HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL BEGINS GENERAL DEBATE ON THEMATIC REPORTS AND THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT
Meeting Summaries
The Council has before it the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: A compilation of national, regional and international laws, regulations and practices on the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention before court (A/HRC/27/47).
The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary of the recommendations of the panel discussion on gender stereotyping and on women's human rights in the context of sustainable development agenda (A/HRC/27/73)
Presentation of Report of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development
TAMARA KUNANAYAKAM, Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the right to development, said that in October 2013 the General Assembly had welcomed the launching by the Working Group of the process for considering, revising and refining the draft right-to-development criteria and operational sub-criteria, and called upon it to consider ways and means to continue to ensure the operationalization of the right to development. During her informal consultations, it had been suggested that the Working Group adopt a position on incorporating the exigencies of the right to development in the post-2015 development agenda. It would be important to also clarify the role of the United Nations system in this process and agreed that United Nations senior staff needed to be better informed about the content of the right to development and defined in the Declaration so that their activities were aligned with it. Several proposals had been discussed to improve the effectiveness of the Working Group at its fifteenth session, with no agreement being reached.
The Working Group had completed the first reading of the draft criteria and operational sub-criteria at its fifteenth session. Throughout the consideration, the issue of incorporating the measurability element, ranging from indicators to monitoring and evaluation, remained constant. Representatives of developing countries registered their objections and reservations to those proposals, maintaining that indicators were clearly outside of the mandate of the Working Group and contending that indicators having to do with the implementation stage did not contribute to attaining the goal set by the Human Rights Council, which was the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards. At its fifteenth session, the Working Group made a number of recommendations, including continuing to consider, revise and refine the draft right to development criteria and operational sub-criteria. Ms. Kunanayakam recalled that on 4 December 2016, the world would celebrate thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development; the Declaration reflected aspirations of newly independent States to consolidate their political and economic independence and was also a response to the widespread failure of growth and profit-oriented development strategies. This document continued to provide the world with a vision of a humane society in which the human person was at the centre of development process and its subject and not object, and with the alternative approach and framework that would enable the international community to transform that vision into reality.
Presentation of Thematic Reports of the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office
FLAVIA PANSIERI, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introduced thematic reports by the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office. The Council had before it the report on the expert workshop to prepare concise technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, which outlined key elements for a human rights-based approach to reducing child mortality. The report on legal, administrative, economic, physical and any other barriers to access to universal birth registration and possession of documentary proof of birth, as well as on related good practices provided an overview of the global rates on birth registration and analysed the consequences of non-registration on human rights, such as the right to health, and the right to education. The report on the right to development described initiatives taken by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote the right to development and advocated that the right to development should be central to the post-2015 development agenda. The report on capital punishment and the implementation of safeguards guaranteeing protection of the right of those facing the death penalty confirmed the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty and expressed concerns regarding the lack of respect for human rights standards in States that still used capital punishment. The report also addressed the issues of information on executions and the human rights of children of parents sentenced or executed.
The Council also had before it the analytical study focusing on gender-based and sexual violence in relation to transitional justice, which described participatory procedures necessary to address the different needs and opportunities of women, men, girls and boys as well as good practices with regard to transitional justice processes. The study on factors that impeded equal political participation and on steps to overcome those challenges described how the full, effective and equal enjoyment of the rights to participate in political and public affairs may be prevented by discrimination against women, indigenous peoples, minorities, persons with disabilities, human rights defenders and other marginalized groups. On the report on the application of the technical guidance on a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, Ms. Pansieri said that there were considerable possibilities for expanding the use of a rights based approach to maternal mortality and morbidity, with the aim of full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The report on the rights of indigenous peoples contained information on relevant developments with regard to human rights bodies and mechanisms insofar as their work pertained to indigenous peoples. The report on the plan of action for the third phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2015-2019) described the plan of action, which proposed a strategy for the third phase of the World Programme that focused on strengthening implementation of the first two phases and on promoting human rights training for media professionals and journalists.
