COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS BEGINS DISCUSSION OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
Press Release
HR/CN/863
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS BEGINS DISCUSSION OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
19980420 Concludes General Debate on Violations Of Human Rights, Fundamental Freedoms around World(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 16 April (UN Information Service) -- The Commission on Human Rights began this afternoon to review international action against sexual and other abuse of children, as well as prevention of the participation of minors in armed conflicts.
During the discussion, the Commission heard from its Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and from working groups drafting optional protocols to strengthen the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing her latest report, the Special Rapporteur, Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, said education was a key factor in the prevention of sexual exploitation of children, as well as in their recovery and reintegration.
Ivan Mora Godoy, Chairman-Rapporteur of the working group drafting an optional protocol on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said the panel was on the right track in its elaboration of guidelines for a possible draft, despite some differences among delegates in the working group. But Nils Eliasson, Chairman/Rapporteur of the working group on a draft optional protocol on involvement of children in armed conflicts, said that at the formal part of that panel's most recent meeting, virtually no progress had been achieved. Several issues were interlinked and certain delegations were unwilling to agree on solutions to some of them before it was known how others would be settled.
Before taking up the question of children's rights, the Commission heard further statements on the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world, traditionally the most contentious item on the agenda. This afternoon, the delegations of Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Algeria, Lebanon, India, Pakistan and Syria replied to statements made earlier concerning them. The Special Rapporteur on Burundi also made a statement.
Also this afternoon, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola, Georges Chikoti, told the Commission that his country reaffirmed its adherence to the inalienable and universal principle of human rights, especially the right to development, as a starting point for the enjoyment of the fundamental rights of human beings. He also reiterated his country's solidarity with the struggle for self-determination of the people of East Timor.
The representatives of the following countries also made statements: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Republic of Tanzania, Mexico, Chile, Japan, the United Kingdom, Uganda, Venezuela and Uruguay.
Statement by Deputy Foreign Minister of Angola
GEORGES CHIKOTI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola, said the current session of the Commission on Human Rights was taking place at an important moment for the fight for social justice, liberty and equality in a world, where some serious conflicts still created violence that rendered humaneness impossible. The Commission should remember the genocide in Rwanda, the events in the former Yugoslavia, the drama in Somalia, the current conditions in North Korea and East Timor and other situations. There had been many changes, but underdevelopment -- which was the real root of material, economic, financial and social insufficiency -- still persisted; that undermined efforts to promote and defend human rights. To face the challenge, new guidance for international economic relations was urgently needed, particularly concerning increased cooperation for sustainable development and relief from foreign debt.
Mr. Chikoti said his country reaffirmed its adherence to the inalienable and universal principle of human rights, especially the right to development, as a starting point for the enjoyment of fundamental rights of human beings. In this respect, and among other steps, the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation of Angola had been assisted by the United Nations in programming and undertaking specific practical actions with the aim of implementing international treaties and national laws on human rights throughout the nation.
The Minister added that he wished to reiterate his country's solidarity with the struggle for self-determination of the people of East Timor. The efforts of the Secretary-General to promote dialogue between Portugal and Indonesia regarding that issue were to be encouraged.
Children's Rights
As it began to consider the question of children's rights this afternoon, the Commission took up the latest report of Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (document E/CN.4/1998/101). The Special Rapporteur recommends,
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among other things, that a combination of the catalysts of the media and education create a strong forum for awareness-raising, with the goal of preventing sexual and other abuses against children. The report stresses the role of prevention and advocacy through publicizing and popularizing laws for the protection of children against commercial exploitation and giving prominent visibility to convictions of child sex offenders. The media and education not only played crucial roles in preventing commercial sexual exploitation of children, but also had a tremendous capacity and a certain responsibility to provide response mechanisms to child victims. They could widely publicize mechanisms for reporting crimes against children and they could sensitize media and educational personnel to the dangers of "revictimization" of children victims and provide safeguards for avoiding such dangers.
