FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CANADA AND LIECHTENSTEIN ADDRESS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Press Release
HR/CN/837
FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CANADA AND LIECHTENSTEIN ADDRESS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
19980331 Debate Continues on Migrant Workers, Religious Intolerance, Minority Rights(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 30 March (UN Information Service) -- A changing world required a renewed vision of human rights, combining remedial action to address existing abuses with preventive measures, Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs told the Commission on Human Rights this morning.
Lloyd Axworthy, said the collapse of the bipolar world order had ushered in an era in which the international community grappled with issues ranging from labour standards to children's rights, impunity to peace-building -- complex, cross-cutting issues with an undisputed human rights dimension. Addressing those issues effectively required viewing human rights through the more comprehensive lens of human security and integrating human rights concerns more fully into other aspects of international relations, he added, citing the campaign to ban landmines as a clear example of how new approaches with a human focus could be brought to bear on the traditional security agenda.
Also addressing the Commission this morning, the Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein, Andrea Willi, said a look at the global situation made it dramatically clear that much remained to be done in all parts of the world to improve protection of human rights. She pointed to refugees and internally displaced persons, the vast majority of whom were women and children, and whose plight had worsened over the past few years. She called for concerted efforts by the international community to prevent the causes for such massive population displacements, in which human rights violations played such a primary role.
The statements by the two Ministers came as the Commission continued to discuss the rights of migrants, religious intolerance and minority issues. The Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance and the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on international migration -- Abdelfattah Amor and Jorge Bustamante -- introduced their reports this morning.
During the general debate statements were made by representatives of Mexico, Ecuador, Czech Republic, China, Bangladesh, India, Russian Federation, Poland, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt, Hungary, Norway, Finland and Switzerland. The following non-governmental organizations (NGOs) delivered statements: Minority Rights Group, Fraternité Notre Dame and the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation. A representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) also spoke.
Statement by Foreign Minister of Canada
LLOYD AXWORTHY, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada, said the breakdown of the old bipolar world order had created new possibilities to promote and protect human rights. Globalization had opened up borders to new ideas and information, providing opportunities to build a universal culture of human rights. Democracy had taken root in the majority of the world's States, and civil society was thriving. The conditions were there to achieve progress on human rights unimagined by the drafters of the Universal Declaration in 1948.
At the same time, Mr. Axworthy continued, human rights violations continued in many parts of the world: political dissidents were being jailed, peoples were being tortured and international conflicts were claimed innumerable civilian lives. Globalization had a dark side: transnational organized crime, terrorism, environmental pollution, hate propaganda distributed over the Internet, and growing global economic inequalities. Although recent years had seen impressive progress, there was still a significant gap between respect for human rights on the ground and the lofty principles set out in the Declaration 50 years ago.
Mr. Axworthy said that what he called a "human security approach" for a new era required not only remedial action to address existing abuses, but also preventive measures to address their root causes, including, as the High Commissioner for Human Rights had noted, greater attention to the human right to development. The link between human rights and human security was particularly clear in cases of conflict or the threat of conflict. Human rights abuses were often the early warning signal of emerging conflict. In countries torn by inter-ethnic strife, ensuring respect for the human rights of every sector of the population was the key to building sustainable peace. Conversely, States which respected human rights and the rule of law were less likely to go to war with one another, unleash waves of refugees, created environmental catastrophes, engage in terrorism, or break their commercial commitments. Global stability and peace were intimately linked with respect for international human rights.
Pointing to the recent adoption of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on
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Their Destruction, Mr. Axworthy said it was a clear example of how one could bring new approaches with a human focus to bear on the traditional international security agenda. For the first time, a majority of States agreed to ban a weapon that was part of the military arsenal of nearly every nation. Banning landmines could no longer be seen primarily as a question of disarmament, where the focus was on the weapon itself. Instead, one began to see that as a question of humanitarian law which took account of civilian and the horrible impact that those weapons had on their lives. Humanitarian law had put a human face on the landmines crisis.
Children's rights were a particularly high priority for Canada, Mr. Axworthy continued. Canada had been working hard on the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and hoped to see them completed soon. Another priority was the adoption of a strong and effective Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. Mobilizing and empowering all segments of society -- including children, indigenous peoples, those with disabilities and women -- was key to implementation of human rights.
Statement by Foreign Minister of Liechtenstein
ANDREA WILLI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein, said a look at the global situation made it dramatically clear that much remained to be done in all parts of the world to improve protection of human rights. The plight of refugees and internally displaced persons, the vast majority of whom were women and children, had worsened over the past few years, and concerted efforts by the international community were required to prevent the causes for such massive population displacements of which human rights violations played such a primary role.
