HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL OPENS TENTH REGULAR SESSION

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its tenth session. After hearing opening statements from the President of the Council and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council began its High-Level Segment, hearing from a range of high-level dignitaries from Colombia, Maldives, Brazil, Morocco, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sri Lanka on the promotion and protection of human rights.

Speaking to the Council, Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said poverty, impunity, armed conflict and authoritarian rule continued to undermine the well-being and human rights of countless victims. The imperatives of fairly managing migration and combating terrorism within the parameters of human rights and the rule of law were also of pressing concern. All these long-entrenched factors challenged the international community’s capacity to cope in an environment of compassion fatigue and shrinking resources. At the same time, new threats, such as climate change, scarcity of food, and the global economic crisis exposed the most vulnerable to additional risk. It was the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms and eradicate inequality and discrimination. Narrow, parochial interests and reflexive partisanship must be cast aside in the interest of a greater common good - a failure to do so might reverberate negatively on the full spectrum of human rights work and mechanisms for years to come.

Martin I. Uhumoibi, President of the Human Rights Council, said in the past few months, the Council had been able to accomplish some tasks of great significance. Among others, considerable progress had been made on the review, rationalisation and improvement of the mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities of the former Commission on Human Rights. However, some additional work needed to be done, and a few mandates still needed to be further discussed to determine their status and future. In the Council's endeavour to defend and entrench respect for human rights in the international system, dialogue and cooperation remained indispensable - tolerance and respect for different viewpoints would not dilute the intensity of the engagement and commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights.

In the High-Level Segment, Francisco Santos Calderon, Vice President of Colombia, said the Government of Colombia reiterated its conviction of and commitment to the Universal Periodic Review, as this mechanism made it possible to review good practices in the field of human rights, as well as being an opportunity to assess activities of the Government at every level in all fields of human rights. Furthermore, the Government of Colombia hoped that the result of the review made it possible to review the effective security system in Colombia to protect against all human rights violations. Colombia stood by all the treaty bodies and the Office of the High Commissioner to further the enjoyment of human rights in the country. The Government of Colombia extended its commitment to the Special Rapporteurs, and human rights defenders to visit the country, in keeping with its international commitments.

Mohamed Waheed, Vice President of Maldives, said the new Government of Maldives was single-mindedly focused on the rights-based path to an entrenched democracy - its challenge was to ensure that the fruits of democracy would be enjoyed for generations to come. An increasing threat to Maldives was climate change, which had significant negative implications for the full enjoyment of human rights in Maldives and for millions of people in vulnerable countries in other Small Island States as well as among already vulnerable population groups. The Council should send out a strong signal to the international community - global warming undermined human rights and any international response should be premised on fully promoting and protecting those rights.

Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, Minister for Human Rights of Brazil, said the international community must avoid that the economic and financial crisis became an acute political crisis. The increasing of unemployment did not only lead to material shortages for the affected persons, but also to challenges emerging in the protection of civil and political rights. History had shown that intolerance and discrimination increased in times of crisis. Brazil, a country that had welcomed millions of immigrants that were today integrated in society, was particularly concerned about the situation of their migrants. Today, the world was facing a global crisis: the financial and economic crisis was not only a crisis of the developing countries. It affected all.

Abdelwahad Radi, Minister of Justice of Morocco, said the Kingdom of Morocco attached great importance to the protection and promotion of human rights. This was closely linked with a climate of peace and security around the world. Morocco had been taking stock of the efforts to promote these rights - the Kingdom was determined to enforce its commitment to human rights instruments. This year being the international year for training in human rights, Morocco had launched a national action plan for democracy and human rights. The aim was to coordinate all State actions and programmes to improve awareness and knowledge of human rights pursuant to the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action of 1993 for the promotion of human rights.