The report adds that it is clear that assistance to a child victim did not end with a response to the cry for help by removing the child from an abusive situation or by eliminating the cause of abuse. This must be followed by serious efforts to establish a healing process to redress damage already done.
The Commission is also considering the latest report of the working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prevent the involvement of children in armed conflicts (document E/CN.4/1998/102). At its last session, the working group discussed, among other issues, the question of the minimum age of persons participating in hostilities; the issue of direct or indirect involvement in hostilities; the age of recruitment, be it voluntary or compulsory, into the armed forces; and whether or not a clause should be included in the draft optional protocol preventing child recruitment by non-governmental armed groups. The report also lists proposals submitted concerning the draft optional protocol.
Another document before the Commission is the report of the last meeting of the Commission's working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as well as on basic measures needed for their eradication (document E/CN.4/1998/103). At the last session of the panel, the report states, participants presented their views and opinions on the following specific provisions discussed in the drafting group concerning: sale of children; child prostitution; child pornography; child sex tourism; penalization of offenders and protection of children; prevention, assistance and compensation; and information, education and participation. All States reserved the right to reconsider any issue of the draft optional protocol.
The Commission also has before it the interim report of Olara A. Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary on children in armed conflict (document E/CN.4/1998/119). According to the Special Representative, the most important and pressing challenge today is how to translate the standards and
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commitments of international instruments and local norms into action that makes a tangible difference to the fate of children exposed to danger on the ground. This means, above all, concerted political action at both the international and national levels. Clearly, the time has come to make the protection and welfare of all children a common cause that can unite the world across the boundaries of political orientations, religious affiliations and cultural traditions.
A report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (document E/CN.4/1998/99) states that as of 30 November 1997, the Convention has received 140 signatures followed by ratification. In addition, 45 States had acceded to the Convention and 6 had succeeded to it, bringing the total of ratifications and accessions to 191. A list of the States that had ratified or acceded to the Convention and the dates of their signature, ratification or accession is included.
In addition, the Commission is considering a report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Prevention of the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (document E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/11), which includes replies received from Estonia and Finland.
MARTA SANTOS PAIS, of the United Nations Children' Fund (UNICEF), said the Convention on the Rights of the Child had immense impact and was a lively illustration of the universality of human rights; only two countries had not ratified it. UNICEF continued to promote steadily activities to disseminate information on and create understanding of the principles of the Convention. The Convention was important in UNICEF's dealings with countries, but also important for UNICEF's own mission and operations. Children's rights could not be limited to a specific area or sector, could not be reduced to political statements, could not be raised only when certain gatherings took place. Certain Commission actions -- as on economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to education -- were vital to UNICEF's activities and children's issues. UNICEF supported the proposal to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the right to education. UNICEF urged that the Commission mainstream children's rights into all its activities and consider it under all agenda items, and that politicization of children's rights be avoided.
OFELIA CALCETAS-SANTOS, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, said her latest report (document E/CN.4/1998/101) dealt with two components: the media and education, and how they impacted on children's rights and protection. Other than the traditional media, her report contained an extensive analysis of new technologies, particularly the Internet, in the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
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Ms. Calcetas-Santos said education was a key factor in prevention of the sexual exploitation of children, as well as in their recovery and or reintegration. All factors of society should be empowered with knowledge of the realities of sexual abuse in order to protect themselves or others against it. If used together with the media, education could reach a greater number of people, including policy-makers, with more lasting consequences.
The Special Rapporteur said the United Nations should take the lead in upgrading in its order of priority matters concerning children, as well as in mainstreaming in its activities measures for their protection. The proposed world conference against racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, for example, should include children's concerns as an integral component, as they were inevitably among the first victims of any form of discrimination.
