EXPERT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SUDAN CITES ‘STRONG INDICATIONS’ OF COMMISSION OF WAR CRIMES IN DARFUR, AS THIRD COMMITTEE CONTINUES DIALOGUE WITH EXPERTS

Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Third Committee

30^th & 31^st Meetings (AM & PM)

EXPERT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN SUDAN CITES ‘STRONG INDICATIONS’ OF COMMISSION OF WAR

CRIMES IN DARFUR, AS THIRD COMMITTEE CONTINUES DIALOGUE WITH EXPERTS

Committee also Hears Reports from Special Rapporteurs

On Health, Violence Against Women, Right to Development, Human Trafficking

There were strong indications that war crimes -- including murder, torture, rape and the intentional targeting of civilians -- had been committed in the Darfur region of Sudan, said the Independent Expert on human rights in that country today, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) entered its third day of dialogue with various special mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights.

Joined by his colleagues on the right to health, violence against women, the right to development, and trafficking in persons, Emmanuel Akwei Addo, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, spelled out priority concerns for his mandate and reviewed issue areas on which he would focus in coming months.

Detailing the findings of his first visit to the country, Mr. Addo said the Sudanese Government’s deployment of the military and Arab militias -- known as the Janjaweed -- had resulted in the displacement of some 1.5 million unarmed, defenceless and innocent civilians.  An estimated 50,000 civilians were feared dead, and the true number might never be known.  Instead of fighting rebels, the Government forces, together with the Janjaweed militias, had waged a systematic campaign against the unarmed civilian population.  In response to a subsequent denial by the representative of Sudan, Mr. Addo said no amount of lying could hide the fact that civilians had been attacked.

The two-party framework of Sudan’s peace talks did not adequately address all the country’s current armed conflicts, he warned.  There was real potential for those who felt ignored by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) peace process to undermine any deal between the Government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).  Moreover, while desire for democratic transformation and the restoration of the rule of law had been expressed by the people, the Government remained unable or unwilling to disarm the militias, nor was it able to protect civilians.  The African Union, with the help of the United Nations and the international community, must consider sending additional forces to Sudan to protect internally displaced persons.

For his part, Paul Hunt, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said there was a need for urgent and concerted efforts at all levels to redress the profound disparities between the health of indigenous and non-indigenous populations in many countries and communities around the world.  Other priorities included methods for monitoring the progressive realization of the right to health and examining the health-related Millennium Development Goals through the lens of the right to health. 

One of the most striking features of the Millennium Goals remained the prominence given to health, he said.  Of the eight Goals, four were directly related to health.  His report explored what the right to health could bring to the health-related Goals, including help to ensure that the policies were participatory -- not top-down and technocratic.  It could also help to ensure that health professionals received the serious attention they deserved, reaffirmed the crucial sexual and reproductive health components of the Goals -- HIV/AIDS and maternal health -- and served to reinforce the eighth Goal, the development of a global partnership for development.

Yakin Erturk, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, said her report emphasized the universality of violence against women, which remained rooted in all systems of subordination and inequality.  While the past decade’s efforts had brought hope to women around the world, she remained concerned about alarming trends of growing political conservatism and backlash, which threatened progress on women’s human rights.  Among the areas particularly threatened were women’s reproductive health rights and initiatives to end violence against women.  Cultural and religious conflict had resulted in attempts to justify violence against women both within and between conflicting groups.  Women had become mediums through which cultural boundaries were guarded, honour was preserved, and wars were fought.  She also highlighted the emergence of HIV/AIDS as the single most devastating epidemic experienced in modern history.

The Chair of the Working Group on the right to development, Ibrahim Salama, said that significant progress had been made at the Group’s fifth session to reach agreed conclusions, which essentially, recommended the adoption of an entirely new approach towards realization of the right to development.  The process of globalization held great promise and opportunity for all human beings, but it must be managed so as not to exclude anyone.  The right to development framework could help in meeting the universal concern to establish a development process ensuring fuller realization of all human rights, including the right to development, for all.  Realization of the right to development remained at once a governmental, developmental and human rights issue.

Sigma Huda, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, said her mandate’s establishment constituted recognition of trafficking in persons as one of the most serious challenges facing human rights today.  Trafficking represented the denial of virtually every human right, yet it had often been addressed only as a “law and order” problem.  The international community must garner the political will to act against the crime of trafficking and to hold its perpetrators legally accountable.

Mandated to focus upon the human rights aspects of trafficking, she said two basic principles would guide her action:  that the human rights of trafficked persons should remain at the centre of all efforts to combat trafficking and to protect, assist and provide redress to its victims; and that anti-trafficking measures should not adversely affect the human rights and dignity of victims of trafficking.  She would seek to broaden the debate on trafficking from a human rights perspective, examining its forced labour and slavery-like aspects and locating it in the larger context of migration and development.

Opening the morning meeting, Titinga Frederic Pacéré, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, returned to conclude his dialogue with the Committee, addressing questions related to cooperation between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the International Criminal Court, the establishment of an international tribunal for the country, and violence against women.

Following each of today’s presentations, delegations had the opportunity to engage in question-and-answer sessions with the Special Rapporteur or Independent Expert.  Participating in those dialogues were the representatives of Sudan, Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), United States, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, Grenada, New Zealand, China, Cuba, Republic of Korea, Guatemala, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Estonia, Indonesia, Syria, Tunisia, India, Yemen, Thailand, Japan, Philippines and Burkina Faso.

