COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS APPROVES MEASURES ON ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY, PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS, MINORITIES

7 April 1997

Press Release
HR/CN/789

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS APPROVES MEASURES ON ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY, PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS, MINORITIES

19970407 Debate Continues on Promotion of Rights, Advisory Programmes, Commission Methods of Work

(Reproduced as received; delayed in transmission.)

GENEVA, 3 April (UN Information Service) -- The Commission on Human Rights adopted five resolutions this afternoon on topics ranging from protection of migrant workers and minorities to efforts to eliminate the death penalty.

It decided to establish a working group of five experts, to meet for two five-day sessions, to gather information on existing obstacles to full protection of the human rights of migrants, come up with recommendations for surmounting the difficulties, and report back to the Commission next year.

In a resolution on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Commission expressed deep concern at the growing manifestations of racism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination against migrant workers in different parts of the world, and urged countries of destination to review and adopt measures to prevent excessive use of force and to ensure that their police forces and migration authorities complied with basic standards of decent treatment in relations with migrants.

Another measure focused on violence against women migrant workers, encouraging States to enact or reinforce penal, civil, labour, and administrative sanctions in the field; encouraging them to adopt and implement legislation against such offenses and to ensure access to just and effective remedies for victims; and invited States concerned, specifically sending and receiving States, to consider adopting legal measures against intermediaries who deliberately encouraged the clandestine movements of workers and who exploited women migrant workers.

On the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities, the Commission reaffirmed the obligation of States to

ensure that persons belonging to minorities could fully and effectively exercise all human rights and fundamental freedoms; urged States to take measures to promote and give effect to the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities; recognized that promotion of understanding and tolerance by Governments was vital to protecting minorities; and called upon the Secretary-General to make available, at the request of Governments concerned, qualified expertise on minority issues, including the prevention and resolution of disputes.

Following lengthy debate and a series of rejected amendments, the Commission adopted a resolution calling upon all States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that had not yet done so to consider acceding to the Covenant's Second Optional Protocol, aiming at abolition of the death penalty; urged all States still maintaining the death penally to comply fully with international standards in imposing capital punishment; called upon such States to restrict progressively the number of offenses for which it could be imposed; and called upon them to consider suspending executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty. The measure was passed by a roll-call vote of 27 in favour and 11 opposed, with 14 abstaining.

Also passed was a decision on effective implementation of international instruments on human rights in which the Commission invited the Secretary-General to solicit the views of UN bodies, Governments, specialized agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and interested persons on a report written on the subject by an independent expert.

Following action on resolutions and on the decision approved, the Commission heard statements from the floor, in a session lasting until midnight, on the subjects of advisory services and further promotion and encouragement of human rights. Numerous speakers called for more effective and vigorous actions to meet the human rights needs posed by internal displacements; and mass displacements in the Great Lakes region of Africa were mentioned repeatedly.

And a representative of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation said that in Asia, a trend toward replacement of "democratic dispensation with a theocratic arrangement at the point of a gun," under which pluralistic societies were forced into regimented lifestyles, had not been sufficiently investigated by Commission Special Rapporteurs.

Delegates of the following countries addressed the meeting: Brazil, Cyprus, Malta, Libya, Hungary, Iraq, Iran, Guatemala, Malaysia, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Republic of Korea, and the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union).

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Officials of the following national institutions for human rights spoke: of Canada, of South Africa, of New Zealand, of India, of Cameroon, and of Australia.

The representatives of the following non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international agencies also delivered statements: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); International Committee of the Red Cross; International Federation for Human Rights; Pax Romana; Pax Christi International; Centre Europe - Tiers Monde; World Alliance of Reformed Churches; International Commission of Jurists; Society for Threatened Peoples; Caritas Internationalis; International Human Rights Association of American Minorities; United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation; Arab Lawyers' Union; International Council of Jewish Women; International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism; Women's International Democratic Federation; Human Rights Watch; World Federation of Democratic Youth; Institute for Women, Law, and Development; Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees; International Alliance of Women; Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation; Human Rights Internet; International Association of Educators for World Peace; Movimiento Cubano por la Paz y la Soberania de los Pueblos; Andean Commission of Jurists; World Christian Life Community; International Abolitionist Federation; International Institute for Peace; International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples; American Association of Jurists; Indian Council of Education; International Peace Bureau; World Organization Against Torture; North-South XXI; World Muslim Congress; International Educational Development; All-China Women's Federation; and Liberation.

In addition, Germany and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea spoke in exercise of the right of reply.

The Commission will meet in closed session Friday, 4 April, to take up matters under its confidential "1503" procedure. It will reconvene in plenary at 10 a.m. Monday, 7 April.

Action on Resolutions

In a resolution passed by a roll call vote with 27 countries in favour, 11 countries against and 14 countries abstaining, on the question of the death penalty (document E/CN.4/1997/L.20), the Commission called upon all States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that had not yet done so to consider acceding to the Covenant's Second Optional Protocol, aiming at abolition of the death penalty; urged all States still maintaining the death penally to comply fully with their obligations under the Covenant and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, notably not to impose the death penalty for any but the most serious crimes, not to impose it for crimes committed by persons below age 18, to exclude pregnant women from

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capital punishment and to ensure the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence; called upon all States still maintaining the death penalty to observe the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50; called upon all States that had not yet abolished the penalty to restrict progressively the number of offenses for which it could be imposed; and called upon all such States to consider suspending executions with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty.

Voting on the resolution above was preceded by a vote on a draft that would have amended it (document E/CN.4/1997/L.35). That draft was rejected following a paragraph-by-paragraph vote.

The following countries voted in favour: Angola, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine, Uruguay.

The following countries voted against: Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, United States.

The following countries abstained: Benin, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, India, Madagascar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zaire, Zimbabwe.

HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN (Malaysia) said his delegation would vote against the Italian draft resolution L.20. The issue was not whether one agreed or disagreed with the death penalty, but whether a government had the right to set its own laws. The death penalty was not a human rights issue unless the rules governing it were seriously violated. There was no universal covenant that said the death penalty was against the law. It was also improper to introduce a resolution in front of the Commission that had already been rejected by the General Assembly.

In a measure passed by consensus on effective implementation of international instruments on human rights, including reporting obligations under international instruments on human rights (E/CN.4/1997/L.17), the Commission decided to welcome various reports on the subject; invited the Secretary-General to solicit the views of United Nations bodies, Governments, specialized agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and interested persons on the report of the independent expert on enhancing the long-term effectiveness of the United Nations human rights treaty system; and decided to consider at its fifty-fourth session all reports relevant to this subject.