Women's rights needed special emphasis, the Foreign Minister said. Although progress had been made, many shortcomings remained; the full integration of a gender perspective into all human rights activities of the United Nations was an important measure, but targeted and concrete efforts were needed to improve the situation of women worldwide. The complex phenomenon of violence against women had to be given special attention. Representation of women in the secretariat was constantly growing and Liechtenstein hoped that this positive trend within the United Nations would lead to greater presence of women in decision-making positions.
A very significant contribution to the human rights year would be adoption of a statute establishing an International Criminal Court in Rome, Ms. Willi said. That would enable prosecution of the most serious crimes over which universal jurisdiction already existed, and the interruption of the vicious circle of crime and impunity.
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Ms. Willi said Liechtenstein had introduced a few years ago an initiative on the right of self-determination aimed at contributing to the prevention of conflicts within States and remained convinced that a framework for a constructive dialogue between States and communities living within them would have a significant potential to defuse tensions and thus contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the protection of human rights. The situation in Kosovo was only one example of a case where too much time had elapsed with too little being done. Liechtenstein hoped the international community would come to realize the benefits of a proactive and preventive approach to such situations.
Statements in Debate
PORFIRIO MUNOZ-LEDO (Mexico) said migration was as much an inevitable consequence of the global economy as of such traditional causes as war and famine. International migrants amounted to some 120 million, in official figures; in fact, that was only a small part of the actual number, most of whom were unofficial. Many were victims of situations at home, and in their host countries many had fallen prey to open or covert manifestations of racism, and many -- especially women -- were grievously treated. States must respect and guarantee to all persons under their jurisdiction, without any reference to race, origin, sex, or other factor, all basic human rights, and must treat all persons in the same way. As both a sending and receiving State, Mexico was dedicated to fair and humane treatment of migrants; international cooperation was essential to achieving this goal worldwide. Mexico also was deeply involved in regional cooperation programmes related to migrants.
LUIS GALLEGOS CHIRIBOGA (Ecuador) said human beings were not included in schemes for marketing and movement of money and commodities over international borders, yet they were a major factor in the global economy, and displacements of workers occurred on a massive scale, especially from the developing countries as individuals moved towards work and towards what they hoped was a better world. But many countries now were trying to halt migratory flows onto their territories and were committing abuses against them and violating the terms of international instruments related to the Commission's work. Migrants were blamed for social problems that were not of their making, and were subject to administrative reprisals and even to violence. The Commission and the international community must take greater measures to protect the rights of such people.
MIROSLAV SOMOL (Czech Republic) said his country and other countries of Central Europe had experienced a new phenomenon since the early 1990s, namely immigration. The Czech Republic therefore sought to participate in activities and programmes concerned with rights of immigrants, in particular at the regional level. In that context, the first National Round Table on Community
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Relations had taken place in February in Prague within the framework of the Council of Europe's activities. Participants included relevant agencies of the public administration as well as non-governmental organizations and representatives of migrants' groups. The Czech Republic felt minimum standards of protection of the human rights of migrants should be respected and adhered to by all States; the need to agree on that minimum standard was not only a regional but also a global task.
MA YUHONG (China) said China was a country with a great diversity of religious beliefs, and had over 100 million followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, and other beliefs. At present, all religions in China had equal status and coexisted in tranquillity, and religious disputes were unknown; according to incomplete statistics, there were more than 85,000 sites for religious activities and some 300,000 clergy. China had made great achievements in protection of the freedom of religious belief, and protected all religious activities carried out within the framework of the Constitution and relevant laws; it had to be pointed out, however, that while enjoying their lawful rights, citizens also had to fulfil obligations prescribed by law. All citizens, religious or not, were equal before the law and had to assume criminal liability when committing crimes -- that had nothing to do with a person's religious belief. Three religious leaders from the United States recently had conducted a successful visit to China, and a Chinese delegation had visited the United States -- visits of this kind had enhanced mutual understanding.
