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16 August 2000
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Subcommission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights
52nd session
16 August 2000
Morning
Concludes Consideration of Freedom of Movement
The Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this morning considered the situation regarding the promotion, full realization and protection of the rights of children and youth.
Subcommission experts, non-governmental organizations and State observers expressed concerns at the widespread and continuing violations of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The problems facing children were brought up with regards to HIV/AIDS, poverty, armed conflicts, education, sexual abuse and discrimination.
Earlier, the Subcommission concluded its debate on the issue of freedom of movement. The discussion this morning focused on the right to return and the need for more specific attention to be given to this issue. Several speakers referred to the situation of the les Ilois, currently living in Mauritius after a forced exile from the Chagos Islands which were controlld by the United Kingdom. The situation of internally displaced persons in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Nepal and Colombia were also raised.
Subcommission Experts or Alternate Members speaking were: Christy Ezim Mbonu, Francoise Jane Hampson, Yeung Kam Yeung Sik Yuen and Barbara Frey.
The following non-governmental organizations contributed to the discussion this morning: the Organisation de l'Enfance Tunisienne, the Latin American Association for Human Rights, the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, the World Federation for Mental Health, the Transnational Radical Party, International Educational Development, the International Institute for Non-Aligned States, the World Federation of Trade Unions, Association pour la Promotion de l'Emploi et du Logement, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, the International Young Catholic Student, Pax Romana, the Asian Women's Human Rights Council, the International Save the Children Alliance, North-South XXI, the Muslim World League, Interfaith International and Franciscans International.
Observer States taking the floor were: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea and Pakistan.
Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Mauritius used their right to reply.
When the Subcommission reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will begin its review of further developments in fields with which the Subcommission had been or may be concerned.
Statements
HUMAYUN TANDAR (Afghanistan) said that for twenty years, the Afghani people had been suffering due to a war imposed upon them by foreign powers. One would have thought that with the withdrawal of the Russian troops, this would be a time for reconciliation and peace. The power of the extreme, fanatic Taliban militia had been underestimated. The beliefs of the Taliban had resulted in murders and massacres of the civilian population and massive human rights violations. During last year's offensive, the Taliban had forced more than 10,000 villagers to abandon their villages through a scorched earth policy. There was already an estimated 150,000 internally displaced people and there seemed to be no prospects of them being able to return home. This was a humanitarian catastrophe. Unfortunately, the Taliban was enjoying the financial and armed support of thousands of Pakistanis. The international community and human rights bodies had to ensure that Pakistan halted its support of the Taliban which would allow the return of the thousands of internally displaced people and the return of a respect for human life.
TOFIG MUSAYEV (Azerbaijan) said his country had one of the largest displaced populations in the world; about one of every eight persons in the country was internally displaced or a refugee. Francis Deng, the Secretary-General's Representative on internally displaced persons, had visited Azerbaijan in May 1998, and his report subsequently stated that the "frozen conflict" there had faded from international attention and suffered from donor fatigue. The High Commissioner for Refugees had also regretted that situations in the southern Caucasus had ceased to be a priority for the international community. The Azerbaijani Government was deeply concerned, as constant relief was still required to satisfy the basic needs of some 1 million refugees and displaced persons on its territory. It also believed that projects addressing longer-term development needs should be pursued as well.
The Subcommission should continue to consider the issue, urging all States to ensure the right to return to one's home by all refugees and internally displaced persons.
CHRISTY EZIM MBONU, Alternate Subcommission Member, said the Subcommission had not taken a decision on an important proposal several years ago to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the freedom of movement, including the right to asylum and the right to leave and return to one's country and to enter another country without discrimination; she hoped the group might reconsider the matter.
The principle of non-refoulement should be respected, as refugees and asylum seekers were in some cases forced to return to their home countries where they faced dangers such as torture, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, or worse. Meanwhile, refugees and asylum-seekers in some Western and European countries were subject to often violent discrimination -- personal attacks and fire-bombing of their dwellings, for example. The World Conference against Racism should consider issues affecting refugees and asylum-seekers.
CHEDLY SRARFI, of the Organisation Nationale de l'Enfance Tunisienne, said that the organization had existed for 52 years working for the education and welfare of Tunisian children, and all the children of the world. The organization appealed to the Subcommission for innovations to be found in the methods and processes used to disseminate the rights of children, to ensure better awareness and respect for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It hoped the obstacles preventing children from travelling freely outside their countries could be removed. The visa situation was restrictive and humiliating and prohibited travel. It was hoped that adults would show more respect for the children of the world, without condescension.
FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Subcommission Expert, said the right to return could be complex and difficult of solve, as facts were often disputed and mechanisms were difficult to devise and implement to the satisfaction of various parties. Mechanisms, criteria under which they applied, and procedures, for example, were part of the difficulties of the situation of those allegedly of Bhutanese origin in Nepal. Then there was the situation of the les Ilois, from islands near, but not officially part of Mauritius, which were dumped on Mauritius after the United States Government concluded a 50-year lease with Britain for an airbase on the most important island. A case was currently before the English courts in which the les Ilois were claiming the right to return. She hoped the problem would be resolved soon in a fashion consistent with the right to return.
In Turkey there was much dispute -- debated recently in the European Commission and Court on Human Rights as well as in Turkish Government fora -- over internally displaced persons, their number, how many had left their homes voluntarily and how many were forced from Kurdish regions because their homes and even villages were destroyed by security forces. The Government now talked of newly established villages, but these were not the original villages, they were somewhere else, and that was not proper exercise of the right to return.
These examples were only a few reflecting a worldwide problem of appalling proportions -- there were also complex right-to-return situations in West Timor, Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. The Subcommission should consider a further resolution dealing in more detail with the right to return.
YEUNG KAM YEUNG SIK YUEN, Subcommission Expert, spoke of the les Ilois citizens of Mauritius who were claiming their right to return to the Chagos Islands where they had lived prior to their forced exile. Several generations had lived there for decades. An order had been passed creating the so-called British Indian Ocean Territories, which was later used as a military base. It had to be recognized that these islands were part of Mauritius. A case was being held where the les Ilois were demanding the right to return. The media exposure had allowed the people to see the sentiments about the detachment of the Chagos Islands. There had been talks between Mauritius and the United Kingdom on the return of the Chagos Islands which the United Kingdom was still using for military purposes. The plight of the displaced les Ilois, still having their rights denied, was a prime example of human tragedy and a problem which needed more attention.
MARCELO ORELLANA, of the Latin American Association for Human Rights, said forced displacement of indigenous communities was a serious problem and had increased over the past year in Colombia. Threats and killings had driven indigenous peoples from their tribal lands; it had occurred recently to a series of indigenous groups. The consequences were even worse than for displacement of other groups, as indigenous peoples had especially close ties to their traditional lands; they were used to living in large areas, and often ended up living in smaller, mixed villages. There were some cases of fleeing of Colombian indigenous peoples to neighbouring countries. The problem was a silent one; it was happening without much publicity, with no international attention or help. The loss of culture, uncertainty with respect to the future, and the damage caused because they could not sow their crops, could lead to tragic consequences for indigenous peoples.
Guerrilla groups often were responsible, but Army units, in their fighting with the guerrillas, also were causing such exoduses. The working group on indigenous peoples should visit Colombia to investigate the situation.
