MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF HAITI, FOREIGN MINISTER OF CUBA ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Press Release
HR/CN/734
MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF HAITI, FOREIGN MINISTER OF CUBA ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
19960411GENEVA, 10 April (UN Information Service) -- The Minister of Justice and Public Security of Haiti, Pierre Max Antoine, told the Commission on Human Rights this morning that a National Commission of Truth and Justice was now investigating crimes committed during the period following the 1991 military coup d'état.
Mr. Antoine said that, 16 months after the restoration of the constitutional order in Haiti, the protagonists of the coup were still free. The impunity they enjoyed was due to the dysfunction of the country's institutions. But an institutional reform process had been engaged, aiming at achieving equitable and qualitative justice while adapting the institutions to the reality of Haiti. Those guilty of crimes must be brought to justice. On the other hand, the rights of the accused must not be violated. An enormous amount of work lay ahead.
The Commission also heard from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Roberto Robaina Gonzales, who said the recent tightening of the economic embargo against Cuba by the United States was not only an overt affront to the most sacred principles of international law, but also constituted the cruellest violation of the right to life of 11 million human beings. Over three decades, Cuba had suffered hundreds of thousands of incidents of provocation from the United States, but would not yield to threat and pressure and would not allow any other government or institution to interfere in its internal affairs.
The statements from the representatives of Haiti and Cuba came as the Commission took up a discussion on the provision of advisory services in the field of human rights. In addition to statements on those questions, the Commission heard an address by the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Peter Piot, who warned that abuses of human rights suffered in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including discrimination, continued, compounding the human misery caused by the virus and fuelling its spread to others.
The representatives of Italy (on behalf of the European Union and others), India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Japan and the Ukraine also participated in the debate this morning. Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations also spoke: International Indian Treaty Council; Lutheran World Federation, International World Federation of Democratic Youth; International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples; Third World Movement against the Exploitation of Women; Society for Threatened Peoples; African Association of Education for Development; International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development; and International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.
Statement by Minister of Justice and Public Security of Haiti
PIERRE MAX ANTOINE, Minister of Justice and Public Security of Haiti, expressed his Government's gratitude for the assistance it had received from the Commission since its return to democracy. In particular, Haiti welcomed the excellent report of independent expert Adama Dieng and proposed to continue its fruitful collaboration.
For three years following the military coup d'état on 30 September 1991, forces hostile to change began to dismantle national institutions, during which time more than 5,000 people had been murdered, he continued. Sixteen months after the restoration of the constitutional order in Haiti, the protagonists of the coup were still free. The impunity they enjoyed was due to the dysfunction of the country's institutions. But an institutional reform process had been engaged, aiming at achieving equitable and qualitative justice while adapting the institutions to the reality of Haiti. Those guilty of crimes must be brought to justice. On the other hand, the rights of the accused must not be violated. An enormous amount of work lay ahead.
Among the reforms undertaken, he said, had been the creation of a national police force and of a school for judges. National security was the responsibility of the police force. Initially, the new police force had been well received by the population, although it had later encountered some difficulties, related, in large part, to logistical problems. None the less, efforts were being made at various levels, including creating acceptable conditions in places of detention. Furthermore, a commission had been established to reform the justice system and legal procedures.
A National Commission of Truth and Justice was investigating crimes committed during the period of the coup d'état, he said. On the one hand, those guilty of crimes must be brought to justice. On the other, the rights of the accused must not be violated. An enormous amount of work lay ahead. Haiti proposed to ratify international instruments to which it was not yet party and would work towards the realization of the rights of every man and woman in the country, he concluded.
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Statement by Foreign Minister of Cuba
ROBERTO ROBAINA GONZALES, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, said xenophobia, racism and fascism were growing dangerously in the first world. The centres of world power intended to impose new forms of colonialization and neocolonialization, not as an antidote to those phenomena, but in order to spread them like a virus.