IFTEKHAR CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said migrants continued to be one of the most vulnerable groups in tody's world. It was not only that there was abuse of their rights: more alarmingly, there was even denial of their basic human rights. They were faced with hostility and racist violence; they were used as scapegoats for the domestic ills of societies around the globe. The plight of the under documented or irregular migrants was all the more disconcerting. Much had been said about the need to address, in the context of the globalization of trade, the growing relevance of a regime for regular migration providing appropriate protection for all migrants. People had been on the move since time immemorial; the foundations of human civilization owed much to such movements. Today, millions of people moved across borders, voluntarily or pressed by exigencies -- whether for work, education or family reasons. There was also a forced dimension in migration, the pressures of which had increased manifold. In the case of some categories, protection mechanisms were recognized. Such protection was not yet extended to others migrating predominantly due to the simple urge for survival.
SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said most States, including India, were comprised of ethnic pluralities and reflected a world that was multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-lingual. If all were to live together in a environment of peace and harmony, active and determined promotion of the
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values of tolerance and democracy was essential; currently, however, there were many examples of extreme forms of aggressive nationalism and narrow chauvinism, along with the rise of so-called religious fundamentalism, which posed challenges in all parts of the world. India believed it was necessary for all countries to find appropriate responses in a democratic framework by establishing firm foundations of equality and non-discrimination under rule of law. At the international level, all needed to intensify efforts to promote respect for human rights and for tolerance. India supported continuing the mandate of the working group on minorities established by the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
ABDELFATTAH AMOR, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief, introducing his report (document E/CN.4/1998/6), said a visit to Australia had allowed him to observe that the country constituted an original example of multicultural integration and religious tolerance. However, that tolerance had met some exceptional obstacles with regard to the building of places of worship. Also, there had been certain displays of hostility towards Buddhist minorities, while the mass media often conveyed a distorted image of religious minorities. The conflict in the Persian Gulf had also provided a pretext to some media to propagate hate against Muslims, particularly Arabs.
With regard to his recent visit to Germany, Mr. Amor said that although the Jewish minority there enjoyed a satisfactory situation, and even a privileged position, the Muslim minority was enjoying less favourable conditions. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Scientology group complained that, by denying them the status of religious movement, the German authorities applied to them a discriminatory policy.
JORGE A. BUSTAMANTE, Chairman-Rapporteur of the working group on the human rights of international migrants, introducing the group's report (document E/CN.4/1998/76), said there were some 120 million migrants in the world, and the number was growing; such people became vulnerable in terms of their human rights in direct proportion to their distance from their home communities. Migrants to begin with were among the poorest and had the least education; when they left their countries they became especially vulnerable. Societies that took in migrants, especially if they were poor or did not have papers, imposed structural vulnerabilities could be very hard to overcome; it was necessary to stress that "irregular" migrants still had human rights despite State rights to decide who came onto their territories. States were still obligated to offer basic and fundamental protections to irregular migrants.
The working group had distributed a questionnaire and had received replies from more than 40 countries that showed a great interest in the topic, a laudable capacity for self-criticism, and sophisticated knowledge of the
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situation, Dr. Bustamante said. The working group also had established effective contacts with NGOs and various international agencies. Further time and resources were needed to take the best advantage of the work performed by the group so far, and an extension of the body's mandate was requested in proportion to the importance it seemed have been given by various Governments.
BORIS KYRYLOV (Russian Federation) said scientific or social means should be found for the full protection of the rights of minority groups in all countries. Understanding between minorities and governments should be established in order to promote their rights. Regular contacts between the Working Group on Minorities and regional mechanisms for the protection of minorities was to be recommended. In addition, while examining country reports, treaty bodies should pay special attention to the situation of minorities. For its part, the Russian Federation had solved its minority problems by giving federal autonomy to its minorities and by encouraging them to promote their cultures and languages. On the question of minorities in Estonia and Latvia, those States had not yet drop the idea of building a monoethnic society excluding all minorities within their territories. Minorities were denied their basic rights. The process of naturalization of people of Russian origin was long and full of complicated procedures -- only one per cent of them were naturalized in Latvia, and they were deprived of the right to vote.
YOUNG SAM MA (Republic of Korea) said that 50 years after the end of the Second World War, there continued to be blatant acts of ethnic and religious persecution throughout the world; differences in race, religion, and language continued to serve as pretexts for discriminatory acts of violence against minority groups, notwithstanding international protections. It was the responsibility of the State to ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms were respected, particularly for minority groups; political will was necessary; effective, pragmatic action was required. Yet caution also should be exercised when undertaking repressive measures to counter cases of appalling social persecution, because these efforts could have negative repercussions and further inflame existing tensions. Korea fully supported the technical cooperation programme of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; the country also called for decisive steps to protect minority groups, migrant workers, and women migrants, and recognized that education was vital for improving tolerance for minorities and migrants, and should be carried out on an ongoing basis.
