Human Rights

Panel Discussion

 ‘freedom from fear and want -- the human rights year in review’

 

subject of human rights day headquarters panel

The rise in ethnic cleansing and human trafficking in the past year did not bode well for the world’s human rights track record, although the international community was increasingly owning up to its responsibility to prevent major human rights catastrophes and protect the victims, speakers stressed during a panel discussion this afternoon on “Freedom from Fear and Want –- The Human Rights Year in Review”, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Committee on Human Rights.

Joanna Weschler, the United Nations Representative of the NGO Committee on Human Rights, said the promise of governments and the United Nations to “never again” permit the kind of mass-scale human rights violations that occurred in Rwanda, had rung hollow in view of recent events.  For example, the international community had provided a vastly inadequate response to the campaign of murder, pillage and forced displacement in Darfur, Sudan.  The Sudanese Government had not been seriously pressured to halt the atrocities, nor had anyone been prosecuted for them.  The General Assembly’s Third Committee had voted to not even discuss or adopt any resolutions on the matter.  In Nepal, the continuing war between rebels and Government security forces had devastated the poor and besieged civilian population.  In Haiti, civilians endured tremendous violence, a practically non-existent criminal justice system, and inappropriate police behaviour.

However, also this year, the first institutional link had been set up between human rights issues and the United Nations Security Council, which was now accepting the relevance of those issues to its work, she said.  Moreover, the just-released report of the High-Level Panel on Threats had called for international responsibility in protecting societies from such atrocities as genocide and other killings, and had recommended practical measures to stop or prevent genocide.

Robert Goldman, United Nations Independent Expert on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism, also pointed to widespread violation of human rights, noting that terrorist violence by non-State actors had risen.  It was frequently carried out in a manner that blurred the distinction between civilians and combatants, or in ways that had been increasingly harsh.  In response, many States were systematically disregarding international humanitarian law.  Some, including democratic States, were transferring terrorist suspects from one country to another for interrogation, doing so with assurances from the receiving States that no harm would be done to the detainees.  However, such agreements were not legally binding.

Few States had learned from past experiences of coping with terrorist violence, he continued.  The need for a strong supervisory power by independent judiciary to prevent abuses, as called for by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was no less important today than it was when the Paris Principles were issued, he said, referring to the belief that a national human rights institution should exist in each State to promote, protect and monitor its human rights situation.  In the United States, United Kingdom and Colombia, among other nations, the civilian judiciary was starting to exercise control over executive excesses and abuses.  Success would depend largely on the willingness and ability to uphold the rule of law in combating human rights abuses.

Chairing the panel, Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office of the OHCHR, agreed with that assessment, noting that the international human rights movement was redoubling its efforts to monitor abuses and bring violators to justice.  He pointed to the operation of the special criminal court in Sierra Leone, unprecedented attention in Security Council debates on human rights violations and vigilance in Darfur, Burundi and elsewhere, as well as creation of the law on counter-terrorism.

Turning to human rights of women, Ayesha Iman, Chief of the Culture, Gender and Human Rights Branch of the Technical Services Division of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that women, under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, had the right to health care in order to reduce their risk of death during pregnancy and childbirth.  Yet, safe motherhood services were not available to many women due to distance, cost or socio-economic factors.  Too often women were not seen as worthy of the investment.  Poverty dramatically increased a woman’s chances of dying during or soon after childbirth, she said.  In South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, only 35 per cent and 41 per cent of women, respectively, were assisted during delivery by a skilled attendant.  Approximately 529,000 women died last year in childbirth or from complications during pregnancy, 99 per cent of them in developing countries, while 90 per cent of those deaths were preventable through effective pregnancy and childbirth care.

The fifth Millennium Development Goal called for a 75 per cent reduction by 2015 of the maternal mortality ratio from 1990 levels.  That required gender-sensitive approaches for development, including gender-mainstreaming to ensure inclusion of women’s concerns and issues in policies, programmes and decision-making.  Increasingly, the international community was recognizing the importance of culture-sensitive programming to ensure that communities participate in and own human rights.  Initiatives such as the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group were promoting cost-effective interventions, mobilized resources and disseminated best practices.  The UNFPA continued to support promotion of skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetrics care, including reproductive health services in humanitarian emergency and conflict situations.  The inter-agency Stronger Voice for Reproductive Health Programme focused on empowering women and young people to demand better quality care as a human right.

Turning to the human rights of children, Minar Pimple, Executive Director of the People’s Movement of Human Rights Education (PDHRE), noted that, according to a recent report of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on childhood and poverty, more than a billion children were suffering from extreme deprivation due to war, HIV/AIDS or poverty.  Some 15 million had been orphaned by the epidemic.  Billions of people had no access to sanitation, which had a particular impact on girls and women.  Poverty was becoming a major weapon of mass destruction in a world that had all the resources it needed to eradicate it, given the necessary political will.

Responding to a question during the ensuing discussion, Mr. Pimple said prioritizing human rights depended on the viewpoint of a particular organization.  The aim, however, should be to make human rights the property of people, who must be empowered to take action on their priorities and needs.

Ms. Imam said it was not a matter of certain rights being in conflict, but how and where to allocate resources at a particular time to address certain rights.  Investment was needed for economic and social, as well as judicial and civil rights.  To another question on gender equality, Ms. Imam said both women’s and men’s concerns must be considered in policies and analyses.  What people forgot was that gender mainstreaming as a strategy also required women’s empowerment.  Women must participate, point out where the issues were, and where attention was needed.

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