Rights of reply
A representative of Sri Lanka said in right of reply that the delegation had so far not indulged the organizations spreading distortions and propaganda. The speaker of Interfaith International had not taken account of the fact that the displacement had been caused by the LTTE and their immoral tactics, including the use of children as soldiers. The Government was aware that a lot of the food stuff and assistance was consumed by the LTTE. Even the UN representative on displaced people had recognized that the Government had assumed full responsibility for the displaced people and that relief reached most parts of the population successfully. This situation should actually be seen as a precedent. The Government had tried to carry the assistance through in the most humane way, irrespective of the propaganda and terrorism of the LTTE.
A representative of Turkey, speaking in right of reply, said Mrs. Hampson had spoken of so-called displaced people in Turkey. It was difficult to understand the obsession of Mrs. Hampson with this particular matter. Turkey had already spoken of steps taken to ameliorate the situation; it aimed to improve the situation as soon as possible, and adequate budget resources had been allocated. Turkey had invited the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons to visit the country. He did not know what else to say, except that it was difficult to understand why Mrs. Hampson felt it necessary to illuminate each and every case involving Turkey that had come before the European Commission and the European Court on Human Rights.
A representative of the United Kingdom, speaking in right of reply, said Mrs. Hampson had spoken of something that was before the British courts, so not much could be said about it here, but she had grossly simplified what was in fact a very complex situation, and the solution she advocated was not workable when the complexities of the matter were fully considered.
A representative of Mauritius, speaking in right to reply, said that the delegation had taken note of the statement by Mrs. Hampson and stressed that the area had always been a integral part of Mauritius and had been forcibly removed from it. The Les Ilois had always been citizens of Mauritius and had always lived within the Mauritius as defined by the Constitution which ruled over many islands, including the Chagos Islands. Pressure had been put on the United Kingdom to return the Chagos Islands. However, it was still being used for military purposes, even though there was no longer a Cold War. There had been certain payments, however, they could never swipe over the suffering of the unlawful detachment. The United Kingdom was asked to allow the right to return.
A representative of the United Kingdom, in a second right of reply, said he wished his previous comments on the sovereignty of the British ocean territories also to be seen to apply to the statement just made by Mauritius.
Situation regarding the promotion, full realization and protection of the rights of children and youth
SHARAD SONI, of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said that despite several United Nations conventions, violence against children was pervasive and was too often carried out without impunity. Worse still was the plight of children in the midst of armed conflicts. The Security Council had adopted a resolution which stressed the need for taking into account the special needs of the girl child throughout armed conflicts and in their aftermath and to take measures for the welfare and protection of children. It was high time that the international community make a systematic use of the resolution as an advocacy tool in the protection of children's rights in situations of armed conflict. Since 1990, over two million children had been killed in armed conflicts worldwide, over one million orphaned, six million seriously injured and twelve million left homeless.
Thousands of children belonging to Hindu and Sikh minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir had been rendered orphans due to targeted killings of the minority community. The Subcommission was urged to take effective steps against such atrocities and to initiate action against States harbouring, training, arming and exporting terrorists.
WILDA SPALDING, of World Federation of Mental Health, said the Youth Empowerment Summit had been held in Geneva recently with youth from around the world engaging in workshops, think tanks, and UN library research, and participating in eight round tables with eight non-governmental organizations.
The Youth Summit had passed a resolution urging the Subcommission to recommend broadening of the selection criteria and opportunities for youth in the various UN-wide fellowship programmes; further development and better implementation of mentoring programmes for youth with UN officials and/or NGO representatives; increased methods for meaningful youth participation at UN deliberations and in human-rights promotion and protection; and collaboration on further environmental, social and economic sustainable development programmes. The resolution also called for urgent full ratification and effective implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
BARBARA FREY, Subcommission Alternate Member, said that more attention was needed on human rights issues facing children. According to UNICEF, more than twelve million children under the age of five would die this year from preventable diseases. Too many children still died from diseases of poverty, including diseases against which they could be immunized, such as malaria, intestinal and respiratory infections. Children in the developing world disproportionately carried the burden of high child mortality. Socio-economically disadvantaged children from ethnic and racial minority groups suffered high mortality rates in both developing and industrialized countries.
The continuing worldwide crisis of child mortality was not only a tragedy, but a human rights violation. States had an immediate obligation to address discriminatory policies and practices that led to child mortality. Inequalities in the availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of health care constituted not only a violation of the fundamental right to non-discrimination, but a direct denial of the right to health as well. States had to ensure that State-run, as well as private, programmes responsible for providing housing, food, water and medical services, operated in a non-discriminatory manner.
The attention of the Subcommission was drawn to the issue of child survival in the hope that it would consider it initially as a lens through which to view some of the economic, social and cultural rights undertaken by the body. The issue of child survival was a striking reminder of the indivisibility of the rights the Subcommission was working to promote.
OLAYINKA KOSO-THOMAS, of the Transnational Radical Party, said female genital mutilation had existed for many centuries in many African communities and was often carried out by elderly, toothless, respected, partially blind women or traditional birth attendants, using special knives, scissors, scalpels, razor blades, or pieces of broken glass -- instruments that were not sterilized. No anaesthetic was used. The practice was blindly followed by the female population and was enforced by community codes and sanctions, erroneous beliefs about womanhood, matrimony, female sexuality and fertility, and because of complex factors that had to do with strong bonds of kinship between practitioners, fear of social ostracization, a cult of silence among victims, and by violent attacks on those publicizing information about the harmful effects.
What was needed was massive sensitization of the whole populations of such communities; use of the electronic media and other media to spread accurate information; lobbying of parliamentarians to pass laws prohibiting female genital mutilation; alternative employment for practitioners; and empowerment of young people.
MICHAEL BAUMGARTNER, of International Educational Development, expressed concern that women considered to be HIV positive were being increasingly compelled to abandon breast-feeding their infants. The organization considered breast-feeding of infants highly preferable to formula feeding, especially in developing countries where the cost of artificial formula was prohibitive and where access to the necessary preparatory means were often inadequate. Companies producing the infant formula were seeking to inappropriately benefit from and even manipulate the AIDS-crisis. These mothers were not given the choice regarding breast-feeding, and were being threatened that breast-feeding would kill their child.
All babies should be exclusively breast-fed during the first six months of their lives. The United Nations was urged to put the underlying science on breast-feeding and AIDS under scrutiny, and should request measures to be taken to ensure adherence to the international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes in the context of AIDS.
PRAMILA SHRIVASTAVA, of the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, said some 120 million children aged between 5 and 11 -- perhaps more -- worked full time in developing countries, with the number as high as 250 million if secondary activities were also included. The work was often dangerous. In developing countries there was a debate between the immediate and total banning of child labour or its gradual elimination. In fact it should be recognized that child labour could not be accepted as a necessary evil, the product of poverty; it should not be tolerated in any form. Elimination must be in a practical, phased fashion, with immediate priority given to intolerable forms, such as recruitment into armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, and hazardous work.
Families needed to be economically empowered to truly end the problem. There should be a broad range of social interventions such as health care, income and employment generation schemes, credit facilities, and integrated poverty alleviation and community development services.