JACEK TYSZKO (Poland) said human rights could prove their value when they efficiently protected those who were weaker and exposed to discrimination and other forms of human rights violations. Furthermore, human rights were necessary if democracy was to be prevented from degenerating into the tyranny of majority. The common element of those two observations was that the protection of minorities formed a constitutive part of the human rights hard
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core. Consequently, there was no respect for and observance of human rights when the rights of persons belonging to minorities were not safeguarded. Moreover there was no respect for human dignity when the protection of the individual was to extend to the maintaining of one's won identity in its national, cultural, spiritual and religious dimensions. Protection of human dignity assumed protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities as an indispensable component thereof.
ARUNI WIJEWARDENA (Sri Lanka) said that in recent years, violence resulting from an illegal armed group espousing terrorism in the guise of promoting minority rights had tended to obscure the fact that historically and today, Muslims, Tamils, Burghers, and Sinhalese continued to co-exist peacefully in Sri Lanka in a tolerant society and within a democratic political framework which encouraged and fostered the preservation of distinct ethnic, religious, and linguistic identities. Over the past decades, incremental progress had been made through political, administrative, constitutional, and legislative measures on several legitimate demands of minorities, articulated through their elected leaders; the subject of devolution of governmental authority as a means of ensuring greater participation by minorities had been discussed at length and constitutional reforms were now proposed; a system to give greater possibilities for minority representation than in the simple majority system was now under consideration. It was regrettable that an internationally condemned terrorist group, the LTTE, was seeking to destroy this bold initiative through suicidal bombings of civilians and public targets. The people of Sri Lanka had rejected communal violence and the Government had declared its determination to pursue the political process to its conclusion.
BULENT MERIC (Turkey) said increasingly draconian restrictions were being imposed on the movement of individuals, particularly in the developed countries. Yet, international migratory movements were steadily increasing. That was not only because a large number of developing countries were experiencing economic and social difficulties, but also because the need for foreign labour in the developed world was continuing despite claims that there was a crisis. Therefore, the presence and problems of migrant workers would seemingly continue to exist, at least for the foreseeable future. Those problems presented one of the most complex human rights issues. Those were issues affecting millions of people living in foreign countries, with or without a proper status, sometimes for generations, bereft of international or domestic legal protection. Today, almost 3 million Turkish citizens lived outside their home country as migrant workers. Whether they were legal or illegal in status, all migrant workers, as human beings should enjoy all human rights and freedoms on an equal basis.
TAREK ADEL (Egypt) said the rights of migrant workers were not sufficiently protected, regardless of international human rights instruments;
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Egypt regretted the fact that many countries had not ratified the relevant international Convention; only 12 had done so, Egypt among them; it was to be hoped that many more ratifications would come soon so that the Convention could enter into force; one wondered what various countries were thinking in failing to ratify such basic rights for a vulnerable group of human beings. It was necessary to rectify the erroneous viewpoint that migrants were a burden on their host countries, and the erroneous idea that they were a cause of domestic troubles. The United Nations and related agencies and NGOs should redouble their efforts to protect migrants' rights, and sending countries should make greater efforts to rectify situations that caused such massive population movements; the international trade system should be more equitable, and investment increased in developing countries to spur economic development that would keep such migrants in their home countries.
PETER NARAY (Hungary) said his country welcomed the growing attention the international community had started to pay in recent years to questions related to minorities. The United Nations had, for a long time, failed to adequately and effectively address the issue of the protection of minorities. Therefore, the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities by the General Assembly in 1992, was a landmark achievement. Although not a treaty, the Declaration had provided for global minimum standards of minority rights to be respected by each and every country. In 1995, the establishment of the Working Group on Minorities by the Commission at the level of the Subcommission represented another significant step in the right direction. In addition, Hungary welcomed the fact that representatives of minorities had the opportunity to participate in the work of the Working Group.
PETTER WILLE (Norway) said the Working Group on Minorities was the only body within the United Nations system to focus on that topic, and its work was important and difficult. Over three years, the group had got a good start; Norway especially welcomed the way it had focused discussions and activities on better understanding of the principles contained in the relevant Declaration. Norway emphasized the right of persons belonging to minorities to speak their own language, learn and be taught in their mother tongue, profess and practice their own religion and enjoy their own culture. Norway recently had signed the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the ratification process was expected to be concluded quickly; the Government also had decided to appoint an intern-ministerial working group to evaluate ways in which the State could better coordinate its policy with regard to a number of national minorities, in particular the Roma and travellers -- two minority groups that had faced and continued to face particular difficulties.