Ms. Pansieri said the report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the workshop on the impact of the application of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights by the affected populations, in particular their socio-economic impact on women and children in the States targeted, summarized the workshop that was held on 23 May 2014 in Geneva which examined the vast and complex web of unilateral coercive measures, considering their impacts on women and children, international humanitarian and human rights law, on the economy, on peace and security and on the social fabric of States. The report on the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights gave an overview of the professional and higher category staff members at 31 December 2013, according to their recruitment status, their nationality, grade and sex.
Ms. Pansieri also introduced the thematic reports that would be considered later during this session, under agenda items 5, 8 and 10. There was the report on alleged reprisals and how to address the issue of intimidation and reprisals against those who seek to cooperate, cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms that contained information on new alleged cases and follow-up information regarding previously mentioned incidents. The report on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights presented activities carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights between April 2013 and August 2014 to support the establishment of national human rights institutions in 10 States and territories, and the strengthening of such institutions in 47 other States and territories. The report on the activities of the International Coordinating Committee of national human rights institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles outlined the activities of the Sub-committee on Accreditation. The report on technical assistance and capacity-building options for integrating human rights into national policies presented a selection of good practices under the 2012-2013 technical cooperation programme to support States’ efforts to align national policies, strategies and legislation with international human rights norms and recommendations. The report on the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in the context of domestic and extraterritorial surveillance and/or the interception of digital communications and the collection of personal data, including on a mass scale proposed further in-depth study on specific challenges to the implementation of the right to privacy in the digital age. Eight additional reports summarized the panels held at the Council on genocide, access to justice for children, the death penalty, child, early and forced marriage, the safety of journalists, female genital mutilation, women’s human rights and civil society space.
General Debate
Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union, welcomed the reports on the issue of the death penalty as it was strongly committed to the international campaign against the death penalty. The European Union would continue to raise its voice in favour of a moratorium. Child, early and enforced marriages and female genital mutilation were human rights violations disproportionately affecting women and girls. The European Union was firmly convinced of the need for these issues to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.
Iran, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, reiterated the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone and international cooperation was needed to address the basic structural obstacles to economic and social rights. This right should be founded on the entitlement of every human being to be free from want. It was deeply disturbed by the negative impact on the right to life, health, adequate standard of living and indiscriminate human cost of unilateral sanctions, in particular women and children.
Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, said on the right to development that the international community had to treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing. They were far from the achievement of sustainable development. Due to global financial and food crises, the whole world had been struggling. Challenges required a collective approach, based on international cooperation. There was a dire need to move from rhetoric to direct implementation.
Right of Reply
Ethiopia, speaking in a right of reply, said that the right to freedom of expression was fully respected in the country. Ethiopia took its obligations to fight terrorism very seriously and it was important to dismantle terrorist structures by bringing them before the courts. Individuals mentioned in the non-governmental organization’s statement would be tried by a court and their rights as accused would be fully respected. Ethiopia said that such statements were just politicized.
Bahrain, speaking in a right of reply, said that it strived to respect freedoms and rights, justice and human dignity and provided that all persons were equal before the law without discrimination on any grounds. No one could be detained anywhere else but in those places specifically designated for detention and under judiciary supervision. Accusations of detention of political opponents were groundless; those who had been detained had committed crimes punishable by the law, including serious crimes which intended to destabilize the country like spying.
Ukraine, speaking in a right of reply, said that the statements by Russia were becoming more and more cynical and more like the Soviet times, where the white was called black and black was called white. Russia was claiming that there were no Russian troops in southeast Ukraine, but Russian mothers would say otherwise. Ukraine urged Russia not to burden the already loaded agenda of the Council with politicised, biased and untrue allegations, and to direct its energy to its own worsening human rights record.
Burundi, speaking in a right of reply, said that it took note of the statements made regarding the bodies found in the lake on the border between Rwanda and Burundi and thanked the speakers for this. Immediately after the discovery of this awful situation, Burundi had begun large scale investigations to shed all necessary light on this subject. No families living on the territory in Burundi had so far reported any disappearance of a family member that were similar to this situation. Burundi remained committed to continuing and strengthening investigations to fully find out what had happened and who was responsible.
Japan, speaking in a right of reply in response to what was mentioned by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the issues of the past, said that it had already stated its view and stance on the subject in this session of the Council.
