COMMISSION COMPLETES DEBATE ON FOLLOW-UP TO CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS; CONCLUDES SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION FOR 1998 SESSION
Press Release
HR/CN/869
COMMISSION COMPLETES DEBATE ON FOLLOW-UP TO CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS; CONCLUDES SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION FOR 1998 SESSION
19980423 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 20 April (UN Information Service) -- The Commission on Human Rights this evening completed its debate on follow-up to the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, thus concluding the general debate for this year's six-week session. During the remaining four days, the Commission will act on draft resolutions and its report of the session.
Those addressing the meeting this evening called, among other things, for careful assessment and stocktaking five years after the Vienna Human Rights Conference. Satisfaction was also expressed for some tasks accomplished, among them the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It was noted that progress had been made in establishing democracy and in widespread recognition of the right to development. However, several speakers said more needed to be done to accomplish such development. Others emphasized that greater efforts were necessary to help the large numbers of people living in extreme poverty. In promoting human rights, emphasis should be on cooperation rather than confrontation. Goals set for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples should be met.
Statements were made by the representatives of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tunisia, Germany and Egypt.
The following non-governmental organizations also delivered statements: Human Rights Internet; Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Central America; Association for World Education (with Christian Solidarity International); World Muslim Congress; Centre for European Studies; Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru"; Federation of Associations for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights; Latin American Association of Federations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees; International Women's Tribune; International Movement for Fraternal Union Among Races and Peoples; and World Federation of Democratic Youth.
The representative of Ethiopia spoke in exercise of the right of reply.
Statements in Debate
VLADISLAV ERMAKOV (Russian Federation) said the Vienna Conference on Human Rights had been a landmark event. The Russian Federation had submitted detailed information on steps it had taken to implement the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. A new democratic Constitution had been adopted and was being put into effect. The country had joined the Council of Europe and had ratified, among other instruments, the Convention against Torture. A moratorium had been established on the death penalty, and steps were being taken to protect vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples and other minorities. National institutions for human rights were being established, and it was important that they be able to cover the entire country. Emphasis on the right to development and support for democracy must be maintained. Further cooperation between States should be based on implementation of existing instruments. That should be accomplished before new instruments were adopted.
VOLODYMYR VASSYLENKO (Ukraine) said the Vienna Conference had confirmed once again the adherence of the international community to the principle of the universality and indivisibility of human rights. In any of the world community's endeavours, respect for human rights and freedoms enshrined in the covenants and other international instruments should be both the starting point and the ultimate goal. In so recognizing, one was aware that any achievement in the field of human rights was an intrinsic component of the progress sought in the social, political and economic spheres. Closer cooperation between States and international institutions should be developed in order to translate generally recognized human rights standards into everyday practice. At the same time, the elaboration of new standards in the field of human rights was also of great importance.
IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been the principal source of inspiration in the drafting of the Constitution of his country. It provided the fountainhead from which most of its legislation flowed. Bangladesh was a democratic and pluralistic polity with full guarantees for civil and political rights. It viewed the issue of human rights in holistic terms and saw human beings as being linked, not only to the practice of democracy, to the rule of law and to the negation of fear, but also to the search for social harmony, to freedom from want and to the quest for development. It believed that these human goals must be addressed in a concerted and comprehensive manner. That was why Bangladesh believed the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action had facilitated the coming of age of the human rights agenda. Steps taken by the Government in the human rights field included the announcement to set up a national human rights institution. After consultations with all concerned, a bill had been prepared and was expected to be placed before Parliament. The Government was also proceeding
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with the appointment of a National Ombudsman and was exploring ways of enhancing the efficiency of the judiciary and making legal protection available to every citizen.
FAROOQ HASSAN (Pakistan) said among the outcomes of the Vienna Conference were the acceptance that denial of the right to self-determination was a denial of human rights; that the right to development was universal and inalienable; that widespread extreme poverty inhibited human rights; and that there should be speedy elimination of all forms of racism and xenophobia. The most shocking human rights violations took place in the course of armed conflicts and foreign occupation. There should be greater emphasis on prevention. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights might establish a special cell to deal with grave violations of human rights taking place in areas under foreign occupation. It was necessary to strengthen efforts to eliminate root causes of human rights violations and to eliminate the alarming trend of defending civil and political rights while leaving advocacy of the right to development only to developing countries. Pakistan continued to believe that there was a need for a special rapporteur on the right to development. Recently a Kashmiri human rights defender had been dragged from his house by Indian security forces, and his mutilated body was found later. Pakistan asked not for a moment of silence but for people to speak out against such violations committed in Kashmir.
