[ Note: a reference to indigenous peoples appears on pages seven and
eight of the following text. --Gary ]
HR/CN/604
24 August 1994
SUBCOMMISSION CONSIDERS INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER AND PROMOTION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
GENEVA, 23 August (UN Information Service) -- During the final week of
its forty-sixth session, the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities began discussion, this morning, of a new
international economic order and the promotion of human rights; prevention of
discrimination against women; and the realization of economic, social and
cultural rights.
Two studies commissioned by the Subcommission -- on states of emergency
and on the effects of extreme poverty on human rights -- were presented during
the meeting. Special Rapporteur Leandro Despouy, who wrote both, was on
mission for the United Nations in Haiti, and the documents were introduced in
his absence by Subcommission members Louis Joinet and Jose Bengoa. Mr.
Joinet, expert from France, said the annual review of states of emergency gave
a fairly negative picture -- there had been an increase in the number of such
suspensions of normal law around the world. Mr. Bengoa, expert from Chile,
said Mr. Despouy had termed extreme poverty one of the most serious problems
affecting the world today.
The topic of extreme poverty -- and the promotion of economic, social,
and cultural rights in general -- along with the subject of forced population
transfers drew comments from several speakers. Fan Guoxiang, expert from
China, said the international community must recognize the needs of the
world's most poverty-stricken people -- some 1.2 billion of them -- and the
Subcommission must give the matter high priority. A representative of the
non-governmental organization International Educational Development said
population transfers were increasingly used as vehicles of genocide -- their
true purpose was to eradicate "problem" peoples.
Earlier in the morning, the Subcommission completed debate on the
administration of justice and the human rights of detainees. Several
non-governmental organizations provided statements, and five countries spoke
in right of reply.
The Subcommission was addressed by the experts from the following
countries: France, Chile, China, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Kingdom.
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Representatives of the Russian Federation and Pakistan spoke, as did the
representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: Latin
American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees
(FEDEFAM); International Movement for Fraternal Union Among Races and
Peoples; International Falcon Movement; International Humanist and Ethical
Union; International Commission of Jurists; International Educational
Development, Inc; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; American
Association of Jurists; Indian Council of South America; and World Federation
of Trade Unions. Viet Nam, Turkey, Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
Morocco and Iran spoke in right of reply.
New International Economic Order and Human Rights Promotion
The promotion of human rights within the context of a new international
economic order was added to the Subcommission's agenda in 1978; in 1985 the
Subcommission decided to consider it biennially; and in 1989, a resolution was
passed under which it would be discussed annually. A sub-item (a) is "the
role and equal participation of women in development". At the current
session, the Subcommission has before it the most recent reports of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and of the
Commission on the Status of Women.
Realization of Economic, Social, Cultural Rights
The Subcommission will examine the relationship between the enjoyment of
human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights, and income
distribution, prepared by Asbjorn Eide, expert from Norway. The report
assesses the general income situations between countries and among poor and
rich persons. It observes that the contemporary trend towards the
concentration of wealth constitutes a serious obstacle to the realization of
human rights. The report recommends that further study should be undertaken
to examine the nature and content of structural adjustment policies and their
impact on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights; and to
examine the growing disparity between poor and rich throughout the world.
The Subcommission will also consider an interim report on human rights
and extreme poverty from Special Rapporteur Despouy. The report sets out the
work carried out in this field so far. The Special Rapporteur was appointed
by the Subcommission in 1992. Other documentation before the Subcommission is
a progress report on the human rights dimensions of population transfer,
including the implantation of settlers, prepared by Special Rapporteur Awn
Shawkat Al-Khasawneh; and a report on the right to adequate housing by Special
Rapporteur Rajindar Sachar and submissions from different non-governmental
organizations.
Statements on Administration of Justice
LILIANA VALINA, of the Latin American Federation of Associations of
Relatives of Disappeared Detainees (FEDEFAM), said the persistence of the
enforced disappearances phenomenon was a fact and had spread throughout the
world. The international community must remain alert. Progress had not been
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such as to enable the Federation to turn its attention to other matters. The
subject should be a specific item on the agenda of the Subcommission. A draft
universal convention against forced disappearances should, as proposed, be a
priority item on next year's agenda. Impunity must be denied in all cases.
The practice persisted in a number of Latin American countries, including
Colombia, Guatemala and Peru. The Special Rapporteurs' principles on a fair
trial must not allow any cases under which civilians could be tried by
military tribunals.