Human rights were becoming ever more politicized and manipulated, he stated. Those were issues that caused confrontation between North and South. There were some people who, in the name of human rights and new democratic patterns, tended to sanctify foreign interference, disguising it with modern concepts such as limited sovereignty, humanitarian operations, preventive diplomacy or early warning, and restoration or consolidation of peace following conflicts. They bestowed upon themselves supra-national powers unavailable to them within the United Nations Charter. It was quite unacceptable that a new generation of theoreticians imposed on the world such concepts as "liberal market democracy", defining a society where power belonged to those who could afford it.
The hideous Helms-Burton Act, adopted in the United States to reinforce the blockade of Cuba, was not only an overt affront to the most sacred principles of international law, but also constituted the cruellest violation of the right to life of 11 million human beings, he said. The Act represented an overt and declared economic war against Cuba. It was a carefully planned course of action aimed at forcing the Cuban people to surrender through hunger and desperation. It was a new attempt to satisfy the thirst for revenge of a few annexationists, dubious millionaires and mobsters of Cuban origin who were increasingly isolating themselves from the majority of the Cuban community living in the United States.
Some sinister groups were trying to lead Cuba and the United States into major conflict whose consequences were unpredictable, he continued. For more than three decades, Cuba had suffered hundreds of thousands of incidents of provocation from the United States, which had resulted in a high toll of innocent victims. Cuba would not yield to threat and pressure. Annexation would never have a chance to succeed.
There were non-governmental organizations in Cuba and abroad which had encouraged and carried out solidarity, humanitarian, cooperative and other actions, fully respecting sovereignty and national identity, he concluded. Cuba would continue to move towards sovereign transformation in order to make its economy more viable and solid and to perfect its socialist democracy, guaranteeing human rights to its people.
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Statement by Executive Director of UNAIDS
PETER PIOT, Executive Director on the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said abuses of human rights suffered in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including discrimination, continued, compounding the human misery caused by the virus and fuelling its spread to others. The challenges to UNAIDS were daunting. It was estimated that over 20 million people were infected with HIV/AIDS.
Key human rights in that regard were the right to information, education, health and non-discrimination -- rights which had been imperfectly realized, leading to tragic consequences, he continued. Widespread discrimination due to HIV status made it impossible for those affected to provide for themselves and to contribute to their communities. In many parts of the world, many women were infected by their one partner -- their husband. Because they could not leave the relationship that threatened them with infection, their vulnerability to HIV was increased. Thus, the social and sexual discrimination experienced by women now threatened their lives.
More than 50 countries now employed some form of HIV-related travel restrictions, he said. A refugee family, desperately needing asylum, could be denied it because of the HIV status of one family member. In terms of displaced people, factors inherent in displacement created situations ripe for explosive transmission. In some places, the millions of dollars spent on emergency humanitarian assistance to save lives was tragically rendered useless as HIV secretly and silently infected those being saved.
Much more needed to be done by States in terms of ensuring that their laws and policies complied with human rights norms, protected people affected by HIV and did not inhibit HIV programmes for groups, such as homosexuals, sex workers and drug users, he stated. He urged the Commission to request the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to initiate a study on the nature of States' obligations regarding such issues as the content of the public health limitation and discrimination based on disability and health. He also proposed that the Centre for Human Rights assign a full-time professional staff member to the HIV/AIDS mandate.
A conspiracy of silence continued to surround HIV/AIDS -- a conspiracy that kept couples and communities unaware that HIV was in their midst, he concluded. It allowed governments to close their eyes to the urgency of action; it kept HIV off agendas; it fuelled an "us/them" mentality in which the uninfected denied the existence, the human value and the dignity of the infected.
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Advisory Services in Human Rights Field
Also this morning, the Commission began discussion of the provision of advisory services in the field of human rights and the further promotion and encouragement of human rights and fundamental freedom. Concerning the United Nations programme of technical cooperation in the field of human rights, which provides practical assistance for the building of national and regional human rights capacities, a report of the Secretary-General before the Commission (document E/CN.4/1996/90) states that in 1995 the programme maintained its role as the sole comprehensive United Nations programme of support to governments and the civil society in human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
That report recalls that technical cooperation programmes are developed in close cooperation with the governments of the countries concerned and the United Nations agencies present in those countries. Annex I of the document contains a table of activities and requests received during 1995; Annex II shows the annual balance sheet as at 31 December 1995; and Annex III gives information about annual contributions received from Member States and others to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation.