REFAQUET ALI KHAN, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, said that in many parts of the world, a large number of children were deprived of the guarantees, protections and benefits of human rights. In some cases these violations were either because of a mere lack of political will or because of pressures. Pakistan was an example where there was no federal law for compulsory education, and neither the federal nor provincial governments provided sufficient resources to assure universal education. Only 70 percent of children under the age of twelve were enrolled in schools and less than half of them actually completed their primary school education. In religious schools, children were illegally confined in unhealthy conditions. Young teenagers were picked up from such educational institutions for training in weapons and explosives producing indoctrinated, brainwashed Mujahideen killing innocent civilians in Kashmir and Afghanistan. There was a lot of contradiction between the ratification of UN conventions on child rights and the actual state of affairs in some States. The Commission was urged to take note of such situations and to intervene, both in the interest of the rights of the child and for the creation of an environment for the meaningful realization of human rights in general.
SAMINA KABIR, of the Association for the Promotion of Employment and Housing, said that for at least two generations, Afghanis had seen and known nothing but killing, rape, prostition, suicide, looting, torture, death, starvation, begging, homelessness, and execution. These were a gift from fundamentalists. Children suffered the most under the Taliban regime, lacking the most basic rights to health, education, and family life. Thousands had been made orphans by the conflict and many more suffered emotional trauma from the hopelessness of life. Many begged in the streets or were forced to work in other ways to supplement family income, beginning as young as age 4.
Fundamentalist oppression in countries where fundamentalists were in power could only be cured by their overthrow from the political scene. Germany, Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, East Timor, Palestine, Kashmir -- the list went on. It was time to stop the brutal toll fundamentalism was taking in Afganistan now.
RENATE BLOEM, of the World Federation of Methodists and United Church Women, said their mission was to address gender inequality, and to ensure that girls and boys enjoyed the same rights and protection. Education, violence, economic exploitation and harmful practices and attitudes affecting the girl child needed to be eradicated. At least the girl child was on the international agenda. Awareness of the rights of girls had increased, but the abuses continued and discrimination still existed. There were laws and regulations, however, in practice these laws were often violated. There was also a problem in the lack of participation of girls in the decisions that affected their lives. Gender based violence was rampant as well as sexual abuse. In refugee camps, girls were targets of systematic rape, harassment and murder. The acts they were forced to perform could include the killing of other children in order to de-humanize the girls. With regard to AIDS, girls were suffering due to the superstitious belief that having sex with a virgin would cure AIDS. Unless there were viable alternatives, girls would continue to be used and abused. With regard to cultural attitudes, the Subcommission should act on the plan of action of the elimination of harmful practices to the girl child, which was a blue print of action.
GUY ALEXANDRE OWONA, of the International Young Catholic Students, said young people today felt they were not sufficiently included in decision-making in States and international institutions. If they were not, how could they understand, among other things, the results and reasons for structural-adjustment programmes, which affected them directly? How could they understand economic embargoes which could greatly damage their lives? Among trends deserving attention were those to raise retirement ages, without considering the effect it would have on young people seeking jobs. In industrialized countries, there had been a considerable increase in xenophobia among young people, spurred by certain divisive politicians.
Child prostitution and child pornography left children in need of money seriously vulnerable to dangerous exploitation. Those and other problems required much greater attention and required much greater participation by young people in decision-making processes. Child rights could not be advanced without this, and there was little hope for the world if future generations got off to a bad start. The Subcommission should appoint a rapporteur and working group to deal particularly with the problems of young people and children.
FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Subcommission Expert, said that HIV/AIDS was spreading across Africa without respect for financial means or education. Thousands of children had already been orphaned, themselves suffering from AIDS. One group of people could be spared, if there was a political will. There was no need for women with HIV to transmit the virus to their infants. If they could receive a specific drug, their infants would not be infected. There had to be a method of cooperation between donor states, recipient states, non-governmental organizations and pharmaceuticals companies.
ALEX B. MTHOBI, of Pax Romana, said youth were always talked about in these fora but were never really given a stake in economic, social and cultural rights platforms. The whole UN system talked about democracy; well, how did youth participate? Youth had a good track record of changing things for the better, as with Indonesian student protests against the Suharto dictatorship and the South Korean and South African experiences. Education was the key to progress, and the Subcommission should advise the Commission on Human Rights to invest in young people's education. Higher education was the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Widespread youth unemployment had to be addressed. The Subcommission should do a study on the impact of globalization on youth; should recommend that the Commission appoint a special rapporteur to study the extent of illegal migration among youth as a result of poverty or unemployment; and should make a greater effort to include youth in the overall human-rights framework, including accreditation of more youth NGOs for participation in the World Conference against Racism.
AKIRA MAEDA, of the Asian Women's Human Rights Council, said that there had been over 200 cases of violations of Korean children in Japan this decade, most of which had targeted Korean girls wearing their national costume, the Chima-chogori. In Japan, Korean boys and girls were deprived of education rights to learn about their own culture and history and were deprived from cultivating ethnic pride as a Korean. None of the State-run universities permitted the graduates of Korean high schools to take entrance exams, following the discriminatory policy of the Japanese Government. Recently, the Japanese Government had received a number of recommendations from UN treaty bodies on this issue. The Government continued to ignore their recommendations. The Subcommission was encouraged to pay close attention to this problem in order to solve the discriminatory policy against Korean boys and girls by the Japanese Government.
DELIA GRIGORE, of the International Save the Children Alliance, said Roma children in Romania still lived with the consequences of six centuries of slavery. Because public authorities did not act in any way against widespread practical discrimination against Roma that persisted into the present, one could clearly say that in Romania racial discrimination was institutional. Roma children faced stigmas and negative perceptions in Romanian schools and in the Romanian social framework -- there was unequal treatment and an absence of the self-referential education needed to help these children perpetuate their culture and identity.
The Subcommission should recommend a number of steps to the Romanian Government, including national laws banning discrimination in education and providing effective remedies; kindergartens in Roma communities; progressive primary education in the Roma language; establishment of secondary vocational schools for Roma; and various forms of support for intercultural education.
CRISTELLE MAURIN, of North-South XXI, said that never in the history of mankind had humanity seen such a fast growth in technology and never had children been so exposed to violence of all nature. Children were suffering from social, tribal, ethnic, economic, political and historic violence. In Africa, there was still a considerable problem in the use of children in armed conflicts. In Iraq, the infant mortality had reached a record high due to the embargo exercised by the Western powers. In Latin America, children were suffering from urban violence and were often victims of organ trafficking. In Western countries, children were victims of paedophilia, a phenomenon spreading even faster due to technological advances. Political will was required if these incidents and sufferings were to be brought to an end. The promotion of the rights of children and their full realization had to be a priority.
SAEEDA SHAH, of the Muslim World League, said massive violations of child rights were occurring in Kashmir, where Indian security forces targeted children for torture, sexual molestation, and even enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. The motive was to discourage Kashmiris from raising their voices against the Indian occupation. India was not only after the territory but it was also after the people of Kashmir; it intended to destroy the Muslims of Kashmir.
The international community was responsible for freeing Kashmiri children from the draconian clutches of the Indian occupation; it could not afford to ignore them and leave them to be decimated. Time was of the essence -- if the international community did not act fast, the current generation of children would end up as meek and psychologically disturbed adults. Kashmir pleaded for the world's help.
CHARLES GRAVES, of Interfaith International, said the children and youth of Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, including the northern areas, remained deprived of the enjoyment of their right to education and work on a massive scale. Education and work were the primary requirements for the youth if one did not want them to be misled into negative activities. Because of this deliberate negligence, over one million youth were left to a fate of denial and deprivation. Primary schools were few and far between; and there was no university, training college, polytechnic institutes and no health care centres. The youth were being gradually alienated and exposed to serious reactions, which was likely to disrupt the balance of civil society. The Subcommission was appealed to take due notice of the massive violation of the human rights of the youth in Pakistani- occupied Kashmir and the northern areas, the latter having been illegally integrated into Pakistan against the free will of the local population.