Before adjourning, the Committee briefly resumed its general discussion of human rights questions to hear statements by the representatives of Belarus and Republic of Korea.

Taking the floor in exercise of the right of reply was the representative of the United States.  The representative of Belarus reserved the right to exercise his right of reply at a future meeting.

The Third Committee will reconvene at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, 1 November, to continue its general discussion of human rights questions.

Background

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met today to continue its consideration of human rights questions.  It was expected to hear presentations by, and hold dialogues with the following special mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights:  the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan; the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences; the Chairman of the Working Group on the right to development (presenting the report contained in document A/59/255); and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, particularly women and children.

The Committee was also expected to continue its dialogue with the Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who presented his report yesterday (document A/59/367).  For additional information on his presentation, please see Press Release GA/SHC/3794 of 28 October.

Resumed Dialogue with Independent Expert on Democratic Republic of Congo

Responding to a series of questions posed during yesterday’s question-and-answer session, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, TITINGA FREDERIC PACERE, said that, regarding cooperation between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the International Criminal Court, the two parties had signed an agreement on privileges and immunities to enable the Court’s delegation to continue its investigation of crimes perpetrated in Bunia.  That agreement should facilitate the Court’s access to the region.  There had also been an agreement between the Government and the Office of the Prosecutor of the Court.  Moreover, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) had provided clarifications on the sending of a delegation to Bunia.

Regarding the establishment of an international tribunal, he said the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s domestic justice system lay in shambles.  It could not meet the country’s needs.  During his visit to the country, he had seen court clerks act as bailiffs to carry out court decisions.  Neither judges nor clerks received sufficient salaries.  There were not enough judges nationwide to deal with the need for justice, which had led to lawyers being seated on the bench.  Perhaps, if the necessary human and material resources had been made available, the national system could have provided justice.  However, in current circumstances, justice could not be administered.  It was necessary to bring in international justice to deal with the situation.

Support for the training of national police and security services was also necessary, he stressed.  Congolese police officers had engaged in torture because they had not been properly trained as to appropriate behaviour.  There must also be capacity-building for protection of prisoners, women, girls, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups.

Regarding the prevalence of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly against women, he said this was one of the most serious problems faced by the country.  Rape had become a weapon of war, a sign of victory and a means to show one’s triumph.  He had received information from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 5000 women, raped in the period of one year.  These women had often been killed afterwards, or subjected to female genital mutilation, or infected with HIV/AIDS.  Human Rights Watch had provided information of instances of rape, including the description of violence committed against a 20-year-old woman who had stated her preference to die rather than be raped.  Her left breast had been cut off, then her genital labia, and finally, her throat had been cut.  Eventually she had died, with her own breast in her hand.  Other instances of rape had been reported, including rape perpetrated against girls as young as three years.  These sorts of crimes continued because there was no tribunal to hold perpetrators accountable.  The culture of impunity ruled.

Concerning the return of refugees, he detailed recent meetings between the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda.

Statement by Independent Expert on Human Rights in Sudan

JUSTICE EMMANUEL AKWEI ADDO, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, told the Committee he had visited the Sudan from 19 to 29 August and Nairobi on 30 and 31 August to meet with representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).  In Khartoum he had met with several governmental departments and officials, and representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations, human rights and civil society groups as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs).  He had also visited Nyala, south Darfur, where he had visited the Kalma IDP Camp, which hosted some 90,000 people.

During his visit, he had learned that the human rights crisis in Darfur had degenerated when, in February 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a rebel group, had attacked government security forces and the airport of El-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur State, destroying planes and reportedly killing some 70 military personnel.  The Government’s response had been to ruthlessly put down the insurrection.  With a view to flushing out the two rebel groups, namely the SLM (Sudan Liberation Movement) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), from their stronghold in Darfur, the Government had deployed the might of the military, the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) and Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, on unarmed, defenceless and innocent civilians, who belonged to the same tribal groups as the rebels. 

As a result, some one million and a half civilians had been internally displaced and had been living in fetid camps for the past months, he said.  In addition, about 500,000 people had been forced to flee the country and had become refugees in neighbouring Chad.  While an estimated 50,000 civilians were feared dead, the true number might never be known.  Instead of fighting the rebels, the Government forces, together with the Janjaweed militias, had waged a systematic campaign against the unarmed civilian population.

The counterinsurgency warfare carried on with high technology weaponry that the Government of Sudan had unleashed on its own citizens was inherently intolerable because of its tendency to produce indiscriminate and massive destruction, he continued.  Consistent with the African Union Peace and Security Council Protocol, the African Union had been endowed with a far-reaching mandate to enhance its prospects of ensuring peace and stability on the continent.  The Peace and Security Council was visualized as having the legal power to intervene in Member States’ domestic affairs, where abuses and violations of human rights were recorded, and principles of good governance were flawed.

There were strong indications that war crimes had been committed in Darfur, he said, including murder, torture, rape and intentional attacks against civilians and civilian objects.  There were also strong indications that crimes against humanity had been committed in Darfur, including killings, forcible displacements and rape committed as participation of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population.

The two-party framework in which Sudan’s peace talks were being held was not adequately addressing all the country’s current armed conflicts, especially the long-running rebellions in the “Three Areas” -- Abyei, the Nuba Mountains and southern Blue Nile --  in the north and the more recent outbreak of armed conflicts in Darfur in western Sudan.  The real potential existed for those who felt ignored by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) peace process to undermine any deal that was between only the Khartoum Government and the rebel SPLM/A.  It was, therefore, incumbent upon the IGAD mediation and the international observers to ensure that the grievances driving conflicts in those areas were fully dealt with in a comprehensive peace deal.  Malakal, Beja in Kassala and UnityState were trouble spots which must not be overlooked.

