JUSTICE MINISTER OF ZAIRE DEFENDS COUNTRY'S PERFORMANCE BEFORE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Press Release
HR/CN/737
JUSTICE MINISTER OF ZAIRE DEFENDS COUNTRY'S PERFORMANCE BEFORE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
19960416 GENEVA, 15 April (UN Information Service) -- Zaire's Minister for Institutional Reform, Justice, and Police this morning refuted international criticism of the country's human rights performance, saying a special rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights had made excessive and insufficiently verified allegations about Zaire.The Minister, Joseph N'Singa Udjuu, said Zaire had embarked on an "irreversible" process of democratization, was taking steps to prepare for free and transparent elections, and soon would authorize the opening in the national capital of Kinshasa of an office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He denied claims that the Government had practised systematic torture and instigated ethnic conflicts, as reported by Special Rapporteur Roberto Garretón.
The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia, Ivan Simonevic, also addressed the Commission, describing the country's efforts to establish democracy on its territory, repatriate refugees, and locate missing persons following the civil war and collapse of the former Yugoslavia. He called for joint efforts -- including exerting pressure on the parties who refused to cooperate -- to establish the fates of the missing persons.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Hamid Algabid, said greater international attention should be given to human rights violations against Muslims in such places as occupied Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Chairman Gilberto Vergne Saboia (Brazil), opening the meeting, reported that in closed meetings held Friday, 12 April, the Commission had examined the human rights situations in 10 countries under the procedure outlined in Economic and Social Council resolution 1503, providing for the study of information which appears to reveal a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights. The countries were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chad, Mali, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. Following the exercise, consideration of the situations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Mali, Nepal, Slovenia, and Thailand under the procedure had been discontinued.
The Commission continued this morning to discuss agenda items on promotion of human rights, including the methods of work of the Commission, and advisory services in the field of human rights. Statements were made by the representatives of Pakistan, Cyprus, Peru, Mexico, Austria, Uganda, New Zealand, Slovak Republic, Iraq, Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic countries), and Poland. The Chairman of the United Nations study on the impact of armed conflict on children also spoke.
Statement by Justice Minister of Zaire
JOSEPH N'SINGA UDJUU, Minister for Institutional Reform, Justice, and Police of Zaire, said the facts clearly showed that the economic, social and political situation in a country had a clear effect on its success in advancing human rights. If poverty and wretched misery prevailed, as they did in many countries, and if armed conflicts repeatedly erupted, there were apt to be problems with human rights. Zaire had had a difficult time in recent years, in spite of the beginning of a new era of liberty and democracy in 1990. There had been much jockeying for position among political actors that had caused many problems and a collapse in the authority of the State and a collapse of public services. Even the judiciary could not escape the ravages of the transitional period; judges were trying to carry out their duties in conditions that were absolutely horrendous -- pay, for example, was between $1 and $18 per month for judges. The economic situation had been deteriorating since 1975, resulting in crushing poverty. An international embargo imposed on the country had greatly increased the damage and hindered the pursuit of reforms; and the country had been invaded by thousands of Rwandan and Burundian refugees who were fleeing atrocities in their own countries.
The political deadlock had been resolved by the two contending sides in 1994, and a Constitutional Act unifying the Government and the various factions, and granting independence to the judiciary, had been achieved, he added.
He said the report of the Commission's Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Zaire, Roberto Garretón, while substantive and useful, contained several excessive and insufficiently verified allegations about the country. It also failed to mention several positive steps taken by the Government.
After contacts with a delegation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in March, the broad lines for establishment of an office of the High Commissioner in Kinshasa had been adopted, and all that remained was to harmonize various proposals by various contracting parties, he said. The signing ceremony should take place within a few days.
Some 400 political parties had been established, he went on. Although there had been much confusion during the period of transition, two large
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political families had now been formed, which had to get along with each other and learn how to jointly exercise power without excluding anyone. The period of transition had, therefore, been extended for a further 24 months; the national elections commission established in May 1995 was now operating, and a working group had been set up to see that all arrangements for an election could be dealt with in time. Furthermore, a committee for drafting a new Constitution to be submitted to referendum had been set up.
The Special Rapporteur had said the President of the Republic exercised all power, but that was absolutely incorrect, he added. Under the Constitution of the transitional Government, there were spheres of cooperation among the Republic's institutions; although there were some gaps, it was exaggeration to say the President exercised all powers. The process of democratization was irreversible. Contrary to what the Special Rapporteur had said, the national human rights commission was designed to reflect standards of pluralism and had been based on consultation with many sectors of society.
