NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECOSOC FOR ONE ORGANIZATION, DEFERS ONE APPLICATION

Committee on NGOs

40^th Meeting (PM)

NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECOSOC

FOR ONE ORGANIZATION, DEFERS ONE APPLICATION

Committee Continues Consideration

Of Reports by Freedom House, Other Human Rights NGOs

Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance, a national organization in the Philippines, was recommended for Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council this afternoon by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).  The Committee also deferred the application for consultative status of the International Society for Human Rights, based in Germany.

Also this afternoon, the NGO Freedom House was asked to provide further clarifications of its special reports, as the Committee continued its consideration of special reports and complaints by governments.  The organization had been the subject of complaints by the delegations of Cuba, China and others over its activities, relations and reports.

In addition, the Committee requested further reports from New Human Rights and the Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples in regard to complaints by Iran.  Other special reports considered this afternoon, also relating to Iran’s complaint, were accepted, including those of:  the International Association of Democratic Lawyers; the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues; and Women’s Human Rights International Association.  Those reports are summarized in document E/C.2/2001/3/Add.2.

The 19-member NGO Committee makes recommendations to the Economic and Social Council on applications for consultative status with the Council, on reclassification of that status and on related matters.  Organizations with general and special consultative status can attend meetings of the Council and circulate statements of a certain length; those with general status can, in addition, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council’s agenda.  Quadrennial reports on activities in support of the United Nations are required by all organizations with general and special consultative status.  Organizations with roster status can attend meetings but are not required to submit quadrennial reports.

The representative of the International Society for Human Rights responded to questions concerning its application in the time allotted each evening for such purposes, between 5 and 6 p.m.  Consideration of its application for roster status was deferred until next week, pending further clarifications of issues raised by delegates, including those of Cuba, China, Senegal and Sudan.

Regarding Freedom House, the representative of China said the organization had clearly referred to Taiwan as an “independent State” and an “independent

political entity” in documents in Secretariat files, thus continuing to lack respect for the territorial integrity of China and going against the United Nations Charter.

Cuba’s representative cited the cases of various individuals she said represented links between Freedom House and certain groups such as the Cuban American National Foundation, which, she said, supported subversive activities against Cuba, including terrorism.  Cuba was willing to provide further detailed proof of such links.

Responding to China and Cuba, the representative of Freedom House reiterated his view that references to Taiwan had only described its actual situation and that his organization had no position on its status as a political entity.  He affirmed that the People’s Republic of China was the only legitimate ruling power in China.

He also denied the nature of the links alleged by Cuba between the organization and the Cuban-American groups it had mentioned, though it could not investigate the full backgrounds of all its associates.  It did not, he said, encourage subversion, only people-to-people contact regarding internationally recognized human rights.

The complaints by Iran against the organizations whose reports were considered this afternoon related to their accreditation of members of the Modjahedin Khalgh Organization/National Council of Resistance to take part in the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on Human Rights.  That movement was deemed to be a terrorist group by Iran.

The representative of Iran said that, in their special reports, New Human Rights and Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples espoused the view that they had done the right thing by issuing the credentials in question, backed by their assessment of the human rights situation in Iran.  As those groups were terrorist groups, he said, such an explanation was unacceptable.

The organizations in question, he said, must give clear indications that they would not give such movements accreditation in the future, so that they could not pursue their political agenda in the Commission on Human Rights.  It was for that reason that the organizations were asked to submit further reports.

The representative of France said solutions must be found, in general, to problems associated with the accreditation of individuals who wished to speak as witnesses on human rights issues in international bodies.  In agreeing with France, the representative of Iran said, however, witnesses must be differentiated from those with a political agenda and terrorists.  Other representatives concurred that such a distinction was an important problem to be further addressed by the Committee.

Also speaking this afternoon were the representatives of United States, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Germany and India.

The NGO Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 21 January, to consider new applications for consultative status and new requests for reclassification of status of NGOs.