While the desire for a democratic transformation and the restoration of the rule of law had been expressed by the people, he regretted to note that the Janjaweed had not yet disarmed.  The African Union, with the help of the United Nations and the international community, must consider sending more of their forces to Sudan to protect the IDPs and civilians.  It was clear that the Government was not able or willing to disarm the militia nor was it able to effectively protect the internally displaced persons and the civilians.  Consideration should be given to broadening the forces mandate to include disarming the militia, which could be done under Article 17 of the African Union’s Peace and Security Agreement.

Dialogue with Independent Expert on Sudan

Participating in a subsequent question-and-answer session with the Independent Expert were the representatives of Sudan, Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), United States, Canada and Switzerland.

First to comment upon the Independent Expert’s report, the representative of Sudan said the truth of the matter was that he was not sure that the report fully coincided with the mandate of the Independent Expert.  The report had gone into political questions in the Sudan and how to treat them.  Was that part of the Independent Expert’s mandate?  He did not deny that there were problems in the Sudan.  However, those problems could not be addressed in a hasty, simplified and even naïve manner.  The Independent Expert said he spent ten days in the Sudan.  How many of those days had been spent in Darfur?  How many areas had he visited in Darfur, an area bigger than France?  Even the figures cited in the report were also different from the figures in other reports.  It was the first time he was hearing about 500,000 refugees in Chad.  The only point he agreed with was that the true number might never be known. 

He said the Independent Expert had addressed the reasons for the problems.  He did not know whether it was in the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene in addressing those problems.  There was an obvious bias against the Government.  The report had described the start of the problem as very innocent insurgents attacking a Government post, killing 70 people.  That was a very naïve approach, revealing that he had no knowledge of the area.  If the problem was so simple, would the Security Council have addressed it in the course of so many meetings?  One could not speak about the problem in that manner.

He said the report’s comments on the Intergovernmental Authority for Development and the African Union were outside the mandate of the independent expert and the High Commissioner for Refugees.  The Government was negotiating in the south, in the west, in Abuja, and the whole of Sudan, in Cairo.  It was also dealing daily with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.  The report spoke of one million affected persons.  If 250,000 people had fled to Chad, where had the IDPs gone?  They had gone to Government areas, which were caring for them.  How then could the Government with its high technology wage war on its citizens?  Some 90 per cent of the report addressed arbitrary information.  He reserved the right to submit a written letter to be added to the Committee’s documents.

In response to the representative of Sudan, Mr. ADDO said his mandate was focused on monitoring and reporting about the human rights situation in Sudan, and Sudan included Darfur.  Because of the magnitude of the problem in that region, he had spent more time there than in other areas.  He had spent two days in Darfur, which had been long enough for him to witness what had happened there.

The situation of democracy and security remained linked to that of human rights in Sudan, he continued, as he had noted in reference to the Intergovernmental Authority for Development peace process.  Largely, the problem resulted from the exclusion from the peace process of tribes other than the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).  Those other tribes and peoples did not feel bound by the peace process, as it remained only a bilateral agreement.  Preventing the peace process from being undermined would required bringing all parties on board; if other grievances were not addressed, the peace agreement would not work.

As to the Government’s denial of having perpetrated attacks against the civilian population, he noted that the Sudanese Minister of Defence had admitted that bombs had missed their targets.  Civilians had been attacked.  No amount of lying could hide that fact. 

Responding to other delegations’ questions, he said that the issue of gender-based violence would definitely be addressed in his forthcoming report, as it was an issue of high priority.  He also remained open to cooperating with the International Commission of Inquiry on Sudan.

All over the country, he stressed, the problem remained the same.  Every community felt that it had been marginalized.  The Government of the Sudan must listen to these communities, which had, thus far, received the impression that the Government only listened to those bearing arms.  Civilian parties had requested democratic change, nothing had happened.  The Liberation Army had taken up arms, attacking a few places, and now there was a peace process.  Those trying to change the situation peacefully felt their efforts were useless, so they took up arms to get the Government’s attention, and the Government must realize that.

Regarding the national security services, he said they had permeated every aspect of life in the Sudan.  This was not a characteristic of a democratic country.

On the responsibilities of the international community, he said that the present number of international forces remained insufficient.  To disarm the Janjaweed, many more than 4,000 troops would be needed.  The Government remained unwilling, or unable, to disarm the Janjaweed.  Thus, the African Union Peace and Security Council must act on this issue, in conjunction with the United Nations and other international agencies.

Concerning the root causes of the multiple conflicts in Sudan, he said the primary causes remained underdevelopment and the imposition of Arab culture.  The population of natural resource-rich areas did not see the benefits of those resources’ exploitation.  The many non-Arab peoples of Sudan had had Arab culture imposed upon them.  Both of these practices were resented by the population of Sudan.

He planned to return to Sudan in January, he concluded, and he hoped that, at that time, the peace agreement would have made it easier for him to conclude a good report on Sudan.  He had been told that once the peace process had been concluded, everything would fall into place; that remained to be seen.