The report of the Special Rapporteur often mentioned the armed forces in abuses of human rights, he said. The military had been found guilty sometimes of such abuses; there was now a draft law obliging the military to respect human rights. As for torture, there was no State-level, organized system of torture; such acts, when they occurred, were the acts of isolated individuals who were brought to justice when possible.
The Government categorically rejected allegations of the Special Rapporteur that authorities had instigated ethnic conflicts, the Minister said. Those problems had been caused by the revival by a xenophobic sect of an ancient conflict; the Government was trying to bring to justice those responsible. The Government was deeply attached to the cause of human rights, and sought help from the international community not only for free and transparent elections, but also for assistance in establishing institutional instruments for promoting human rights in the country.
Statement by Deputy Foreign Minister of Croatia
IVAN SIMONOVIC, Deputy Foreign Minister of Croatia, said his country, in its short life as an independent State, had become a party to almost all the international treaties and instruments regarding human rights, as well as other humanitarian issues. Rapid acceptance of a large range of human rights instruments reflected the importance Croatia attached to the protection of human rights.
However, Croatia had not been given a fair chance, he continued. The initial results in the democratization of political life, the establishment of a rule of law and protection of human rights had been undermined by aggression. Hundreds of thousands of Croats and other non-Serbian citizens of Croatia had become refugees or displaced persons. The completely destroyed
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and ethnically cleansed city of Vukovar was a symbol of barbarism and the tragic result of Serbian aggression. Those events should not be forgotten.
In two short military operations during 1995, Croatia had re-established control over the largest part of its occupied territory, he continued. Those operations had changed the balance of power in the region and enabled the Dayton Peace Accords to be signed. However, a number of human rights violations and crimes had been committed in the liberated areas of the Croatia against the remaining Serbian population. Through legal processes initiated against the perpetrators of those acts, the Croatian Government had shown that the use of force was not for the purpose of retaliation but to ensure efficient human rights protection for everyone.
The humanitarian situation in Croatia was still difficult, he said. Croatia still cared for 380,000 displaced persons and refugees, although it had now become possible for 130,000 persons to return to their homes after four years of exile. But a great deal still remained to be done in order to redevelop the devastated areas and make living conditions acceptable. There must also be joint efforts to establish the fate of the persons who had gone missing -- including some 2,700 Croatians -- following the aggression against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such efforts should include pressure on those parties refusing to cooperate with investigations.
Statement by Secretary-General of Organization of Islamic Conference
HAMID ALGABID, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the Conference had constantly campaigned for the respect of fundamental human rights. The appearance of new hotbeds of tension and conflict in various parts of the world made it more urgent for the international community to further the cause of human rights.
Colonialism had been dismantled, and Asians, Africans, and others had been able to assume their rightful place in the international community, he said. None the less, other peoples still struggled for control of their lands, their natural resources, and their rights to self-determination. The Conference, therefore, appealed for further attention to the situation in occupied Palestine, he continued. Despite the progress of the peace process, Israel continued to pursue a repressive and expansionist policy. The Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon under way for the past few days was a further example of the violation of international human rights instruments.
Similarly, the Commission must expedite full and thorough investigations of Serbian atrocities on Bosnia and Herzegovina, he went on. The perpetrators of war crimes there must be aggressively prosecuted; it should be made clear that no one responsible for the gross human rights violations there should escape justice.
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For years, the Indian Government had committed blatant violations of human rights in Kashmir, he said. Residents of Jammu and Kashmir must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination, and United Nations resolutions on the disputed territory must be followed by India. Refugees in Azerbaijan who were victims of Armenian aggression were a matter of great concern as well. Similarly, the Conference was worried over the fate of Muslim communities and minorities in other locations, such as Kosovo, Sanjak, Vojvodino, and Chechnya.
Other Statements
GRAÇA MACHEL, Chairman of the United Nations study on the impact of armed conflict on children, introducing the second progress report of the study, said international law provided that no one under fifteen should participate in hostilities or be recruited into armed forces. However, increasing numbers of children were bearing arms, particularly in internal conflicts. More than 2 million children had been killed during wars in the last decade; 4 million to 5 million had been mutilated by land-mines and other indiscriminate weapons of war; more than 12 million had been separated from their families or orphaned; and countless numbers had been psychologically traumatized.