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In a resolution passed by consensus on violence against women migrant workers (document E/CN.4/1997/L.14), the Commission determined to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls; encouraged States to enact or reinforce penal, civil, labour, and administrative sanctions in the field; also encouraged States to adopt and/or implement and periodically review and analyze legislation to ensure its effectiveness against such offenses against women and girls, and to ensure access to just and effective remedies for victims, as well as rehabilitation; invited States concerned, specifically sending and receiving States, to c, and thus Bangladesh would not press for earlier amendments and would join the consensus. But it did stress that the Working Group should take note of everything said about its work methods and discrepancies noted. Then, Bangladesh would consider the possible extension of its work mandate.

MARIA HELENA PINHEIRO PENNA DE MELLO BARRETO (Brazil) said national governments had an affirmative duty to protect the human rights of women and exercise due diligence to prevent violence against them. Brazil agreed that in view of the nature of violence against women, its persistence and high incidence throughout the world, States had to develop adequate strategies in order to fulfil their international obligations effectively. Brazil was pleased with the commendable references the Special Rapporteur had made regarding the openness and transparency of the Government in recognizing the extent of domestic violence in Brazil. Brazil took note of her recommendations, which would serve as guidelines. There were, none the less, some problems with the report, probably due to the short duration of the Special Rapporteur's mission to Brazil and the shortage of documentation in English. Brazil was committed at the national level to implement policies and legal structures to ensure a greater observance of women rights. However, despite the existing political will and the Government's determination, the advancement of women's rights and of black people's rights was closely linked to a process of transformation and democratization of Brazilian society.

SOTOS ZACKHEOS (Cyprus) said the problems of refugees were solved by addressing their root causes: armed conflicts, foreign aggression, famine, poverty, ecological disasters and the absence of democratic institutions and values. The magnitude of the refugee problem called for a concerted effort at the local, regional and international levels. Likewise, there was a need for early warning and strong preventive measures, along with the peaceful settlement of disputes. The international community should not condone or accept, in cases of armed conflict and foreign aggression, the fait accompli of displacement. The Turkish invasion and subsequent occupation of 37 per cent of the territory of Cyprus in 1974 had resulted in the forcible expulsion of around 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes. The affirmation of the right to return of all displaced persons was a sine qua non for the fair and lasting settlement of the Cyprus problem.

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MICHEL BARTOLO (Malta) said an early warning mechanism was crucial in situations where an impending crisis was evident. The creation of a viable environment for the return of refugees to their homelands, wherever possible, should be encouraged. Initiatives such as the rehabilitation of the justice system, the creation of institutions to prevent human rights violations, the dissemination of human rights education, and the strengthening of local NGOs would go a long way in creating such an environment. Malta had taken all the necessary measures to promote and protect human rights at a national level, as reflected by the creation of a Maltese Human Rights Association in September 1996.

SUSAN TIMBERLAKE, of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said the HIV/AIDS epidemic was spreading throughout the world and continued to entrench itself in terms of ever-increasing personal, social and economic impacts, including widespread discrimination. Since the start of the epidemic, some 30 million people had been infected. Marginalized groups in society already suffering from lack of full human rights protection faced increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as yet another and more deadly threat to their dignity and health. Guidelines set by the recent Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights confirmed that the more human rights were protected, the less people were infected with HIV and the better people could cope with HIV/AIDS in their lives. The Commission should continue its work in the articulation of the nature of the rights to health, information, education, employment, social welfare and public participation; these rights were critical to reduce vulnerability to HIV infection. UNAIDS was committed to working with governments to ensure that these guidelines were implemented.

NAGAT EL-MAHDI El-HAJJAJI (Libya) said the Arab Islamic culture was based on the principle that men and women were equal in all rights, whether political or economic or social. Only last month, a new document on women's rights had been adopted in Libya which affirmed women's equality with men and listed her rights in many fields. Although Libya was a party to human rights conventions, unfair United Nations sanctions against it had made it difficult to carry out commitments under these conventions. The sanctions had become the most important and dangerous obstacle in the path of the realization of Libyans rights to food, medicine, free travel and movement and others. International bodies, when studying the cases of countries under sanctions, should take into consideration the information about the effect of these sanctions on women's and family rights. Libya was shocked at the contradictions in what those organizations called for, as well as at the Security Council's unfairness in imposing sanctions on some developing peoples for political and strategic reasons. Libya urged the Commission to appoint a Special Rapporteur to study the results of United Nations sanctions on peoples and their human rights.

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ISTVAN LAKATOS (Hungary) said the increase in the number of internally displaced persons, in conjunction with a decrease in the total number of refugees, was due to the prevalence of internal conflicts which characterized the post-cold war period. The absence of clear institutional responsibility for the internally displaced had resulted in ad hoc and highly uneven international responses. Despite the fact that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was the best equipped to deal with internally displaced persons, the problem exceeded the capacities of any single organization, as these internally displaced persons had humanitarian, assistance, protection, reintegration and development needs which called for a collaborative approach among humanitarian and human rights groups, among others. Notwithstanding, prevention remained the most effective form of protection for people in danger of becoming refugees or displaced persons. The most reliable method for anticipating problems came through human rights monitoring. Human rights field monitors should be more comprehensive in scope and cover return processes and refugee-camp situations.

DOMINIQUE BOREL, of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the existence of human rights and international humanitarian law was today more justified than ever. However, these rights were all too often violated, sometimes in ignorance and at other times deliberately. All participants in armed conflicts, whether armed governmental forces or armed opposition groups, ought to disseminate and enforce the principles of humanitarian law. Not only were civilian populations now targeted in conflict situations, so were those organizations that sought to bring assistance to victims of such conflicts. What was more, the scourge of anti-personnel mines continued to kill and indiscriminately maim thousands of innocent civilians, in particular refugees and displaced persons. The main causes of displacement were unpunished violations of humanitarian law. The creation of ad hoc international criminal courts would facilitate the smoother implementation of humanitarian law, but this selective justice had been found wanting.

MICHELLE FALARDEAU-RAMSAY (Canada) said that as head of the Canadian Human Rights Commission he was convinced that such national institutions had a unique and valuable role to play -- they ensured that the commission's standards were put into effect at home, where they really counted; and he urged those States which had not done so to establish such national commissions; among other things they were proof of adherence to the standards countries, through the Commission, had created. There was no single model for national institutions, but the internationally recognized set of standards, the Paris Principles, set good guidelines, focusing on competence, responsibility, independence, and equitable composition. There were a number of national institutions already, doing good work at home and internationally; their international Coordinating Committee also was valuable, but to bear fruit, the national bodies and the Coordinating Committee needed continued support from the Commission and Centre for Human Rights, with greater use made

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of their expertise by the Centre's Advisory Services and Technical Assistance Branch; it also was important for national institutions to have distinct status independent of their Governments, so that they could deal directly with the Commission.

SO CHANG SIK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said Japanese politicians, historians and businessmen continued to negate the crime of having forcibly recruited "comfort women" for the Japanese army as well other crimes against humanity. In this manner, they showed the contempt in which Japan held the peoples of Asia and the world. Japan had ignored the call by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women to assume legal responsibility for its violations of international law, bring to justice war criminals, make an apology and pay reparations. The crime of "comfort women" had been an unprecedented and grave violation of human rights. Only when Japan accepted its legal responsibility for its crimes and made reparations would it obtain the trust of the international community.