Responding to the comments of the Independent Expert, the representative of Sudan said he continued to question the Expert’s mandate.  He seemed to have come to the Committee to discuss peace and security, yet human rights remained the subject of his mandate.  Instead of discussing differences between the political parties in Sudan, he should properly be discussing what the Government had done to redress issues such as impunity and violence against women.  Moreover, the Independent Expert had referred to “most of the people” he had talked to.  Who were most of the people?  He had not talked to 20 million of the 30 million population of Sudan.  The Independent Expert continued to act outside his mandate.

Statement by Special Rapporteur on Right to Health

PAUL HUNT, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said he had undertaken three country missions -- to Mozambique, Peru and Romania -- since presenting his interim report to the General Assembly last year.  He would be presenting three mission reports to the Commission on Human Rights in 2005.  In his annual reports to the Commission and the Assembly, he had selected aspects of the right to health that demanded careful examination.  In his report to the Commission this year, he had looked at sexual and reproductive health.  In his report next year, he would focus on mental health.  There were many other dimensions of the right to health that needed careful consideration.  There were also particular contexts in which the right to health must be examined, such as armed conflict. 

His present report addressed three topics, he said.  It called for urgent and concerted efforts at all levels to redress the profound disparities between the health of indigenous peoples and that of the non-indigenous population in many countries and communities around the world.  The right to health raised sensitive issues of culture, such as access to traditional medicines, and important issues of law, such as treaty rights to health.  The report did not attempt to examine the subject in detail, but signalled the seriousness of the issues and his intention to explore them in the future.  One of his forthcoming mission reports would look at the right to health of indigenous peoples.

His report also devoted a chapter to the problem of how a State could monitor the progressive realization of the right to health, he said.  In his last report to the Assembly, he had outlined a method for the use of indicators and benchmarks in relation to the right to health.  In the current report, he had applied that methodology to one element of the right to health, namely child survival.  Indicators for donors were needed to monitor the degree to which they were providing international assistance and cooperation in relation to the realisation of the right to health in developing countries.  His consideration of indicators and benchmarks was a “work-in-progress”, he added.

He said the major chapter in his present report examined the health-related Millennium Development Goals through the lens of the right to health.  No other set of international commitments and policy objectives had attracted such strategic, systemic and sustained attention since the foundation of the United Nations.  One of the most striking features of the Goals was the prominence they gave to health.  Of the eight Goals, four were directly related to health.  It was especially important that the right to health was brought to bear on the Millennium Development Goals.  To its credit, the Millennium Campaign used the human rights framework in its advocacy work.  To his surprise, however, human rights received only slight attention in the voluminous literature generated by the Goals.

The Millennium Project was an independent advisory body to the Secretary-General charged with analyzing the Goals and identifying strategies for their achievement, he said.  The Project had appointed 250 eminent scholars and practitioners who had organized in ten Task Forces, each of which examined a vital element of the Millennium Development Goals.  For the most part, the interim reports of the Task Forces gave scant attention to the right to health and other human rights.  Over 60 country-level Millennium Development Goals reports had been published.  They too gave little attention to the right to health and other human rights.

International human rights provided a compelling normative framework for national and international policies designed to achieve the Millennium Goals, he said.  The right to health reinforced many existing features of the Goals.  Human rights had much to offer the Goals, and the Goals had much to offer human rights.  It was important that the crucial documents unambiguously highlighted the human rights normative framework that underpinned and complemented both the Declaration and the Goals. 

In his present report, he briefly explored what the right to health brought to the health-related Goals.  The right to health could help to ensure that the policies were participatory -- not top-down and technocratic.  The right could help to ensure that health professionals received the serious attention they deserved.  The right re-affirmed the crucial sexual and reproductive health components of the Millennium Development Goals, such as HIV/AIDS and maternal health.  The right also reinforced the eighth Goal, a global partnership for development, and underscored the vital human rights feature of accountability.  For many developing countries, achieving the health-related Goals largely depended upon developed States honouring their commitments.  While that did not divest developing countries of their responsibility to do all they could themselves, it was imperative that developed States were not divested of their responsibilities under the eighth Goal.

Today, accountability in relation to the eighth Goal was especially feeble, he added.  If the international community was not able to agree on an effective, transparent and accessible accountability mechanism regarding the eighth Goal, then developing countries might wish to establish their own independent accountability mechanism regarding the discharge of developed States’ commitments under the eighth goal. 

Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Right to Health

Participating in a subsequent question-and-answer session with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health were the representatives of Brazil, Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Grenada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, China and Cuba.

In response to a question on new techniques for promotion and protection of the right to health, Mr. HUNT noted that the human rights community had effectively used traditional techniques, such as test cases, naming and shaming, letter writing campaigns, and slogans to raise awareness about human rights issues, for a number of years.  These techniques retained a crucial role in promoting and protecting human rights.  However, if the right to health was to be integrated into policy-making processes at the national and international level, these traditional techniques would prove insufficient.

The human rights community had only begun to grapple with the new techniques necessary to realize the right to health, he continued.  Among them, progress was needed in monitoring the progressive realization of the right to health, and he had begun to look at indicators and benchmarks to monitor such progress.  Further work must also be done to address the issue of how government ministers in developing countries, faced with a lack of sufficient resources, were to prioritize policy choices to maintain international commitments.  However, the fact that the international community had now begun examining these issues demonstrated the growing maturity of the right to health.

Concerning the scant attention paid to the right to health in the reports of the Task Forces on achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, he noted that the Task Force concerned with the fourth Goal -- reduction of child mortality -- had made a serious attempt to address the right to health.  As to the rest, this continued to be the old problem of different disciplines remaining within their disciplines.  The human rights community must improve its outreach to health professionals to raise awareness about the right to health.  Connected thinking was needed, in addition to connected governments.