EYA NCHAMA, of the International Movement for Fraternal Union among Races
and Peoples, said that most African counties had inherited prisons built
during colonialism and which served as an instrument of repression against the
"savage or atheist population to be civilized" to inculcate the rule of law
such as it was defined in Europe. The "new order" of colonialism had
abolished the social codes of the traditional society. Before the coming of
colonialism, the African social code defined the obligations and the rights of
the individual within the group and had fixed punishments against someone not
respecting those obligations. At present, 60 per cent of the incarcerated
population in African prisons were in preventive detention in which many
languish for years without even seeing either a lawyer or a judge. Many of
the prisoners had committed no wrong except that they were citizens without
rights or protection before any arbitration.
BAHZAD NAZIRI, of the International Falcon Movement, said that when the
judicial system of a country loses its independence and plunges into
corruption by serving the objectives of the State, one could be sure that
serious human rights violations would follow. Such was the case in Iran. On
20 June, as numerous impartial international observers witnessed the worsening
of the economic crisis and growing popular discontent, as well as the mounting
popularity of the resistance, it was suddenly learned that a bomb had exploded
in the shrine of the Imam Reza at Machad, Iran's holiest place. An hour after
this explosion, the "Guide" of the regime was attributing the crime to the
Mujahedines, without any judicial enquiry. The British newspaper Independent,
in its 22 June edition, reported clashes between the security forces and the
population of Machad, who blamed the Government for the explosion.
Furthermore, three dignitaries of the Christian community had been killed in
recent months by agents of the regime.
SERGE BEREZNY (Russian Federation) said the right to a fair trial was an
essential human right, and its realization would go a long way towards
determining how other civil and political rights were respected. The
guarantee of habeas corpus should be contained in all constitutions. An
optional protocol on the right to a fair trial, as recommended by the Special
Rapporteurs, deserved consideration, but more work was needed on the
proposal. Under the former Soviet Union, death sentences were carried out in
about 20 per cent of convictions; the Russian Federation was in the process of
seeking ways to phase out the death sentence. As for concerns expressed about
work going on in Siberia in Korean labour camps, the Russian Federation was
opposed to the current arrangements and was in the process of drawing up a new
agreement under which the workers' rights would be respected; it could no
longer accept the current situation.
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Mr. JOINET, expert from France, introducing the report on behalf of
Special Rapporteur Despouy on the question of human rights and states of
emergency, said that the report updated the list of countries which had
declared states of emergency and dealt with the effects of that on the
national and international laws concerning the equality of citizens. The core
of the report was the consequences of the states of emergency on the rights
which should not be derogated even under emergency circumstances. Review of
the states of emergency showed a negative picture. In most cases, the states
of emergency had suspended non-derogable rights of the population. With
regard to extreme poverty, there was no improvement of the situation.
BABAR HASHMI (Pakistan) said human rights principles had to be applied in
a uniform manner, and judicial rights were extremely important in
accomplishing that. Pakistan had a high rate of illiteracy and a rural
population, and so struggled to educate citizens on basic human rights
principles and on their basic rights under law. Public-interest litigation
was a new trend; it was a conscious effort to alleviate the suffering of the
masses. For 10 years, an ombudsman's office had provided relief to those with
human rights complaints. Any allegation was thoroughly investigated and
culprits were punished without discrimination. The country's laws and penal
institutions were being reviewed to bring them into accord with human rights
standards. The World Federation of Democratic Youth, an organization that had
violated the law and operated a number of torture cells, had criticized
Pakistan before the Subcommission, but obviously had no standing to do so, he
stated.
Rights of Reply
NGUYEN VAN SON (Viet Nam) said the policy of doi moi his country had been
pursuing for nearly 10 years saw the individual human being as its main
beneficiary. The process was not only concerned with economic reform, it
implied democratization across the board. Viet Nam had sought to make human
rights a focal point in that regard. He was not saying that more did not need
to be done. Viet Nam welcomed constructive and helpful criticism. But it did
not feel any non-governmental organization had the right to interfere
negatively in the affairs of the country. He went on to say attacks
originated with a group of collaborators from the old regime which sought to
re-establish that regime from abroad.
BOGAC GULDERE (Turkey), denying allegations by certain non-governmental
organizations, said they did not grasp the essence of the statement of his
delegation regarding impunity. States were accountable for the violations
committed by its forces. Any terrorist acts by any group were not tolerated
in his country. Non-governmental organizations supporting terrorist groups
were not acceptable.
PAK DOC HUN (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said John Merrills,
alternate expert from the United Kingdom, had given erroneous information
about Korean labour camps in Siberia. The movements of workers were not
restricted; their passports were not taken away; that some of the workers were
forced labourers or prisoners of conscience, and that some were imprisoned,
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were baseless allegations. They worked only for eight hours a day. His
assertion that the timber stations were a gulag was a politically motivated
act of the sort that should be avoided before the Subcommission.