The Commission will also consider a report of advisory services provided to the Government of Togo since 1995 (document E/CN.4/1996/89). The report details, among other things: cooperation between the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and the Togolese Minister for Human Rights and Rehabilitation; the work related to Togo of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture; as well as information received from non-governmental organizations involved in the defence of human rights in that country.
On the situation in Haiti, the Commission had before it the report by its independent expert, Adama Dieng, appointed in 1995 (document E/CN.4/1996/94). The report states that the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in October 1994 resulted not only in a considerable improvement in the human rights situation in Haiti, but also marked the beginning of a major programme of institutional reform. However, it continues, the common crime rate has skyrocketed. A number of murders labelled as common crimes were, in reality, committed for political reasons. The expert recommends, among other things, that: political killings should be thoroughly investigated with the cooperation of French and Canadian experts in the country; measures should be taken as a matter of urgency to reduce overcrowding in the prisons; and the recommendations of the National Commission of Truth and Justice should be implemented by the Government with the support of the international community.
The report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia (document E/CN.4/1996/93) following his seventh mission to that country is also before the Commission.
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In studying the further promotion and encouragement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Commission will consider: the questions of the effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of human rights; human rights and HIV/AIDS; human rights and unilateral coercive measures; arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region; the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education; internally displaced persons; and human rights and mass exoduses.
The Commission also has before it a report of the Secretary-General (document E/CN.4/1996/43) on human rights and terrorism, which contains summaries of replies to his note verbale addressed to States and intergovernmental organizations. In resolution 1995/43, the Commission urged all thematic special rapporteurs and working groups to address as appropriate the consequences of the acts, methods and practices of terrorist groups. It also requested the Secretary-General to continue to collect information on the question from all relevant sources and to make it available to the Commission.
The Commission has also received the report of the Secretary-General on human rights and HIV/AIDS (document E/CN.4/1996/44), dealing with the ways to keep under review the protection of human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS at the national and international levels. The report indicates that the basic principles of promotion and protection of human right and non-discrimination seemed to have been well-integrated in most aspects of the strategic plan 1996-2000 of UNAIDS. It recommends that UNAIDS take the necessary measures to explore further the timely establishment of an independent council for high-level advocacy and monitoring and the identification of its mandate. Furthermore, UNAIDS, in its advocacy, standard-setting and monitoring role, should actively ensure that HIV/AIDS-related human rights and ethical concerns are effectively and practically integrated into all its ongoing activities. The Commission may also consider resolution 1995/21 of its Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (contained in document E/CN.4/1996/2-E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/51) on this subject.
Another report of the Secretary-General (document E/CN.4/1996/45) contains replies from governments and inter- and non-governmental organizations regarding the coercive measures unilaterally implemented against developing countries hindering the full realization of all rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, in particular the right of peoples to a minimum standard of living and development.
The Commission may also examine the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the implementation of the Plan of Action for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) (document E/CN.4/1996/51). At its forty-ninth session, in resolution 49/184, the General Assembly proclaimed the Decade. The resolution requested the High Commissioner to coordinate the implementation of the Plan of Action. The Plan
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focuses on stimulating and supporting national and local activities and initiatives and was built upon the idea of a partnership between governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, professional associations, individuals and wide sectors of civil society.