PHILIPPE LE BLANCE, of Franciscans International, said the Franciscans and the Dominicans for Peace were worried about the impact of armed conflicts and sanctions on children. After 10 years, economic sanctions against Iraq were still in place, taking new child victims every day. The impact was severe and amounted to violations of basic international humanitarian laws. Some 5,000 children a month died as a result of these sanctions. Adequate diets allowing normal development were not possible; in the countryside families often sold their houses and even their clothes in order to feed themselves.
The entire Iraqi population was suffering -- that was even admitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Many of the children who were suffering had not even been born at the time of the Gulf War. The international community should do everything to ensure that the sanctions were brought to an end.
CARLOS AMAT FORES (Cuba) said that since the children's summit in 1990, there had been an increase in international interest in the rights of the child. The promises of the summit had given rise to hope and aspirations. However, children could not live on hopes and promises alone. There had to be a political will in order to really give children a chance. Children were not meant to die from malnutrition and curable diseases. Action was required, otherwise, one would continue to see children using weapons, being traumatised from sexual abuse and pornography, suffering from illicit organ trafficking and being forced into labour.
Cuba had ratified both optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The tragedy of thousands of children who did not enjoy their rights was due to the unequal economic situation. Cooperation among people and the absence of war was required. Cuba was proud of its own achievements in the area of the child, despite the forty-year long blockade, Cuba had never spared any efforts for the health, education and enjoyment of rights of children. Cuba was also providing neutral health care across the world. The wish that the Subcommission and all international bodies ensured that children enjoyed their full rights was reiterated.
NAJI HARAJ (Iraq) said the sanctions imposed on Iraq for the past 10 years had led to serious food and health-care problems for children; some 1,250,000 children had died as a result of the embargo; preventable diseases and nervous disorders were widespread among children; cancer rates also had climbed as a result of the use of depleted-uranium weapons against Iraq. Reports showed a climbing mortality rate among children under age 5. Children were being deprived of the right to education because of the embargo.
UNICEF and other reputable agencies had surveyed and found a deteriorating situation for children. In order for the international community to advance the rights of children, it had to accurately diagnose the current state of affairs; the impact of the embargo could not be ignored. The children of Iraq were facing collective genocide. The UN should advance human rights, not violate them through its Security Council, which had caused the deaths of a million children through imposition of the embargo.
ALI-ASGHAR MIRIAN (the Islamic Republic of Iran) said that considerable numbers of children did not enjoy the most basic rights and were still suffering from hidden violence, poor families and neighbourhoods, childhood diseases, malnutrition and economic and sexual abuses. Efforts on the part of the international community, non-governmental organizations and States needed to be intensified. Progress was far too slow. Over the last twenty years, during which the world economy had increased exponentially, the number of people in poverty had grown to more than 1.2 billion, including at least 600 million children.
The Islamic Republic of Iran had become party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994 and the Government was highly committed to protect and promote the rights of children. A UNICEF report had recognized that Iran had achieved most of the world summit goals for children for the year 2000. Schools were not the only places for teaching and learning, children learned many lessons from the way they were treated and the environment they were living in. In this line, the Iranian Government had taken remarkable measures in order to improve the living conditions of the children and to provide the opportunities for their enjoyment of human rights. For example, more than 20 percent of the budget was allocated to health, education, social security and the establishment of primary health care systems and schools.
HU KANG-IL (the Republic of Korea) said the adoption of the two optional protocols on child rights, along with adoption of the ILO convention on the worst forms of child labour, were laudable. The Government of the Republic of Korea was now taking steps to sign the two optional protocols. Children still suffered from disease, labour exploitation, prostitution, armed conflicts and natural disasters. HIV/AIDS devastated whole communities, orphaning and infecting children, disturbing their right to education, and leaving them subject to discrimination. AIDS should remain a priority on the global agenda.
Protection of children in armed conflict should also remain a major concern, and Korea welcomed the initiative of the Canadian Government to host the International Conference on War Affected Children in September. Korea also welcomed the direct and personal efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Mandela in organizing a global partnership of leaders to represent all of civil society in achieving the goals of the world summit on children.
FARRUKH IQBAL KHAN (Pakistan) informed the Subcommission of the steps taken by the Government relating to the promotion and protection of the child in Pakistan. The most notable developments had been in the field of juvenile justice and the elimination of child labour. Pakistan had been a pioneer in addressing the issue of child labour through a sectoral approach and had embarked on the famous Sialkot project under which, the people of Pakistan through the Chamber of Commerce, trade unions and Government, had undertaken to eliminate child labour from the soccer ball industry. Pakistan had been assisted by the ILO in this endeavour as well as by some developed countries.
There has also been an adoption of the national plan for the elimination of child labour by the Cabinet, aiming at the progressive elimination of child labour from all sectors of employment, the immediate eradication of the worst forms of child labour, a regular monitoring and inspection system, the prevention of entry into the labour market for children and ensuring primary education and skill training for all children. The plan was notable for the fact that it involved the entire Government machinery working as a cohesive whole. The international community had to be an equal partner in the elimination of violations of the rights of the child.
CORRIGENDUM
In press release HR/SC/00/6 of 3 August, the statement of the representative of Eritrea on page 3 should read as follows:
AMARE TEKLE (Eritrea) said he would confine his remarks to denouncing violations committed on Eritrean territory. Those violations had reached a senseless level of cruelty since the occupation of Eritrean territory in May 2000. Even after the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement, the invading forces had launched attacks on civilian targets. People had been tortured and imprisoned, young girls and elderly women had been raped, and installations essential to the population, such as water and electricity supply systems and even hospitals, had been destroyed.
The speaker was interrupted by a point of order from an expert. The Chairperson allowed the speaker to continue after the speaker explained that the decision of the Subcommission could not apply to his presentation since he was speaking about Eritreans in Eritrea and not about Eritreans in Ethiopia. After a long debate on the matter, the Chairperson asked the speaker whether or not he wished to continue and the speaker preferred not to continue.
In press release HR/SC/00/16 of 10 August, the right of reply of Pakistan on page 6 should read as follows:
A representative of Pakistan, speaking in right of reply, said that the delegation was not questioning the report but it was questioning the actions of India. It questioned the situation in an area suffering from armed conflict. The fact was that there were human rights violations in Kashmir, and Pakistan, being an integral party to the Kashmir dispute, had the right to raise cases of human rights violations. The issue had not been dealt in its totality by the Special Rapporteur.
In press release HR/SC/00/21 of 14 August 2000, the right of reply of Turkey on page 9 should read as follows:
A representative of Turkey said in right of reply that he was responding to the statement by the Society for Threatened Peoples. Turkey's statement on agenda item 2 had described elaborately the Government's approach to reforming its democracy and human rights. He had said in the statement that every reform step must and shall be in conformity with the Constitutional order. The Republic of Turkey was a pluralist democratic State. There were no political limitations unless the political acts aimed at the Constitutional order and the indivisible integrity of the State. Everybody was free to enjoy his or her culture. Turkey was also a State of law. Everybody had equal rights and responsibilities. No politician or political party had the right and privilege to violate the law with a view to changing the State order for the sake of his or its political aspirations. Democracy was based on the free exchange of opinions, but no democracy could permit the abuse of rights which aimed at the destruction of public order.
