HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONCLUDES DISCUSSION ON INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE AND MINORITY ISSUES

The Human Rights Council this afternoon concluded its interactive discussion on the reports of the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, and the Independent Expert on minority issues, after hearing from a range of national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations on the reports.

Walter Kalin, the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, in his concluding remarks on the debate, thanked all the delegations that had expressed their support for his work and the Guiding Principles, as well as for updates from countries that he had visited, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Timor-Leste. Currently, he was working on tools for mediators in peace processes in order to ensure that concerns of the internally displaced persons were taken into account during peace processes and that their voices were heard.

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, said trafficking in persons was a crime and perpetrators should be brought to trial. A human rights perspective should be used in the context, and on incorporating this, it could be achieved through collaborative work, with national rapporteurs, capacity-building institutions, and other relevant national forces. The Universal Periodic Review also played a role as another way to engage and monitor human trafficking. A synergetic cooperation should also be built with national human rights institutions.

Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, said the delegate of the Democratic Republic of Congo should know that he did not see a conflict between his positive perception of how his people lived together in harmony, and the perception of Mr. Deng. On the exploitation of genocide, in dealing with prevention, Mr. Deng looked at early manifestations of situations that could escalate. He hoped States recognised that if he communicated with them, it was not an allegation of genocide. He appreciated the comments on the framework of analysis, and he hoped this would be a useful tool.

Gay McDougall, Independent Expert on minority issues, said with respect to Greece, in her view, her engagement with the Government thereof had been extremely constructive, and she thanked the Government for that. She agreed with the statements made by the delegate from Greece that the Muslim minority in Thrace consisted of three distinct groups - the ethnicity of all three groups should be equally recognised and acknowledged, and they should be given an opportunity to self-identify, with no pressure from the Government. With respect to Guyana, Ms. McDougall thanked that country for sending a representative to the dialogue. Contrary to his statement, her report did deal with the Ethnic Relations Commission and its work in several paragraphs. It was an important part of her visit to interact with that Commission.

Speaking this afternoon were the representatives of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, the Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia, and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines. Also speaking were Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Colombian Commission of Jurists, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Asian Forum For Human Rights and Development, Norwegian Refugee Council, Franciscans International, China Society for Human Rights Studies, China Association for Protection and Development of Tibetan Culture, Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy, World Vision International, Arab Commission for Human Rights, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, and the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.

When the Council next meets in public on Monday, 16 March at 10 a.m., it will begin a general debate on item 3 of its agenda, namely the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.


Continuation of Interactive Dialogue on Reports on Internally Displaced Persons, Trafficking in Persons, Prevention of Genocide and on Minority Issues

KOFFI KOUNTE, of Network of African NHRI, said that genocide was unacceptable. Preventing genocide was possible, and this should be done in the interest of world peace. In 2004, the national human rights institutes’ meeting in Seoul urged the development of early warning mechanisms and operational guidelines to help encourage States to put in place early warning and action mechanisms to resolve conflicts between States and between national communities that could lead to grave human rights violations. Impunity was one of the main causes for massive human rights violations and crimes of genocide, as well as their repetition. The impunity for international crimes and massive and systematic human rights violations was a betrayal of human solidarity with the victims. All States should install democratic regimes.

GIORGI CHKHEIDZE, Office of the Ombudsman of Georgia, said that the report by Professor Kalin provided up-to date information and recommendations which were very important and should be taken into account. The Public Defender of Georgia had been monitoring protection of the rights and interests of the internally displaced persons community as well as the community directly damaged by the war. By reiterating the importance of the issues stressed in the report presented by the Special Representative, the Public Defender of Georgia referred to important problems, such as: lack of information provided to internally displaced persons; lack of participation from the side of the internally displaced persons community in deciding their fate; lack of common policy and coordination of the activity of the State institutions working on internally displaced persons issues; internally displaced persons status; non-voluntary return; social status and lack of comprehensive approach; and the law on occupied territories.

CECILIA R. V. QUISUMBING, of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, congratulated the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons on her first report. Her approach to explore the current situation and efforts to combat trafficking of persons not only at the national level but also at the regional and international levels was highly commendable. They agreed that a study of the demand was critical towards improving the current situation, and urged focus on receiving countries as well as on countries of origin. The Commission encouraged the Special Rapporteur to look at efforts in Southeast Asia in this regard. Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, was of common concern. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Member States adopted in 2004 a declaration on human trafficking, which included among others a commitment to form an intergovernmental body to coordinate efforts to combat trafficking.

