MINISTERS FROM NINE COUNTRIES ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Press Release
HR/CN/820
MINISTERS FROM NINE COUNTRIES ADDRESS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
19980319 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 18 March (UN Information Service ) -- Government ministers from Colombia, Poland, Algeria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Senegal, Cameroon, Belgium, and Pakistan this morning outlined before the Commission on Human Rights the efforts of their countries to promote and protect fundamental freedoms.
Statements were also heard this morning from the delegations of Cuba, Denmark and the United Kingdom on the organization of the work of the session and the situation of occupied Arab territories.
The participants at the ministerial level were the following: Camilo Reyes Rodriguez, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia; Maciej Kozlowski, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland; Ahmed Attaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria; Mustapha Niasse, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal; Augustin Koncho, Minister of State in Charge of External Relations of Cameroon; Erik Derycke, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium; Gohar Ayub Khan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan; Rokas Bernotas, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania; and Lydie Err, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg.
Statements
CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, said that when the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 it paved the way for the promotion and protection of human rights. Fifty years later, it was worthwhile to emphasize progress which had been made, such as the adoption of legal conventions and the creation of bodies to monitor and analyze and search for solutions to problems. It was also fitting to acknowledge the work of special rapporteurs and working groups. Thanks to all of the above-mentioned, mankind had gratefully celebrated the results of their work in Guatemala and El Salvador.
But while international law enshrined the indivisibility of human rights, the practice of economic and social rights continued to be weak, said Mr. Reyes Rodriguez. The international community should give greater priority to the relief of extreme poverty to ensure the effective promotion of human rights.
As his country was in the throes of internal conflict, he wanted to stress that it was important for the world to end the use of anti-personnel land mines, he said. It was also important for the international community to continue to condemn human rights violations and to urge all parties in a conflict to seek peace and reconciliation. Effective cooperation to relieve States of the scourge of human rights violations lay in the monitoring and condemnation of all violent groups.
Mr. Reyes Rodriguez said that it was essential that the question of Colombia be considered by the Commission on the basis of cooperation and not sanctions. The Government of Colombia reaffirmed that the Office of the High Commissioner in Colombia was the most appropriate body to contribute to the peace process and turn the yearnings of Colombians for peace and full enjoyment of human rights into a reality.
MACIEJ KOZLOWSKI, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland, said that in the past, in totalitarian States, the text of the Declaration was available only in restricted sections of libraries otherwise closed to ordinary readers. One could learn about one's vested rights only on the condition that one would not wish to exercise them. In 1969, he had been detained by Polish authorities for an attempt to smuggle copies of the Declaration. The authorities thought that the Declaration posed a lethal threat to them. Today, no one in Poland was threatened any more. Poland and Poles were free, thanks to the solidarity effort of the whole society and to solidarity assistance provided to Poland by the people of the free nations of the world.
There were still many places in the world where demands to exercise the rights enshrined in the Declaration was punishable with imprisonment, deportation and even the death sentence, he said. The Polish experience demonstrated that the existence of regimes that violated the Declaration posed a threat not only to the nations they ran, but also to neighbouring States and to the world at large. Human rights were not, nor could they be, an internal affair of a government -- they were the internal affair of the whole world. The national interest required that Poland be a country that respected human rights and that saw they were respected by other States.
"We owe this to those who demanded the respect of our rights at time when the representatives of the Communist regime claimed to speak on behalf of the Polish nation, whereas we could articulate our views only through underground periodicals and illegal radio stations", he said.
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AHMED ATTAF, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, said 1948, the year of adoption of the Universal Declaration was also the very year apartheid was institutionalized and Palestine was partitioned. No one back then had any illusions about the challenges facing the Declaration's ideals. It also was clear that over the ensuing 50 years, civil and political rights had received more attention than economic and cultural rights. The right to development was still far from being fully realized.
Algeria now faced the internal tensions and totalitarian terrorist aberrations often experienced by countries in transition, the Foreign Minister said. Those phenomena were based in part on a wrong interpretation of religious principles, on failure to compromise, and on addiction to violence. These challenges could have caused a worsening reaction and a vicious cycle, but instead Algerians had banded together to reinforce their commitment to democratic transition. They had rejected violence, and Algeria as a whole had engaged in action to restore the electoral process, with all guarantees of legitimacy and transparency. It was consolidating the rule of law and strengthening the regime of human rights. Steps were being taken to aid families who had been victims of terrorist violence. Authorities continued to maintain press freedom and open political discussion. Outside observers continued to visit, along with foreign journalists. The international community thus had the opportunity to observe the complex Algerian reality. Some had distorted this information to give a skewed picture of the situation, but nonetheless the country continued to stress the primacy of human rights and the rule of law, and had created several national mechanisms to aid the process of transition to democracy and a modern society.