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and Protection of Human Rights
52nd session
16 August 2000
Morning
Concludes Consideration of Freedom of Movement
The Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights this morning considered the situation regarding the promotion, full realization and protection of the rights of children and youth.
Subcommission experts, non-governmental organizations and State observers expressed concerns at the widespread and continuing violations of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The problems facing children were brought up with regards to HIV/AIDS, poverty, armed conflicts, education, sexual abuse and discrimination.
Earlier, the Subcommission concluded its debate on the issue of freedom of movement. The discussion this morning focused on the right to return and the need for more specific attention to be given to this issue. Several speakers referred to the situation of the les Ilois, currently living in Mauritius after a forced exile from the Chagos Islands which were controlld by the United Kingdom. The situation of internally displaced persons in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Nepal and Colombia were also raised.
Subcommission Experts or Alternate Members speaking were: Christy Ezim Mbonu, Francoise Jane Hampson, Yeung Kam Yeung Sik Yuen and Barbara Frey.
The following non-governmental organizations contributed to the discussion this morning: the Organisation de l'Enfance Tunisienne, the Latin American Association for Human Rights, the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, the World Federation for Mental Health, the Transnational Radical Party, International Educational Development, the International Institute for Non-Aligned States, the World Federation of Trade Unions, Association pour la Promotion de l'Emploi et du Logement, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, the International Young Catholic Student, Pax Romana, the Asian Women's Human Rights Council, the International Save the Children Alliance, North-South XXI, the Muslim World League, Interfaith International and Franciscans International.
Observer States taking the floor were: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea and Pakistan.
Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Mauritius used their right to reply.
When the Subcommission reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will begin its review of further developments in fields with which the Subcommission had been or may be concerned.
Statements
HUMAYUN TANDAR (Afghanistan) said that for twenty years, the Afghani people had been suffering due to a war imposed upon them by foreign powers. One would have thought that with the withdrawal of the Russian troops, this would be a time for reconciliation and peace. The power of the extreme, fanatic Taliban militia had been underestimated. The beliefs of the Taliban had resulted in murders and massacres of the civilian population and massive human rights violations. During last year's offensive, the Taliban had forced more than 10,000 villagers to abandon their villages through a scorched earth policy. There was already an estimated 150,000 internally displaced people and there seemed to be no prospects of them being able to return home. This was a humanitarian catastrophe. Unfortunately, the Taliban was enjoying the financial and armed support of thousands of Pakistanis. The international community and human rights bodies had to ensure that Pakistan halted its support of the Taliban which would allow the return of the thousands of internally displaced people and the return of a respect for human life.
TOFIG MUSAYEV (Azerbaijan) said his country had one of the largest displaced populations in the world; about one of every eight persons in the country was internally displaced or a refugee. Francis Deng, the Secretary-General's Representative on internally displaced persons, had visited Azerbaijan in May 1998, and his report subsequently stated that the "frozen conflict" there had faded from international attention and suffered from donor fatigue. The High Commissioner for Refugees had also regretted that situations in the southern Caucasus had ceased to be a priority for the international community. The Azerbaijani Government was deeply concerned, as constant relief was still required to satisfy the basic needs of some 1 million refugees and displaced persons on its territory. It also believed that projects addressing longer-term development needs should be pursued as well.
The Subcommission should continue to consider the issue, urging all States to ensure the right to return to one's home by all refugees and internally displaced persons.
CHRISTY EZIM MBONU, Alternate Subcommission Member, said the Subcommission had not taken a decision on an important proposal several years ago to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the freedom of movement, including the right to asylum and the right to leave and return to one's country and to enter another country without discrimination; she hoped the group might reconsider the matter.
The principle of non-refoulement should be respected, as refugees and asylum seekers were in some cases forced to return to their home countries where they faced dangers such as torture, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, or worse. Meanwhile, refugees and asylum-seekers in some Western and European countries were subject to often violent discrimination -- personal attacks and fire-bombing of their dwellings, for example. The World Conference against Racism should consider issues affecting refugees and asylum-seekers.
CHEDLY SRARFI, of the Organisation Nationale de l'Enfance Tunisienne, said that the organization had existed for 52 years working for the education and welfare of Tunisian children, and all the children of the world. The organization appealed to the Subcommission for innovations to be found in the methods and processes used to disseminate the rights of children, to ensure better awareness and respect for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It hoped the obstacles preventing children from travelling freely outside their countries could be removed. The visa situation was restrictive and humiliating and prohibited travel. It was hoped that adults would show more respect for the children of the world, without condescension.
FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Subcommission Expert, said the right to return could be complex and difficult of solve, as facts were often disputed and mechanisms were difficult to devise and implement to the satisfaction of various parties. Mechanisms, criteria under which they applied, and procedures, for example, were part of the difficulties of the situation of those allegedly of Bhutanese origin in Nepal. Then there was the situation of the les Ilois, from islands near, but not officially part of Mauritius, which were dumped on Mauritius after the United States Government concluded a 50-year lease with Britain for an airbase on the most important island. A case was currently before the English courts in which the les Ilois were claiming the right to return. She hoped the problem would be resolved soon in a fashion consistent with the right to return.
In Turkey there was much dispute -- debated recently in the European Commission and Court on Human Rights as well as in Turkish Government fora -- over internally displaced persons, their number, how many had left their homes voluntarily and how many were forced from Kurdish regions because their homes and even villages were destroyed by security forces. The Government now talked of newly established villages, but these were not the original villages, they were somewhere else, and that was not proper exercise of the right to return.
These examples were only a few reflecting a worldwide problem of appalling proportions -- there were also complex right-to-return situations in West Timor, Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. The Subcommission should consider a further resolution dealing in more detail with the right to return.
YEUNG KAM YEUNG SIK YUEN, Subcommission Expert, spoke of the les Ilois citizens of Mauritius who were claiming their right to return to the Chagos Islands where they had lived prior to their forced exile. Several generations had lived there for decades. An order had been passed creating the so-called British Indian Ocean Territories, which was later used as a military base. It had to be recognized that these islands were part of Mauritius. A case was being held where the les Ilois were demanding the right to return. The media exposure had allowed the people to see the sentiments about the detachment of the Chagos Islands. There had been talks between Mauritius and the United Kingdom on the return of the Chagos Islands which the United Kingdom was still using for military purposes. The plight of the displaced les Ilois, still having their rights denied, was a prime example of human tragedy and a problem which needed more attention.
MARCELO ORELLANA, of the Latin American Association for Human Rights, said forced displacement of indigenous communities was a serious problem and had increased over the past year in Colombia. Threats and killings had driven indigenous peoples from their tribal lands; it had occurred recently to a series of indigenous groups. The consequences were even worse than for displacement of other groups, as indigenous peoples had especially close ties to their traditional lands; they were used to living in large areas, and often ended up living in smaller, mixed villages. There were some cases of fleeing of Colombian indigenous peoples to neighbouring countries. The problem was a silent one; it was happening without much publicity, with no international attention or help. The loss of culture, uncertainty with respect to the future, and the damage caused because they could not sow their crops, could lead to tragic consequences for indigenous peoples.
Guerrilla groups often were responsible, but Army units, in their fighting with the guerrillas, also were causing such exoduses. The working group on indigenous peoples should visit Colombia to investigate the situation.