MOHAMMED AL-HUMAIMIDI (Iraq) said the international community had set human rights standards over the past 50 years. Yet, despite these standards, Iraq was suffering from measures which could only be blamed on political insincerity. One of the solid principles of international law was that States had sovereign rights, which prevented interference in their internal affairs. But this principle was repeatedly violated in the name of protecting human rights and humanitarian aid. Steps had to be taken to stop human rights, nations's rights and peoples's rights being violated for political aims. In the field of United Nations bodies on human rights, the objectivity and impartiality of Special Rapporteurs was a main factor for improving human rights and preventing interference in the internal affairs of countries.

PAMELA JEFFERIES, of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, said that while it was vitally important that countries ratified covenants and conventions, that action alone would not deliver human rights to people in their daily lives. A populace well informed about its rights was better positioned to resist their violation, while a community with immediate and accessible redress for violation of rights was more likely to live in peace. National human rights institutions could educate, monitor and protect human rights. New Zealand's national institution -- the Human Rights Commission -- dealt with discrimination; the rights of children, women and the disabled; the right to work, and the right to privacy. In 1995 the Third International Workshop for National Human Rights Institutions, held in Manila, heard Philippines President Fidel Ramos challenge these organizations to work together. The New Zealand Commission had taken up that challenge by organizing in July 1996 the first meeting of Forum of Asia/Pacific Human Rights Commission in Darwin.

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BARNEY PITYANA, of the Human Rights Commission of South Africa, said the election of his country to the Commission on Human Rights was of historic significance. The mandate of the South African Commission was defined by a law that clearly established its powers, duties and functions. The role of the Commission was to develop and anchor a human-rights culture in South African society. The Commission had made its first report to the President of the Republic by submitting the document to Parliament on 10 February last, as provided by the law. Contained therein were recommendations to put the impartiality and independence of the Commission beyond the shadow of a doubt. He wished to commend the work of the Centre for Human Rights; a recent visit by a Centre staff member could soon lead to a cooperation agreement that would strengthen human-rights programmes in the country considerably.

VIRENDRA DAYAL, of the National Human Rights Commission of India, said he wondered why declarations and treaties of the United Nations were often ignored or viewed with suspicion. It was partly because of a widespread belief that United Nations debates had politicized the consideration of human rights, which resulted in accusations of double-standards and selective chastisement. In that context, national institutions had, if correctly established and empowered, a unique role to play because they had an insider's understanding of the circumstances and could not be viewed as alien. But these strengths could be readily squandered if those institutions lacked independence or integrity, and therefore credibility. The United Nations required greater resources to back the efforts of such institutions and to meet the demands for advisory services and technical cooperation being addressed to it. The Indian Commission's work covered the entire gamut of human rights problems. It was determined to end custodial deaths and rape. It also dealt with a wide range of social issues, like child labour. It believed that peace and transparency were essential to the protection of human rights and favoured the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jammu and Kashmir.

SOLOMON NFOR GWEI, of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms of Cameroon, said the principal objective of the Cameroonian Commission was to create a human rights culture in the country which could have a spillover effect in Africa. In the area of promotion of human rights, the Commission was involved in education campaigns through the mass media. It also had direct contacts with religious bodies and local development associations through lectures and panel discussions. The subject of human rights had been introduced in the school curricula at various levels, while training seminars for trainers of administrative and law enforcement officers in the different provinces of Cameroon had been held. In 1996, the Commission had investigated complaints and incidents of violations and visited police and gendarmerie detention cells, prisons and hospitals. Cooperation agreements had been signed with the French and Canadian human-rights commissions; he

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hoped the Centre for Human Rights would be able to provide some badly needed assistance to boost his Commission's efforts to promote human rights.

CHRIS SIDOTI, of the Australian Equal Opportunity Commission, said the establishment of national institutions was a very positive development; the continued participation of these institutions in the work of the Commission and of other human rights bodies was crucial. The interim agreement adopted at the Commission in 1996 regarding the status of national institutions needed to be reviewed and consolidated; the Centre for Human Rights should seek legal advice to clarify the future status. As for the Centre itself, while a number of staff were competent and dedicated, performance needed to be improved. The Centre for had played a very positive role in the creation of national institutions, but was often inefficient and poorly managed. Cooperation with national institutions was at a breaking point. It was hoped that the appointment of Ralph Zacklin to head the Centre, even if on an interim basis, would permit the continuation of restructuring efforts. Moreover, adequate resources had to be provided to the Centre.

FEDERICO URRUELA PRADO (Guatemala) said his delegation recognized the professionalism of Independent Expert on human rights in Guatemala Monica Pinto, who had carried out her mission conscientiously and showed friendship to Guatemala in these difficult years. The peace agreement recently signed in Guatemala included recommendations on human rights that were similar to others made in internal and international forums. He wished to clarify that the military commissioners mentioned in the expert's report had been done away with in 1995. Regarding other claims made by the expert, the Government acknowledged its limitations regarding the judiciary; still, some things mentioned in the report were not justified. For one thing, the military police body had been dissolved. And there had been important progress made regarding conflicts over land. Guatemala was also surprised at a certain degree of misunderstanding about the positive aspect the peace process had had. Quick moves were being accomplished to build a new nation.

MASSALBAYE TENEBAYE, of the International Federation of Human Rights, said women in Iran were second-rate citizens. Numerous laws were unfavourable towards them. A woman was worth half what a man was: the Iranian Penal Code stated that if a man killed a woman, his heirs would be obliged to pay half in reparation what they would have needed to pay if the victim had been a man. The Nationality Code was equally discriminatory: a foreign women marrying an Iranian man obtained Iranian nationality automatically, but this was not applicable if an Iranian woman married a foreigner.

JOSEPH GARCIA, of Pax Romana, said the situation of refugees in Africa continued to worsen; in Zaire, there had been forcible displacements of more than 750,000 members of ethnic minorities, forced to leave refugee camps because of ethnic violence and policies of ethnic cleansing carried over from

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events in Rwanda and Burundi; the peace plan proposed on Rwanda and Burundi continued without sufficient support of parties to the conflict; the proposal to send UN observers had not been accepted; UN officers had been ousted from the area. As long as there was not a ban on arms sales in the region of Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi, inexplicably lifted by the Security Council in 1996, there would continue to be serious problems in the region of central Africa. The Commission must call upon member States to make special contributions of humanitarian assistance and for repatriation of refugees in the region; it must reimpose the ban on arms sales; and it must increase to a sufficient number the presence of observers, along with security for them. An international conference should be convened on the problems of the Great Lakes region.

