Draft convention on rights of child approved by Human Rights Commission; report on Cuba received, Special Rapporteur for Romania to be named.

A 54-article draft convention on the rights of the child the result of more than a decade of negotiations -was approved in March by consensus by the Commission on Human Rights. The text calls for recognition of the inherent dignity and human rights of every child, protection of vulnerable children from attacks, and smoothing the way for the difficult transition from infancy to adulthood.

The Commission, in adopting 101 texts during its forty-fifth session (30 January-10 March, Geneva), also reviewed a report on the situation of human rights in Cuba. The. mission was undertaken at Cuba's invitation in 1988. It called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Romania, and a ban on toxic waste dumping across national borders.

The 43-member body, a subsidiary of the Economic and Social Council, adopted 88 resolutions and 13 decisions on a wide range of topics-from alleged human rights violations in certain countries and regions, to rights of particular groups, including migrants and minorities, to realization of economic, social and cultural rights.

The Commission adopted texts on the human rights situation in southern Africa. The United States, the United Kingdom and some other Western States voted against or abstained on most of them.

Among other things, the Commission strongly urged the immediate holding of free and fair elections in Namibia under UN super'vision to attain the independence of the country. The immediate abolition of the apartheid system and its replacement with a non-racial representative government based on the principle of universal suffrage was asked. It called for an Academic Year against apartheid',' with the subject "The evils of apartheid" taught in all educational institutions throughout the world.

Another group of resolutions was adopted regarding the human rights situations in Israeli-occupied Arab territories and southern Lebanon. The United States voted against all five, with other Western countries voting against some drafts.

The Commission welcomed the declaration of the state of Palestine and considered the 15 November 1988 decisions of the Palestine National Council a prerequisite for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Intensified international efforts were asked to induce the parties concerned to respond to the Palestinian peace initiative and to expedite the convening of the international peace conference on the Middle East.

The body affirmed that extreme poverty and exclusion from society constituted a violation of human dignity and wanted urgent national and international action to eliminate them. It also censured the actions of all persons responsible for taking hostages,. whatever their motives, and demanded that they should immediately release those they were holding.

Work also proceeded on the elaboration of documents to protect the right or rights of- indigenous populations; everyone to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country; persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; persons detained on grounds of mental ill-health or suffering from mental disorder; and migrant workers and their families.

Also under consideration were documents concerning unacknowledged detention of persons; traditional practices affecting the health of women and children; the question of states of emergency; the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers; the status of the individual and contemporary international law; human rights and disability; and the right of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.

General Assembly President Dante M. Caputo of Argentina, in a special address to the Commission on 17 February, said that the world would be safe only when freedom and well-being the two major topics which epitomize the struggle for human rights" prevailed.

The next task for peace, he stated, would be the consolidation of human rights, "of material and spiritual rights, of all those rights which make for human dignity". Stressing that the "book of human rights" was indivisible, he observed that the "chapter on well-being cannot be. separated from the chapter on freedom".

New Commission Chairman Marc Bossuyt of Belgium said the body's strength was due to the desire of States to preserve a good image, and that they were in general very sensitive" to criticism in the field of human rights. In the final reckoning, he said, only the Governments concerned could ensure respect for human rights, and their co-operation was thus of capital importance. Children's convention

The draft convention on the rights of the child will be forwarded for approval later this year by the General Assembly, which is to mark the 30th anniversary of its adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The 1959 document calls for special protection, opportunities and facilities for children to develop in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity.

While the draft convention on children's rights was approved by consensus, some countries had certain reservations, for example with regard to the level of protection under humanitarian law for children in situations of armed conflict, and over possible adverse effects of the draft convention on the relationship between parents and children.

Andrzej Towpik of Poland-the country which had been foremost among those promoting formulation of the convention-hoped the convention would help in developing national and international law concerning children, and play an educative and mobilizing role leading to new actions in the interest of children. Toxic dumping Governments of countries producing toxic and dangerous wastes were asked to ban their export to States not having the technical capability for their environmentally sound disposal, and to take measures to ensure that those wastes did not imperil human health and the ecosystem in their countries, or in other countries. The Commission called for abrogation of existing agreements for the disposal of toxic and other dangerous products and wastes with States that did not have the technical capability for environmentally sound disposal. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was asked to expedite a global convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and to maintain its leading role within the UN system for dealing with that serious problem. On 22 March in Basel, Switzerland, an international treaty negotiated under UNEP auspices, to restrict shipments of hazardous waste across borders, was adopted. Cuban report

The Commission, by a vote of 32 to I (Morocco), with 10 abstentions, noted a 400-page report on the human rights situation in Cuba

The report (E/CN.4/1989/46) detailed the observations of the group, as well as of Cuban officials and Cuban non-governmental and human rights organizations, on constitutional and legal aspects of human rights in that country, and on general and specific aspects of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

A six-member group consisting of then Commission Chairman Alioune Sene of Senegal and five other Commission members visited Cuba in September 1988. The document contained no conclusions or recommendations.