Algeria continued to report to United Nations human rights treaty bodies, the Minister said. He wished to solemnly state that Algeria would carry on its dialogue and cooperation with the competent United Nations mechanisms in all transparency, and in the serenity required by a genuine commitment to human rights.
Algeria was fighting terrorism not only for itself but for others, Mr. Attaf said. It was convinced that the international community needed to declare the inadmissibility of terrorist violence. Unanimous condemnation of it was needed, along with practical, specific steps to combat it. Selectivity should be avoided when confronting it -- only solidarity and concrete action could succeed against it. It should be battled across international lines, to reach those who were at the source, to cut off its funding, and to remove asylum practices which protected its perpetrators.
ROKAS BENOTAS, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, said the impact of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been profound and far- reaching. However, the struggle to realize human rights required constant and persistent efforts. Intolerance and violence, discrimination, and curtailment of the freedoms of expression and opinion, were a reality in many societies.
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Lithuania, though, was a unique State, which during one century had restored its independence and sovereignty twice -- both times peacefully.
Lithuania attached great importance to practical support for the implementation of the universal human rights standards, Mr. Benotas said. It believed that technical cooperation was one of the key areas of the High Commissioner's activities and saw a special merit in the advisory services financed through the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation.
But assistance from the international community was not an excuse for avoiding what were basically national responsibilities, Mr. Benotas said. This required States to permanently renew their commitments and efforts. The conscious efforts of the international community, Governments, non- governmental organizations, and of all human beings were imperative for the promotion of peace, security, economic prosperity and social justice.
LYDIE ERR, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, said her Government would celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration this week by organizing activities marking the importance of the event. The country's youth would be involved in all the programmes aimed at increasing their awareness with regard to human rights values. Luxembourg fully supported the programmes launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) pertaining to the struggle against the child labour exploitation.
Another priority of her Government was the promotion and protection of the rights of women, Ms. Err said. Fifty years after the Declaration, five years after the Vienna Declaration, and three years after the Beijing Declaration, discrimination against women persisted. The fundamental rights of millions of women continued to be violated regularly. Women were the principal victims of poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence, and sexual and labour exploitation. They constituted the majority of refugees and victims of the HIV virus, were under-represented in all levels of decision-making, received lower salaries, and were often victims of sexual harassment. She urged the Commission to strengthen its actions in the promotion and protection of the rights of women by appointing them as rapporteurs and providing them with consultative activities.
Ms. Err said her Government fully supported the creation of a permanent international criminal court to effectively combat the impunity of perpetrators of war crimes -- including rape committed during armed conflicts, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
MUSTAPHA NIASSE, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, said millions around the world suffered bodily and spiritually from the denial of their rights, and they looked to the Commission for some improvement in their condition. Senegal was characterized by the rule of law and the primacy of
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human rights. It was deeply attached to freedom, dialogue, and democracy, and favoured the creation of an African court of human rights and the establishment of an international criminal court. The true gauge of respect for human rights was not in documents and instruments but in implementation. Senegal made regular reports to human rights treaty bodies and strived energetically to follow their recommendations. Human rights education programmes had been extended to the country's police and security forces.
Despite progress over the past 50 years, the world was presented with countless human rights challenges, he said. Internal conflicts based on religious, racial, ethnic and other considerations were spreading. The United Nations had struggled to adapt, but the universal approach to human rights had not always met the requirements of developing countries. Senegal remained committed to fostering the right to development, and approved of a declaration on the right to development, followed by a mechanism for implementing it around the world. It also strongly supported the convening of a third world conference to combat racism.
AUGUSTIN KONTCHOU KOUOMEGNI, Minister of State in Charge of External Relations of Cameroon, said he wanted to reaffirm the progressive determination of all countries of the world, particularly those in Africa, to the promotion of human rights. Besides acceding to most pertinent international instruments, African States had also adopted legislation adapted to the region. Although a lot of progress had been made, much remained to be done, in particular concerning the socially explosive situations and escalation of violence which undermined nation States and spread extreme poverty.
Mr. Kouomegni said that, as guided by the national review policy drawn up in 1982 and applied since in Cameroon, the Government had taken a number of measures to establish the rule of law and democracy. Thus, Cameroon today was completely different than in the past. In the regrettable border conflict with Nigeria, Cameroon had always upheld international human rights instruments. Cameroon called on Nigeria to comply with such instruments and allow the Red Cross to visit Cameroonian prisoners of war. Cameroon wanted a peaceful and legal settlement to the conflict and wanted to take its case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In conclusion, Mr. Kouomegni suggested that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be enriched with a new generation of human rights. A human rights centre should be set up in each region to promote human rights.