GRAINNE KILCULLEN, of Amnesty International, said the Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of internally displaced persons had reported that restrictions on movement of displaced populations and limited access for humanitarian organizations in Sri Lanka were perpetuating insecurity and hardship for displaced populations. One matter of serious concern was the lack of consistent international access to the so-called "welfare centres" run by the Sri Lankan Government, where there was still a lack of adequate safeguards against abuse of security measures. Some internally displaced persons in these centres, particularly young men and women, were vulnerable to serious human rights violations such as torture and inhuman, cruel, and degrading treatment, disappearance and extra-judicial killings. Had the Representative's discussions addressed specific measures to ensure the security of internally displaced persons in welfare centres and other collection centres in northern Sri Lanka, Amnesty International asked.

JULIE DE RIVERO, of Human Rights Watch, said that while the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam might be nearing its conclusion on the battlefield, the situation remained grim for the quarter of million civilians trapped or displaced by the fighting. Human Rights Watch urged the Council without further delay to actively address the daily violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that these persons were enduring. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provided authoritative standards on the obligations of Government to internally displaced persons. Under these principles, the authorities were to provide internally displaced persons at a minimum with safe access to essential food and potable water, basic shelter and housing, appropriate clothing, and essential medical services and sanitation. Many of these needs had not been met in Sri Lanka’s northern Vanni region, as documented in two recent Human Rights Watch reports.

ISABELLE HEYER, of Colombian Commission of Jurists, thanked the Special Representative of the Secretary-General who had just visited Colombia and as a result had noticed that there were forced displacements in the country. In 1999 the Government publicly undertook to adopt guiding principles to apply full rights for the internally displaced persons. Today in Colombia there were approximately 4 million internally displaced persons who did have rights provided to them on a constitutional level. In Colombia there were numerous violations of the rights for displaced persons with respect to the occupation of lands via military groups, which also violated the restitution of the internally displaced persons. The Commission stressed what the Special Representative of the Secretary-General said, in that it was essential that the draft law presented to congress in Colombia should guarantee for victims the right to full compensation in cases where either guerrillas groups, the military or the authorities had acquired their lands.

ABDEL RAYI GIBRIL, of Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, said the Special Representative on internally displaced persons should further clarify his reference to the expulsion of 13 international relief and humanitarian organizations in Sudan. The Institute was highly alarmed about the dire humanitarian implications of closing these 13 relief organizations, which could directly result in the deaths of millions of internally displaced persons from starvation and disease. The situation of internally displaced persons in Darfur was further aggravated by the increasing repression and retaliatory measures directed against Sudanese human rights non-governmental organizations which had continuously worked for the protection of these persons. There should be concerted efforts by the international community at large, and in particular the Human Rights Council, African Union and League of Arab States, to apply pressure on the Sudanese Government to halt all retaliatory measures against internally displaced persons and those who provided assistance to them.

RENATO MABUNGA, of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia), said that while it was concerned by devastation caused by natural displacement, the Forum remained more concerned about internal displacement caused by armed conflict. The Forum was particularly concerned about the conflict in the Philippines that had resulted in more displacement and the disruption of economic and social life. The Forum urged the Philippines to protect the rights of the internally displaced persons and to undertake peace negotiations. It also encouraged the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons to look into the situation of internally displaced persons in Mindanao.

CHRISTOPHE BEAN, of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the Norwegian Refugee Council was concerned about renewed rebel attacks in the Central African Republic and the precarious living conditions of the internally displaced persons. Despite the success of December’s political dialogue for national reconciliation, renewed attacks by rebels in January and February 2009 caused new displacements in the north of the country, including the fight of several thousand people into southern Chad. The town of Bantangfo, where the Norwegian Refugee Council had its operations and provided emergency education to more than 14,000 children, was attacked on 20 February. Some 108,000 civilians were still internally displaced in the Central African Republic, and many were still living in precarious conditions. It was estimated that children accounted for half of the total number of internally displaced persons, and lacked access to basic social services such as education and health care.

Mr. MUTZNER, of Franciscans International, said the report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons highlighted the need to address linkages between trafficking, labour and migration, and consequently the trafficking of men and boys, and trafficking in persons for forms of exploitation other than sexual. Only a few countries criminalised trafficking for forced labour or trafficking in men - what were the Special Rapporteur's plans to address the lack of attention to this issue, Franciscans International asked. The root causes of human trafficking were insufficiently addressed, and a better understanding of the link between social and economic disparities between States and migration and human trafficking and the demand for cheap labour was crucial. What measures would the Special Rapporteur recommend in order to improve national data collection, and how did she envisage States using improved data in anti-trafficking efforts, Franciscans International asked.