ELIANE PROVO KLUIT, of Pax Christi International, said many fundamental rights and freedoms were denied to refugees and internally displaced persons. Mass exoduses resulted from internal or international conflict, inter-ethnic violence, deliberate measures to displace large numbers of people or from the systematic violations of human rights. Internal displacement implied remaining within the territory of the State while becoming "refugee-like." Examples of mass exodus caused by internal or international conflict were the situations in Afghanistan and in the former Yugoslavia. But the most notorious case of inter-ethnic violence leading to mass exodus and displacement had occurred in the Great Lakes region. Some cases of internal displacement were created by deliberate measures to displace large numbers of persons. The expulsion of 20,000 Haitians from the Dominican Republic was a recent example.

MATHILDE QUINTERO, of Centre Europe - Tiers Monde, said the situation of displaced persons in Colombia continued to be one of the most serious violations of human rights around the world; in 1995, another 150,000 and in 1996, 181,000 people in Colombia had been affected; in all there were some 900,000 in this situation; in fact, however, the total could be much higher because of the anonymous and secret nature of the phenomenon -- in fact, it could be closer to 3 million. There was an official policy of human-rights violations carried out by the military, police, and secret services; rebel organizations and paramilitary groups also showed no respect for human rights; large landowners seized more land, routing peasants; and other acts led to more displacements. Forced displacements had not received sufficient attention or action from the Government, moreover; some legislation had increased the problem; trade union persons had been threatened and forced to flee. Although there was a national programme for overall attention to displaced persons, the office lacked sufficient budget and staff and did not take sufficient initiatives to deal with the problem. The Commission should call for the Government to dismantle paramilitary groups, to limit land ownership, and to follow international standards on human rights related to displaced persons.

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HEISOO SHIN, of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, said the Special Rapporteur on violence against women needed a stronger mandate, especially as it related to follow-up of her work. The valuable recommendations she made in her report would be useless if not implemented. In her report on military sexual slavery, she recommended that the Government of Japan should acknowledge that the system of military sexual slavery it had used was a violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws, and that compensation be paid in recognition of State responsibility. But Japan did not accept the fact that it had violated international human rights laws. The Special Rapporteur had also recommended that the governments of countries with victims of Japanese military sexual slavery consider bringing the issue to the International Court of Justice, although there was no sign yet of this being done yet. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches supported the establishment of an international criminal court, but it wanted to emphasize that a gender perspective must be integrated into its statute so that violence against women and other violations of women's human rights were addressed.

ALEJANDRO ARTUCIO, of the International Commission of Jurists, said he wished to congratulate the Independent Expert on human rights in Guatemala for her report. The Government and the National Revolutionary Union of Guatemala also deserved congratulation on the peace agreements signed after a long and arduous process. The international community should continue to support the peace process, including the incorporation of the members of the National Revolutionary Union of Guatemala into the institutions of the country. The Government also had ensure the rights of the indigenous people of Guatemala in compliance with the agreement. There was some concern over how a law of national reconciliation, which provided for an amnesty covering common crimes committed during the armed conflict, would be applied to courts. It was essential that judges applied the law properly; it was unacceptable that military forces of the State and civil defense squads responsible for massacring non-combatant peasants should be free of responsibility. National reconciliation required not only truth but justice. It required saying no to impunity.

The representative of the Society for Threatened Peoples, said the National Human Rights Commission of India was an example of the misuse of such agencies as tools to fend off international scrutiny on human rights and deliberately suppress issues of gross human-rights violations by States; the armed forces of India were engaged in an undeclared war against peoples around the country pursuing their legitimate rights to self-determination; they committed extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, illegal detention, inhumane treatment, torture, rape, and molestation of women, and assassination of human-rights defenders, and yet not a single member of the armed forces had been indicted or convicted on the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission. Such a selective approach to human rights amounted to concealment; currently the people of Assam, under the rule of the Unified

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Command, through which the police and paramilitary were under the control of the army, human rights were systematically violated in an effort to smash the popular movement for self-determination. A Special Rapporteur should be appointed to take stock of the situation in Assam and elsewhere in India; existing Special Rapporteurs on arbitrary executions, and torture, and the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances also should visit.

MARY TOM, of Caritas Internationalis, said internal displacement had only increased in severity and magnitude around the world; the main causes continued to be internal conflict, ethnic strife, forced relocation, and gross violations of human rights; the international community must strengthen its efforts to respond, but the best method remained strict observance and full realization of all human rights, which kept such displacements from occurring in the first place. There was a need for a compact and usable document for those working directly with the internally displaced, to guide them; the only feasible institutional arrangement was an integrated and comprehensive approach by all organizations concerned; country visits by the relevant Special Representative were often effective, but should be followed up by the countries visited through action on the recommendations made. Anti-personnel mines remained a threat to civilians, particularly children, moreover, and if they were not a cause for displacement they often were a serious impediment to resettlement. Overall it was time to move beyond sterile statistics, standards, and regulations, and to instead put a face on each internally displaced person, and see him as a member of the human family.

MUHAMMAD SHOAIB, of the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, said that while the High Commissioner for Human Rights had taken some steps for the mobilization of widespread support for the Decade of Indigenous Peoples, the role of NGOs continued to be minimal and entirely restricted to receipt of materials published by the Centre for Human Rights in support of the decade. NGO contributions to the decade could be much broader, including setting up an NGO Support Committee for the Decade which could provide expert advice and information on the relevant issues. Meanwhile, political interests allowed countries, like India, whose governments stifled with impunity the human rights and dignity of millions sit on the Commission.

Representatives of United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, said five minutes was hardly time to do justice to the problems posed by HIV/AIDS, women in United Nations mechanisms, terrorism, the role of the Centre for Human Rights, mass exoduses, internally displaced persons, violence against women, and various other topics; consciousness was still growing today for access to indigenous nations with a full agenda item as a beginning; Alfred Zayas of the Centre for Human Rights had written recently that it was time to plan for effective promotion of human rights in the next century, and the Committee of the Decade of Human Rights Education had laid out some initial objectives; Kenneth Deer, a Mohawk, had invited some of the organization's

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representatives inside his home in Kahnawake and called for a "growing consciousness" and for giving "access of indigenous nations to justice". The UN's hand must be extended to the private sector to join in the work for promotion and implementation of the principles of the Universal Declaration. "JAMP", or "Just a Minute for Peace", was a series of concert and music programmes designed by Dove Productions to create a unifying minute of peace worldwide at 23.59 December 31 1999; 500 days before that would be the official launch date for the programme.

A. MAACHOU, of the Arab Lawyers Union, said mass exoduses and movement of civilians was a serious phenomenon affecting different continents. And the problem was spreading. Civil wars, ethnic violence and massacres usually resulted in mass exodus. Examples of this could be seen in the former Yugoslavia, Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire, Sudan and the Israeli-occupied Arab territories. Israel's settlement-building was one of the main reasons for the mass movement of Palestinians. The international community must again be warned of this expansionist policy. The Israeli Government was violating international law by building new settlements in Jerusalem.