ALICIA PEREZ DUARTE Y NORONA (Mexico) thanked Ms. Calcetas-Santos for her mission to Mexico. It was clear that the society and Government of Mexico considered children to be a priority. The Special Rapporteur's comments and recommendations would be considered with all the care they deserved. Mexico fully agreed with several of her concerns, as voiced both in her general report and in her report on Mexico, especially with regard to the insufficiency of national and international action to eradicate practices such as child prostitution, child pornography and sale of children. Mexico was convinced of the need for education that emphasized the dignity of the child and for training at all levels to prevent abuse of children. Mexico knew that silence in a society about such practices was sure complicity with those who mistreated children. The Special Rapporteur had observed the action of Mexico's judiciary to fight that silence and to help child victims. Still, in the effort to introduce the Special Rapporteur to the vast Mexican programme on children and to give her a full picture of the system, several things had not been made clear, and the Government apologized for that. The Government had started applying measures to combat child abuse two years ago and results had already appeared, including in the field of family violence. Mexico vehemently rejected the sale of children and their exploitation through prostitution, pornography or other means. It was committed to providing a healthy life for its children and worked tirelessly towards that end.
NILS ELIASSON, Chairman/Rapporteur of the working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on involvement of children in armed conflicts, said that at the formal part of the most recent meeting, virtually no progress had been achieved; several issues were interlinked and certain delegations were therefore unwilling to agree on solutions to some of them before it was known how others would be settled. An earlier offer of the Chairman to provide a conception of what a complete, consistent optional protocol might look like was used as a way of carrying out open-ended consultations; at these consultations, considerable progress was made, and textual solutions or near consensus could be found on virtually all
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points. Near consensus was achieved on all constituent parts of the text, but not on its totality. Only a very small number of delegations had serious problems with texts that were acceptable to most; he had attached the Chairman's "perception" as an annex to his report this year. He felt that the most essential article in the optional protocol was on participation in hostilities, and it must establish an 18-year age limit. If other provisions could not be agreed upon, one might have to consider a protocol containing only one substantive article, on that critical point. The most disappointing development was that there was no longer full consensus on an 18-year age limit for compulsory recruitment into the armed forces of a State party. He had thought that issue had been settled last year.
IVAN MORA GODOY, Chairman-Rapporteur of the working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, introducing the panel's report, said progress had been made in the drafting process, although it was disappointing that the process had been slowed down by differences among delegates. Indeed, some of the obstacles faced by the group concerned fundamental differences among delegates on the mandate of the working group. Some argued that the draft optional protocol should be restricted to the sexual exploitation and the sale of children for that purpose. On the other hand, others argued that whatever the purpose, a broader definition should be employed for the sale of children.
Thus, Mr. Godoy continued, despite the progress, decisions reached by consensus had become fragile because they were subjected to revision by certain delegates. He urged delegates in the working group not to reopen consensus decisions so as not to slow down the progress of the process. There was also urgency because of the deadline for the end of the panel's work, which was the year 2000.
EDUARDO TAPIA (Chile) said his country was happy about the large number of countries which had acceded to or ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child; that showed that the international community was aware of the need for mechanisms to protect children and guarantee their rights. However, the Convention had two shortcomings related to dealing with the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and with the participation of children in armed conflict. Chile was concerned about the slow progress of the two working groups on those two issues. Chile's concern about the situation of children internationally was reflected in its activities. At the national level, Chile was working on the eradication of child labour, which persisted in some areas. That work was carried out with the help of the International Labour Office and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Chile hoped to enter the new century with this problem eradicated. Many problems of children were transnational and needed to be dealt with in an integrated manner by the international community.