Sven Alkalaj, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the work in the Human Rights Council today was mostly devoted to secure a credible and effective United Nations human rights system. All established mechanisms of the Council helped to continue efforts to strengthen the system and to improve the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the world. The principle of respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms through strengthening democracy, multicultural dialogue and respect of national, cultural and religious diversities and suppression of all forms of discrimination and intolerance against members of any part of society were the highest priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which aimed to establish a sustainable system.

Mahinda Samarsinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights of Sri Lanka, said the most intractable problem Sri Lanka had to deal with was terrorism. The conflict which erupted from time to time caused much suffering to men, women and children of every ethnicity and religion and linguistic group which made up the Sri Lankan polity. Sri Lanka’s government was conscious that efforts should have been made earlier to resolve what was a political conflict by political means. Sri Lanka was trying to forge a sustainable political solution acceptable to all Sri Lankans. This solution must not only guarantee social equity and fundamental freedoms but also empower every citizen through sharing power between the centre and the periphery, bringing government closer to the people.

The Human Rights Council will resume its High-Level Segment this afternoon at 3 p.m.


Opening Statements

MARTIN I. UHOMOIBHI, President of the Human Rights Council, said this session was unique in more than one respect. It was the first time the Council was holding its regular session in this beautifully renovated room, aptly called the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room. It was the third in the series of main sessions of the Council since its establishment in 2006. With the dedication of the first and second cycles of the Council to institutional building and test-running of new structures and processes, the third cycle was expected to consolidate on these gains to make possible the discussion of all human rights issues without discrimination. One of the more essential tasks during the third cycle was to ensure that the operationalisation of the mechanisms as provided for in the institution-building text and to ensure that discussions in the Council and progress on its work were conducted in an atmosphere of decorum and good order, with appropriate respect for different viewpoints and perspectives.
In the past few months, the Council had been able to accomplish some tasks of great significance, such as conducting the third and fourth sessions of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, meeting three times in the context of special sessions, twice on country situations and once on a thematic issue of great significance, and refining its working methods. Considerable progress had been made on the review, rationalisation and improvement of the mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities of the former Commission on Human Rights, setting the stage for a realistic evaluation of the additional efforts necessary for the fulfilment of the Council's mandate in the coming years. However, some additional work needed to be done, and a few mandates still needed to be further discussed to determine their status and future. One area of positive and outstanding success had been the Universal Periodic Review process. With the completion of the fourth Universal Periodic Review Working Group, the Council had reviewed 64 countries, almost a third of the entire membership of the United Nations, and there had been positive gains achieved in this regard.

The Council would be the first to recognise that human rights defenders around the world and the victims of human rights violations everywhere expected the Council to provide real, effective and prompt remedies to all incidents of human rights violations anywhere and everywhere. That being the case, States should raise the bar and set high targets, not least because the old ways of doing things would never measure up to the expectations of the international community. In its endeavour to defend and entrench respect for human rights in the international system, dialogue and cooperation remained indispensable - tolerance and respect for different viewpoints would not dilute the intensity of the engagement and commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights. Because mutual respect and dialogue promoted a sense of inclusiveness and shared ownership, these could also foster international cooperation, progress and development. These were important human rights goals that should be preserved.

NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that poverty, impunity, armed conflict and authoritarian rule continued to undermine the well-being and human rights of countless victims. The imperatives of fairly managing migration and combating terrorism within the parameters of human rights and the rule of law were also of pressing concern. All these long-entrenched factors challenged the international community’s capacity to cope in an environment of compassion fatigue and shrinking resources. At the same time, new threats, such as climate change, scarcity of food, and the global economic crisis exposed the most vulnerable to additional risk. These perils had been starkly illustrated in the course of thematic special sessions on the food emergencies, as well as on the financial collapse and economic downturn, that the Human Rights Council convoked. The latter debate, held last month, highlighted the critical vulnerabilities of the most marginalized members of our global society, those who were likely to bear the brunt of crises, particularly women and children, migrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, minorities and persons with disabilities. They stood at the frontline of hardship and were most likely to go hungry, to be exposed to natural disasters, and to lose their jobs and access to social safety nets and services.

