through those heinous acts. Many African countries suffered from the illicit dumping of wastes, and they needed international help to combat the problem.

A.S. NARANG, of the International Institute for Peace, said that despite the tremendous efforts made by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Centre for Human Rights, the denial of even basic rights to millions of people all over the world continued. It was therefore important to reiterate with full force that promoting human rights was a priority mandate of the United Nations Charter, and that without their implementation all talks of peace and

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progress were mere rhetoric. The majority of people, particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries, were not aware of the existence of human rights declarations or the ways and means by which they could be implemented. Human rights bodies must pay attention to human rights education.

IRENE HOSKINS, of the American Association of Retired Persons, congratulated the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its adoption of a general comment relating to the rights of older persons. That had come at a particularly opportune time, when the debate regarding the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons was growing in importance. Until now, the ageing of populations had been a prominent issue in the industrialized countries. What was not widely appreciated was that the older population in most developing countries was growing even more rapidly than in industrialized countries. According to the general comment, while the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights contained no explicit reference to the rights of older persons, they citizens were entitled to enjoy the full range of rights recognized in that instrument.

WILDA SPALDING, of the International Association of Educators for World Peace, said public policy was often the greatest obstacle to the realization of positive, practical mechanisms on human rights. But the courageous lead taken by some Governments had demonstrated the powerful, positive role they could play. However, other institutions, such as business and the media, had key responsibilities as well. The myriad education and cultural projects being carried out during the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education and the fiftieth anniversary year of both the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund presented a tremendous opportunity for those committed to the realization of human rights to engage in joint ventures.

SHAMINA SHAWL, of the All Pakistan Women's Association, said that during the debate of the right to development some speakers had tried to link conflict situations only to terrorism while hiding the devastating effects of foreign occupation and alien domination. Abhorrent as they were, no terrorist attacks had done the kind of damage that had been done by the Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Every sector -- the environment, industry, agriculture, employment, education and health -- had been completely ruined by the occupation forces. The traditional carpet industry of Kashmir was in ruins. In that environment, it was not possible to protect the right to life. How could one think about the right to development? The international community's apathy was partly responsible for the plight of the people of Kashmir.

A.L. ABDUL AZEEZ (Sri Lanka) said there were around half a million Sri Lankan migrant workers employed in many parts of the world. The potential for

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further employment of Sri Lankans overseas was high. A large number of the Sri Lankan migrant worker population was made up of single women. They were vulnerable to various constraints, including lack of proper service contracts, non-payment of wages, non-availability of insurance and difficulties arising from sexual harassment. He reiterated the duties of sending States and the obligations of receiving States towards the protection of the basic human rights of migrant workers, particularly migrant women, as referred to in General Assembly resolution 49/165.

DAUN QUMING (China) said China was a multi-religious society, with Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism among the religions practised. Of China's 1.2 billion people, hundreds of millions were religious. Respect for, and protection of, freedom of religion or belief was separate from State political power and education; the Government gave all religious groups equal rights. The Government had done much to renovate churches and temples, of which there were now over 70,000. There were also 2,000 religious associations, 48 religious schools and 200,000 members of the clergy. Scripture books and periodicals had been published by various religions. Published copies of the Bible exceeded 10 million. China had always participated in the human rights activities of the United Nations and in that regard had invited the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance to visit China in 1994. That invitation fully demonstrated China's sincerity in the field of human rights.

JACEK TYSZKO (Poland) said the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities provided the international community with a set of fundamental principles which should guide the international and domestic policy of States in regard to minorities. It also reaffirmed a number of basic rights and freedoms of persons belonging to minorities. A set of objectives in this regard was embodied in the Vienna Programme of Action adopted by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. The inter-sessional working group of the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities had started its work last year. That special monitoring mechanism could be an excellent platform for an open exchange of views between governments and non-governmental organizations representing minorities' interests.

MARIETTE GRANGE, of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches, said migrant women were often victims of gender-specific violence. According to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, that was a problem of escalating proportions. The governing council of the International Organization for Migration had included a specific programmatic objective on upholding migrants' rights and dignity in its new strategic plan. To encourage new and visible action, the central committee of the council had called for marking 1997 as "Ecumenical Year for Churches in Solidarity with the Uprooted". Her organization recommended,

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among other measures, that sufficient resources be allocated to the United Nations Secretariat to accelerate publication and wide distribution of the long-delayed Human Rights Fact Sheet on the rights of migrant workers; and that States visited by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance should implement his recommendations and report to the Commission on progress achieved.

D. LACK, of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, said that by a succession of four atrocious suicide bomb attacks in a little over a week earlier this month, the Hamas terrorists had almost succeeded in halting the peace process and stopping peace negotiations in the Middle East in their tracks. Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and Hamas were united in perverting the message of one of the great monotheistic religious and committing the ultimate blasphemy of claiming religious inspiration for committing their vile acts. While all religious doctrines were prone to distortion and betrayal of their fundamental teachings and precepts, the luring of young fanatics into acting as human bombs to destroy the infidel -- the reward for which was presented as entry to paradise -- was at once the negation of both religious and human rights values.