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NOBUTOSHI AKAO (Japan) said Japan had undertaken several amendments to strengthen its Child Welfare Law, which had just entered into force this month. It was gravely concerned with the problems of children caught up in armed conflicts and it further urged all parties to armed conflicts to strictly observe Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, limiting the age of soldiers to greater than 15 years; in fact, it favoured a minimum age of 18 years and would continue to participate in the relevant working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on involvement of children in armed conflicts. It was also promoting a "zero-victim programme" aimed at a universal banning of landmines and expanded mine-clearance programmes and assistance to victims. It had been promoting a campaign to raise awareness on the issue of child prostitution, on example being the International Symposium against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, convened by the Japan Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund and the Swedish Embassy in Japan, with Government support. A parliamentary project team intended to introduce to the Diet a bill aimed at strengthening current laws on sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
AUDREY GLOVER (United Kingdom), speaking on behalf of the European Union and the Central and Eastern European countries associated with the Union, said the near universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child demonstrated international acceptance of the need to give special emphasis to the rights of the child. The time had now come to focus on the implementation of States parties' obligations, for despite the commitments entered into by almost all Governments, the lives of millions of children around the world were ruined by human rights violations. Under the Convention, Governments had a responsibility to formulate national policies and to provide a framework of laws and administrative measures to protect children's rights. Implementation of the Convention, however, required more than the creation of such a framework. Children and adults needed to be aware of, and to understand, that framework. Fair and effective enforcement of laws, policies and programmes to protect children should be ensured. Criminal justice systems should treat child victims with fairness and sensitivity. In all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration. Measures to raise awareness of the rights of the child throughout civil society, including among children themselves, were an important part of implementation of the Convention. The Special Rapporteurs and working groups needed to keep children's perspective in mind when seeking and analysing information and reporting to the Commission. To achieve universal protection of the rights of the child, everyone needed to consider how the children's perspective could be mainstreamed into laws, policies and programmes.
HAROLD ACEMAH (Uganda) said the most important and pressing challenge today was to translate the formidable body of human rights instruments and commitments into action that could make a tangible difference to the fate of children exposed to danger on the ground. Uganda had signed and ratified the
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Convention on the Rights of the Children in 1990 and was making every effort to implement and adhere to its provisions and to promote and protect the rights of Ugandan children. But in northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army had abducted between 8,000 and 10,000 children, the majority between 12 and 16 years, forcibly recruiting them as soldiers. The Lord's Resistance Army claimed that its reign of terror, involving the abduction, torture, rape, mutilation, enslavement and murder of innocent children, was aimed at establishing in Uganda a theocratic State. Uganda had been a secular State since independence in 1962 and would remain so. The ongoing abduction and abuse of children in northern Uganda was a gross violation of human rights and was one of the most serious violations of children's rights in the world today. The Commission was urged to take decisive action to end this outrage. Uganda appealed to all members of the Commission to lend their support to the draft resolution on abducted children.
MARIA-ESPERANZA RUERTA DE FURTER (Venezuela) said extreme poverty was a great violator of the rights of the child. Children more than anyone else required special protection, as outlined by the Convention of the Rights of the Child. It was important to keep in mind the interrelation of child rights with economic, social, and cultural rights. Children who were victims of behavioural disturbances or who infringed criminal laws deserved rehabilitation and reintegration into society; the issue continued to be contentious. Juvenile offenders must be excluded from common criminal jurisdiction and treated under jurisdictions established especially for children. It was urgent to implement these provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; current implementation left much to be desired, despite ratification of the Convention by almost all the world's countries. Such children must also not be held in isolation or referred to in derogatory fashion as "delinquents" or even as "prostitutes", as they were in some countries. Efforts to abolish child pornography and prostitution should include efforts to enhance economic rights, so that the root causes of the problem would be addressed.
JORGE PEREZ OTERMIN (Uruguay) said his country had for a long time staunchly defended the rights of the child at the national and international levels. For example, the 1995 State reform had given pre-school education an important place in society; children between four and five years of age were provided with the necessary material support from the State. The institutional reform was complemented by measures aimed at providing coverage of children from vulnerable groups and the rural poor. The Government had also taken measures to improve health care. As a result, infant mortality had decreased over the past years. Moreover, Uruguay had promoted the rights of children by actively advocating the setting of the age-limit for enrolment in armed forces at 18 years.