Ms. Pillay said that it was important to recognize that the roots of the current crises could only be addressed if the policies and strategies they put into place were participatory, took into account existing inequalities and discrimination, and provided for sound and viable accountability mechanisms. These were the tenets of a human rights-based approach. She urged all those concerned and in a position of responsibility to ensure that these elements informed and underpinned both international and national strategies and remedial action to alleviate the effects of the crises.

Ms. Pillay said that vulnerability was almost invariably related to discrimination and inequality. Combating discrimination and inequality remained a priority for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. She pointed out that this Human Rights Council session preceded a major event, and a crucial opportunity to address some of the most invidious forms of discrimination. She referred to the Review Conference on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance which would begin on April 20 in Geneva. It would evaluate the implementation of commitments governments made eight years ago in Durban to eradicate intolerance, racial hatred and discrimination. Ms. Pillay was aware that the legacy of the 2001 Durban Conference had been tainted by the anti-Semitic behaviour of some NGOs at the sidelines of that conference. And now the Review Conference had also been the target of a disparaging media and lobbying campaign on the part of those who feared a repetition of anti-Semitic outbursts. This was unwarranted. As Secretary-General of the Conference, she countered such distortions in order to set the record straight.

Ms. Pillay emphasized that it was the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms and eradicate inequality and discrimination. A persuasive outcome of the review conference and beyond hinged upon the genuine commitment of all States to seek consensus. Narrow, parochial interests and reflexive partisanship must be cast aside in the interest of a greater common good. She underscored that a failure to do so might reverberate negatively on the full spectrum of human rights work and mechanisms for years to come. They needed to prevent the acrimony of the past from encumbering the fight against intolerance which was both of urgent concern and in the best interest of everyone.

Ms. Pillay said that history taught the world that different perspectives, traditions and geopolitical considerations had not impeded progress on human rights. The inherent soundness and universal appeal of human rights standards had made them take root in many countries. They kept spreading, albeit not uniformly, and despite regrettable setbacks. Indeed, they should continue to pursue and build on the progressive affirmation of international human rights that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ushered in six decades ago.


High-Level Segment

FRANCISCO SANTOS CALDERON, Vice President of Colombia, thanked the Human Rights Council for the opportunity on 10 December 2008 for the Government of Colombia to undergo the Universal Periodic Review. The Government of Colombia reiterated its conviction of and commitment to the Universal Periodic Review, as this mechanism made it possible to review good practices in the field of human rights, as well as being an opportunity to assess activities of the Government at every level in all fields of human rights. Furthermore, the Government of Colombia hoped that the result of the review made it possible to review the effective security system in Colombia to protect against all human rights violations.

Recalling an incident that took place in December 2008, in one of the indigenous regions in Colombia, Mr. Calderón assured the Council that the State Prosecutor’s Office was investigating the allegations of abuses against the indigenous population in those regions. Further, the Prosecutor’s Office had been given all the support necessary on the part of the public authorities in the midst of this complex situation facing the country.

The Government of Colombia stood firm in its conviction against threats facing its democracy. Past and current cases of abductions in the country were a serious threat to security. Recently a total of 21 persons had been freed from the shackles of abduction. Mr. Calderón urged that the international community not forget the hundreds of persons still kept in captivity, and hoped that the international community would stand in alliance with Colombia to combat abductions in the country. In addition, the treaty of anti-personal mines remained a challenge. Mines had killed 146 persons and wounded 563 persons in the last few years. The Government of Colombia also condemned illegal armed groups in Colombia, which were behind the cocaine and trafficking movements in the country.

Further renewing its commitment, the Government of Colombia had taken part in the Durban Review Conference, in an effort to overcome racial discrimination, said Mr. Calderón. Colombia stood by all the treaty bodies and the Office of the High Commissioner to further the enjoyment of human rights in the country in this regard. The Government of Colombia extended its commitment to the Special Rapporteurs, and human rights defenders to visit the country, in keeping with its international commitments.