KAMEL MORJANE (Tunisia) said the Vienna Declaration and the Programme of Action were the results of a long process of negotiation to which Tunisia had actively contributed, particularly by hosting the African preparatory conference. The Vienna Declaration had established the guidelines of an international strategy for the promotion of human rights which reaffirmed that all human rights were universal, interdependent and indivisible. It also underlined that the international community should treat human rights globally, in an equitable and balanced manner. The promotion and protection of human rights, the strengthening of the rule of law, the consolidation of the democratic process and dialogue, and international cooperation were components of fundamental importance to Tunisian policies. Tunisia's attachment to the implementation of the Declaration was made concrete by a global approach and multidimensional development, which encompassed the strengthening of the right to education and the promotion of children's rights, including the rights of women. Numerous reforms had been undertaken in all those fields.
MICHAEL SCHAEFER (Germany) said his Government had submitted a comprehensive and extensive report in December 1997 which addressed its efforts to implement the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The report concentrated on the combat against racism, xenophobia and intolerance and on the incorporation of the Vienna recommendations into the practice of German development cooperation. The series of world conferences, summits and congresses held in recent years on a plethora of highly important human rights
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topics had undoubtedly contributed to the mainstreaming of human rights and to a heightened awareness of human rights. However, major challenges had to be addressed urgently and in a concrete way. For example, the number of bloody, mostly internal conflicts triggered by grave human rights violations was regrettably on the increase. Therefore, preventive diplomacy must be strengthened and human rights action was one of its key elements. To live up to the letter and spirit of the Vienna Declaration, the share of the regular United Nations budget allocated to human rights activities had to correspond to the declared high priority of these activities within the United Nations system. Also, everyone agreed that dialogue was the ideal instrument to promote and stabilize human rights, addressing situations in which they were threatened or violated. This session of the Commission had again proved that the potential for constructive dialogue was far from being exhausted.
MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt) said there was not only one model of social, political, or legal organization; one could have diversity and universal respect for human rights. He reiterated the importance of the right to development, and of economic, social, and cultural rights. Those rights were closely linked to civil and political rights. The technical cooperation programme in the field of human rights was one of the major tools in protecting those rights. It helped countries to build their own capacities; it also had helped to change the pattern in dealing with human rights from confrontation to cooperation. Technical assistance should not be linked to any political preconditions, and such services must be funded from the United Nations regular budget. Countries must meet their basic United Nations financial commitments so as to implement the major United Nations human rights programmes.
LAURIZ WISZBERG , of Human Rights Internet, said her group had actively been involved in the Vienna Conference. Five years after that event, 1998 should not pass without further activities in the field of human rights being undertaken. The achievements and obstacles encountered in the application of the Vienna Declaration should be critically assessed before the next millennium. Human Rights Internet was organizing a conference in Canada next June to assess and analyze the accomplishments of the Vienna Declaration. All governments and non-governmental organizations were invited to participate.
FACTOR MENDEZ, of the Commission for the Defence of Human Rights in Central America, said the second World Conference of Human Rights in 1993 had concluded that violence against women was a violation of human rights. While progress had been achieved at the international level, the same was not true at the national level or in women's daily lives. Women continued to live in male-centered societies; the result was discrimination, violence against them and inadequate protection of their rights. Women continued to face many obstacles, among them myths and customs which were intended to demonstrate that they were inferior. There was a need for international laws to protect the human rights of women. For all the above reasons, the Commission for the
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Defence of Human Rights in Central America was joining in the efforts for the optional protocol to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to allow women to lodge complaints against States parties.
DAVID LITTMAN, of the Association for World Education, in a joint statement with Christian Solidarity International, said the "blasphemy" charge brought against Special Rapporteur Glélé Ahanhanzo's report on racism smacked of the very violation of freedom of thought and opinion that the Commission was supposed to support. Special Rapporteurs should not be requested to amend their reports merely because certain passages did not appeal to some Member States. The "blasphemy" charge set a dangerous precedent and was but one example of a creeping form of "cultural relativism" aimed at censorship. Hopefully, this contagion would be stemmed. For years his Association had maintained that in order to prevent genocidal intentions being implemented, the 1948 Genocide Convention must be invoked by any State contracting party in cases of direct and public incitement to commit genocide and in cases of complicity to commit genocide. There should be a Chairman's statement strongly condemning any direct or public incitement to commit genocide or complicity in it, and strongly condemning any call to kill in the name of God or religion.
TARIQ FAROOQ, of the World Muslim Congress, said the adoption five years ago of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was a landmark achievement of the international community in the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide. It reaffirmed the principle that all human rights were universal, indivisible and interdependent. Equally important, it upheld that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction of any kind was a basic premise of international humanitarian law. The present review should serve as an important opportunity for introspection and serious reflection to measure progress in the implementation of the Declaration.