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Human Rights Violations
SIMA EIVAZOVA (Azerbaijan) said the armed aggression of Armenia against her country, in pursuit of a policy of violent acquisition of territory and plans to establish a mythical "Greater Armenia", had resulted in the gross and flagrant violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Azerbaijanis. The Armenian policy of military aggression and "ethnic cleansing" had resulted in the occupation of more than 20 per cent of the territory of Azerbaijan and in the creation of over 1 million refugees and displaced persons. Hundreds of settlements, civilian housing and social facilities had been looted, destroyed and burned in the occupied territories. Hostages and prisoners of war had been used by Armenian authorities in forced labour; they were being subjected to inhumane treatment, beatings, torture and other violations of their human rights. The vast majority of them were detained by the Armenian side without the knowledge of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and therefore did not appear on that organization's lists.
SEFIK FADZAN (Bosnia and Herzegovina) said his country had been the site of the most flagrant violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms during the aggression that lasted from 1992 to 1995. Two years after the signature of the Dayton peace agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina was still a country with many problems and obstacles. Questions like the return of refugees and displaced persons, full freedom of movement, the right to property, freedom of expression and free media were just a few of the most important ones to be solved. Bosnia and Herzegovina reiterated that the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons to their homes of origin was the key element of the successful implementation of the peace agreement. There was also a need to bring to justice indicted war criminals. The Government was aware of the enormity of the task it faced, but some positive results achieved so far indicated that the country could overcome the heavy legacy of the terrible war.
ALI MCHUMO (United Republic of Tanzania) said that security in the context of the civil war in Burundi was always uncertain and varied from one province to another. His country was concerned over the execution by hanging of 6 people in Burundi after what was clearly a defective process, and for the fate of 71 persons currently on death row after similarly defective trials. It was also concerned over the proliferation of arms in Burundi. It stressed that Burundi's efforts towards democracy must be based on the principle of one man one vote, and that there should be no abandonment of that standard to protect the Buyoya regime. The root cause of human rights violations in Burundi was a legacy of exclusion and political rigidity. He called on Burundi to seek dialogue, political accommodation and national reconciliation. The United Republic of Tanzania regretted that the Special Rapporteur had once again misstated and misrepresented the situation of sanctions imposed on Burundi by neighbouring States; those States were sensitive to the plight of
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innocent persons affected negatively and had calibrated the sanctions over time. Critics had to bear in mind that the sanctions were not punitive but intended to nudge the peace process forward; the Special Rapporteur, it was hoped, would in future desist from making unbalanced and biased reports.
PAULO SERGIO PINHEIRO, Special Rapporteur on Burundi, said he wished to thank the United Republic Tanzania for its comments on his report. He also was content with Burundi's comments on the report. Concerning the issue of the respect of citizens which the representative of the United Republic of Tanzania had raised, he wanted to say that as Special Rapporteur, he did not have a mandate to call for the maintenance or suspension of sanctions. The only aspect in which the sanctions affected his mandate was in so far as he recognized their effects on economic, social and cultural rights. He would be grateful if that country could acknowledge his objectivity on that score, just it had done regarding other issues in his report.
Right of Reply
BULENT MERIC (Turkey), speaking in exercise of the right of reply, said he regretted to face once again the tendentious and unfounded accusations contained in a European Union statement. Those accusations were unfortunately repeated every year, despite the fact that his country continued to move along the path of human rights reform and cooperated candidly with the United Nations human rights mechanisms. Had the Union mentioned in their statement their own serious human rights problems -- such as continuing racial debasement and violence, ill-treatment and discrimination against migrant workers, and inhumane asylum policies -- they would have been more convincing in their criticism of Turkey. The same went for the non-governmental organizations which had directed unfounded accusations at Turkey.