Regarding regional arrangements for the protection and promotion of human rights, the Commission has before it the report of the Secretary-General on mechanisms in the Asian and Pacific region (document E/CN.4/1996/46). The report contains the United Nations programme of technical cooperation in the field of human rights in the region. As detailed in the report, Cambodia continues to receive technical assistance from the Centre for Human Rights. The Centre has also established contacts with the Chinese Academy of Social Science regarding the possible provision of support to the human rights documentation office within the Centre for Human Rights Studies at the Institute of Law of the Academy of Social Science in Beijing. The report also indicates that the United Nations Centre for Human Rights contributed financially and substantively to the Second National Workshop on Human Rights of Indonesia, held from 24 to 26 October 1994 in Jakarta. In Viet Nam, the Centre has arranged for a project formulation mission concerning the administration of juvenile justice in March 1996. According to the report, the purpose of the mission would be to identify technical cooperation activities through which the Centre might assist Viet Nam in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.
Concerning internally displaced persons, the Commission has before it the report of the representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons (documents E/CN.4/1996/52 and Adds.1-2), which indicates that there was development of appropriate legal standards for meeting the needs of the internally displaced, promoting the most effective international institutions to meet the challenges of protecting and assisting the internally displaced. In the report, the representative stresses the importance of addressing the causes of conflicts to bring about lasting solutions for the displaced.
The Commission will also study human rights and mass exoduses with the aid of a report of the Secretary-General (document E/CN.4/1996/42), which includes information on mass exoduses received from States and inter- and non-governmental organizations. Other documents before the Commission include: a note by the High Commissioner for Human Rights (documents E/CN.4/1996/50 and Add.1) concerning the meeting held in Geneva from 29 to 31 May 1995 by the special rapporteurs, representatives, experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Commission and advisory services programme; a note by the Secretary-General on "ways and means of overcoming obstacles to the establishment of a democratic society and requirements for the maintenance of democracy" (document E/CN.4/1996/49).
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Statements
ALBERTO SALDAMANDO, of the International Indian Treaty Council, said it was important to keep in mind that the Commission, through one of its working groups, was considering a draft "declaration" -- it was not a convention. A declaration was, by law and practice, an aspirational statement. As a declaration, its purpose was to recognize the highest aspirations of the world community for the rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. But by its very nature, a human rights instrument could not be a declaration memorializing a State's worst fears or unwillingness to abide by well- established human rights standards. As an aspiration, it could not reflect a State's "minimal" willingness to respect human rights. The concerns of a declaration must be universal and reflect the concerns of all mankind. Some States insisted that the draft declaration should be "pragmatic" and comport to the so-called "realities" of those States, but that would lead to 186 different views of human rights. As an example, Brazil would have the United Nations define the right to self-determination in the light of their national reality. It would define the parameters of the survival of indigenous peoples not only in Brazil, but all over the world.
JANET MORLEY, of the Lutheran World Federation, said the creation of an international framework for the rights of indigenous peoples was a difficult task, as it touched upon such sensitive issues as self-determination, sovereignty, tenure of land, and cultural and environmental rights. But the difficulties did not excuse the responsibility of the world community to address those issues in a constructive spirit. The Federation hoped that the fact that indigenous issues were now considered under a separate agenda item would enhance discussions and lead to substantial progress in work done under the programme of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The Federation also expressed support for the effort to draft a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.
ABDELBAGI GEBRIEL, of the International World Federation of Democratic Youth, said his organization fully supported the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples in its present form. No sane person could deny the valuable contribution made by indigenous peoples to humanity, or their tremendous sacrifices throughout generations. And after long years of exploitation, elimination and marginalization, the declaration was the least that could be offered in recognition of the responsibilities, needs and rights of indigenous peoples to protect the remains of their heritages. As for the short-term Programme of Activities for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People adopted by the General Assembly, it should be effectively implemented, in close association with the needs of indigenous peoples in their own communities.
VERENA GRAF, of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, said the Commission had taken a step on behalf of indigenous
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peoples, and such peoples had made themselves felt under the auspices of the Commission. The International League considered that indigenous peoples must first of all have the right of self-determination -- after the right to life, there was no right more basic. They must be able to choose their political status in freedom. That goal must be practically achieved, not merely spoken about. Secession or independence was not necessarily required. Rather, they should have the right to select one's own form of government, national and cultural identity, the right to maintain in peace one's own land and territory, and the right to seek one's own form of economic development. It was possible to achieve those goals through peace and cooperation.