Regarding future cooperation with the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, he reiterated his constant intent to reach out to other bodies of the United Nations system in order to ensure that the right to health became better understood.  However, such efforts remained limited by factors of resources and time.

On the role of the right to health in poverty reduction strategies, he recalled that he had cited Niger’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in his last report as a good example, and had noted that the inclusion of the right to health would have further strengthened the Paper.  He had also made recommendations to that end.  In the future, his activities would include visiting the World Bank to look at the issue and continuing his efforts to help States integrate the right to health into their national and international policy-making.

On the link between the right to health and trade liberalization and copyright policy, he noted the mission report, submitted to the last session of the Commission on Human Rights, which had followed upon his visit to the World Trade Organization.  He remained seized of these issues, and had raised the issue in one country mission.  The forthcoming report on that mission would include a discussion of the issue’s implications.

Statement by Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

YAKIN ERTURK, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences, noting that this year was the tenth anniversary of the violence against women mandate, said the efforts of the past decade had brought awareness and had given hope to women around the world that violence could be stopped.  In the period since assuming her mandate in August 2003, she had undertaken official missions to El Salvador, Guatemala and the occupied Palestinian territories.  As part of her working methods, she had participated in two regional consultations initiated by women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  She had also travelled to Darfur to assess allegations of human rights violations there.  While she had also planned to visit to the Russian Federation and Afghanistan in June and July, both missions had been postponed due to security concerns, and she hoped to reschedule the visits.  In February 2005, she would visit Mexico.  She was also awaiting confirmation on dates for visits to Iran and Algeria.

While violence against women was a persistent problem in all countries, thanks to the international women’s movement and human rights advocates, it had become a priority issue on the international community’s agenda, she said.  Over the past year, the promotion of equality between women and men and the protection of women’s human rights had moved forward at the international level, including through the General Assembly’s adoption last year of resolution 58/185 requesting the Secretary-General to conduct an in-depth study on all forms and manifestations of violence against women.  The Declaration of women ministers of foreign affairs and other dignitaries on 16 March 2004 and the specific emphasis on violence against women in interventions during the High-Level Segment of the Commission on Human Rights represented a strong expression of commitment to eliminate violence against women.  She called on States to take action towards that common goals including through the ratification of international instruments.

It was heartening that the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women had been celebrated with 179 States parties to the Convention, she added.  The ratification of the Convention’s Optional Protocol was lagging behind, however.  She was concerned over the alarming trends in the growing political conservatism and backlash, which was threatening gains made in women’s human rights.  Women’s reproductive health rights and initiatives to end violence against women were particularly under attack.

She said the report emphasized the universality of violence against women, the multiplicity of its forms and the intersectionality of diverse forms of discrimination against women rooted in all systems of subordination and inequality.  While less visible problems continued to be neglected, new issues were also emerging, particularly involving diverse actors at the transnational level.  The emergence of such issues, therefore, necessitated further standard-setting and implementation. 

She also expressed concern over the increased politicization of culture, especially religious fundamentalism in the competition over global power, as it posed a major challenge to the effective implementation of international human rights standards.  Conflict based on cultural and religious specificities often resulted in the justification of violence against women both within and between conflicting groups.  Women became the mediums through which cultural boundaries were guarded, honour was preserved and wars were fought.  The dialogue among civilizations, based on the convergence of values embedded in the common heritage of human rights, was critical for resisting such ideologies, and thus, preventing their transgression on women’s human rights and imposing boundaries or limits on those rights. 

At the national level, she proposed intervention strategies using alternative discourse at three interrelated levels consisting of the State, the community and the individual women.  At the State level, emphasis was placed on the need to observe international law and due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women.  It was important that criminal justice sanctions not be replaced by other methods of conciliation, particularly in cases involving sexual offences.  At the community level, the human rights discourse needed to be complemented by a cultural negotiation approach to raise awareness of the oppressive nature of practices upheld in the name of culture. 

At the level of individual women, particularly those at risk of violence, an empowerment approach supported by protective and compensatory mechanisms needed to be employed, she said.  At the transnational level, there was a need for greater insight into the dynamics at work before effective intervention strategies could be determined.  Given the three-tier approach, an effective implementation of international human rights law aimed to ensure women’s access to justice, state compliance and accountability, and monitoring mechanisms to measure and evaluate progress in state compliance to eliminate violence against women.

Achievement of gender justice was first and foremost a matter of political will and determination, she said.  To accurately assess how, why and under what circumstances specific forms of violence were perpetrated, gender analysis was needed at all levels of policy-making.  Effective monitoring of implementation required measurable indicators of gender justice and state accountability, time bound targets and a complex set of disaggregated data that captured the inter-linkages of multiple forms of discrimination that lead to violence against women. 

In that regard, she said she had suggested the development of two indices:  an index on violence against women and an index on State accountability on violence.  “Gender budgeting”, another powerful tool, should be further explored and adopted as a mechanism to monitor State compliance with international law to eliminate violence against women.

Since the Beijing Conference, HIV/AIDS had emerged as the single most devastating epidemic experienced in modern history, she said.  While initially perceived to be mainly a health issue, today it was also recognized as a development, security and human rights issue.  Its interconnection with women’s human rights had become a major area of concern, as women were particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, not only due to their biological conditions, but also to socio-economic inequalities. 