GIANFRANCO ROSSI, of the International Association for Religious Freedom, said the war of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia had really been a war of religious intolerance; hundreds of churches, and even more mosques, had been destroyed. Fortunately, in other European countries, Muslim places of worship were being built in the thousands. However, in certain Islamic countries religious freedoms were very limited or totally lacking. For example, in Egypt it was difficult for Christians to obtain permission to build a church. In Saudi Arabia, churches were banned, so the thousands of Christian workers had no places in which to worship. Meanwhile, in Iran, a man had been sentenced to death last January for having abandoned Islam to return to his Baha'i faith. Every effort must be made to prevent religion being used as political terrorism.

WILFRED WONG, of the International Association for the Defence of Religious Liberty, said he wished to draw the attention of the Commission to the persecution of Christian minorities in Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar. In Egypt it was difficult for Christians to obtain permission to build a church. Discrimination against Christians existed in many forms in Egypt. In Iran, the Government's attack on evangelical Christians and converts from Islam to Christianity was systematic and ruthless. In Saudi Arabia, all forms of non-Islamic worship were banned. In Myanmar, the campaign of violence against the minority Karen people by the Government continued. The Commission should pressure those Governments to protect their minorities from persecution.

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KEVIN J. HASSON, of the International Association of Educators for World Peace, said in China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party considered religion a major threat to political stability. Any church operating independently was illegal, its members subject to arrest and imprisonment for counterrevolutionary acts. Persecution of Christians had been heating up, with Evangelicals the current victims of choice. Viet Nam likewise continued to restrict Buddhist and Christian religious activities, while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had devastated its Christian community. Cuba remained notorious for its religious oppression, and there was oppression of non-Muslims in Iran and Sudan. In India, the authorities too often stood idly by while Muslims were attacked. Religious freedom was also at risk in Greece, East Timor and Mexico. In the United States, an ideology of freedom from religion was taking hold.

HENRY BANDIER, of the United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, said that the Government of China had prohibited Tibetans from exercising their rights to chose freely their most important religious personality. Through threats, China had compelled the religious masters and political cadres of Tibet to support the Government's interference. The Government's choice of a Lama was imposed by force against the will of the Tibetans. Those who resisted the intervention had been imprisoned, he said. The Chinese authorities had deliberately inflicted on Tibetans a trauma which affected their beliefs, dignity and identity. But despite 40 years of persecution and religious discrimination, the Tibetans continued to exist with their Buddhist culture and identity.

JEAN-JACQUES KIRKYACHARIAN, of the Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples, said that in September 1994, the Secretary-General had written to all Member States regarding their adherence to the convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their families, receiving in return assurances that internal consultation procedures in this regard would be instituted. He doubted that much had changed since that time. Indeed, it had been estimated that approximately 15,000 migrant workers were without legal protection in France alone. The Movement hoped the appeal of the Secretary-General would be heard; it was a question of humanity and good sense.

RAVI NAIR, of Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, said the use of religion and cultural practices to oppose notions of universality in human rights was of concern to his organization. There was a need to overcome the mental blocks or ossified mindsets of not only the governments but of their allies in the political elites who saw every expression of concern on human rights as intrusive, Anglo-Saxon, Judeo-Christian and Western interventionism. In India, in the medieval period, the poet saint Vemana, writing in the Southern Indian language Telugu, took a stand that was difficult in many countries even today. He asked the Kings of his region to allow suspects to

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produce evidence in their defence before any sentence of death was to pass. In 1948, long before much of Europe had abolished capital punishment, the Kingdom of Nepal had abolished capital punishment, stating that it was inconsistent with the concept of respect for life in the Hindu way of life. In Asia, the present modern quest for human rights did not start with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; it was forged in the crucible of the anti-colonial struggles.

BHARTI SILWAL, of the World Peace Council, said the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities had not delivered the desired results. Indeed, some States, in the name of their sovereign rights, were not only interpreting those rights according to their convenience but also keeping their eyes shut to the different forms of discrimination practised against minorities. The equal enjoyment of human rights established by the United Nations Charter and other international covenants and instruments had a bearing on minorities even though they made no direct reference to them. However, there was no regular forum for discussing issues related to their specific problems. Minorities were increasingly looking to the international community for protection and it was therefore important that the Commission and the Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities acted independent of the influence of States.

CHARLES GRAVES, of the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, said several examples existed today in countries where one type of religious belief was used by leaders to justify violations of human rights. Another example of the political use of religion was when a certain form of religious belief accompanied imperialistic policies of religious groups -- the religion accompanied, or justified, interventions in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries. It had been asserted, for example, that persons related to specific governments were bringing great confusion to the region of Kashmir by forcibly asserting their own religious beliefs and practices in that multi-cultural region. The political use of religion was often a threat to the existence of multicultural and multi-religious societies, as had been the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Kosova, or Kashmir. The international community had great difficulty in protecting such multicultural entities. In Iraq, there was no justification for the arrest and disappearance of 106 Shi'a religious leaders following the Iraqi popular revolt in March 1991. The fate of the majority of those religious personalities was still unknown, but it was certain that the ancient Shi'a religious centres in Najaf and Karbala had lost most of their traditionally held rights as centres of teaching and training in the Shi'a religion.

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