China, speaking in a right of reply, said that in this afternoon’s session some non-governmental organizations had criticized the human rights situation in China by referring to unfounded allegations. The Chinese delegation rejected all of these allegations. In the regions of national ethnic minorities, China had adopted a policy of equality among all ethnic groups and was working within the law to ensure minorities could enjoy their right to autonomy. The Government had adopted many measures to ensure that language, culture and religions of minorities were provided for. China underscored that it was a State that followed the rule of law.
For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC14/116E
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Introduces Thematic Reports
The Human Rights Council this afternoon started a general debate after hearing presentations by the Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the right to development, Tamara Kunanayakam, on the report of the Working Group and by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Flavia Pansieri, on a series of thematic reports by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner and her Office.
Tamara Kunanayakam, Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the right to development, presented the Working Group’s report and described consultations it had conducted, during which it had been suggested inter alia that it adopt a position on incorporating the exigencies of the right to development in the post-2015 development agenda. The issue of incorporating the measurability element, ranging from indicators to monitoring and evaluation, remained constant.
Flavia Pansieri, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introduced a series of thematic reports by the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office.
In the general debate, speakers underlined the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone and noted that international cooperation was needed to address the basic structural obstacles to economic and social rights. The reports on the death penalty were welcomed. Speakers said child, early and enforced marriages and female genital mutilation were human rights violations disproportionately affecting women and girls and they should be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.
Speaking were Italy on behalf of the European Union, Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Ethiopia, Bahrain, Ukraine, Burundi, Japan and China spoke in right of reply to statements made earlier during the day.
At 5 p.m., the Council met behind closed doors to discuss its complaints procedure.
The Human Rights Council will resume its work on Monday, 15 September 2014 at 9 a.m. when it will hold a panel discussion on the protection of the family and its members. The Council will continue its general debate on thematic reports by the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office the same day at noon.
Documentation
The Council has before it a report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the composition of the staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/27/18) The Council has before it a note by the Secretariat on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the follow-up review of the management and administration of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/27/19) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the application of the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity (A/HRC/27/20) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on an analytical study focusing on gender-based and sexual violence in relation to transitional justice (A/HRC/27/21) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law (A/HRC/27/22) The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty (A/HRC/27/23) The Council has before it a corrigendum to the report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty (A/HRC/27/23/Corr.1) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary of the high-level panel discussion dedicated to the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (A/HRC/27/24) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary report on the full-day meeting on access to justice for children (A/HRC/27/25) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary of the high-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty (A/HRC/27/26) The Council has before it a consolidated report of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to development (A/HRC/27/27) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights education - plan of action for the third phase of the World Programme (2015-2019) (A/HRC/27/28) The Council has before it a corrigendum to the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights education - plan of action for the third phase of the World Programme (2015-2019) (A/HRC/27/28/Corr.1) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on factors that impede equal political participation and on steps to overcome those challenges (A/HRC/27/29) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age (A/HRC/27/31) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on proceedings of the workshop on the impact of the application of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights by the affected populations, in particular their socioeconomic impact on women and children, in the States targeted (A/HRC/27/32) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary of the Human Rights Council panel discussion on the importance of the promotion and protection of civil society space - Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/27/33) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary report on the panel discussion on preventing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage (A/HRC/27/34) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary report on the panel discussion on the issue of the safety of journalists (A/HRC/27/35) The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary report on the high-level panel discussion on the identification of good practices in combating female genital mutilation (A/HRC/27/36) The Council has before it the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to privacy in the digital age (A/HRC/27/37) The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human (A/HRC/27/38) The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (A/HRC/27/39) The Council has before it the report of the Secretary-General on activities of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles (A/HRC/27/40) The Council has before it the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on technical assistance and capacity-building options for integrating human rights into national policies (A/HRC/27/41) |
The Council has before it the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: A compilation of national, regional and international laws, regulations and practices on the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention before court (A/HRC/27/47).