During her tenure, she would place priority on developing guidelines for the practical implementation of international law relating to women’s human rights with particular attention to the observance of the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.  Violence against women was a continuum of acts that violated women’s basic human rights.  Tremendous advancement had been made over the past decade, and the time had come for action.

Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women

Participating in a subsequent question-and-answer session with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women were the representatives of the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Republic of Korea, Guatemala and New Zealand.

Responding to their questions, Ms. ERTURK said the lack of concrete data on violence against women remained a major problem.  In no part of the world had she come across a systematic data collection on the issue.  To the contrary, in some regions, violence against women remained in the closet as an issue, unacknowledged as a violation of human rights by both its victims and perpetrators.  Thus, the international community must move forward on several fronts simultaneously.  It must seek to raise awareness about the problem and find ways to document systematically the violence brought to public attention.

Statistical problems had been, and would be encountered in that process, she acknowledged.  She had already been in touch with those dealing with indices of violence against women and urged all others collecting data or establishing indicators on violence against women to contact her to link their efforts.

Human rights legislation remained important to the issue, she said, in terms of formalizing the violation of human rights.  However, issues such as sexual crimes and honour crimes remained unresolved by legislation alone.  The international community must move beyond legislation to conduct awareness raising and to open cultural dialogues on those issues.  Dialogues must address such previously taboo issues, and States and national-level actors must be empowered to move forward to eradicate those crimes.

On gender budgets, she said they remained useful as they constituted the only area in which accountability was truly enforced.  If specific issues were not included, projects could be well-organized and yet have no concrete results.  Budget itemization forced all concerned to engage with the issue.  Better methodologies must be developed, and they must be implemented in a greater number of countries.

On the incidence of violence against women in situation of conflict, she recalled the report of her colleague, the Independent Expert on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and stressed that the kinds of violations committed against women in armed conflict remained devastating.  The definition of rape as a war crime had constituted a major success.

Yet, she cautioned, war time was not that different from peace time in terms of the kinds of violence to which women were subjected.  Violence began domestically, and was justified for purposes of discipline.  Individuals learned to use the violence emanating from the home in times of war or for purposes of State.  The continuity of violence against women must not be ignored.

Domestic violence simply continued to go unrecognized as a violation of human rights, she stressed.  Instead, it was treated as an aspect of the relationship between men and women.  That situation must be changed.

Cultural differences continued to pose a major challenge to discussions of violence against women, she stressed.  Violence should be addressed in a concrete manner, not circumscribed by cultural or geographic boundaries.  Its form did not differ according to culture.

Regarding monitoring and follow-up to her work, she acknowledged that the monitoring capacity of the special mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights remained problematic.  Special Rapporteurs were volunteers with limited resources, so their ability to monitor their predecessors and their own work lagged behind.  However, the issue was being addressed at Rapporteur meetings, which aimed to arrive at better methods of interlinking the work of current Special Rapporteurs, and with their predecessors.

Resuming the dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the representatives of Canada, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Estonia, Indonesia and Syria posed questions.

Ms. ERTURK, responding to their questions, said that legal reform was crucial to move forward in the implementation of norms regarding the elimination of violence against women.  All governments needed to carefully review their legal provisions to make them consistent with international instruments.

However, she added, changing laws did not guarantee their implementation.  The entire society needed to be synthesized in the area of the human rights of women and the elimination of violence against women.  That required the transformation of minds through education reforms and media outreach programmes.  Also crucial was the improvement of the availability of data.  There was a need to develop tangible methodologies to improve the availability of data on violence against women.

The question of how governments could be encouraged to increase cooperation opened the way for collaboration, she continued.  A firm commitment to human rights norms was critical in that regard.  One of the most important aspects of having a communications procedure was that governments had taken it seriously and had responded.  She was continually working to collaborate with governments to keep communication lines open.

She said conflict was a continuum and created the issue of violence against women cut across times of war and peace.  It was important to keep that in mind so as not to be selective in the understanding of violence against women.  There was a need to build on commitments demonstrated thus far on the issue of violence against women.

She noted that during a visit to Indonesia for regional consultations, she had not had a dialogue with the Government of Indonesia but had been very impressed with the women’s organizations in that country and the dynamism of NGOs  working on the advancement of women.

In order to encourage ratification of the optional protocol, she was making appeals to Governments every chance she got. Regarding the multiplicity of systems of subordination, she said it was important to continue unravelling the “patriarchal knot” that underlay women’s subordination.

Statement by Chair of Working Group on Right to Development

IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the right to development, said that significant progress had been made at the Group’s fifth session to reach agreed conclusions and recommendations on its deliberations.  In essence, those conclusions recommended the adoption of an entirely new approach towards realization of the right to development including by avoid legal definitions and conceptual controversies; accommodating the progressive nature of the right to development; dividing problems into smaller sections and addressing each separately, progressively and consensually; resorting to technical expertise to study the smaller sections; encouraging a bottom-up approach and relying on ground experiences; and involving developmental institutions, non-governmental organizations and civil society more structurally in the process of realizing the right to development.

Largely, the new approach had been inspired by the Group’s previous experiences and by debates provoked by the work of the independent expert, he said.  The process of globalization held great promise and opportunity for all human beings, but it must be managed so as not to exclude anyone.  The right to development framework, as highlighted by the independent expert, could help in meeting the universal concern to establish a development process ensuring fuller realization of all human rights, including the right to development for all.