The Commission thanked Cuba for its co-operation and its willingness to analyse the mission's observations, and to maintain direct contacts with the Secretary-General on issues and questions raised in the report. By a vote of 16 to 7, with 19 abstentions, the Commission decided not to vote on a second draft on the human rights situation in Cuba, proposed by Canada, Morocco, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. The text, while noting recent improvements in the human rights situation in Cuba, also referred to allegations concerning human rights violations that had not yet been appropriately addressed" It also wanted direct contact between a designated panel of Commission members and Cuba, which would have reported again on the situation in 1990. Raul Roa Kouri, Deputy Foreign Minister of Cuba, told the Commission that visits of various groups to Cuba to observe the human rights situation there had brought no evidence of human rights violations in his country. A weak point of the report, he said, was reference to events that had taken place in Cuba 20 or 30 years ago. The overwhelming majority of Cubans supported the goals of the revolution, he said. Other situations In addition to Cuba, the Commission also adopted resolutions with regard to 11 other nationsAfghanistan, Albania, Burma, Chile, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Haiti, Iran, Kampuchea and Romania-and Western Sahara. In dealing with Burma for the first time, the Commission encouraged Burmese authorities to take measures to assure fundamental freedoms, urging them to implement their undertaking to organize free and fair multi-party democratic elections at the earliest. The Commission asked for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur to report in 1990 on the human rights situation in Romania, after expressing concern at "allegations of serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" in that country, as well as imposition of increasingly severe obstacles for Romania's national minorities to maintain their cultural identity". joseph Voyame of Switzerland, a professor of public administration at the University of Lausanne, was appointed in April as Special Rapporteur to examine the human rights situation in Romania.)

Romania told the Commission that all nationalities fully enjoyed social, economic and cultural rights, as well as the right to take part in political life. Any remaining problems would be settled by the Government in line with the will of Romanians.

The Commission also wanted Albania to provide information on compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and respond to Specific allegations regarding religious intolerance.

In another resolution, the Commission called for the establishment of a broad-based representative Government in Afghahistan, and for all parties concerned to work for a comprehensive political solution and the creation of conditions of peace and normalcy to enable Afghan refugees to return voluntarily in safety and honour.

Abdul Rahim Hatef, VicePresident of Afghanistan, assured the Commission that all fundamental civic rights were guaranteed by Afghan law, which was continually and consistently being democratized.

The Chilean Government was urged to work to re-estaiblish a representative and pluralistic democracy. The Commission expressed concern over what it called the persistence of serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country.

Chile said he 5 October 1988 plebiscite had opened up clear, democratic perspectives. Progress had been achieved on all fronts concerning respect for human rights in Chile. The Commission's resolution went even further than the Chilean opposition which, except for the extreme left, was participating actively in the country's democratic process.

As for the situation in El Salvador, the Commission expressed deep concern over the increase in politically motivated violations of human rights there, and frequent breaches of the rules of international humanitarian law. It called for an early peaceful solution to the conflict to promote a pluralistic and participatory democratic process involving respect for human rights.

El Salvador called the Commission text balanced and to a considerable extent reflective of the realities in the past few years. The massive participation in the electoral process, which had taken place despite the terrorist threat, showed the people's wish for democracy and peace.

The Commission called on Iran to provide detailed information concerning allegations of human rights violation that had been brought to its attention. Iran was urged to take steps to ensure fair trial and to ensure compliance with international instruments on human rights.

Iran said the resolution lacked balance, objectivity and a spirit of goodwill and understanding. Its domestic scene should be viewed in the context of external pressures, including an eight-year war with Iraq, it said.

With regard to the situation in Kampuchea, the Secretary-General was asked to urgently intensify efforts to bring about a comprehensive political settlement and the restoration of the fundamental human rights of Kampucheans.

The Commission also expressed its support for the efforts to promote a just and lasting solution to the question of Western Sahara.

Other resolutions called for advisory services to the Governments of Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala and Haiti to assist in improving their human rights situations.

The Commission decided not to act on a draft concerning Kurdish civilians of Iraq.

The Commission considered in private sessions confidential communications relating to the human rights situations in Brunei Darussalam, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Paraguay, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Zaire. Human rights situations in Honduras, Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic and Zaire were no longer subject to review under that procedure, the Chairman reported. Right to development

After reviewing an expert report on the right to development (E/CN.4/AC39/1989/L.3), the Commission asked that a global consultation on the realization of that right be organized in 1989. It also wanted that right to be fully integrated with other human rights in the World Public Information Campaign for Human Rights being launched this year.

The body also asked that a study be completed on the extent to which popular participation in its various forms as an important factor in development had been established. The Commission also decided to consider in 1990, under the sub-item "Problems related to the right to enjoy an adequate standard of living; the right to development", a specific point entitled Foreign debt, economic adjustment policies and their effects on the full enjoyment of human rights", in particular on implementation of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development.

The United Kingdom, on behalf of Western countries, had moved that the Commission was not competent to discuss the question of the effect of foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights.

The expert report recommended that in implementing the right to development, special attention should be given to the situation of vulnerable groups, such as women. The Secretary-General was urged to increase contacts, collaboration and co-ordination with all interested non-governmental organizations, particularly those active in the fields of human rights and development. Other action The Commission invited its SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to examine-using the opportunity provided by the study on discrimination against persons with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-the possibility of extending the scope of a study to other kinds of discrimination against sick or disabled persons, in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO).

The increased use of mercenaries for destabilizing and overthrowing Governments of developing States and fighting against national liberation movements was condemned.

The Commission also recommended:

* Action by the General Assembly on a draft second optional protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.

* Consideration of adoption of guidelines on the use of computerized personal files, the subject of a Sub- Commission study.

* Appointment of Miguel Alfonso Martinez as Special Rapporteur of its Sub-Commission to study the potential utility of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between indigenous populations and Governments.

* A study of how to establish a mechanism to implement the 1926 Slavery Convention; the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; and the 1949 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.

* That Member States enact laws making it a crime to produce, distribute or possess pornographic material involving children.

* That States consider acting to protect migrant women against exploitation by prostitution and other slavery-like practices.