Rights of reply
A representative of Sri Lanka said in right of reply that the delegation had so far not indulged the organizations spreading distortions and propaganda. The speaker of Interfaith International had not taken account of the fact that the displacement had been caused by the LTTE and their immoral tactics, including the use of children as soldiers. The Government was aware that a lot of the food stuff and assistance was consumed by the LTTE. Even the UN representative on displaced people had recognized that the Government had assumed full responsibility for the displaced people and that relief reached most parts of the population successfully. This situation should actually be seen as a precedent. The Government had tried to carry the assistance through in the most humane way, irrespective of the propaganda and terrorism of the LTTE.
A representative of Turkey, speaking in right of reply, said Mrs. Hampson had spoken of so-called displaced people in Turkey. It was difficult to understand the obsession of Mrs. Hampson with this particular matter. Turkey had already spoken of steps taken to ameliorate the situation; it aimed to improve the situation as soon as possible, and adequate budget resources had been allocated. Turkey had invited the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons to visit the country. He did not know what else to say, except that it was difficult to understand why Mrs. Hampson felt it necessary to illuminate each and every case involving Turkey that had come before the European Commission and the European Court on Human Rights.
A representative of the United Kingdom, speaking in right of reply, said Mrs. Hampson had spoken of something that was before the British courts, so not much could be said about it here, but she had grossly simplified what was in fact a very complex situation, and the solution she advocated was not workable when the complexities of the matter were fully considered.
A representative of Mauritius, speaking in right to reply, said that the delegation had taken note of the statement by Mrs. Hampson and stressed that the area had always been a integral part of Mauritius and had been forcibly removed from it. The Les Ilois had always been citizens of Mauritius and had always lived within the Mauritius as defined by the Constitution which ruled over many islands, including the Chagos Islands. Pressure had been put on the United Kingdom to return the Chagos Islands. However, it was still being used for military purposes, even though there was no longer a Cold War. There had been certain payments, however, they could never swipe over the suffering of the unlawful detachment. The United Kingdom was asked to allow the right to return.
A representative of the United Kingdom, in a second right of reply, said he wished his previous comments on the sovereignty of the British ocean territories also to be seen to apply to the statement just made by Mauritius.
Situation regarding the promotion, full realization and protection of the rights of children and youth
SHARAD SONI, of the Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation, said that despite several United Nations conventions, violence against children was pervasive and was too often carried out without impunity. Worse still was the plight of children in the midst of armed conflicts. The Security Council had adopted a resolution which stressed the need for taking into account the special needs of the girl child throughout armed conflicts and in their aftermath and to take measures for the welfare and protection of children. It was high time that the international community make a systematic use of the resolution as an advocacy tool in the protection of children's rights in situations of armed conflict. Since 1990, over two million children had been killed in armed conflicts worldwide, over one million orphaned, six million seriously injured and twelve million left homeless.
Thousands of children belonging to Hindu and Sikh minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir had been rendered orphans due to targeted killings of the minority community. The Subcommission was urged to take effective steps against such atrocities and to initiate action against States harbouring, training, arming and exporting terrorists.
WILDA SPALDING, of World Federation of Mental Health, said the Youth Empowerment Summit had been held in Geneva recently with youth from around the world engaging in workshops, think tanks, and UN library research, and participating in eight round tables with eight non-governmental organizations.
The Youth Summit had passed a resolution urging the Subcommission to recommend broadening of the selection criteria and opportunities for youth in the various UN-wide fellowship programmes; further development and better implementation of mentoring programmes for youth with UN officials and/or NGO representatives; increased methods for meaningful youth participation at UN deliberations and in human-rights promotion and protection; and collaboration on further environmental, social and economic sustainable development programmes. The resolution also called for urgent full ratification and effective implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
BARBARA FREY, Subcommission Alternate Member, said that more attention was needed on human rights issues facing children. According to UNICEF, more than twelve million children under the age of five would die this year from preventable diseases. Too many children still died from diseases of poverty, including diseases against which they could be immunized, such as malaria, intestinal and respiratory infections. Children in the developing world disproportionately carried the burden of high child mortality. Socio-economically disadvantaged children from ethnic and racial minority groups suffered high mortality rates in both developing and industrialized countries.
The continuing worldwide crisis of child mortality was not only a tragedy, but a human rights violation. States had an immediate obligation to address discriminatory policies and practices that led to child mortality. Inequalities in the availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of health care constituted not only a violation of the fundamental right to non-discrimination, but a direct denial of the right to health as well. States had to ensure that State-run, as well as private, programmes responsible for providing housing, food, water and medical services, operated in a non-discriminatory manner.
The attention of the Subcommission was drawn to the issue of child survival in the hope that it would consider it initially as a lens through which to view some of the economic, social and cultural rights undertaken by the body. The issue of child survival was a striking reminder of the indivisibility of the rights the Subcommission was working to promote.
OLAYINKA KOSO-THOMAS, of the Transnational Radical Party, said female genital mutilation had existed for many centuries in many African communities and was often carried out by elderly, toothless, respected, partially blind women or traditional birth attendants, using special knives, scissors, scalpels, razor blades, or pieces of broken glass -- instruments that were not sterilized. No anaesthetic was used. The practice was blindly followed by the female population and was enforced by community codes and sanctions, erroneous beliefs about womanhood, matrimony, female sexuality and fertility, and because of complex factors that had to do with strong bonds of kinship between practitioners, fear of social ostracization, a cult of silence among victims, and by violent attacks on those publicizing information about the harmful effects.
What was needed was massive sensitization of the whole populations of such communities; use of the electronic media and other media to spread accurate information; lobbying of parliamentarians to pass laws prohibiting female genital mutilation; alternative employment for practitioners; and empowerment of young people.
MICHAEL BAUMGARTNER, of International Educational Development, expressed concern that women considered to be HIV positive were being increasingly compelled to abandon breast-feeding their infants. The organization considered breast-feeding of infants highly preferable to formula feeding, especially in developing countries where the cost of artificial formula was prohibitive and where access to the necessary preparatory means were often inadequate. Companies producing the infant formula were seeking to inappropriately benefit from and even manipulate the AIDS-crisis. These mothers were not given the choice regarding breast-feeding, and were being threatened that breast-feeding would kill their child.
All babies should be exclusively breast-fed during the first six months of their lives. The United Nations was urged to put the underlying science on breast-feeding and AIDS under scrutiny, and should request measures to be taken to ensure adherence to the international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes in the context of AIDS.
PRAMILA SHRIVASTAVA, of the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, said some 120 million children aged between 5 and 11 -- perhaps more -- worked full time in developing countries, with the number as high as 250 million if secondary activities were also included. The work was often dangerous. In developing countries there was a debate between the immediate and total banning of child labour or its gradual elimination. In fact it should be recognized that child labour could not be accepted as a necessary evil, the product of poverty; it should not be tolerated in any form. Elimination must be in a practical, phased fashion, with immediate priority given to intolerable forms, such as recruitment into armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, and hazardous work.
Families needed to be economically empowered to truly end the problem. There should be a broad range of social interventions such as health care, income and employment generation schemes, credit facilities, and integrated poverty alleviation and community development services.
REFAQUET ALI KHAN, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, said that in many parts of the world, a large number of children were deprived of the guarantees, protections and benefits of human rights. In some cases these violations were either because of a mere lack of political will or because of pressures. Pakistan was an example where there was no federal law for compulsory education, and neither the federal nor provincial governments provided sufficient resources to assure universal education. Only 70 percent of children under the age of twelve were enrolled in schools and less than half of them actually completed their primary school education. In religious schools, children were illegally confined in unhealthy conditions. Young teenagers were picked up from such educational institutions for training in weapons and explosives producing indoctrinated, brainwashed Mujahideen killing innocent civilians in Kashmir and Afghanistan. There was a lot of contradiction between the ratification of UN conventions on child rights and the actual state of affairs in some States. The Commission was urged to take note of such situations and to intervene, both in the interest of the rights of the child and for the creation of an environment for the meaningful realization of human rights in general.