RISTOW VELTHEIM (Finland) said his country had found that minority rights deserved to be given special attention in the human rights context.
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There was ample reason for that: persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities often faced an increased risk of human right violations; their cultural and linguistic rights were often ignored, and the realization of their economic and social rights might leave quite a lot to be desired. Furthermore, persons belonging to minorities might even be singled out for persecution. Ethnic intolerance bred conflict, as one could see from a number of crises around the world today. Violations of minority rights contributed to refugee flows and to great deal of human suffering. There was thus plenty of reason to give minority issues a high priority and constant vigilance.
IRENE McCLURE, of the International Labour Organization (ILO), said the ILO had been at the forefront of international standard-setting in the field of the protection of the rights and dignity of migrant workers. It had adopted a number of standards and Conventions, including Conventions 97 and 143. However, signatories of these instruments had remained limited, perhaps because of their ground-breaking content, also a problem for the International Convention. The ILO had begun a general survey of the obstacles to ratification and difficulties of application of these two conventions, with a view to possible revisions. The ILO also was reaching the end of a project called "combatting discrimination against migrant workers and ethnic minorities in the world of work"; conclusions were now being drafted in the form of a manual; there would a focus on the need for comprehensive, civil anti-discrimination legislation aimed at the employment relationship, stringently enforced by a national agency specialized in non-discrimination. The ILO participated actively in the working group on the human rights of migrants, but held certain reservations concerning its activities so far and the potential extension of its mandate -- the group should avoid duplication of previous activities undertaken by the United Nations or related agencies.
JEAN-DANIEL VIGNY (Switzerland) said his country hoped that a true dialogue would continue within the Working Group between States and their minorities. The contributions of minorities within the Group were often constructive; they were made in a good spirit and without any polemics, which led to a positive working atmosphere. The role of the Working Group was to offer an informal forum and to favour a dialogue in which information could be exchanged on, among other things, legislation relating to minorities. The five members of the Group and the participants possessed much expertise on the issue. They therefore assisted Governments and minorities in the search for concrete solutions to their differences.
ALAN PHILLIPS, of Minority Rights Group (MRG), said that four years ago MRG had co-sponsored a conference warning of the dangers of a war around Kosovo. MRG had also urged early action to prevent the conflict in former Yugoslavia, before the first bullet was fired; and its studies had predicted the long-running conflict in Sri Lanka. MRG took no pride in these facts, but wished to point out that some 90 per cent of violent conflicts today were
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between different communities and that the large majority of refugees under the mandate of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were from minority communities; although there was no lack of information and analysis, or of warning, there was a lack of dialogue and action to prevent such crises and to honour the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another example of current and future trouble was in treatment of the Roma in Europe. There should be closer cooperation between different United Nations human rights organs acting to protect minorities, better planning and implementation involving minorities in advance of the world conference on racism, more formal and informal dialogue and debate on inter-community issues, and a permanent mandate for the Working Group on Minorities.
Bishop LAURENT DENEUX, of Fraternité Notre Dame, said that for the past few years, States had submitted to the power of majority religions wishing to protect their prestige, their faithful and their money in the face of new forms of thinking. Those churches had influenced governments to pass legislation to condemn religious minorities. Such groups faced another danger in the form of ecumenism, a movement with no room for a large number of religious minorities. One church held sway over the ecumenical movement, and it always imposed her own ideas. It was a pity to see that in a country like France, a campaign of misinformation in the press had been reflected in laws whose aim was to reduce the rights of religious movements.
KULBHUSHAN WARIKOO, of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said the organization was concerned over problems created by trans-border terrorism in the Himalayas and adjoining regions. The extremist Taliban movement had unleashed atrocities against national, ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities in Afghanistan as well as violating the rights of women and children, thus sharpening the internal divide that caused instability in Afghanistan. Similarly, the induction of Islamic extremism, terrorists and mercenaries by Pakistan in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir had imparted a death blow to its composite societal character and secular polity; Kashmir had been known for a long time for a harmonious blend of cultures, but that had been obliterated by Islamist terrorists and mercenaries induced and inducted by Pakistan in the name of Jihad -- religious crusade. Several Pakistan-based extremist and terrorist groups had been publicly taking pride in "killing Hindus", and were still collecting funds, arms, and ammunition openly for export into Kashmir.
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