DANHONG REN, of China Society for Human Rights Studies, said the China Society for Human Rights Studies was glad to see that the Human Rights Council had established a forum on minority issues, to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as well as thematic contributions and expertise to the work of the Independent Expert on minority issues. It was helpful for the participants to share best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives for the promotion of mutual understanding of minority issues. The China Society for Human Rights also welcomed the report of the independent expert on minority issues to apply a gender perspective in her work and had placed a high priority on the issue of minority women. As she had said in her report, women belonging to minorities experienced unique challenges and multiple or intersectional discrimination emanating from their status as members of minorities and as women or girls.

DAWA CIKEN, of China Association for Protection of Tibetan Culture, said the Universal Declaration on Human Rights stated that all human beings were born equal, had inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all and no one should be held in slavery. Ninety-five per cent of Tibetans were deprived of their freedom and dignity. Tibet took a place in history as a place where there were the most violations of basic human rights. Following democratic reform, Tibet entered a new era of development, where people had the freedom in politics, education and culture, among others. Though many would think that 15 years was not a long time, Tibetans believed the past 15 years were a dramatic amount of time, and through which a landmark contribution had been made to the cause of human rights. No one in Tibet wanted to return to the old history.

Mr. Ciccoli, of Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy, said there were several regions in South Asia where local people had no say in their governance, and the media was under repression, several areas historically had not seen free and fair democratic elections and the will of the people was therefore neglected. This had resulted in repression and threats of genocide, forcing these people to migrate out of the region. The Human Rights Council should ensure law and democracy in these Asian places so that the people could muster the courage to speak up and force the Governments to cater to the welfare of the common man, woman, and child. The Human Rights Council should appoint a Special Rapporteur for such Asian areas.

RUTHI HOFFMAN-HANCHETT, of World Vision International, in a joint statement with International Catholic Child Bureau; Plan International; and ECPAT International, said regarding what the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons noted in her report that reliable data and figures on human trafficking were difficult to find, World Vision wished to highlight the need for greater effort to be taken to address and document domestic trafficking, identifying victims with the same care as internationally trafficked persons. The organizations welcomed the intention of the Special Rapporteur to act as a focal point to track and provide feedback on innovative and promising approaches to combating trafficking and suggested that in the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to collect and coordinate data mapping and dissemination, the Special Rapporteur should very explicitly focus her efforts towards effective and appropriate prevention methods.

ABDEL WAHAB HANI, of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, thanked the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide for his report. The Arab Commission recalled the seminar carried out on 21 January at the Palais des Nations, on the complaints procedure 1503, which was established on the basis of gross, flagrant and systematic violations of human rights. The Commission called on the Human Rights Council to carry out a thorough study of the complaints procedure discussed in the seminar, including the complaints mechanism discussions in the Human Rights Commission. The finding of such a study would act as a tool for early warning mechanisms. The Commission said that the Council had a responsibility to carry out this study with a view to prevent further violations of human rights, and the carrying out of genocide.

NIMALKA FERNANDO, of International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, said Sri Lanka today was facing a human catastrophe related to civilians caught in the conflict zones as well as those who had fled from the Vanni, searching for protection. The security screening process and the presence of the military in camps had heightened the fears of the civilians inside the camps for internally displaced persons, and the high security around them had contributed to give the displaced inside the camps the sense that they were in prison rather than under care and protection. The authorities and the United Nations country team should look into and ensure that all assistance related to internally displaced persons programmes and resettlement be reviewed based on the existing guidelines, and that the screening process be carried out in the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross and that the latter maintain a regular and systematic presence inside the camps.


Concluding Remarks

WALTER KALIN, Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons, in his concluding remarks, thanked all the delegations that had expressed their support for his work and the Guiding Principles, as well as for updates from countries that he had visited, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Timor-Leste. A delegation had asked him to focus more on internally displaced persons in Palestine, and Mr. Kalin responded by saying that he had contributed to the report on Gaza which was going to be presented later. He urged the Council to clearly draw the line between internally displaced persons and refugees. Currently, he was working on tools for mediators in peace processes in order to ensure that concerns of the internally displaced persons were taken into account during peace processes and that their voices were heard.

Concerning criteria for mass displacement, Mr. Kalin said that this meant that there had to be large numbers, meaning hundreds of thousands were suddenly displaced or remained displacement for a long time. Roughly 300,000 persons were displaced in the Philippines at the time of the preparation of the report. Further, the displacement was recurrent, also because of natural disasters, and he wondered how the capacity of civil society and the Government had been reinforced in order to respond to this problem. Regarding displacement caused by climate change, Mr. Kalin was closely working with the Intergovernmental Standing Committee and the Copenhagen Process, as well as the United Nations Development Programme. He was also collaborating with the World Bank to find out how to cover funding gaps. Regarding Sri Lanka, Mr. Kalin said he was looking forward to a continued dialogue that would allow him to understand the situation on the ground.