JUENA SOLES, of the Third World Movement against the Exploitation of Women, said it was important for the Commission to approve all the actions of the subcommission on behalf of indigenous peoples. The International Decade of the World's Indigenous People was now under way, and, hence, it was not necessary to have budgetary reductions affecting the programme of the Decade. The organization approved the proposal to establish a permanent forum for indigenous peoples within the United Nations system. Indigenous peoples in Guatemala were united with others around the world in struggling for recognition of their cultures, identities and rights. For centuries, the Mayan people had been deprived of their rights. If the problem was not solved, the economic, social, and cultural potential of the Mayas would never bloom. The Government and society of Guatemala must fully recognize the rights of indigenous peoples in the country.
VERONIQUE DE LEICHS DE WENNE, of the Society for Threatened Peoples, said some governments appeared to feel threatened by the growing assertiveness of indigenous peoples and the increasing public support they had been able to rally. The draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples had come about after many years of hard work, and it should be adopted as drafted. When a State's political system and government were so exclusive and non- democratic that it no longer could be said to represent the whole population and oppressed the indigenous people, those people should be permitted to exercise their right to self-determination. Examples of extreme circumstances came to mind, such as: the rights of people of West Papua, which were being violated by the Indonesian Armed Forces; the oppression of the Karennis by the Myanmar Government; and the sad example of the continuous violation of human rights of the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts by the Government of Bangladesh. The chain of violence must be stopped if human rights violations and crimes against indigenous peoples meant anything to the Commission.
GHENNET GIRMA, of the African Association of Education for Development, said the history of colonization had involved confiscation of resources and dominion over peoples. It had distorted the development of societies and denied people their dignity and the right to discover their own methods of development. That continued today. Africans had suffered for centuries and their living conditions remained an affront to the international community.
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The United Nations should protect indigenous peoples in Africa, as well as their respective heritages and their intellectual property. A permanent forum should make it possible for a dialogue to be established between indigenous peoples and the United Nations system.
WILLIE LITTLECHILD, of the International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development, speaking on behalf of three other indigenous organizations, said the groups did not see themselves simply as "minority problems", which was why they had supported the idea of a separate agenda item on indigenous affairs. Indigenous peoples had an ability to contribute positively to the United Nations global family, if given a chance. However, such peoples also had problems. It was hoped a specific focus on indigenous issues would bring about quicker and better resolution of those problems, and highlight potential partnerships for resolving them. The following steps should be taken: a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples should be passed by the United Nations; a permanent forum at the highest level should be established; a United Nations treaty study should be completed; and thematic evaluations at critical points of the action plan of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People should be carried out.
SHARON VENNE, of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, said indigenous peoples were representative of a decolonization process that was never fully completed. The consequences had been groups of peoples with social problems who lived in constant threat and uncertainty. Putting indigenous issues onto the agenda of the Commission was an opportunity to be consistent, to fulfil the spirit of the United Nations Charter. Some States still aimed to limit the scope of the concept of self-definition of such peoples, or to say a good definition did not exist, but indigenous peoples knew who they were. Furthermore, there was already a working definition in United Nations documents. In any case, indigenous peoples had the right to determine their own identities. It was the unequivocal consensus among the indigenous organizations and representatives at the first working group meeting that the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as forwarded by the Subcommission to the Commission should be adopted with no changes and amendments. While comments on the text were valuable, the text should be kept in its present form.
P. TORELLA DI ROMAGNANO (Italy), speaking on behalf of the European Union and central and eastern European countries associated with the Union, as well as Cyprus and Malta, said it was of utmost importance to monitor the implementation of human rights, and to that end, reports of States parties and comments of the treaty bodies on those reports should be given more attention. Similarly, special rapporteurs and working groups should be given more attention and provide better services. As for the management of the Centre for Human Rights, the restructuring efforts now under way were well-conceived. Human rights programmes accounted for only 1.85 per cent of the overall United Nations budget, a percentage that must be raised, even in times of financial
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crisis. Although voluntary contributions helped, the United Nations should not fall into the habit of depending on them, as the impartial role of the Organization should be above even the appearance of influence. Furthermore, efforts to improve the human rights of women should be given much greater attention and emphasis.
