Summary: April 10, 2002: Statement by Ambassador Joaquín Pérez-Villanueva Y Tovar, Head of the Delegation of Spain, on behalf of the European Union at the 58th Session of the Commission on Human Rights. Agenda Item 11: Civil and political rights (18 March-26 April 2002), (Geneva)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to address the Commission on Human Rights on behalf of the European Union on agenda item 11 on Civil and Political Rights. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and the Associated Countries Cyprus and Malta expressed their wish to align themselves with this statement.
1. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948, the protection of human rights has become an issue of international concern leading to the adoption of a range of human rights bodies and instruments to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. Among them, I would like to emphasize the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966. This instrument not only confirms each person's civil and political rights, but it also provides for
appropriate bodies and monitoring mechanisms to protect individuals from violations of their rights.
2. The EU welcomes the growing number of States that have become party to the Covenant. To date, 147 States belonging to five continents, to all civilisations and to the most diverse political and socio-economic systems are parties to this instrument. The European Union urges all States that are not yet parties to the Covenant to become so without delay, with the view to achieve the universal ratification of this instrument.
Mr. Chairman,
3. Despite the guarantees for protection of human rights contained in International Law, violations of these rights remain widespread worldwide. The reports of the Special Rapporteurs are clear in this regard: they show that in all parts of the world there are persons who are victims of summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrests, disappearances. Likewise there are many governments that continue systematically to violate the principle of independence of judges and lawyers and the right to
freedom of expression, religion and belief. Very often, these violations are targeted at members of particular groups, such as human rights defenders, political activists and journalists, migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers, national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
4. The EU wishes to point out that many of these violations take place as a consequence of the abuse of the proclamation of a state of emergency. The gradual erosion of human rights through the suspension of obligations undertaken under international human rights instruments must be prevented. The EU welcomes the Human Rights Committee's General Comment no. 29 (24th July 2001) and urges all States parties to respect the principles it enshrines. The State of Emergency must be proclaimed
officially and the respective Governments must fulfil their obligations to report to the other States parties through the intermediary of the UN Secretary General, by indicating the nature and extent of any derogation. It is particularly important that governments respect the principle of proportionality. This principle requires that measures adopted during a state of emergency are limited to the extent strictly required by the exigences of the situation. When measures are excessive, there is
the risk of causing a reaction that leads to a crisis even greater than the one they were intended to address.
5. Moreover, the EU wishes to recall that, even in these situations, there are certain rights from which no derogation can be made. The ICCPR explicitly lists rights such as the right to life, the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, the right not to be subject to arbitrary or extra-judicial execution and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This list is not, however, exhaustive. Derogations must not be inconsistent with State
Parties' other obligations under international law, including humanitarian law, and must not be discriminatory.
6. The ratification of international instruments by States is not enough. Governments are responsible for amending domestic legislation to comply with international standards and to ensure their effective implementation. To ensure that governments respect their international obligations in respect of human rights, a whole system of international treaty monitoring bodies and special mechanisms has been set up. The EU calls on all Governments to co-operate with the mechanisms of the Commission on
Human Rights and to consider, where they have not done so, recognising the competence of the treaty monitoring bodies to examine individual communications. The individual communications system is the most accomplished monitoring mechanism among those established in the framework of the Covenant and the one that grants a greater level of protection to individuals. For this reason, the EU calls on all States parties to the Covenant who still have not done so, to consider ratifying the Optional
Protocol.
Mr. Chairman,
7. The right to life allows for no derogation, even in times of public emergency which threatens the right of the nation.
8. The EU commends the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions for her work but is still deeply concerned by the fact that many of the practices described in her report continue to take place in different parts of the world, in flagrant violation of the right to life. The EU is alarmed at the prevailing impunity for certain killings, such as those of persons killed because they belong to a certain minority or because of their sexual orientation and women and girls
killed in the name of honour.
9. States must take measures not only to prevent and punish deprivation of life by criminal acts, but also to prevent arbitrary killing by their own security forces. In this regard, it is important that state agents and, particularly security forces, receive appropriate training in human rights, especially concerning the restrictions on the use of force and firearms in the fulfilment of their duties.
10. The EU considers that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights and thus strives towards the universal abolition of the death penalty as a strongly held policy agreed by all EU members. Where the death penalty still exists, the EU calls for its use to be progressively restricted, and insists that it be carried out according to minimum standards, so that death penalty is not imposed on persons below 18 years
of age at the moment of the commission of the crime, pregnant women or new mothers and persons with mental disorders. The EU also presses for moratoria on executions be introduced.
11. The phenomenon of enforced or involuntary disappearance is directly linked to the right to life. Every act of disappearance is an "outrage against human dignity" and represents a multiple and continuing violation of many human rights and fundamental freedoms. The victims of the crime of enforced disappearance are not only the disappeared persons, but equally their families, who live for many years in a situation of extreme insecurity and anguish. States must take appropriate measures and
establish effective procedures to investigate thoroughly the cases of missing and disappeared persons.
12. The EU commends the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for its valuable work, in particular the extremely important task performed through its urgent action procedure, and urges States fully to co-operate with it, to invite the Working Group to their countries and to adopt the appropriate preventive measures as provided for in the Declaration on the Protection of all persons from Enforced Disappearances.