MOHAMMAD HAJDI (Morocco) said the recent amnesty that had benefited 424
detainees and all exiles was evidence of the firm will to reinforce and
respect human rights and to work for a future where there would be no place
for law-breaking or the non-respect of fundamental rights and freedoms. In
order to put an end to any involuntary error or abuse inherent in human nature
or owing to legal lacunae, Morocco had taken a series of specific measures on
behalf of human rights which were both normative and institutional. The
detainees had not only been freed, but had also benefited from measures
favouring their reintroduction to society.
MAHAMMAD ALI MOTTAGHI NEJAD (Iran), said he was referring to the
statement by the Falcon Movement in which it made reference to the MKO
Mujahadine Movement. The conduct and affiliation of the MKO Movement was
known to all. It was involved in killing, kidnapping and murdering of
innocent persons and of Christian priests. The allegation that Iran was
violating the rights of its citizens was absurd. Inhuman treatment of
prisoners did not take place in Iran. Legislative revisions were also made to
improve the due process of the law.
Statements on Poverty's Effect on Human Rights
Mr. BENGOA, expert from Chile, introducing Special Rapporteur Despouy's
study on the effects of extreme poverty on human rights, said the Special
Rapporteur had termed the difficulty one of the most important in the world
today. There was a strong connection between poverty and human rights
problems. There was a challenge here for the international community;
development was essential to ensure the rights of the desperately poor. The
Subcommission should be represented at the World Social Summit in Copenhagen
on that topic.
ZHONG SHUKONG, expert from China, emphasized that material, cultural and
ethical needs were basic to humankind. Fulfilment of material needs were
essential to human survival, and normally should evolve from satisfying the
minimum needs to a stage of adequacy and then to a stage of equitable
affluence for the whole population. While the cultural and ethical needs
allowed for education, respect for moral values and equal rights and
obligations, the integrated satisfaction of both material and cultural needs
was vital to the survival of the individual citizen and of the State. If
basic material needs were neglected, social unrest was bound to occur and if
basic cultural needs were denied, crime and violence would be spread. With
regard to extreme poverty, development was a concept different from the term
economic growth, which involved a much narrower scope and lacked the social
and ethical dimensions of true development. Development was a sustained
process and an enormous effort of the people, by the people and for the people
- a process which would help human beings, including the over 1.2 billion
people in extreme poverty.
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AHMED KHALIL, expert from Egypt, said Mr. Al-Khasawneh's report was a
reminder that in addition to human rights, this particular item required a
more specific definition of the legality of population transfer. Population
transfer and armed conflict had been dealt with in a comprehensive way. The
issue deserved profound legal study. He agreed on the need for a satisfactory
form of compensation to those subjected to forcible expulsion. In cases where
population transfer was not unlawful, compensation should be granted
nevertheless, because the population affected was damaged. He welcomed the
fact that the Special Rapporteur would examine this particular point in the
light of the relevant World Bank standards. He commended all the conclusions
reached by the Special Rapporteur.
FISSEHA YIMER, expert from Ethiopia, said the report on human rights and
population transfers was an important one. Such transfers, where they
amounted to genocide, torture, racism, discrimination, and where they were an
attempt to destroy ethnic groups, were clearly extreme violations of human
rights and should be prevented by the international community. The purpose of
population transfer could indeed be genocide. And if a State denied citizens
economic, social and cultural rights to the extent that whole populations
left, was that an unlawful population transfer? It was important to define
which acts constituted forcible transfer. He wondered why the topic was
considered under the item on economic, social and cultural rights and not
under the item which dealt with freedom of movement.
JAMES DILLOWAY, of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, said
consideration of a new international economic order should not be too far
off. The years since October 1973, particularly since 1980, had revealed a
mounting unworkability in a global free-for-all, culminating in the disastrous
climax reached since 1990. It was not hard to show that the outcome of a
permanent but uncontrolled struggle for economic growth within and between the
world's national States, all overshadowed by private transnational giants that
existed outside any form of control, had evolved to the point of exhaustion.
The prevailing market free-for-all was outworn, he went on to say. Going
back to raw nineteenth century exploitation and deregulating financial systems
raised productivity but also cut employment. What was needed now to protect
human rights and promote real development was an open concern, and agreed
controls, to assure essential needs while meeting individual wants --all
within a perceived framework of justice. The world needed a true convergence,
not a replacement, between the philosophies of East and West. The
Subcommission was uniquely placed to infuse viable overall criteria to revive
what had become a collapsing socio-economic frame.