JOY NGOZI EZEILO, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in her concluding remarks, thanked all of the speakers for their encouraging words, for their generous comments and the support they provided to the work of her mandate. She said given the limited amount of time she could not respond to all the questions raised, but would do her utmost to respond in due course, but stressed that all the questions raised were a valuable contribution to the discussion. With regard to Yemen’s comment that trafficking in persons was a crime, she agreed, and said that perpetrators should be brought to trial. She stressed the need to apply a human rights perspective in this context. On examples of model legislation raised by the Czech Republic on behalf of the European Union, Ms. Ezeilo said she would draw on existing standards. Such standards included, among others, guidelines on human rights and human trafficking developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She also noted that she was always looking for innovative ways to engage new partners in this regard.

With respect to incorporating a human rights perspective, as noted by Indonesia, she said that this was achieved through collaborative work, with national rapporteurs, capacity building institutions and other relevant national forces. Ms. Ezeilo underscored the importance of the role that the Universal Periodic Review process played as another way to engage and monitor human trafficking. Norway commented on how the work of her mandate could be linked to the work of the Council of Europe. Ms. Ezeilo said this could be achieved by building a synergetic cooperation with national human rights institutions; however she did not intend to reinvent the wheel. She continued to highlight that in this regard consultations were underway with the International Labour Organization and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Furthermore, she encouraged inclusive approach to the work of her mandate. On sexual exploitation and its links to human trafficking, Ms. Ezeilo said that sexual exploitation was a direct manifestation of human trafficking. Moreover, she encouraged the participation of all Member States who had engaged in the questions she posed, and encouraged all Member States who had not yet responded to do so in order to achieve the goals set forth in the Council. Furthermore, she stressed that human rights was a core of her work and without a human rights perspective and the involvement of all, putting an end to human trafficking could not be realized.


FRANCIS DENG, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, thanked all those who had spoken, and offered words of encouragement and support. The delegate of the Democratic Republic of Congo should know that he did not see a conflict between his positive perception of how his people lived together in harmony, and the perception of Mr. Deng. Kenya was thanked for the update, and with respect to the European Union's concerns about developments in the Sudan and the eviction of non-governmental organizations and aid workers, the Secretary-General and others were actively engaged in consultations to try and find a solution with the Government of Sudan. On the exploitation of genocide, in dealing with prevention, Mr. Deng looked at early manifestations of situations that could escalate. He hoped States recognised that if he communicated with them, it was not an allegation of genocide. He appreciated the comments on the framework of analysis, and he hoped this would be a useful tool.

GAY MCDOUGALL, Independent Expert on Minority Issues, said she wished to thank all States and non-governmental organizations that had commented on her reports, and looked forward to engaging with them more, maybe on a bilateral basis with more time to talk. With respect to Greece, in her view, her engagement with the Government thereof had been extremely constructive, and she thanked the Government for that. She agreed with the statements made by the delegate from Greece that the Muslim minority in Thrace consisted of three distinct groups - the ethnicity of all three groups should be equally recognised and acknowledged, and they should be given an opportunity to self-identify, with no pressure from the Government. In the modern paradigm, the post-1945 legal framework on minorities, while minority issues were obviously a legitimate concern of the international community, they should not be seen as tied to or implicating specific inter-State relations that could threaten the territorial integrity of any country.

With respect to Guyana, Ms. McDougall thanked that country for sending a representative to the dialogue. Contrary to his statement, her report did deal with the Ethnic Relations Commission and its work in several paragraphs. It was an important part of her visit to interact with that Commission. The Ambassador had some queries as to how she defined her mandate in countries where there "was no distinct minority", and why she did not take up issues relating to the indigenous community; the definition of minorities that she had used in all countries was very much in line with not only the discussions in the Declaration on Minorities, but in the commentary on the Declaration, adopted by the Working Group on Minorities in 2005. With regards to the questions by the European Union and what main challenges she found with respect to working with UNDP and their field staff in pushing forward the question of the incorporation of minorities in the development process, the primary obstacle was lack of knowledge about minorities and the standards that existed at the international level on minorities. She expected her cooperation with international organizations to go a long way towards resolving that.

With regards to those regions that were reluctant to allow her to visit, she was very happy to know that Kazakhstan had agreed to an early visit, and she would be very glad to receive invitations from Asian countries in general, as well as Organization of Islamic Conference countries.


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC09033E