ANDREE FARHI, of the International Council of Jewish Women, speaking on behalf of 23 other NGOs, said the Commission must take a methodological, rational, clear approach that was in step with the times; many NGOs had noted last year that the debates in the Commission did not reflect important changes that had taken place in the field of human rights; in spite of accelerated and sometimes brutal changes around the world, the working methods of the Commission had remained frozen, or only superficially changed; the reason was a lack of political will, and that some States did not wish even to begin serious discussion of the matter. The agenda was overloaded and confused, and in the end inequitable; such matters as genocide and ethnic cleansing were lumped together and given little time, while on the other hand every year one agenda item on a situation in one part of the world was allowed four days of discussion; women's issues received insufficient time and attention; in other cases disparate items were placed together to the detriment of NGOs, who only were allowed one intervention. The level of the discussion must be raised and given more intellectual vigour; invective must be reduced; and claims of sovereignty and illegality of any interference in internal national affairs was not acceptable when serious human-rights violations occurred.

ATSUKO TANAKA, of the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, said he wished to point out the importance of the fight against international trafficking in women and children and for the empowerment of its victims. This was a priority issue to be dealt with during the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education. All root causes of discrimination mentioned in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination had to be done away with.

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Those root causes were combined within a patriarchal and racist culture where women of weaker social groups were exposed to the covert violence of men of stronger social groups. A tacit recognition of such violent and exploitative practices were justified in most of the world's societies as a necessary evil for the protection of the security of women in the face of the man's search to satisfy his desires outside his marriage. In order to build a human rights culture, such double standards had to be eliminated and the victims of multiple discrimination empowered. This required a broad educational process of the society.

AIDO AVELLO, of the Women's International Democratic Federation, said it was regrettable that the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women had come out at the last minute, and that the report of the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan had not yet been issued; it wasn't clear what was happening, but such events showed little respect for the human rights of women; many countries, moreover, had little respect for women's rights or for children's rights; they instead were used as war booty, or forced to flee under horrid conditions. In Rwanda and Burundi, women and children had been treated with unspeakable brutality; now, with so many refugees dying in Zaire, it was incredible that the international community could not respond; if the matter were of interest to Superpowers it would have been dealt with immediately and completely. Elsewhere, in such places as Afghanistan, women were almost buried alive; under the new regime there, they could not go to school, walk about in the street; they had to cover themselves; it was an inadmissible step backwards, and urgent and immediate measures were needed to return them to their lives, work, and dignity. In Latin America, women were often treated badly; they were threatened by paramilitary groups and turned into refugees or internally displaced persons, or were treated as war booty.

BINAIFER NOWROJEE, of Human Rights Watch, said that faced with the increasing complexity of refugee and displaced situations in Africa, the international community was retreating from the protection of refugee rights. At the same time, there was a waning receptivity among African governments to host the continent's massive refugee flows. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and African government had to respect rights of refugees, the displaced and asylum-seekers. Despite inherent difficulties, the international community must be prepared to set up mechanisms to screen refugees from human rights violators and combatants. The United Nations had to strengthen its framework to ensure that its programmes were not manipulated by governments. Yet, despite the escalation in violence and displacement in the Great Lakes region, the international community had been unwilling to devote the necessary resources for a regional solution. Meanwhile, in Sudan, government troops and militias had caused massive displacement and death by targeting southern and, now, eastern civilians; in Kenya, thousands remained internally displaced as a result of State-sponsored ethnic cleansing; and in

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South Africa there had been an upsurge in xenophobia in reaction to the large numbers of displaced coming to the country.

G. ABDELBAGI, of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, said experience had shown that internally displaced persons rarely enjoyed rights and freedoms; displacement generally entailed deprivation of many rights. To highlight the problem, the World Federation of Democratic Youth had organized the First International Peace Caravan to southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains in December 1996. Besides advocating an overall culture of peace, tolerance and further respect for human rights among Sudanese, the Caravan had also aimed at expressing solidarity with the victims of war and at assessing the humanitarian needs of the inhabitants of the area hosting the internally displaced. The Caravan was deeply concerned with the deplorable conditions of children, women and youth in refugee camps. The situation in the Nuba Mountains was alarming. The group advised the Government of Sudan to open the area to external humanitarian organizations.

ASTRID AAIJES, of Women, Law and Development International, said a recent study based on research work with women from 23 countries had revealed that even though most countries criminalized rape in their penal codes, those laws were often not enforced or were too limited in both structure and substance to address rape effectively. The definition of rape was often too narrow, covering only forced intercourse. This definition needed to be broadened to cover a full range of sexual violence and all categories of women, without regard to marital status, social class, profession or other distinctions. Another problem women faced in finding legal redress was discriminatory evidentiary laws. Rape laws had to be amended to provide more comprehensive protections and remedies in order for effective legal redress to combat rape. Adopting legislation alone was not enough. States should implement gender-sensitization and awareness-raising programmes at all levels of the police, judiciary and medical administration. States should also allocate funds for victim support services.

JANETTE BAUTISTA, of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, said internal displacements represented a total violation of human rights, affecting rights to identity, culture, and housing -- it was forced uprooting, and threw hundreds of thousands into extreme poverty. In Colombia this weekend, 5,000 peasants from one region and 3,000 from another were displaced into urban areas, and forced to buy food by the armed forces; children died of malnutrition; no one even knew how many had died -- 274 under age 2 had been involved in the displacement, and over 80 pregnant women. Elsewhere in Latin America, there had been other forced disappearances caused by paramilitary groups; others were due to guerilla groups; it was sometimes hard to establish who was responsible of causing such terror; armed individuals even attacked communities of returnees; disbanding of civil defense groups was necessary so that returnees could come home in

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peace. In Guatemala, peace agreements put down on paper must now become reality.

JESSICA KIHL-LANFF, of the International Alliance of Women, said that even in Switzerland, considered one of the safest nations in the world, rapes had increased by 10 per cent and other sexual offenses by 1.6 per cent since 1994; it only showed that the fight against violence against women had to be carried out everywhere. Gender perspective was finally showing up in national statistics; it should also be reflected in all reports of Special Rapporteurs, and especially of those connected with the Commission; but while inclusion of gender perspective had been decided upon, it also had to be implemented with the necessary strength; otherwise women might be forced into measures of self-defense -- and who would want to see mothers become streetfighters in order to protect their granddaughters from torture or rape? It was necessary to fight with greater resolve against extreme poverty and violence against women. It had been a pleasure to hear so many countries, including China, speak here of their willingness to work for women's and children's rights; as women made of half their populations, it was to be hoped that they and the Commission would work seriously to resolve problems posed by violence against women.