Mr. Calderón further underscored that abductions of trade union leaders had fallen sharply and consistently over the past six years. In the past, a total of 10 journalists had been murdered, and in the last year not one was murdered. The Government of Colombia recognized its short comings and worked to overcome them, and it was hoped that the review of Colombia would be made with these, among other points, in mind.

MOHAMED WAHEED, Vice President of Maldives, said the international community was to be thanked for compelling the former dictatorship of Maldives, in its last three years, to allow the existence of political parties, accept the legitimacy of the international Bill of Rights, ratify a liberal Constitution, and allow for the first multi-party presidential elections. It was, however, only during the last rally before the election in October 2008, when it was felt with certainty that democracy was truly attainable. For many it was unbelievable that change had finally come, after the announcement of the results. What sustained the opposition movement in its adversity and motivated its longstanding peaceful struggle for democracy was the belief of human rights as a fundamental entitlement for the people of Maldives, and a fatal poison for any dictatorial system.

The new Government of Maldives was thus single-mindedly focused on the rights-based path to an entrenched democracy - its challenge was to ensure that the fruits of democracy would be enjoyed for generations to come. This challenge was profound, and the new Government appealed to the international community to continue its support for this endeavour. Human rights needed to be mainstreamed into the system of governance and public consciousness. The judiciary needed to develop basic competencies after decades of abject neglect and absence of justice.

The new Government wished to support the role of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in promoting and protecting human rights in Maldives. The new Government hoped to be able to expand its cooperation by hosting a human rights workshop in the country and by receiving expert missions to assist with treaty reporting and training. An increasing threat to Maldives was climate change, which had significant negative implications for the full enjoyment of human rights in Maldives and for millions of people in vulnerable countries in other Small Island States as well as among already vulnerable population groups such as women, children, minorities, and the poor. The Council should send out a strong signal to the international community - global warming undermined human rights and any international response should be premised on fully promoting and protecting those rights.

PAULO DE TARSO VANNUCHI, Minister for Human Rights of Brazil, said that in 2008 Brazil commemorated the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was Brazil’s greatest inspiration for its struggle against all forms of injustice and inequality. Although Brazil was aware of the enormous challenges ahead in making effective the 30 articles all over the country, it wanted to underline the important achievements of the last decades.

Two major events in the international context had marked the end of the commemoration of the Universal Declaration: First, the outcome of the election in the United States brought hope for positive change. For the first time, a man of African descent had become President of the United States. Second, indignation for the explosion of violence in Gaza, at the end of the year, had strengthened the conviction for the necessity to compromise and for the international community to foster negotiations that would lead Palestinians and Israelis definitely to peace.

The international community must avoid that the economical and financial crisis became an acute political crisis. The increasing of unemployment did not only lead to material shortages for the affected persons, but also to challenges emerging in the protection of civil and political rights. History had shown that intolerance and discrimination increased in times of crisis. Brazil, a country that had welcomed millions of immigrants that were today integrated in society, was particularly concerned about the situation of their migrants. Today, the world was facing a global crisis. The financial and economic crisis was not only a crisis of the developing countries. It affected all.

ABDELWAHAD RADI, Minister of Justice of Morocco, said that the Kingdom of Morocco attached great importance to the protection and promotion of human rights. This was closely linked to a climate of peace and security around the world. Morocco had been taking stock of the efforts to promote these rights. The Kingdom was determined to enforce its commitment to human rights instruments. In this vein, the Kingdom of Morocco had recently lifted its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and had ratified the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Further, all the recommendations as a result of the Universal Periodic Review had been accepted and were currently being implemented.