The Council has before it a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - summary of the recommendations of the panel discussion on gender stereotyping and on women's human rights in the context of sustainable development agenda (A/HRC/27/73)
Presentation of Report of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development
TAMARA KUNANAYAKAM, Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the right to development, said that in October 2013 the General Assembly had welcomed the launching by the Working Group of the process for considering, revising and refining the draft right-to-development criteria and operational sub-criteria, and called upon it to consider ways and means to continue to ensure the operationalization of the right to development. During her informal consultations, it had been suggested that the Working Group adopt a position on incorporating the exigencies of the right to development in the post-2015 development agenda. It would be important to also clarify the role of the United Nations system in this process and agreed that United Nations senior staff needed to be better informed about the content of the right to development and defined in the Declaration so that their activities were aligned with it. Several proposals had been discussed to improve the effectiveness of the Working Group at its fifteenth session, with no agreement being reached.
The Working Group had completed the first reading of the draft criteria and operational sub-criteria at its fifteenth session. Throughout the consideration, the issue of incorporating the measurability element, ranging from indicators to monitoring and evaluation, remained constant. Representatives of developing countries registered their objections and reservations to those proposals, maintaining that indicators were clearly outside of the mandate of the Working Group and contending that indicators having to do with the implementation stage did not contribute to attaining the goal set by the Human Rights Council, which was the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards. At its fifteenth session, the Working Group made a number of recommendations, including continuing to consider, revise and refine the draft right to development criteria and operational sub-criteria. Ms. Kunanayakam recalled that on 4 December 2016, the world would celebrate thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development; the Declaration reflected aspirations of newly independent States to consolidate their political and economic independence and was also a response to the widespread failure of growth and profit-oriented development strategies. This document continued to provide the world with a vision of a humane society in which the human person was at the centre of development process and its subject and not object, and with the alternative approach and framework that would enable the international community to transform that vision into reality.
Presentation of Thematic Reports of the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office
FLAVIA PANSIERI, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introduced thematic reports by the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office. The Council had before it the report on the expert workshop to prepare concise technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, which outlined key elements for a human rights-based approach to reducing child mortality. The report on legal, administrative, economic, physical and any other barriers to access to universal birth registration and possession of documentary proof of birth, as well as on related good practices provided an overview of the global rates on birth registration and analysed the consequences of non-registration on human rights, such as the right to health, and the right to education. The report on the right to development described initiatives taken by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote the right to development and advocated that the right to development should be central to the post-2015 development agenda. The report on capital punishment and the implementation of safeguards guaranteeing protection of the right of those facing the death penalty confirmed the trend towards the universal abolition of the death penalty and expressed concerns regarding the lack of respect for human rights standards in States that still used capital punishment. The report also addressed the issues of information on executions and the human rights of children of parents sentenced or executed.
The Council also had before it the analytical study focusing on gender-based and sexual violence in relation to transitional justice, which described participatory procedures necessary to address the different needs and opportunities of women, men, girls and boys as well as good practices with regard to transitional justice processes. The study on factors that impeded equal political participation and on steps to overcome those challenges described how the full, effective and equal enjoyment of the rights to participate in political and public affairs may be prevented by discrimination against women, indigenous peoples, minorities, persons with disabilities, human rights defenders and other marginalized groups. On the report on the application of the technical guidance on a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, Ms. Pansieri said that there were considerable possibilities for expanding the use of a rights based approach to maternal mortality and morbidity, with the aim of full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The report on the rights of indigenous peoples contained information on relevant developments with regard to human rights bodies and mechanisms insofar as their work pertained to indigenous peoples. The report on the plan of action for the third phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2015-2019) described the plan of action, which proposed a strategy for the third phase of the World Programme that focused on strengthening implementation of the first two phases and on promoting human rights training for media professionals and journalists.
Ms. Pansieri said the report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the workshop on the impact of the application of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights by the affected populations, in particular their socio-economic impact on women and children in the States targeted, summarized the workshop that was held on 23 May 2014 in Geneva which examined the vast and complex web of unilateral coercive measures, considering their impacts on women and children, international humanitarian and human rights law, on the economy, on peace and security and on the social fabric of States. The report on the composition of the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights gave an overview of the professional and higher category staff members at 31 December 2013, according to their recruitment status, their nationality, grade and sex.