PETROS EFTYCHIOU (Cyprus) said that despite Turkey's non-recognition of his country and its aggression against it, the Republic of Cyprus was a Member State of the United Nations. There was a Cypriot saying which loosely translated into: "He who has no shame can claim to own the world." The representative of Turkey, in his defence of what could not be defended, told the world, among other things, that its condemnation of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus was wrong and that the implantation of thousands of Turkish citizens in Cyprus was not a violation. Following that reasoning, Turkey's next demand would be to ask Cyprus to apologize for its rights.
EMMANUEL MANOUSSAKIS (Greece) said it fully subscribed to the statement just made by Cyprus. In addition, Greece wished to point out that Turkey had tried again to divert attention from the serious responsibility of Turkey for the grave situation in Cyprus. Turkey should simply implement relevant United Nations resolutions and remove its troops from Cyprus; it should respect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
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BULENT MERIC (Turkey) said a report of the Secretary-General dated 22 November 1993 spoke of paranoia in the Greek and Cypriot media. As long as that paranoia existed, the Cyprus problem would continue.
PETROS EFTCHIOU (Cyprus) said he thanked the Turkish representative for his diagnosis of hysteria, but he preferred to go with the opinion of the rest of the international community. If the representative of Turkey bothered to look through his Ministry's archives, he would see the full exposition of his country's plans on Cyprus.
MOHAMED-SALAH DEMBRI (Algeria) said Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders had talked about Algeria. Algeria rejected the allegations and anecdotal remarks made by Amnesty International, which obviously had carried out shallow and cursory research. What intellectual authority did it have to make such claims against Algeria? Far from helping to train human rights defenders, the organization now produced bureaucrats with little understanding of anything. As for Reporters without Borders, from 1922 through 1962, it had valiantly supported all the rights of the colonial Powers against the colonized; now that Algeria was independent, it wanted to teach the country about human rights.
AMINE EL KHAZEN (Lebanon) said his Government had rejected Israel's proposal for withdrawal from southern Lebanon, an offer which contained unacceptable conditions for his Government. Israel, which had always refused to withdraw from southern Lebanon, now made withdrawal a condition for peace. Israel's aim was to strengthen its security through the elements it had already organized in southern Lebanon. The proposal was merely intended to create a good impression on the international community. It was not a sincere offer.
AMANDEEP SINGH GILL (India) said that India totally rejected the baseless allegations made by Pakistan against it this morning. Pakistan had a single obsession: to misuse the Commission as an arena for attacks on India, propelled by its political agenda and territorial ambitions. Pakistan was not really bothered that others found its antics tiresome and transparently lacking in substance; there could be no better example of politicization and abuse of the Commission. Pakistan wished to set ultimate standards of hypocrisy, as it was guilty of intolerance, bigotry and violence. Pakistan sustained mercenaries who continued to target India's unarmed citizens, and it endemically discriminated against minorities and women. It was time for the Commission to hold Pakistan accountable for its acts.
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TEHMINA JANJUA (Pakistan) said the delegation was used to hearing lies from India. True to its aggressive nature, India wished silence once again over how it had violated the rights of the Kashmiri people; it wanted no one to know how India was the only post-colonial Power and had denied Kashmiris their right to self-determination. Given India's extensive human rights abuses, it was not surprising it wanted to distract attention from what it had done in Kashmir and from its abysmal human rights record at home. Did India really expect Pakistan to stay quiet? Only India could send -- as it had this year -- a known killer to the Commission to speak and act as if he were an innocent victim. Why did it keep 600,000 troops in Kashmir if human rights were well-respected there? Pakistan challenged India to allow an independent United Nations human rights mission to go to Kashmir and assess the situation.
GHASSAN NSEIR (Syria), referring to a statement made this morning by the Israeli representative, said the Israeli proposal was tactical and based on further refusal to withdraw from the occupied territories. Israel had been undermining the Madrid Peace Conference and subsequent agreements. Syria was always in favour of resumption of the peace process in the Middle East.
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