The Working Group’s deliberations, he continued, had also benefited from the high-level seminar on the right to development.  During the seminar, and in the Group’s subsequent discussions, an emerging consensus had been reflected among Member States, development agencies and international development, financial and trade institutions.  The global partnership for development should be strengthened on the basis of accountability, transparency, non-discrimination, equity, the rule of law and good governance at all levels.  The growing interdependence of countries, and the speed of globalization, had made the distinction between a national and an international dimension to the right to development redundant.  Simultaneous and coordinated action represented the way forward.

The seminar had also revealed growing awareness and ongoing attempts by the United Nations system and international financial and development institutions to integrate all human rights in their activities, he added.  However, the development of a structured and multidisciplinary dialogue remained necessary to move forward in implementing the right to development.  In the future, the Working Group should bring together the expertise and knowledge of relevant stakeholders in the fields of human rights, development, trade and finance.  It should send an informed and credible message to all actors -- institutions and individuals, States and the international community -- to act in a concerted and coordinated manner to create an environment conducive to realization of the right to development.

The Working Group had, therefore, supported the establishment of a high-level Task Force to provide necessary expertise to the Working Group on specific issues, he concluded.  The Task Force would enable the Group to make credible and considered recommendations on concrete steps towards implementation of the right to development.  Among the issues mandated to it were obstacles and challenges to implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in relation to the right to development; social impact assessment in areas of trade and development at the national and international level; and best practices in implementation of the right to development.

He said the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) had been invited to participate at the Task Force’s meeting from 6 to 10 December.  Major non-governmental organizations and research institutions had also been invited to submit proposals and experiences on practices that had helped to further the right to development.

Realization of the right to development remained at once a governmental, developmental and human rights issue, he concluded.  The Working Group saw the Task Force as a timely initiative, which would respond to the perceived needs of the debate on the right to development, including the concerns of developing and developed countries.  It deserved the support and serious consideration of all States.

Dialogue on Right to Development

Participating in the dialogue with the Chair of the Working Group on the Right to Development were the representatives of the Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Tunisia, China, Syria, India, and Yemen.

Responding to their questions, Mr. SALAMA said the new approach towards the realization of the right to development would not take on all relevant issues at the same time.  The process, as he saw it, would be for the Working Group to debate on limited topics so as to naturalize the implementation of the right to development.  He said the right to development did not mean the same thing to everyone.  It meant the development of environments that would allow for the free enjoyment of this right.  He encouraged people to think of the implementation of the right to development as a process, rather than a product.

Regarding the quest for legally binding instruments, he said he believed that the Cotounou Accord on the right to development was legally binding.  It contained all the elements related to the right to development.  What was needed was to create an international environment to help States assume their responsibilities.  The implementation of the right was both about human rights and development.  If the new approach succeeded it should continue, and whatever expertise that was needed would be called upon.  The task force was the think tank of the Working Group, he added.

On the question of globalization and how to ensure equality so all could benefit from globalization, he said he was not an expert on economics and would not address issues beyond his mandate.  People would never have the same chances in life.  He was not here to change the world, but to make it better.

He said the debate on the right to development had matured and it was redundant to make distinctions between implementation on the national and the international levels.  Globalization had created a situation where policies on the national level had an impact on the international level.

Regarding the process of review of the Copenhagen +5 conference, he said the new approach would require follow-up on a yearly basis.

Statement by Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons

SIGMA HUDA, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, said the establishment of her mandate constituted recognition by the international community of trafficking in persons as one of the most serious challenges facing human rights today.  A large number of persons were tricked, sold or otherwise coerced into situations of exploitation, forced labour or slavery-like practices every year.  Trafficking represented the denial of virtually every human right, including the rights to integrity and security of person; freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; freedom of movement; home and family; health; education and the right to live like a human being, not a commodity or toy -- the right to a life of dignity.

Yet, she said, trafficking had often been addressed only as a “law and order” problem.  Victims of cross-border trafficking had been criminalized and prosecuted as illegal aliens, undocumented workers or irregular migrants; women and young girls trafficked into the sex industry had been charged with prostitution.  The international community must garner the political will to act against the crime of trafficking and hold its perpetrators legally accountable.

Her mandate required her to focus upon the human rights aspects of trafficking, she noted.  Two basic principles would guide her action in that regard:  that the human rights of trafficked persons should be at the centre of all efforts to combat trafficking and to protect, assist and provide redress to its victims; and that anti-trafficking measures should not adversely affect the human rights and dignity of victims of trafficking.  She would seek to broaden the debate on trafficking from a human rights perspective, examining its forced labour and slavery-like aspects and locating it in the larger context of migration and development.

Much work had already been accomplished by her colleagues, she added, including the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, migrants and the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitutions, among others.  The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in particular, had served as a pioneer in analyzing the problem from a human rights perspective and in the context of people’s movement and migration.  She had identified complicated and conflicting rights in relation to of anti-trafficking measures.  As Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, she intended to continue this work and cooperate closely with all other special mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights to address the various human rights implications of trafficking.

Her annual reports to the Commission would contain recommendations on measures to uphold and protect the human rights of trafficked persons, she added.  They would contain observations based on her activities, which would address themes particularly relevant to the issue of trafficking.  She would also provide information on human rights violations in the context of trafficking and would send communications to governments, requesting their cooperation to ensure protection for the human rights of trafficked persons.

She said she also intended to carry out country visits to study the situation of trafficking in situ and to learn about measures and steps taken to prevent and combat trafficking and to ensure adequate protection of the human rights of victims of trafficking.  Her reports would examine both positive developments and omissions or development requiring action.  She intended to work closely with non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and programmes and other intergovernmental organizations to reinforce human rights-based action on trafficking.