KASHINATH PANDITA, of Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said it was important not to send the wrong signals to the crescendo of religious extremism around the world, which could result in even greater flows of displaced persons; patterns of religious extremism in forcing mass exoduses and displacements in such places as Afghanistan, with 120,000 displaced since the Taliban takeover, Tajikistan, with 600,000 internally displaced and 90,000 exiled since declaration of independence in 1991, and Kashmir, with 300,000 sent on forced exile, were remarkably similar. It had been noted with concern that replacing democratic dispensation with a theocratic arrangement at the point of a gun and forcing pluralistic societies to succumb to regimentation had not been adequately and uniformly taken into account by Commission Special Rapporteurs; the Rapporteur on religious discrimination, in his visit to India, had not said a word about the massacre of 1,500 innocent Pandits by religious extremists; were these acts outside the agenda of the Rapporteur? He should have included in his assessment an on-the-spot assessment of human rights in one of the 18 refugee camps in Jammu. The High Commission for Human Rights, meanwhile, must give greater attention to the multiple obstacles forced on displaced persons.

DAVID MATAS, of Human Rights Internet, said Canada violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its treatment of refugees and displaced persons. For example, the right to security was violated by a refugee determination system that had no provision for appeal and therefore no error correction mechanism. Another example was the right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment: this was violated by the removal from

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the country of long-term residents with substantial family ties without a hearing on the circumstances of their cases. Among others, the right to seek asylum was violated by a system of visa requirements from refugee-producing countries, the denial of visas to those from countries that produced refugees and a network of immigration control officers abroad attempting to prevent refugees claimants coming to Canada. And there was no satisfactory remedy through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. An optional protocol to the refugee Convention was needed to establish an independent body of experts to whom States parties would be obliged to report; a second optional protocol could allow for a right of individual petition. Leadership and direction were needed from the High Commissioner for Refugees.

BORIS OZDOIEV, of the International Association of Educators of World Peace, said the rights of 60,000 Ossetian and Ingush nationals in the Russian Federation had been violated in military operations carried out by the Federation's armed forces and armed civilians. Only 10,000 Ossetian people displaced by armed conflict had been able to return to the territory; they now lived in settlements where they had no guarantees for their security, no freedom of movement and no opportunity to work. The mass violations of the rights of the Ossetian people and the failure of the Russian Government to resolve their problems meant the Commission should adopt a resolution on the issue.

BORIS CASTILLO BARROSO, of Movimiento Cubano por la Paz y la Soberania de los Pueblos, said that there should be a broad and committed approach to human rights next century; human rights must cease to be a ground for confrontation, as some would have it, and become a force for cooperation. Human rights should be a horizon of hope for all peoples; all should come to the Commission committed to dialogue and negotiation, and dedicated to overcoming confrontation and aggression. Policies of blockade still existed and flew in the face of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the blockade against Cuba, which had gone on for 36 years, and was aimed at destroying the Cuban people was a clear example of such violations. The organization was not committed to the Cuban Government, but to the people of the country who were entitled to choose a way of life different from neo-liberal capitalism. The United States must cease such activities against Cubans and against others around the world; it was encouraging that some other States had denounced such anachronistic behaviour; Cubans continued to resist the blockade, and were grateful for the international support they received; the Commission must call for the lifting of the blockade.

MARIE-NOELLE LITTLE, of the Andean Commission of Jurists, praised the spread of the institution of human rights ombudsman. However, Peru and Colombia were the only places where it was fully operational. It was important that this office ensured its legal and budgetary framework to ensure its independence. The two specialized public defender officers in Colombia

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and Peru were doing important work; they had lodged two appeals on the unconstitutional nature of existing laws. Specialized organs, particularly within the police, were needed to deal with another problem plaguing the region -- violence against women. The status of women in the region was far from satisfactory, despite efforts. Of 20,000 cases of violence against in women reported in Bolivia, 75 per cent were said to have occurred in the home, while in Chile 70 per cent of cases of sexual violence had been committed by close relatives of the victims. Furthermore, 78 per cent of Ecuadoran women had suffered ill treatment.

MARIA SOLDAD REINA, of World Christian Life Community, said the organization wanted to emphasize the grave question of enforced displacements in Colombia; there was an urgent need to develop humanitarian programmes to assist some 1 million displaced persons; such efforts still had not been made; in 1996 alone, there had been some 181,000 persons forced to take flight because of internal armed conflicts and human-rights violations; all that had been produced by the Government had been paper promises and announcements of good intentions. It was even more important to prevent more displacements; the High Commissioner for Refugees must cooperate with the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia; at this point, persons fleeing conflict were flooding over international borders, such as into Panama, and in some cases having to flee back. More action and even better statistics on the numbers involved were needed; some had been killed in the places where they had been resettled; those who suffered most, and made up most of these populations, were women and children. The Commission must urge the Colombian Government to cooperate with international agencies and to act more effectively to help the internally displaced.

HELENE SACKSTEIN, of the International Abolitionist Federation, said there was a general agreement that trafficking in women was a violation of women's rights. Specialized agencies within the United Nations system had expended a great deal of energy trying to find solutions to this growing epidemic, and there had been summits, world congresses and seminars to discuss it. The report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women provided an excellent analysis of the issues, their complex causes and dire consequences. The Special Rapporteur had called for a pragmatic and coordinated approach to tackling the phenomenon of trafficking in women. As she had said: "It is imperative that the different camps of activists and governments which have fought valiantly for the human rights of trafficked women over the years engage in a constructive dialogue with a view to collectively evolving international standards and mechanism to provide redress for women's victims".

PANKAJ BAN, of the International Institute for Peace, said internally displaced persons numbered 30 million today, more than the 18 million refugees who had crossed international borders; the causes of these exoduses had in

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many cases been recognized. In Kashmir, there was a pathetic situation confronting more than 400,000 Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others, who had been driven from the Valley of Kashmir by armed terrorists and mercenaries induced from across the border into the state of Jammu and Kashmir; this sizeable population had now entered its eighth year of forced exile form Kashmir and remained dispersed in various camps; they had been deprived of life, property, education, employment, liberty, freedom of religion, expression, ideology, and culture; more than 20,000 of their homes had been burned down. They suffered terribly and faced a bleak and uncertain future; they had suffered a sharp decline in the birth rate and a large increase in their death rate; and now that the elected Government in Jammu and Kashmir had started talking of allowing their return, fundamentalist terrorists and mercenaries had intensified their acts of arson and destruction of clusters of Hindu houses. The Commission must comprehend the plight of these innocent victims and help to restore them to their homeland with dignity, honour, and security.

ALAIN NYLER, of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, said that in spring of 1994, the Kurdish region of Turkey, attacks had caused victims to flee across the border of Iraq. The camps established by the UNHCR had hosted up to 14,000 inhabitants, including many women and children, in 1997. But suddenly, UNHCR had decided to stop its activities in the region; some Kurds had started a hunger strike in Geneva, and held negotiations with UNHCR until the organization promised to continue to provide protection for the camps; but the promise had not been kept. In the meantime, the population of the camps had spread throughout the region; it was Baghdad that was providing food and humanitarian aid. The Kurdish population, threatened by Turkish troops, was helping others of the refugees, although food was scarce. Elsewhere, UNHCR had stopped humanitarian assistance to black Mauritanians expelled from Senegal, in order to force them to return to Mauritania without any guarantees of their security. Did UNHCR have the right to do such things, even under exterior political pressure, and was it morally acceptable for such an institution to make promises it did not keep?