The Government of Morocco was in the process of harmonizing domestic legislation with international norms, underscored Mr. Radi. The age of criminality and legal age for persons to enter the labour market had been raised, as part of the national plan for children in the country. In the same spirit, women occupied the same priority in Government actions. With a new approach to furthering women’s participation, a gender policy programme was being implemented to ensure the more active participation of women in political and civil life in the country. Morocco had also drafted a national programme to incorporate human rights principles in school curricula, and here pursuant to the General Assembly resolution, this year being the international year for training in human rights, Morocco had launched a national action plan for democracy and human rights. The aim was to coordinate all State actions and programmes to improve awareness and knowledge of human rights pursuant to the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action of 1993 for the promotion of human rights.

Additionally, on 6 November 2008, the King of Morocco had presented a new project which focused on the regionalisation of the country in the Sahara. This project intended to be part of a democratic and participatory approach on behalf of the Government. This project was designed to be a realistic and definitive solution to create an autonomous region in the Sahara. On another note, the recent and tragic events in Gaza were deeply felt by the Kingdom of Morocco, stressed Mr. Radi. Further Morocco was committed to seeing a rapid settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

SVEN ALKALAJ, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said he hoped that in the course of the session the Council would continue to progressively engage in substantive discussions, interactive dialogues and negotiations in order to achieve the best solutions for all important issues scheduled for the session's deliberations. The work in the Human Rights Council today was mostly devoted to secure a credible and effective United Nations human rights system. All established mechanisms of the Council helped to continue efforts to strengthen the system and to improve the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the world.

The Universal Periodic Review was one of the main mechanisms of the Council in relation to promoting the universality, interdependence, indivisibility and inter-relatedness of all human rights. It had become a good mechanism to which States demonstrated willingness to cooperate. The principle of respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms through strengthening democracy, multicultural dialogue and respect of national, cultural and religious diversities and suppression of all forms of discrimination and intolerance against members of any part of society were the highest priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which aimed to establish a sustainable system, particularly in the field of the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Bosnia and Herzegovina fully cooperated with the United Nations Special Procedures mechanisms in an open and constructive manner. In the context of strengthening the international human rights binding system, Bosnia and Herzegovina had taken further measures to ensure effective implementation of all human rights instruments to which it was a State Party, as well as the United Nations treaty body recommendations. The United Nations Human Rights Council, in general, had made significant progress in establishing a more efficient human rights system, as well as the other United Nations bodies. Bosnia and Herzegovina wished to make its contribution to overall United Nations achievements, submitting its candidacy for the United Nations Security Council non-permanent membership for the period 2010-2011.

MAHINDA SAMARASINGHE, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights of Sri Lanka, said that the most intractable problem Sri Lanka had to deal with was terrorism. The conflict which erupted from time to time caused much suffering to men, women and children of every ethnicity and religion and linguistic group which made up the Sri Lankan polity. Sri Lanka’s government was conscious that efforts should have been made earlier to resolve what was a political conflict by political means. Despite many attempts by many governments to reach a negotiated consensus towards a durable peace, such negotiations were abandoned continuously by the forces of terrorism. It was only now that they were close to eradicating it.

Hostage taking in a conflict was a clear violation of international humanitarian law. How much more egregious was it when an unlawful belligerent group trapped thousands of people in a small tract of land and actively prevented their flight to safety by the use of arms and cold-blooded murder? Sri Lanka fervently appealed through the Human Rights Council to the world at large to apply pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to permit these civilians to move to safety. Sri Lanka was in no doubt that the civilians, if allowed freedom of movement, would escape. Despite the conflict, the Government had not lost sight of its duty to protect and care for its people, the ordinary people who had suffered from the conflict.

Mr. Samarasinghe also presented the next phase of Sri Lanka’s plans to win the peace after achieving the military objective of overcoming terrorism. Sri Lanka’s national discourse had been dominated for decades by an ethnic issue, which required a political solution. It could not be imposed by force of arms and certainly not be gained by acts of terrorism. Therefore, Sri Lanka was trying to forge a sustainable political solution acceptable to all Sri Lankans. This solution must not only guarantee social equity and fundamental freedoms but also empower every citizen through sharing power between the centre and the periphery, bringing the government closer to the people.

For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC09013E