SAMINA KABIR, of the Association for the Promotion of Employment and Housing, said that for at least two generations, Afghanis had seen and known nothing but killing, rape, prostition, suicide, looting, torture, death, starvation, begging, homelessness, and execution. These were a gift from fundamentalists. Children suffered the most under the Taliban regime, lacking the most basic rights to health, education, and family life. Thousands had been made orphans by the conflict and many more suffered emotional trauma from the hopelessness of life. Many begged in the streets or were forced to work in other ways to supplement family income, beginning as young as age 4.
Fundamentalist oppression in countries where fundamentalists were in power could only be cured by their overthrow from the political scene. Germany, Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, East Timor, Palestine, Kashmir -- the list went on. It was time to stop the brutal toll fundamentalism was taking in Afganistan now.
RENATE BLOEM, of the World Federation of Methodists and United Church Women, said their mission was to address gender inequality, and to ensure that girls and boys enjoyed the same rights and protection. Education, violence, economic exploitation and harmful practices and attitudes affecting the girl child needed to be eradicated. At least the girl child was on the international agenda. Awareness of the rights of girls had increased, but the abuses continued and discrimination still existed. There were laws and regulations, however, in practice these laws were often violated. There was also a problem in the lack of participation of girls in the decisions that affected their lives. Gender based violence was rampant as well as sexual abuse. In refugee camps, girls were targets of systematic rape, harassment and murder. The acts they were forced to perform could include the killing of other children in order to de-humanize the girls. With regard to AIDS, girls were suffering due to the superstitious belief that having sex with a virgin would cure AIDS. Unless there were viable alternatives, girls would continue to be used and abused. With regard to cultural attitudes, the Subcommission should act on the plan of action of the elimination of harmful practices to the girl child, which was a blue print of action.
GUY ALEXANDRE OWONA, of the International Young Catholic Students, said young people today felt they were not sufficiently included in decision-making in States and international institutions. If they were not, how could they understand, among other things, the results and reasons for structural-adjustment programmes, which affected them directly? How could they understand economic embargoes which could greatly damage their lives? Among trends deserving attention were those to raise retirement ages, without considering the effect it would have on young people seeking jobs. In industrialized countries, there had been a considerable increase in xenophobia among young people, spurred by certain divisive politicians.
Child prostitution and child pornography left children in need of money seriously vulnerable to dangerous exploitation. Those and other problems required much greater attention and required much greater participation by young people in decision-making processes. Child rights could not be advanced without this, and there was little hope for the world if future generations got off to a bad start. The Subcommission should appoint a rapporteur and working group to deal particularly with the problems of young people and children.
FRANCOISE JANE HAMPSON, Subcommission Expert, said that HIV/AIDS was spreading across Africa without respect for financial means or education. Thousands of children had already been orphaned, themselves suffering from AIDS. One group of people could be spared, if there was a political will. There was no need for women with HIV to transmit the virus to their infants. If they could receive a specific drug, their infants would not be infected. There had to be a method of cooperation between donor states, recipient states, non-governmental organizations and pharmaceuticals companies.
ALEX B. MTHOBI, of Pax Romana, said youth were always talked about in these fora but were never really given a stake in economic, social and cultural rights platforms. The whole UN system talked about democracy; well, how did youth participate? Youth had a good track record of changing things for the better, as with Indonesian student protests against the Suharto dictatorship and the South Korean and South African experiences. Education was the key to progress, and the Subcommission should advise the Commission on Human Rights to invest in young people's education. Higher education was the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Widespread youth unemployment had to be addressed. The Subcommission should do a study on the impact of globalization on youth; should recommend that the Commission appoint a special rapporteur to study the extent of illegal migration among youth as a result of poverty or unemployment; and should make a greater effort to include youth in the overall human-rights framework, including accreditation of more youth NGOs for participation in the World Conference against Racism.
AKIRA MAEDA, of the Asian Women's Human Rights Council, said that there had been over 200 cases of violations of Korean children in Japan this decade, most of which had targeted Korean girls wearing their national costume, the Chima-chogori. In Japan, Korean boys and girls were deprived of education rights to learn about their own culture and history and were deprived from cultivating ethnic pride as a Korean. None of the State-run universities permitted the graduates of Korean high schools to take entrance exams, following the discriminatory policy of the Japanese Government. Recently, the Japanese Government had received a number of recommendations from UN treaty bodies on this issue. The Government continued to ignore their recommendations. The Subcommission was encouraged to pay close attention to this problem in order to solve the discriminatory policy against Korean boys and girls by the Japanese Government.
DELIA GRIGORE, of the International Save the Children Alliance, said Roma children in Romania still lived with the consequences of six centuries of slavery. Because public authorities did not act in any way against widespread practical discrimination against Roma that persisted into the present, one could clearly say that in Romania racial discrimination was institutional. Roma children faced stigmas and negative perceptions in Romanian schools and in the Romanian social framework -- there was unequal treatment and an absence of the self-referential education needed to help these children perpetuate their culture and identity.
The Subcommission should recommend a number of steps to the Romanian Government, including national laws banning discrimination in education and providing effective remedies; kindergartens in Roma communities; progressive primary education in the Roma language; establishment of secondary vocational schools for Roma; and various forms of support for intercultural education.
CRISTELLE MAURIN, of North-South XXI, said that never in the history of mankind had humanity seen such a fast growth in technology and never had children been so exposed to violence of all nature. Children were suffering from social, tribal, ethnic, economic, political and historic violence. In Africa, there was still a considerable problem in the use of children in armed conflicts. In Iraq, the infant mortality had reached a record high due to the embargo exercised by the Western powers. In Latin America, children were suffering from urban violence and were often victims of organ trafficking. In Western countries, children were victims of paedophilia, a phenomenon spreading even faster due to technological advances. Political will was required if these incidents and sufferings were to be brought to an end. The promotion of the rights of children and their full realization had to be a priority.
SAEEDA SHAH, of the Muslim World League, said massive violations of child rights were occurring in Kashmir, where Indian security forces targeted children for torture, sexual molestation, and even enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. The motive was to discourage Kashmiris from raising their voices against the Indian occupation. India was not only after the territory but it was also after the people of Kashmir; it intended to destroy the Muslims of Kashmir.
The international community was responsible for freeing Kashmiri children from the draconian clutches of the Indian occupation; it could not afford to ignore them and leave them to be decimated. Time was of the essence -- if the international community did not act fast, the current generation of children would end up as meek and psychologically disturbed adults. Kashmir pleaded for the world's help.
CHARLES GRAVES, of Interfaith International, said the children and youth of Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, including the northern areas, remained deprived of the enjoyment of their right to education and work on a massive scale. Education and work were the primary requirements for the youth if one did not want them to be misled into negative activities. Because of this deliberate negligence, over one million youth were left to a fate of denial and deprivation. Primary schools were few and far between; and there was no university, training college, polytechnic institutes and no health care centres. The youth were being gradually alienated and exposed to serious reactions, which was likely to disrupt the balance of civil society. The Subcommission was appealed to take due notice of the massive violation of the human rights of the youth in Pakistani- occupied Kashmir and the northern areas, the latter having been illegally integrated into Pakistan against the free will of the local population.