CARLOS ANDRES PEREZ BERRIO, of the American Association of Jurists, said enforced disappearances continued to represent a grave problem in Colombia, affected in particular women and children in rural families. Some 56,000 families had been displaced there as a result of violence. The total displaced population was 1 million, or one in every 40 Colombians. Displacement violated economic, social and cultural rights and obliged people to live in hostile settings. Paramilitary groups were responsible for a large proportion of the problem. In this context, the establishment of a United Nations human-rights office in Colombia was a welcome development.

P. C. PATANJALI, of the Indian Council of Education, said the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation should be further strengthened; advisory services should encompass education programmes with particular emphasis on

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human rights; the Commission should take note especially of the unique problems experienced by developing countries, and of the increasing inequalities between the developed and the developing world. Human rights education by educators and NGOs in the developing world, as well as by international organizations, should be strengthened; in many Asian countries there was furthermore an immediate need for assistance in incorporating international human-rights standards into national laws, policies, and practices. Other recommendations were that action be taken internationally to codify rules and make cooperative arrangements not only among developing countries but between those countries and developed countries; that human rights be made one of the factors determining policies for the purpose of development, including for aid programmes financed by donors or major economic agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and that the Centre for Human Rights, in collaboration with NGOs, design country-specific programmes in the developing world.

S. J. EMMANUEL, of the International Peace Bureau, said the persistent, grave conflict in Sri Lanka was causing great suffering; he was the Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and wished to give testimony to the suffering, death, and destruction experienced by his people; the sufferings were a direct result of mass exoduses and displacements caused to violations of the rules of war by the Government of Sri Lanka; he appealed urgently to the Commission to help his people survive. The situation had deteriorated dramatically since 1994; besides 50,000 civilians killed, displacements had increased; a series of five military operations begun in July 1995 had uprooted thousands from their homes, deprived them of their livelihoods, and sent them fleeing; then another series of military operations in October was launched to capture Jaffna, and featured aerial bombing and artillery shelling even at night. With half a million others, he had been displaced from Jaffa; to force the displaced back, the Sri Lankan forces had stared yet a new military offensive; today, with a daily curfew, people lived under the threat of frequent rapes and disappearances. The Commission must condemn such acts, send a fact-finding mission to the affected regions, and impress upon the Government of Sri Lanka to stop this war.

ANNE-LAURENCE LACROIX, of the World Organization Against Torture, said that, last year, the Commission had called for an intensification of international efforts to incorporate in the principal activities of the United Nations system a body that would address the issue of the equality and fundamental rights of women. However, the report on the application of the resolution containing this call (document E/CN.4/1997/40) made no mention of the Committee against Torture. Indeed, that Committee had not mentioned the effects of torture against women. Punishments based on gender criteria had been formulated in Iran: in 1995, a law had been promulgated to punish women who did not respect the dress code with 74 lashes. In Tunisia, meanwhile, women related by marriage or blood to Tunisian political refugees abroad had

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been subjected to sexual harassment and other degrading acts. In Chad, the armed forces and police had committed human rights violations that included rape. The Commission should redress the injustices committed against women and work to bring those responsible for such actions to justice.

DEIRDRE McCONNEL, of North-South XXI, said determined international efforts must be made to prevent discrimination and gender-based violence against women; a grave situation, for example, prevailed in the Tamil homeland in the northeast of the island of Sri Lanka, where the human rights of Tamil women were being violated systematically by the occupying Sri Lanka army. Despite strong family and community pressures that prevented reporting incidents of rape, local NGOs had ben able to document 33 cases of rape by Sri Lankan security personnel in the northeast alone, between August 1994 and March 1997. The abuses directed at Tamil women were meant to terrorize and subjugate the Tamil people; at least three reported cases had resulted not only in rape but in summary execution. The widespread pattern of rapes, assault and murder could no longer be explained away as individual acts of indiscipline by soldiers; the Commission must deplore the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war in the genocidal onslaught on the Tamil nation by the Sri Lanka Government armed forces, and must call for the withdrawal of the army from the Tamil homeland.

ALTAF QADRI, of the World Muslim Congress, said the 700,000 strong Indian army currently occupying the territory of Jammu and Kashmir had created a massive exodus. In reaction to the Kashmiris's demand for their right to self determination, the Indian State had used rape as a weapon of war against Kashmiri women. While national human rights institutions were important means for promoting and protecting human rights, these institutions also served more sinister purposes in the hands of unscrupulous States. The Human Rights Commission in India was one such dummy: every year this body appeared before the Commission to make a self-congratulatory statement about the situation of human rights in India. The Indian Human Rights Commission suffered from severe and crippling congenital defects and had no authority to probe human rights violations committed by Indian army personnel in Kashmir.

KAREN PARKER of International Education Development, said there were currently some 34 wars and 20 or so near wars, all generating massive numbers of internally displaced persons or mass migrations. In Cyprus, nearly 200,000 persons expelled by Turkish authorities under the illegal regime in Turkish-occupied Cyprus had yet to be able to return to their homes. There had been more than 100,000 persons settled by the Turkish authorities within Turkish-controlled Cyprus. There had been 24 Security Council resolutions on this issue -- all unfulfilled. In Burma, the situation of displaced persons was now catastrophic. In the long struggle of the Karen and Karenni people to realize the promise made to them in the 1947 Constitution, many thousands had lost their lives with many more having been displaced. The Commission should

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condemn displacements and killings in any resolution it might pass on the issue.

FENG CUI, of the All-China Women's Federation, said that the Commission should adjust the priority of its work, paying more attention to fundamental issues such as the right to subsistence, to poverty-eradication, to education and employment; these were the main concerns of people and it was regrettable that the Commission failed to realize this in its working programme and agenda arrangement. Participation of NGOs from developing countries should be supported; it was a pity that since the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, participation of NGOs from such countries was still very much limited; due to various factors, of which financial difficulty was at the top, they had not been able to come to this meeting. International cooperation in human rights should be promoted, with NGOs carrying out dialogue rather than confrontation; it was a great pity that a few Western countries had deliberately split the concept of human rights, pursuing double standards instead of taking an impartial approach, and the Commission must correct this situation. Although extensive attention had been paid to the issue of violence against women, the sufferings of the "comfort women" dating from offenses committed by the Japanese Army in World War II still had not been resolved; Japanese politicians must stop denying the commission of this crime, many of whose victims had been Chinese.