VIRENDRA DAYAL (India) said national institutions functioning with independence and integrity, such as the National Human Rights Commission of India, which he represented, could be a powerful "third force" for human rights, bridging the space between governments and non-governmental organizations. But demands on the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the field of human rights appeared to be too diverse and too many, with not enough remaining for fostering national institutions. India urged a more comprehensive effort to secure voluntary contributions. For its part, the country had, for the first time, pledged a contribution of $20,000 to the Fund. That was a modest start upon which India hoped to build.
He said the Indian National Commission was at pains to have armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir pursue efforts against terrorism with vigour, but with complete respect for human rights. The National Commission responded with vigour when violations by such troops were reported. The National Commission also was contesting the continuation of the Government's Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, which was considered incompatible with cultural traditions and treaty obligations.
MUSA BIN HITAM, (Malaysia) said terrorism, regional cooperation, and mass exoduses touched upon everyday lives and were issues that, if not addressed honestly and with full cooperation by the involved parties, would frustrate aspirations for justice and peace. A constructive and accommodative approach was the only way to proceed. A confrontational approach would not yield positive and constructive cooperation. Malaysia was a developing country and changing to meet new realities. There was no perfect society in the world, and Malaysia was doing its best and learning as it went along. Member States had the primary responsibility to protect rights and prevent abuses by self-serving groups or individuals. Of particular assistance to Malaysia would be technical assistance and advice as to how human rights education could be incorporated through academic curricula, as well as training of national experts in human rights and sensitization for law-enforcement agencies and the army.
PETER VAN WULFFTEN PALTHE (Netherlands) said the Committee in charge of monitoring implementation of the Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women should increase its meeting time to three weeks to allow more time for in-depth consideration of all reports. Closer cooperation was needed between the Division for the Advancement for Women and the Centre for Human Rights, taking advantage of modern communication systems. In addition, cooperation between the Commission and the Commission on the
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Status of Women should be strengthened. The guidelines developed by the expert group organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Commission for the integration of gender perspectives into human rights activities and programmes would provide a useful framework to the United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms.
MINORU ENDO (Japan) said the Government was working out a revised national plan of action on the rights of women in the wake of the Beijing Conference. At the initiative of the Government, the General Assembly in 1995 had adopted a resolution to establish a trust fund on violence against women, to which Japan intended to make financial contributions. The Government had officially expressed its profound apologies to former "comfort women" because of the deep remorse it felt over the issue. It also had conducted a fact- finding study on the issue, and announced its results, with the related documents made open to the public. The Asian Women's Fund had been established to address the issue of "comfort women" and other issues of women's rights, and Japanese citizens had contributed more than $3 million to it. The Government also had appropriated some $4.8 million for 1995 and $6.3 million for 1996 to the Fund to help it, among other things, to provide medical and welfare projects for former "comfort women". The Government also had contributed $600,000 to the Centre for Human Rights for its field operations in the former Yugoslavia.
VOLODYMYR VASSYLENKO (Ukraine) said attempts to reform the Commission's working methods had, unfortunately, failed. It was important now to increase the Commission's effectiveness by, among other things, fostering a spirit of confidence, rationalizing the agenda, strengthening the coordination of treaty bodies and special rapporteurs, enhancing the role of the High Commissioner, and promoting deeper public awareness of human rights. The Commission should play the roles of well-wishing friend and impartial critic, while addressing the most burning issues. An open-ended working group on reforming the Commission's methods of work should be reconvened, and adoption of a reordered agenda dealing with new developments and situations was particularly important. The High Commissioner should have his authority expanded to include, among other things, the ability to request advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice, to have direct access to the Security Council, and to convene special sessions of the Commission in extraordinary situations.
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