PHILIPPE LE BLANCE, of Franciscans International, said the Franciscans and the Dominicans for Peace were worried about the impact of armed conflicts and sanctions on children. After 10 years, economic sanctions against Iraq were still in place, taking new child victims every day. The impact was severe and amounted to violations of basic international humanitarian laws. Some 5,000 children a month died as a result of these sanctions. Adequate diets allowing normal development were not possible; in the countryside families often sold their houses and even their clothes in order to feed themselves.
The entire Iraqi population was suffering -- that was even admitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Many of the children who were suffering had not even been born at the time of the Gulf War. The international community should do everything to ensure that the sanctions were brought to an end.
CARLOS AMAT FORES (Cuba) said that since the children's summit in 1990, there had been an increase in international interest in the rights of the child. The promises of the summit had given rise to hope and aspirations. However, children could not live on hopes and promises alone. There had to be a political will in order to really give children a chance. Children were not meant to die from malnutrition and curable diseases. Action was required, otherwise, one would continue to see children using weapons, being traumatised from sexual abuse and pornography, suffering from illicit organ trafficking and being forced into labour.
Cuba had ratified both optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The tragedy of thousands of children who did not enjoy their rights was due to the unequal economic situation. Cooperation among people and the absence of war was required. Cuba was proud of its own achievements in the area of the child, despite the forty-year long blockade, Cuba had never spared any efforts for the health, education and enjoyment of rights of children. Cuba was also providing neutral health care across the world. The wish that the Subcommission and all international bodies ensured that children enjoyed their full rights was reiterated.
NAJI HARAJ (Iraq) said the sanctions imposed on Iraq for the past 10 years had led to serious food and health-care problems for children; some 1,250,000 children had died as a result of the embargo; preventable diseases and nervous disorders were widespread among children; cancer rates also had climbed as a result of the use of depleted-uranium weapons against Iraq. Reports showed a climbing mortality rate among children under age 5. Children were being deprived of the right to education because of the embargo.
UNICEF and other reputable agencies had surveyed and found a deteriorating situation for children. In order for the international community to advance the rights of children, it had to accurately diagnose the current state of affairs; the impact of the embargo could not be ignored. The children of Iraq were facing collective genocide. The UN should advance human rights, not violate them through its Security Council, which had caused the deaths of a million children through imposition of the embargo.
ALI-ASGHAR MIRIAN (the Islamic Republic of Iran) said that considerable numbers of children did not enjoy the most basic rights and were still suffering from hidden violence, poor families and neighbourhoods, childhood diseases, malnutrition and economic and sexual abuses. Efforts on the part of the international community, non-governmental organizations and States needed to be intensified. Progress was far too slow. Over the last twenty years, during which the world economy had increased exponentially, the number of people in poverty had grown to more than 1.2 billion, including at least 600 million children.
The Islamic Republic of Iran had become party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994 and the Government was highly committed to protect and promote the rights of children. A UNICEF report had recognized that Iran had achieved most of the world summit goals for children for the year 2000. Schools were not the only places for teaching and learning, children learned many lessons from the way they were treated and the environment they were living in. In this line, the Iranian Government had taken remarkable measures in order to improve the living conditions of the children and to provide the opportunities for their enjoyment of human rights. For example, more than 20 percent of the budget was allocated to health, education, social security and the establishment of primary health care systems and schools.
HU KANG-IL (the Republic of Korea) said the adoption of the two optional protocols on child rights, along with adoption of the ILO convention on the worst forms of child labour, were laudable. The Government of the Republic of Korea was now taking steps to sign the two optional protocols. Children still suffered from disease, labour exploitation, prostitution, armed conflicts and natural disasters. HIV/AIDS devastated whole communities, orphaning and infecting children, disturbing their right to education, and leaving them subject to discrimination. AIDS should remain a priority on the global agenda.
Protection of children in armed conflict should also remain a major concern, and Korea welcomed the initiative of the Canadian Government to host the International Conference on War Affected Children in September. Korea also welcomed the direct and personal efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Mandela in organizing a global partnership of leaders to represent all of civil society in achieving the goals of the world summit on children.
FARRUKH IQBAL KHAN (Pakistan) informed the Subcommission of the steps taken by the Government relating to the promotion and protection of the child in Pakistan. The most notable developments had been in the field of juvenile justice and the elimination of child labour. Pakistan had been a pioneer in addressing the issue of child labour through a sectoral approach and had embarked on the famous Sialkot project under which, the people of Pakistan through the Chamber of Commerce, trade unions and Government, had undertaken to eliminate child labour from the soccer ball industry. Pakistan had been assisted by the ILO in this endeavour as well as by some developed countries.
There has also been an adoption of the national plan for the elimination of child labour by the Cabinet, aiming at the progressive elimination of child labour from all sectors of employment, the immediate eradication of the worst forms of child labour, a regular monitoring and inspection system, the prevention of entry into the labour market for children and ensuring primary education and skill training for all children. The plan was notable for the fact that it involved the entire Government machinery working as a cohesive whole. The international community had to be an equal partner in the elimination of violations of the rights of the child.
CORRIGENDUM
In press release HR/SC/00/6 of 3 August, the statement of the representative of Eritrea on page 3 should read as follows:
AMARE TEKLE (Eritrea) said he would confine his remarks to denouncing violations committed on Eritrean territory. Those violations had reached a senseless level of cruelty since the occupation of Eritrean territory in May 2000. Even after the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement, the invading forces had launched attacks on civilian targets. People had been tortured and imprisoned, young girls and elderly women had been raped, and installations essential to the population, such as water and electricity supply systems and even hospitals, had been destroyed.
The speaker was interrupted by a point of order from an expert. The Chairperson allowed the speaker to continue after the speaker explained that the decision of the Subcommission could not apply to his presentation since he was speaking about Eritreans in Eritrea and not about Eritreans in Ethiopia. After a long debate on the matter, the Chairperson asked the speaker whether or not he wished to continue and the speaker preferred not to continue.
In press release HR/SC/00/16 of 10 August, the right of reply of Pakistan on page 6 should read as follows:
A representative of Pakistan, speaking in right of reply, said that the delegation was not questioning the report but it was questioning the actions of India. It questioned the situation in an area suffering from armed conflict. The fact was that there were human rights violations in Kashmir, and Pakistan, being an integral party to the Kashmir dispute, had the right to raise cases of human rights violations. The issue had not been dealt in its totality by the Special Rapporteur.
In press release HR/SC/00/21 of 14 August 2000, the right of reply of Turkey on page 9 should read as follows:
A representative of Turkey said in right of reply that he was responding to the statement by the Society for Threatened Peoples. Turkey's statement on agenda item 2 had described elaborately the Government's approach to reforming its democracy and human rights. He had said in the statement that every reform step must and shall be in conformity with the Constitutional order. The Republic of Turkey was a pluralist democratic State. There were no political limitations unless the political acts aimed at the Constitutional order and the indivisible integrity of the State. Everybody was free to enjoy his or her culture. Turkey was also a State of law. Everybody had equal rights and responsibilities. No politician or political party had the right and privilege to violate the law with a view to changing the State order for the sake of his or its political aspirations. Democracy was based on the free exchange of opinions, but no democracy could permit the abuse of rights which aimed at the destruction of public order.
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