ALEJANDRO ARTUCIO, of the International Commission of Jurists, said the
realization of the cultural and social rights of people was being affected by
extreme poverty and exclusion. The problem was particularly significant in
the developing countries where underdevelopment persisted on a wide scale.
Real development should focus on the proportional improvement of the social
standards that provided a minimum guarantee for life and not on the increase
of per capita income. The necessary conditions for development should include
the participation of the whole population in the decision-making process by
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assuming political responsibility within the community. Some cultural and
social rights could not be acquired immediately -- the remaining could be
implemented on a step-by-step basis.
KAREN PARKER, of International Educational Development, Inc., said
population transfer was increasingly used as a vehicle of genocide with
intentions clearly to eradicate a "problem" people. Indigenous people had
suffered population transfers reaching genocidal proportions for 500 years and
continued to suffer with them. On 22 July, Latvia had passed a new law on
nationality that clearly on its face discriminated against many people,
including persons of Russian or Jewish origin. All situations should be
stopped before they escalated. Once situations escalated, "ethnic cleansing"
or ethnic dilution became difficult to remedy. For example, in Bhutan
genocidal forced population transfer had occurred in 1985 and 1988. The
Subcommission, informed many times since, chose not to act. Now, it might be
too late.
JANET BRUIN, of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
said the League was one of 33 non-governmental organizations to sign a joint
statement sent to the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit for Social
Development expressing concern that the problems of poverty, unemployment and
social disintegration -- which were foremost human rights questions -- and
their solutions were being separated from the hard-core economic, financial
and trade issues in the draft documents for the meeting. The fact that
obstacles to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights persisted
reflected the failure of the international community to bring about a new
international economic order.
The non-governmental organizations urged the Subcommission to consider
the following measures: the cancelling of the external debt of developing
countries; the disappearance of public funds; bringing the international
financial institutions under United Nations control so as to democratize them;
the reorientation of production to meet domestic needs in countries undergoing
structural adjustment; the formation of a high-level multidisciplinary task
force within the United Nations system to make recommendations on job
creation; and encouraging countries to ratify the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
LUIS NARVAEZ, of the American Association of Jurists, said many studies
by the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and others
had shown the persistence of the inequality of women. In many countries and
companies, a woman was paid less than a man. She received fewer benefits and
occupied a low post in the hierarchy. Women, in general, were given the
hardest jobs even without participating in the decision-making of the work.
The market and social economies had made women victims through ill-payment.
The true participation of women in development would be the recognition of
their rights and their dignified existence.
TOMAS CONDORI, of the Indian Council of South America, said the coca leaf
and its relationship to Indian culture needed respect from the rest of the
world. It was intimately linked to customs, legends and traditions. Many had
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used coca for thousands of years, not merely as food. It provided physical
energy, was used in medicine, and, in spiritual terms, was a divine element
essential for certain sacred acts. Never, to date, had any Indian known
anything about cocaine or the market for cocaine. In social and religious
practices indigenous groups had not abused the coca leaf; it was the Western
influence that had done so. Indigenous peoples should be allowed cultural and
religious freedom, as international human rights standards required.
Traditional coca-leaf growers in Bolivia were now subjected to intimidation
and even violence.
NOBORU UMEDA, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, said that in many
countries, privatization had led to serious violations of the economic,
social, cultural and trade union rights of workers. For example, in Japan,
after the privatization of the national railways, 23,000 workers had been
transferred to jobs weeding gardens and painting. Managers had pressured
workers to leave their unions, threatening not to re-employ them if they did
not do as told. Rather than yield to this, over 100 workers had committed
suicide. In 1987, the Japan Railways companies succeeded the Japan National
Railway. Some 7,600 members of the Zendoro and Kokuro unions had been
transferred to the National Railway Settlement Corporation, instead of being
employed by the new companies. In 1990, the Settlement Corporation had
dismissed 1,047 members. The dismissal of those workers amounted to the
denial of their right to work and their right to life. The Central Labour
Relations Commission, as well as local commissions, had ruled that the Japan
Railways companies were responsible for unfair labour practices. The Japanese
Government must accept responsibility for those human rights violations.
CLAIRE PALLEY, expert from the United Kingdom, referring to the statement
by the representative of the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea who denied the existence of repressive measures in timber production
camps, said the camps had been opened on Russian territory with the agreement
of the two countries. In the agreement Korea, she stated, was to provide up
to 20,000 labourers. The conditions in the camps were horrific. Under
Siberian weather, those labourers worked up to 16 hours per day. Adequate
food was not supplied. There were punishment cells within the camps. The
passports of those Korean workers were confiscated against their will. And
they could not travel inside Russia because of the lack of identity cards.
She said her information had been received from independent sources.
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