Human Rights Commission approves principles to protect rights of mentally ill: asks for Third Decade against racism.

The Commission on Human Rights, at its forty-seventh session (28 January-8 March, Geneva), covered a wide range of topics, including the rights of mentally-ill persons, environment-related issues, slavery and the sale of children.

In adopting 90 texts--82 resolutions and 8 decisions--the Commission continued its work towards the implementation of teh 1984 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other important global instruments dealing with civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This year, some 80 per cent of its decisions were taken by consensus.

The Commission asked the General Assembly to take steps to launch a Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, to begin in 1993.

It endorsed the draft body of principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and for the improvement of mental health care, to be transmitted through the Economic and Social Council for the Assembly's adoption later in 1991.

Recognizing that all individuals are entitled to live in an environment adequate for their health and well-being, the Commission entrusted Fatma Zohra Ksentini, Special Rapporteur, to prepare a study on human rights and the environment.

In welcoming the adoption in January 1991 of the Bamako Convention banning the import of all forms of hazardous wastes into Africa and controlling their transboudary movement generated in Africa, the Commission reaffirmed that the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products endangered basic human rights, such as teh right to life and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

The Commission also recommended that the Assembly establish a voluntary fund on contemporary forms of slavery. Member States were asked to consider taking action for the protection of children and migrant women against exploitation by prostitution and other slavery-like practices.

The Commission urged States to sign and ratify or accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, adopted by the Assembly on 18 December 1990.

Hungary offered to host the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Budapest. An initial Preparatory Committee meeting was set for 9 to 13 September 1991 in Geneva. On 19 February, the Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights was appointed as Secretary-General of that Conference.

The 43-member Commission reviewed specific human rights situations in 13 countries and territories, and dealt with alleged violations in southern Africa, the Middle East and other regions.

Work also proceeded on documents to protect the rights of persons belonging to nationa, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; indigenous persons; and the rights and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Special Rapporteur

on Kuwait

A Special Rapporteur is to be appointed to examine human rights violations by Iraqi forces in occupied Kuwait. The Commission also asked for another Special Rapporteur to thoroughly study human rights violations committed by the Iraqi Government.

The Commission decided to create a five-member expert working group for a three-year period to investigate cases of arbitrary detentions. For the first time, the UN would have specific mechanisms for investigating such violations.

Citing the disturbingly high numbers of internally displaced persons suffering throughout the world--persons forced to flee their homes and seek shelter and safety in other parts of their own country--the Commission asked Governments and international organizations to intensify their cooperation and assistance in worldwide efforts to address the serious problems and needs resulting from such displacement. An analytical report on the subject should be prepared, taking into account the protection of human rights of those persons.

Also considered were texts concerning unacknowledged detention of persons; the right to a fair trial; and the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors and the independence of lawyers.

The Commission decided to establish an open-ended intersessional working group to consider the draft declaration on enforced or involuntary disappearances, with a view to its adoption by the Commission in 1992.

'In the shadow

of the Gulf'

Commission Chairman Enrique Bernales Ballesteros of Peru said that the Commission was meeting in the shadow of the war in the Gulf. Philosophically, he stated that the preservation of human life was paramount and, from the human rights standpoint, war could never be justified.

Jan Martenson, Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights, said the movement towards establishing fully democratic systems was encountering serious difficulties in several places where force was replacing reason and dialogue.

The conflicts in the world today reinforced the understanding that human rights violations provided fertile soil for the seeds of war and that the effective defence of human rights was an essential element for the preservation of peace, he said.

Children: their rights

Four resolutions relating to the rights of children were adopted. The Commission welcomed the entry into force on 2 September 1990 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was a major step to promote universal respect for and observance of human rights.

Also welcomed was a preliminary report (E/CN.4/1991/51) by Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. A further report is expected in 1992.

The sale of children, he reported, was a universal phenomenon aggravated by consumerism, rapid communications and modern technology. Child exploitation was not merely a business for certain individuals, but an international system based on criminal elements profiteering from it. Also, child labour was a ubiquitous phenomenon which legislation per se would not eradicate.

Further work on a draft programme of action to prevent the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (E/CN.4/1991/50 and Add.1) is to be undertaken by the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, with a view to its adoption in 1992.

Another draft programme of action for the elimination of the exploitation of child labour, also proposed by the Sub-Commission, was to be reviewed further.

Special declaration

In a special declaration read by Chairman Ballesteros, the Commission noted the positive developments taken place in the Soviet Union with regard to respect for human rights.

He expressed the Commission's grave concern over the recent tragic acts of violence which had resulted in human rights violations, including the right to life. He also acknowledged with satisfaction the Soviet decision to investigate those events and bring those responsible to justice and the willingness to communicate investigation results to the Commission.