ELIZA MANN, of Liberation, said there was a pattern of systematic attacks by the Sri Lankan security forces and paramilitary groups on Tamil women; there had been over 150 reported cases of rape and sexual assault by the Sri Lanka army during the past year, but because many women were reluctant to give testimony the actual number of cases was probably much higher; impunity for those responsible was a matter not only of increasing concern but also of growing alarm; in one case in February 1996, 13 Tamil women were killed by Sri Lankan and Sinhala Home Guards; in another case, a 10-year-old girl was gang-raped; the Sri Lanka army must be withdrawn from the Tamil homeland and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women must visit the northeast of Sri Lanka and report back to the Commission. The Sri Lankan "broad front" strategy to advance into the Tamil homeland had devastated cultivable land, destroyed homes, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee; there were some 825,000 Tamil refugees today. The Commission must call on Sri Lanka to lift its economic and humanitarian blockade of the Tamil region and to permit local and international press, relief agencies, and NGOs to visit and assess objectively conditions there, and provide independent humanitarian relief.

HISHAMMUDDIN TUN HUSSEIN (Malaysia) said the restructuring of the Centre was welcome and should be continued on the principles of impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity. Advisory services and technical cooperation should each be dealt with by different divisions; and the different focal

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points on racism, women and children should be established as soon as possible. As for efforts to forge closer links between the United Nations human rights bodies and the Bretton Woods institutions, the discussions held so far should not be the precursors to attaching human rights conditionalities on loans and assistance by those institutions. Furthermore, the Special Procedures systems should be reinforced with sufficient resources; investigations should be rooted in the principles of neutrality, impartiality and objectivity, and privileges and immunities must be invoked only in the performance of duties and adhered to scrupulously. An approach should reign that would give emphasis to the human aspect of human rights assistance, stressing cooperation, rather than confrontation.

NOBUTOSHI AKAO (Japan) said the country had participated energetically in the fifth regional workshop for human rights in the Asian and Pacific region; further, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had co-hosted with the United Nations University a symposium on human rights in the region in July of 1995 and 1996, and planned to make it an annual event. The Government attached great importance to the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, and had established a Headquarters for the Promotion of Human Rights Education, chaired by the Prime Minister. A four-point gender-equality plan had been established by the Government to achieve gender equality by the year 2000; also, in the area of women's rights, numerous sincere apologies had been issued by the Government to former "comfort women"; the Asian Women's Fund (AWF) established to address the problems of comfort women had been supported in its operational costs by the Government and so far had raised some $4 million contributed by the Japanese people. The AWF had started offering atonement money in the Philippines in 1996 and in the Republic of Korea in January of 1997.

IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the country's national commission on human rights had been founded to provide independent support for human rights of citizens; much was being learned from the experience of other countries, and help had been received from the High Commissioner for Human Rights; there was much public support as well. But the country would require both financial and technical assistance to make the national commission effective over the long term. Bangladesh strongly supported the development of regional human-rights arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region. It was of singular importance that the Centre for Human Rights have sufficient resources to carry out its vital tasks; technical cooperation needed to receive more emphasis and liberated from any conditionalities. The High Commissioner for Human Rights also needed sufficient resources and support, and there should be equitable geographical distribution in the staff of the Centre. A set of minimum guarantees of certain basic human rights might do much to resolve the difficulties of internally displaced persons; such rights must be provided by both countries of origin and of asylum.

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PRASAD KARIYAWASAM (Sri Lanka) said the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had begun operation last month with the appointment by the President of five prominent citizens as members. Minorities were required to be represented in the new body, which had wide-ranging monitoring functions. Internally displaced persons remained a major cause of concern for the Government; the situation was aggravated by the continuing insurgency in the north and east of Sri Lanka, and by acts of terrorism perpetrated by the LTTE; in April 1996, the Government had successfully liberated the Jaffna Peninsula from years of brutal control by the LTTE. Prior to evacuating the peninsula, the LTTE forcibly moved a large number of civilians into neighbouring regions; most had now voluntarily returned -- some 400,000 had been resettled. The Government was making strenuous efforts to rehabilitate Jaffna with international assistance, but the LTTE continued to engage in isolated acts of terrorism and to intimidate Tamil civilians; the Government was doing its best to help internally displaced persons and urged those NGOs who were concerned about the human rights of persons in situations of conflict to broaden their scope to address terrorism and its implications for the enjoyment of human rights.

JOUN YUNG SUN (Republic of Korea) said women were especially vulnerable to human rights abuses. Despite the momentum created by the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, the realization of even the most basic and fundamental human rights had been much more elusive for women than for men. The report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women provided valuable guidance for addressing gross violations against the basic rights of women and identified sexual violence as a serious human rights abuse. The case of the Korean women forced into military sexual slavery by the then Japanese Imperial Army continued to be very painful to the Korean people. The Special Rapporteur's report suggested that the Japanese Government should accept legal responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law; pay compensation; apologize in writing to individual victims, and introduce the issue into the national curriculum of schools in order to raise awareness of the problem.

RICHARD VAN RYSSEN (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said technical cooperation and advisory services had an essential place in establishing a world in which today's children would be able to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms. There were three essential elements to the advisory services programme: the need for good programmes, the need for sound management and the need for commitment on the part of the receiving Governments. The formulation of programmes started with the proper definition of the problems that needed to be addressed, and the human rights training needs of official, either in the military, the police and in the administration of justice was clear. Programmes of advisory services and technical cooperation needed a sound financial basis in order to cope with its mandates and service requests. In 1995 and 1996, an effort had been made to

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manage the programmes in such a way that donors had full confidence in the good use of their contributions. A reliable reporting system had not yet been fully implemented, however.

Right of Reply

WILHELM HÖYNCK (Germany) said he was responding to the statement of the Turkish Ambassador yesterday in which he referred to criminal acts in a number of European countries, including Germany. As a result of the attack in Germany, three persons had died and two others had been seriously injured, all Turkish citizens. Germany abhorred these criminal acts and understood and shared the grief of the families and of the Turkish Government. It also offered its condolences. German police were undertaking a thorough investigation of the incident; there was evidence it had been arson, but no evidence that it had had xenophobic or racist motivations. Police action against xenophobic acts had contributed to the reduction of the number of such cases. Germany would continue to enhance action to stop xenophobic violence and would take every step to track down those responsible. It would also cooperate regionally and within the United Nations to follow the same policy.

PAK DOK HUN (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said his delegation was very much disappointed by the irresponsible remarks made earlier by Japan; Japan had tried to give the impression it had done something about its crimes of the past. He wished to make it clear that Japan had done nothing. If it had done anything, it had been to distort the truth. The drafting of 200,000 women into sexual slavery for the Japanese Army was a crime of a State; it should be paid for by the State; establishment of the Asian Women's Fund was not an act of State responsibility. In addition, the Fund was supposedly giving money for former victims of sexual slavery. But the money from the Fund was not Government money. Why? Because paying State money would amount to accepting State responsibility. The compensation should be made by the State on the basis of its acceptance of past crimes, and Japan should be urged once again to acknowledge its responsibilities, and make due compensation to all the victims and all the victimized countries.

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