Protection of children's rights in armed conflicts could best be assured by preventive measures, she said. Preventing potential conflicts meant changing the mindset of children and youth today. Preventive measures pertained to all elements of civil society and government, and necessitated widespread information and training in human rights and conflict-resolution skills. As for land-mines, nothing less than a total ban would suffice.
She said regional consultations had been convened in Ethiopia, to assess the impact of armed conflict on children in the Horn of Africa, and eastern and southern Africa; in Egypt, for the Arab region; in Côte d'Ivoire for west and central Africa; and in the Philippines for the Asian-Pacific region. A Latin American consultation would be hosted this week in Colombia, and in June, the Italian Government would host the European consultation. The results of those meetings would constitute an important basis for the final report and recommendations. The consultations had helped local, national, and regional organizations to carry out policies and programmes to promote child rights and to alleviate children's suffering as a result of conflict.
MASOOD KHAN (Pakistan) said the issue of human rights and terrorism was becoming the focus of increasing attention; Pakistan had been a victim of such terrorism for more than a decade. But ordinary terrorists, no matter how well equipped, organized and ruthless, could match the ferocity of a State; not only did they have more resources, but they faced no restrictions and were accountable to no one. There had always been controversy regarding the difference between those fighting for their right to self-determination and
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those indulging in terrorism. In view of that, the Commission should consider appointing a special rapporteur to study the case of people still languishing under foreign occupation and who were yet to enjoy their right to self- determination. Despite Security Council resolutions calling for the final disposition of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the will of the people as expressed through a free and impartial plebiscite, the security forces of the occupying power were organizing spurious elections and trying to coerce the Kashmiris into participating in them. Elections under occupation were a contradiction in terms, if not a farce.
LORIA MARKIDES (Cyprus) said the refugee problem in Cyprus, involving one third of the population, was the result of "ethnic cleansing", foreign aggression, and military occupation. The Turkish occupying Power had forced people from their homes for no other reason than their ethnic origin. Such people were not technically refugees, but faced similar problems, including gross and systematic violations of human rights. The European Commission on Human Rights had three times concluded that Turkey had violated and continued to violate article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to allow the return of refugees to their homes and by the eviction of Greek Cypriots from their homes. If the international community had taken effective steps to prevent such violations in Cyprus, similar deplorable ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere would not have occurred. Cyprus hoped that, in the future, the international community would take appropriate steps to prevent such human suffering.
LUIS CHAVEZ (Peru) said the displacement of persons in Peru had been the result of terrorist violence during previous decades. It had caused the destruction of the social and cultural links of those affected. It was calculated that of the 600,000 total number of persons displaced, 60 per cent were children, hence, the urgency of finding a solution to the problem. Through a series of projects, Peru was implementing a programme of transfer of displaced persons, offering assistance to approximately 25,000 people. The Government had recently convened a meeting of donors to raise the required sum of $126 million; $22 million had now been committed. Although Peru had received support from the United Nations and other international agencies, there was still a lack of coordination of that assistance. In view of the causal link between displaced persons and terrorism, Peru had co-sponsored the draft resolution on human rights and terrorism and hoped that it would be adopted by consensus.
JUAN GOMEZ ROBLEDO (Mexico) said more than 30 million people were internally displaced, and often there were severe violations of their human rights; the main responsibility clearly lay with the States concerned, but in extreme situations the international community was obligated to make its voice heard. The Government of Mexico felt that the problem of the internally displaced was not sufficiently different from other human rights problems to deserve its own international human rights regime. The report to the
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Commission on the subject was useful, but now it was up to States, and only to States, to reflect and then act on the matter, and not in haste.
CHRISTIAN STROHAL (Austria) said the plight of internally displaced persons had become a monumental crisis in both scope and intensity. Estimates showed that about 1 per cent of the world's population were displaced, the majority of whom were within their own country; their protection and assistance needs were not only monumental, but also extremely varied. The Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, Francis Deng, had begun a series of "profiles in displacement" following dialogue with a number of governments. The Austrian Government had assisted him in his efforts, in particular, with regard to the compilation and analysis of norms, together with a number of international experts in that field. The Representative had proved his specific catalytic role in discerning the scope and complexity of the problem of displacement. The delegation of Austria encouraged the Representative to actively pursue a coordinated response to the problem of displaced persons within the forum of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
LUCIAN TIBARUHA (Uganda) said the many refugees that had left Uganda for neighbouring countries in the 1970s and 1980s had now returned, thanks to new constitutional protections and the establishment of a government that practised and respected human rights. The new constitutional provisions were intended to ensure that Uganda's past history of lack of democracy and of massive human rights violations did not repeat itself; the Government, meanwhile, had pursued a policy of national reconciliation contributing to the voluntary return of all the refugees. The President himself had sent personal envoys to refugee camps and settlements to provide information that the situation in Uganda had returned to normal, and the Government had pledged to meet all expenses relating to repatriation and resettlement. There was such an atmosphere of confidence that some returnees had registered as candidates for next month's Parliamentary elections.