ERIK DERYCKE, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was, without doubt, one of the major documents of this century. Belgium had played an active role in the elaboration of that text. Fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration and five years after the Vienna Declaration, the time had now come to pose the
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question on the manner in which the cause of human rights could be advanced. The terrible consequences of the logic of domination by force had clearly convinced the international community that peace was necessarily based on the recognition of human dignity and the equality of rights. Human rights were thus naturally found at the heart of the Charter.
The gap between promises and facts in matters of human rights could only be narrowed through a climate of international cooperation, he said. In order to intensify international cooperation, one should go back to the ideals which had allowed the creation the United Nations. Further efforts should be made in bringing together the North and South. The use of human rights as a diplomatic weapon was unacceptable. At the same time, the fact that sometimes no resolutions were adopted against States where human rights posed a problem should not mean that the existing situations in those States were acceptable or legitimate.
GOHAR AYUB KHAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, said Pakistan had been constrained from reaching an ideal state based on social justice by poverty and underdevelopment, social and economic structures inherited from colonialism, and a hostile external environment. However, the Government was committed to addressing with vigour and determination these impediments to realizing the universal norms of human rights.
There were three principal causes of grave human rights violations today, Mr. Khan said. They were conflicts arising from national and ethnic differences, particularly due to the suppression of the right to self- determination; poverty and underdevelopment; and new manifestations of prejudice, intolerance and arrogance. Statehood and democracy flowed from the full and complete realization of the right to self-determination by peoples, but many peoples continued to be denied their right to self-determination -- among them the people of Palestine and Kashmir. Peace could only be achieved if the Palestinian people were enabled to exercise their right to self- determination and statehood through the implementation of the resolutions of the Security Council and the Oslo Accords. The Commission was also called upon to uphold the just cause of Jammu and Kashmir. Unless the oppression of the Kashmiri people ended, the prospects for peace between Pakistan and India would remain unfulfilled.
Mr. Khan concluded by saying that the Commissions should guard against the attempts to subordinate United Nations human rights mechanisms to political purposes. It appeared that the killing of 60,000 people in Kashmir did not raise an eyebrow. The massacre of 3,000 in Shibergan and Mazar-e- Sharif and the 6,000 killed in Pakistan by foreign-sponsored State terrorism also went unnoticed. If this was not enough to rouse the worlds conscience, what was?
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Organization of Work
CARLOS AMAT FORES (Cuba) said the situation faced by the Commission was particularly worrisome, as it affected directly the capacities of its members to accomplish their work seriously, objectively and efficiently. The source of this concern was the fact that themes and established mechanisms were politically motivated. Further, the repetition of resolutions had not allowed the evaluation of their effects, and the debate had become a dialogue of the deaf, thus hampering the exchange of fruitful ideas. The restructuring and revitalization of the Commission should include the adoption of a rational agenda closer to real concerns. New working methods should be introduced to enable member States to participate fully in the debate, and the implementation of established mechanisms should be re-evaluated.
TYGE LEHMANN (Denmark) said the delegation supported any realistic proposal that improved the functioning of the Commission. If all States cooperated in good faith with the mechanisms of the Commission and with the High Commissioner, much more could be accomplished on behalf of human rights. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were vital to the deliberations of the Commission, and Denmark was not sure the Secretariat could "screen" NGO statements, as suggested by the Republic of Korea yesterday, without possibly infringing on the right to freedom of speech and expression. Denmark was concerned at the possible implications of such a proposal.
Situation in Occupied Territories
AUDREY GLOVER (United Kingdom), spoke on behalf of the European Union and of Central and Eastern European countries associated with the Union. She said the Union was deeply concerned by lack of progress in the Middle East peace process and strongly supported United States efforts to reinject momentum into the negotiations. Achieving peace would be a highly complex and sensitive task. The Union was concerned about incidents of Israeli imprisonments without trial, as well as of torture, and cruel and inhuman treatment of detainees. It urged Israeli authorities to cease such practices and to abide by the recommendations of the Committee against Torture. The Union was also concerned about reports of human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority and urged it to stop all unacceptable practices.
Continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories must end, Ms. Glover said. The Union's position was clear: settlements were both illegal and damaging to the peace process. Similarly, travel restrictions on Palestinian residents and discriminatory measures taken by the Israeli Government against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem must be ended. The Union understood Israel's need for security and had underlined the importance of extensive cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in fighting terrorism, but it did not feel that security concerns justified closure of the territories, which caused extensive economic and human damage. The Union had been encouraged by the Israeli Government's positive attitude in negotiations on the subject, Ms. Glover said.
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