Her activities, reports and recommendations would be aimed at providing advice to countries and to national and international organizations on the development of human rights policy and action related to human trafficking, she concluded.  In so doing, she would pay particular attention to identifying special measures to prevent trafficking of children and to protect children affected by trafficking.  Her general framework for action had been shaped by the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, developed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  The nature of her mandate would also have her cooperating closely with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on implementation of the Protocol on trafficking to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

Dialogue on Trafficking in Persons

Participating in a question and answer session with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, were the representatives of the United States, Thailand, Japan, Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Philippines, Burkino Faso and India.

Ms. HUDA, responding to their questions, said trafficking was violence.  She would address the issue in coordination with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, as well as with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.  She was concerned about trafficked victims being treated as offenders under the international mechanisms currently operating.  She would like to see the victims not be regarded as offenders, but to keep the focus on the traffickers as the offenders.

She added that victims of trafficking should not be treated as illegal migrants without access to legal aid and counselling.  For those who were not nationals of a country, governments of the receiving country should ensure the protection of the human dignity and they should be treated with all due respect upon returning to their country of origin.

She said it was difficult to be too specific in her responses, as she had just begun her post one week ago.  She was taking questions as suggestions for the work she would do.  She intended to identify the gaps in her mandate as one of her priorities, and to distinguish her mandate from other existing mandates.  Recommendations from governments would be valuable in that regard.

General Statements on Human Rights

NIKOLAI CHERGINETS, Chairman of the Permanent Commission on International Affairs and National Security, Council of the Republic, National Assembly of Belarus, said his delegation had extraordinary grounds for requesting a change of the Committee’s work programme.  It had learned yesterday that the United States was prepared to introduce a resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus.  No country could boast having an ideal situation in the sphere of human rights, as numerous cases of intolerance and xenophobia, discrimination and racism existed in today’s world.  Belarus strongly opposed any attempts to politicize the human rights agenda and objected as well to using such issues as a pretext for intervention into the affairs of sovereign States.

Apparently, the United States had chosen its next “victim” -- Belarus -- following the deplorable practice of selectivity and double standards in the sphere of human rights, he said.  Belarus, the country which had lost a third of its population to the fight against fascism and which had made solid contributions to efforts to strengthen international peace and security, stood for revitalizing the international human rights system.

Yet, it was continually confronted with accusations that, among other things, it suppressed independent media and used substantial administrative pressure during the recent parliamentary elections, he said.  Meanwhile, numerous international observers had noted the transparent voting process in Belarus.  And what was the adoption by the United States Government -- on the eve of elections in Belarus -- of the “Belarus Democracy Act” if not a “brute intervention into the internal affairs of a sovereign State” by allocating millions of dollars to finance political opposition?  In good faith, Belarus had tried to see if the same spirit existed in the United States and had made a request to be accredited as independent observers of the upcoming presidential elections.  The United States Government rejected that request out of hand.  “So where were the real problems with transparency and the democratic nature of the electoral process to be found?” he asked.

CHO TAE ICK (Republic of Korea) said it was imperative that international human rights laws be translated into concrete actions in each country.  And, in that context, the will of the political leadership in each State was a prerequisite for the full implementation of such actions.  His country under the leadership of President Roh Moo-hyun, a long-time human rights advocate, had pledged to realize the vision of “democracy with the people” as one of its national goals and was endeavouring to build, with the full participation of the people, a democratic society where human rights were fully respected.

As part of his drive to promote human rights, President Roh had recently publicized his intention of abolishing the controversial National Security Law.  That matter was now being debated in the national legislature, he said.  In addition, his country’s human rights standards had continued to improve thanks to the Government’s reform efforts.  Those included measures to secure substantial equality for the underprivileged and minorities; to enforce laws in a fair and transparent manner and; to create a legal culture for promoting mutual respect, while encouraging public participation through monitoring of its law enforcement and prosecutorial processes.

In the Republic of Korea, the Independent National Human Rights Commission had played a pivotal role in advancing human rights and fundamental freedoms since its establishment in November 2001, he said.  After having formulated a five-year plan for human rights education in 2003, his country was now spearheading efforts to elaborate an anti-discrimination act with a view to redressing all forms of discrimination that still remained.  In close cooperation with government agencies, the Commission was also drafting a national human rights action plan which would serve as a blueprint for related policy formulation in the coming years.  The seminar on Good Governance Practices for the Promotion of Human Rights, held in Seoul last month, had provided an in-depth exchange of views on those issues.  His Government believed that education was the most effective way to prevent human rights abuses and, therefore, supported the idea of proclaiming a world programme for human rights education beginning on 5 January 2005.

Statement in Exercise of Right of Reply

Speaking in exercise of the right of reply, the representative of the United States said that her country appreciated the participation of a high-level official from the Government of Belarus in the present discussion of the Third Committee.  However, the United States remained concerned about the situation of human rights in Belarus.  After extensive dialogue with that country, the United States had been led to support country-specific resolutions on Belarus at the 2003 and 2004 sessions of the Commission on Human Rights.  Moreover, particular concerns about violations of human rights and the recent, flawed elections in Belarus would prompt the United States to bring a new text on the situation of human rights in Belarus before the Third Committee.  How else was the United Nations to protect and promote human rights if it did not respond to their overt violation?

Responding, the representative of Belarus said his delegation reserved the right to reply at a future meeting of the Third Committee.

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