LAZARO MORA SECADE, of the Center for European Studies, said it was most unfortunate that the international community would be faced with the five-year review of the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action without having performed regional evaluation exercises. However, there was still time for governments, non-governmental organizations and international organizations to contribute and submit proposals based on particular experiences. The Center for European Studies believed that practical steps must be taken to realize the universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of all human rights. It was neither possible nor admissible to continue attaching priority to the analysis and monitoring of civil and political rights and to the exercise of fundamental freedoms while neglecting the evaluation of governments' observance of their duties to promote, mainstream and allocate growing resources to guarantee the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. All of them had equal relevance -- the violation of one set jeopardized the guarantee of the others.
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LAZARO PARY, of the Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru", said the High Commissioner had done much to implement the Vienna Programme of Action, but much remained to be done. Mere words and empty speeches should not be all; there should be real implementation and genuine compliance, as well as a strengthening of mechanisms for human rights, including mechanisms for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. The draft declaration on indigenous peoples' rights should be concluded as soon as possible. In open defiance of the Vienna Declaration, States continued to dispute its basic provisions and to water down its language. There should also be genuine protection of the cultural property and heritage of such peoples; the plunder and piracy that was taking place must be ended. Finally a permanent forum for indigenous peoples must be established within the United Nations system.
ANTONIA MACIAS, of the Fédération des Associations pour la défence et la Pomotion des Droits de l'Homme, said the Commission should give due attention to impunity. The group requested the Governments of Chile and Argentina to help in the search for Spanish citizens who had disappeared during the former dictatorial regimes in their respective countries. The group would also support the creation of an international criminal court attached to the Security Council to judge crimes against human rights.
FRIEDRICH KIRCHER, of the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, said it was regrettable that five years after the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, only 30 States had responded to the request of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for a review of its implementation. Too many governments wished to prevent knowledge of the true human rights situation in their countries, and many were trying to minimize the gravity of the situation and dodge responsibility. Goodwill should not be measured by the number of conventions a country had ratified or the number of national human rights institutions it had set up, but by the reduction in the number of crimes committed. Preventive and legal measures were needed to deal with the perpetrators of crimes and to guarantee the rights of victims. In Colombia, human rights defender Eduardo Mendoza, who had denounced the human rights situation in the country before the Commission, had been murdered. The Government had done nothing to deal with accusations of the Colombian non-governmental organizations. Instead, the Government adhered to the policy of omission and failed to clarify the facts. The authors of crimes were allowed to act with impunity.
MARIA JOSE LUBERTINO, of the International Women's Tribune, said the promise of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action could only be translated into reality when everyone in the world knew of and enjoyed human rights. There must be effective follow-up and coordination of different global conferences. There must furthermore be respect for all human rights, not only some. Globalization was neither good nor bad; it depended on what was done. Children and women must be prevented from exploitation. Globalization policies must not harm health and social security and must not
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lead to the exclusion of low-income sectors. Today in Latin America they were even pauperizing the middle class. Countries must remove their reservations to human rights treaties. Currently they often effectively blocked the value of the treaties. Similarly, reservations often effectively prevented enjoyment of the rights of minorities. In Poland, legislation effectively had blocked reproductive rights; women must be given their right to sexual education and family planning.
MESFIN WOLDE MARIAM, of the International Movement for Fraternal Union Among Races and Peoples, said the regime in Ethiopia had signed the Vienna Declaration and several other human rights conventions, except the African Charter of Human and People's Rights. The mere signing of those declarations and conventions for the purpose of securing political, diplomatic, economic and military assistance was obviously contrary to the spirit and letter of those human rights instruments. The regime flouted all the declarations and conventions with impunity: extrajudicial executions, torture, forced disappearances and illegal detention were the norm in Ethiopia. There were thousands of persons who had been in jail for years without a day in court. The regime had not charged a single one of its own assassins, or those who had maimed men, women and children by torture.
ABDELBAGI GEBRIEL, of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, said the Kampala Declaration on Political Intolerance in Africa, drafted in Kampala by non-governmental organizations from 34 African countries in February, stated that despite commitments made by all African States to guarantee freedom of expression and belief and the right to choose one's representatives, political intolerance persisted in some African countries. Opponents were either imprisoned or murdered. African Governments were called on to abrogate repressive legislation behind arbitrary arrests and to ensure the release of political detainees, Civil society was called upon to launch national and regional campaigns of solidarity with the victims of violations.
MINELIK GETAHUN (Ethiopia), speaking in right of reply, said the International Movement for Fraternal Union of Races and Peoples had indulged in its customary vilification of the Government of Ethiopia; the organization was political and did not care about human rights. It had always lamented the demise of the old regime in Ethiopia, and since it could not bring back that Government, it engaged in vilification of the democratically elected regime that now ran the country. The organization was more and more bitter, and that explained its increasingly shrill attacks and its failure to admit the many achievements of the Government.
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