The Commission also asked its Chairman to entrust an independent expert to prepare a study on "the means whereby and the degree to which respect for the right to own property alone as well as in association with others" contributed to the development of individual liberty and intiative, "which serve to foster, strengthen and enhance the exercise of other human rights".

It appealed to States to ensure respect and support for the rights of persons who exercised the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, association and peaceful assembly, and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, or who sought to promote and defend those rights and freedoms and, where any persons had been detained solely for exercising those rights, to release them immediately.

The Commission appealed urgently for effective action to combat and eliminate summary or arbitrary executions, including extra-legal executions.

The Commission also decided to consider as a matter of high priority in 1992 the question of the "consequences on the enjoyment of human rights of acts of violence committed by armed groups that spread terror among the population and by drug traffickers".

Country reports

The Commission adopted resolutions with regard to specific human rights situations in Afghanistan, Albania, Cambodia, Cuba, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq and Kuwait, Iran, Romania and Western Sahara. The following are details of some of those texts.

Albania: The Government of Albania was asked to free all political prisoners and adopt measures to establish freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and to effectively promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all albanians. The free expression of the will of voters should be guaranteed during the next proclaimed elections. All Albanians should be enabled to exercise their right to vote and to stand for election.

Albania replied that all its people enjoyed fundamental freedoms and that, dedicated to democracy, it was rebuilding all democratic institutions and guaranteeing the free participation of all political parties in a vote. There was freedom of assembly and expression, as well as the right to belong to trade union organizations.

Cuba: The Commission recognized the cooperation extended to the Secretary-General by the Cuban Government and asked Cuba for continued cooperation, taking into account the international agreements to which Cuba was a party and the institutional procedures established in the field of human rights.

The Secretary-General was asked to appoint a Special Representative to maintain direct contacts with the Cuban Government and its citizens on issues contained in a 400-page report (E/CN/4/1989/46) issued in 1989 on the situation of human rights there. (The mission was undertaken upon Cuba's invitation in 1988.)

Cuba stated that the so-called human rights violations in Cuba were pure fabrication. Human rights there had not deteriorated. Cuba remained willing to allow investigations into its human rights record.

El Salvador: The Commission expressed serious concern at the persistence of politically motivated violations of human rights and at the atmosphere of intimidation in which certain sectors of El Salvador's population lived. It urged the Government and the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) to continue their dialogue.

El Salvador replied that peace could be achieved through negotiation and dialogue. It had witnessed positive developments in its search for social harmony and was concerned about the FMLN claim that it should enjoy an equal sovereign status with the Government during peace negotiations. The FMLN should declare a cease-fire and refrain from impeding forthcoming elections.

Iraq: The Commission expressed grave concern at flagrant human rights violations by the Iraqi Government, which was urged to ensure full respect for human rights and, in particular, to halt arbitrary and summary executions, arbitrary detentions and disappearances and torture.

A Special Rapporteur should thoroughly study violations of human rights by the Iraqi Government, the Commission stated.

In a resolution on the human rights situation in Kuwait under Iraqi occupation, the Commission strongly condemned Iraqi authorities and occupying forces for grave violations of human rights against Kuwaitis and nationals of other States.

Iraq responded that it had a long-standing human rights tradition, but its power threatened the designs of certain parties on the oil in the area. Kuwait and the United States, Iraq said, had conspired to reduce the price of oil and threaten Iraq's security. Iraq had adopted measures to ensure the security of people and property in Kuwait.

Iran: Iran was called upon to comply with international human rights instruments and ensure that all individuals within its territory enjoyed such rights. The Commission noted Iran's invitation to the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Iranian prisons.

Iran replied that the examination of the human rights situation in Iran had begun some years ago when it faced numerous difficulties. That was no longer the case. There was nothing now in Iran that could be considered a routine and systematic violation of human rights. Iran would continue to cooperate with the UN in the field of human rights.

Romania: The Commission noted that, despite regrettable lapses, respect for human rights was in general continuing to improve in Romania. Romanian authorities should continue to ensure that human rights in all aspects were respected in their country.

Romania stated that its new Government was facing all sorts of demands from its citizens to solve problems inherited from the old regime. Its new society would have political pluralism and a market economy, achieved through respect for the rights and choices of the individual.

Other action

The Commission also asked for:

* A meeting in 1991 to promote tolerance and harmony and to combat racism and racial discrimination;

* An expert seminar, under the UN programme of human rights activities, to discuss "appropriate indicators to measure achievements in the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights";

* A regional training course in Latin America on the UN, human rights and indigenous people;

* A series of national workshops to promote a better understanding of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its implications;

* Concrete proposals on the effective implementation and promotion of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development; and

* A consolidated list of provisions in various UN standards relating to human rights in the administration of justice, with a view to drafting model texts for national legislation.