ELIZABETH WILSON (New Zealand) said the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women last year was an agenda for women's empowerment -- it not only specified action to bring about real change and improvement in the lives of women around the world, but reaffirmed the unique abilities and perspectives of women and the positive contributions they could make in all societies. To build on the range of government initiatives already in place in that regard, the Ministry of Women's Affairs in New Zealand had been directed to work with other government departments to examine options for progress in a number of specific areas, including the gender pay gap, the situation of Maori women and girls and enhancing women's role in decision making. New Zealand believed that lasting change could only come about by governments working with non-governmental organizations. At its last meeting, the Commission adopted a resolution on the question of integrating the human rights of women into the human rights mechanisms of the United
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Nations. However, intensified effort was still needed to integrate the equal status and human rights of women into the mainstream of the work of the Organization.
BARBARA TUHOVCAKOVA (Slovak Republic) said the international community must focus its efforts on the implementation of international instruments in the field of human rights and the monitoring of the commitment of States who had become signatories to them. The efforts of the Slovak Republic were now focused on the protection of human rights and on educating citizens in human rights issues. Since 1994, the National Slovak Centre for Human Rights had been working in conjunction with other international centres for human rights. Its main role was the effective development of a system of fundamental rights and freedoms. In that regard, it had undertaken to identify the gaps in the theory and practice of the Slovak legal system; the country's Ombudsman had played a very important part in the discussions during that exercise. Those involved in the process of ensuring of human rights, including judges, the armed forces and the police, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, were now organized by the Centre. With the assistance of the United Nations and the support of the embassies in Bratislava, notably that of the United Kingdom, the Centre now had a substantial documentation base.
MOHAMMED ABDULLA AL-HUMAIMI DI (Iraq) said his country supported international efforts to increase the enjoyment of human rights by women. In Iraq, all reports indicated there was an absence of violence against women. In part, that was because of the rules of the religion of Islam. In addition, there were stringent State laws protecting women and State legislative and administrative support for women in employment, society, and at home. However, women's human rights were suffering because of the cruel and unjust international economic blockade against Iraq, which was having catastrophic consequences on the health of Iraqi citizens, especially on women and children. Death rates were climbing as a direct result of shortages of food and medicine; over 50 per cent of pregnant women were undernourished; the number of babies needing special care had increased; infectious diseases such as cholera and typhus were becoming more common, and many families were unable to educate or provide for their children.
ANN MARIE PENNEGARD (Sweden), speaking also on behalf of the Nordic countries, said the Nordic countries endorsed the approach of the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, that a comprehensive strategy should focus on three themes: prevention; protection and assistance; and solutions. The treaty bodies, relevant rapporteurs and working groups should be encouraged to increase their capacities for prevention by strengthening their focus on the root causes of mass exodus. Although the protection and assistance for internally displaced persons remained, first and foremost, the responsibility of the concerned governments, there might be a need to grant international protection and assistance for them. It was often only when the humanitarian, human rights, political and
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security dimensions of situations resulting in internal displacement were dealt with simultaneously that a climate conducive to permanent solutions could be found. The Nordic countries supported the establishment of more institutionalized arrangements between the Representative and humanitarian and development agencies. The Task Force on internally displaced persons of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee was an example of what collaborative efforts were needed.
ROMAN KUZNIAR (Poland) said the Commission was being overburdened to such an extent that it was now neither able to fulfil appropriately its tasks nor to pursue its goals. There were still too many items on the agenda, as well as too many subjects to be considered or decisions to be taken during the annual session. There was a need for rational selection of items for the Commission's scrutiny each year. Proper priority setting must be established. The situation of violations of human rights during armed conflicts, disturbances and states of emergency should be a top priority. There was also a need to enforce the Commission's decisions outside the Palais des Nations. As for the work of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, many of its resolutions were a duplication of those of the Commission. The Subcommission also addressed too many issues. There was also the question of its impartiality, objectivity and the expertise of its members and alternates.
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