13. The EU supports efforts to eradicate the abhorrent practice of enforced or involuntary disappearances. The EU fully welcomes the report of the Independent Expert examining the existing international legal and human rights framework of protection of persons from enforced or involuntary disappearances. The EU welcomes the creation of an inter-sessional Working Group to elaborate, on the basis of the GA decision 47/133 and in the lights of the findings of the Independent Expert, a draft
legally binding normative instrument for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
14. The EU maintains its most firm commitment in the fight against torture and reaffirms the obligation of all States to prevent acts of torture under any circumstances. The EU wishes to underline the importance of protecting and promoting the rights of victims, including the right to effective remedies, including compensation and encourages all States to contribute to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
15. Prohibiting torture and other cruel or degrading punishments is not enough to eradicate these abhorrent practices. It is important that the States implement safeguards and procedures relating to places of detention in order to prevent these acts. The EU considers it to be an essential element in the fight against torture that States accept international monitoring mechanisms. Thus, it urges all States to become parties to the Convention against Torture as well as the other relevant
instruments, and to recognise the competence of the Committee against torture to receive individual communications.
16. The EU fully supports the establishment of a preventive system of regular visits to places of detention and commends the Chair of the Working Group on the Optional Protocol to CAT for her tireless efforts to bring the negotiations to a successful outcome. We reiterate our support for Mrs. Odio-Benito's proposal for a Draft Optional Protocol as contained in Annex 1 to the report of the Working Group, as we believe it is a good text which strikes a balance between the different positions
expressed by the participating delegations in the course of the discussions and commands the broadest support for an instrument of this nature. We are convinced that the two-pillar system it provides for, combining compulsory visits to places of detention both by national mechanisms and an international body will prove to be an effective tool in assisting States parties to the Optional Protocol in their efforts to prevent torture. The EU places great importance on the adoption of the Optional
Protocol during this session of the CHR and urges all States to support the draft resolution on this matter presented by Costa Rica, in order to bring to a fruitful conclusion the efforts of many years of work and give a positive contribution towards the prevention of torture in the world.
17. The EU commends the Working Group on arbitrary detention for its last report, which attaches particular importance to the phenomena of imprisonment related to insolvency and detention as a means of protection of victims. It regrets the fact that in many countries the practice of administrative detention places detainees out of judicial control. States must offer effective guarantees against arbitrary detention.
18. There is a close link between the absence of independence and impartiality of the judiciary and the seriousness and frequency of violations of human rights. The best guarantee against the persistence of impunity is an independent and efficient legal system that has all the competences and resources necessary to carry out its tasks in an efficient manner.
19. It is particularly important that statutes of special and military courts comply with international standards regarding the impartiality, independence and competence of judicial power designed to ensure that trials are conducted fairly. The establishment of such courts is used too often in order to enable exceptional procedures to be applied, avoiding international standards of justice.
20. The EU supports the work carried out by the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and reiterates the importance of Governments respecting the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, the Basic Principle on the Role of Lawyers and the Guidelines on the Rule of prosecutors. The EU is pleased that the Special Rapporteur has been able to conduct visits to some countries and regrets that he was not able to carry out missions to other countries he would have
liked to visit, due to lack of co-operation of these governments.
21. Every Government must create a climate of tolerance and respect allowing for the peaceful coexistence of people of diverse opinions and beliefs.
22. The EU supports the work of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, shares his concern at the continuing silencing of women and calls upon Governments to ensure equal representation and participation of women and men at all levels of the decision-making process.
23. We also welcome the report submitted by the Special Rappoteur on Religious Intolerance, and hope that the recommendations formulated therein can soon be effectively implemented by all States. The EU calls on all Governments to ensure that their domestic legal systems provide effective guarantees for the exercise of freedom of religion and belief and, in particular, encourages them to implement the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief.
Mr. Chairman,
24. The European Union is dismayed that in a number of countries impunity continues to be the norm and thus a breeding ground for continued occurrence of human rights violations.
25. To make sure that the perpetrators of violations of human rights will not enjoy impunity for their acts, States must enhance their efforts to combat impunity and must fully cooperate with other States so that perpetrators of such crimes cannot find safe havens.
26. The EU welcomes with satisfaction the forthcoming entry into force of the Statute of the International Criminal Court on July 1st, once the 60 required ratifications have been achieved, and invites those States which have not yet ratified it, to do so it as soon as possible. The setting up of the International Criminal Court is a landmark as this permanent body will allow the prosecution at international level of individuals who have committed the most serious crimes of international
concern: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of war and aggression.
CONCLUSION
We are living in times in which the human rights of countless human beings continue to be violated in many parts of the world. The international community cannot remain passive in the face of this reality. The primary responsability to ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms of every person rests on States.
The EU is aware that States have also the obligation to protect and defend their nationals from all kinds of criminal acts, including the scourge of terrorism. Nevertheless, the EU calls on all governments to refrain from any steps that would result in the violation of human rights and of fundamental freedoms. States should not promote security at the expense of human rights, but on the contrary, they must ensure that all people enjoy respect for the full range of their rights.
Thank you.
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