Ms. Pansieri also introduced the thematic reports that would be considered later during this session, under agenda items 5, 8 and 10. There was the report on alleged reprisals and how to address the issue of intimidation and reprisals against those who seek to cooperate, cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms that contained information on new alleged cases and follow-up information regarding previously mentioned incidents. The report on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights presented activities carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights between April 2013 and August 2014 to support the establishment of national human rights institutions in 10 States and territories, and the strengthening of such institutions in 47 other States and territories. The report on the activities of the International Coordinating Committee of national human rights institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights in accrediting national institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles outlined the activities of the Sub-committee on Accreditation. The report on technical assistance and capacity-building options for integrating human rights into national policies presented a selection of good practices under the 2012-2013 technical cooperation programme to support States’ efforts to align national policies, strategies and legislation with international human rights norms and recommendations. The report on the protection and promotion of the right to privacy in the context of domestic and extraterritorial surveillance and/or the interception of digital communications and the collection of personal data, including on a mass scale proposed further in-depth study on specific challenges to the implementation of the right to privacy in the digital age. Eight additional reports summarized the panels held at the Council on genocide, access to justice for children, the death penalty, child, early and forced marriage, the safety of journalists, female genital mutilation, women’s human rights and civil society space.
General Debate
Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union, welcomed the reports on the issue of the death penalty as it was strongly committed to the international campaign against the death penalty. The European Union would continue to raise its voice in favour of a moratorium. Child, early and enforced marriages and female genital mutilation were human rights violations disproportionately affecting women and girls. The European Union was firmly convinced of the need for these issues to be addressed in the post-2015 development agenda.
Iran, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, reiterated the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone and international cooperation was needed to address the basic structural obstacles to economic and social rights. This right should be founded on the entitlement of every human being to be free from want. It was deeply disturbed by the negative impact on the right to life, health, adequate standard of living and indiscriminate human cost of unilateral sanctions, in particular women and children.
Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, said on the right to development that the international community had to treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing. They were far from the achievement of sustainable development. Due to global financial and food crises, the whole world had been struggling. Challenges required a collective approach, based on international cooperation. There was a dire need to move from rhetoric to direct implementation.
Right of Reply
Ethiopia, speaking in a right of reply, said that the right to freedom of expression was fully respected in the country. Ethiopia took its obligations to fight terrorism very seriously and it was important to dismantle terrorist structures by bringing them before the courts. Individuals mentioned in the non-governmental organization’s statement would be tried by a court and their rights as accused would be fully respected. Ethiopia said that such statements were just politicized.
Bahrain, speaking in a right of reply, said that it strived to respect freedoms and rights, justice and human dignity and provided that all persons were equal before the law without discrimination on any grounds. No one could be detained anywhere else but in those places specifically designated for detention and under judiciary supervision. Accusations of detention of political opponents were groundless; those who had been detained had committed crimes punishable by the law, including serious crimes which intended to destabilize the country like spying.
Ukraine, speaking in a right of reply, said that the statements by Russia were becoming more and more cynical and more like the Soviet times, where the white was called black and black was called white. Russia was claiming that there were no Russian troops in southeast Ukraine, but Russian mothers would say otherwise. Ukraine urged Russia not to burden the already loaded agenda of the Council with politicised, biased and untrue allegations, and to direct its energy to its own worsening human rights record.
Burundi, speaking in a right of reply, said that it took note of the statements made regarding the bodies found in the lake on the border between Rwanda and Burundi and thanked the speakers for this. Immediately after the discovery of this awful situation, Burundi had begun large scale investigations to shed all necessary light on this subject. No families living on the territory in Burundi had so far reported any disappearance of a family member that were similar to this situation. Burundi remained committed to continuing and strengthening investigations to fully find out what had happened and who was responsible.
Japan, speaking in a right of reply in response to what was mentioned by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the issues of the past, said that it had already stated its view and stance on the subject in this session of the Council.
China, speaking in a right of reply, said that in this afternoon’s session some non-governmental organizations had criticized the human rights situation in China by referring to unfounded allegations. The Chinese delegation rejected all of these allegations. In the regions of national ethnic minorities, China had adopted a policy of equality among all ethnic groups and was working within the law to ensure minorities could enjoy their right to autonomy. The Government had adopted many measures to ensure that language, culture and religions of minorities were provided for. China underscored that it was a State that followed the rule of law.
For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC14/116E