UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations GENERAL ASSEMBLY FORTY-FIRST SESSION Official Records* THIRD COMMITTEE 45th meeting held on Thursday, 13 November 1986 at 3.00 p.m. New York SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 45th MEETING Chairman: Mr. HAMER (Netherlands) CONTENTS AGENDA ITEM 94 : ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE (continued) AGENDA ITEM 95» HUMAN RIGHTS AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS (continued) AGENDA ITEM 96: QUESTION OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (continued) AGENDA ITEM 97: INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS (continued) AGENDA ITEM 98: REPORTING OBLIGATIONS OF STATES PARTIES TO UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 103: TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 100: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRAFFIC IN DRUGs: REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 101: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND KAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS: REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 93: FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN TO THE YEAR 2000 (continued) 86-57417 0207S (E) A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 2 The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 94: ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE (continued) (A/41/3 [Chap. V, sect. al: A/41/70-S/17708, A/41/93| V41/113-S/17760, A/41/117-S/17765, A/41/138-S/17797: A/41/167, 177, 178, 183; A/41/341-S/18065 and Corr. 1; A/41/607) AGENDA ITEM 95: HUMAN RIGHTS AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS (continued) (A/41/3 [chap. V, sect.A 1; A/41/463 and Add.1 and Add.1/Corr. 1: A/41/70-S/17708; A/11/183, 316, 607) AGENDA ITEM 96: QUESTION OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (continued) (A/41/3 [chap. V, sect.A 1: A/41/70-S/17708, A/41/607) AGENDA ITEM 97: INTERNATIONAL COVENANTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS (continued) (A/41/3 [chap. III, sect. C and chap. VII]; A/41/40, 509; A/41/70-S/17708, A/41/113-S/17760} A/41/316, 326, 607, 695, 701) AGENDA ITEM 98: REPORTING OBLIGATIONS OF STATES PARTIES TO UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/41/510) AGENDA ITEM 103: TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/41/3 [chap. V, sect. A]; A/41/511, 607, 706; A/41/701-S/18394) 1. Mr. DOWEK (Israel), speaking on agenda item 103, said that he wished to rectify the picture of a satanic Israel, trampling on human rights or practising torture, which had been spread by the delegations of the Arab countries and their unwavering supporters. On the contrary, Israel condemned with abhorrence any form of torture or ill treatment of prisoners or detainees, and 38 years of struggle against the most abject terroi.ism had not detracted anything from its beliefs. Moreover, all the prisons in the territory administered by Israel were subject to a very strict inspection system, set up by the State Controller, the Ministry of Justice and the prison officials themselves. The most minor accusation of abuse of power was thoroughly investigated, and in the very rare cases where it was well founded, the perpetrate., were tried and punished. However, such "black marks", which in fact occurred throughout the world, were very rare in Israel, which was an open and humanistic, democratic society. 2. Israel, true to its age-old tradition, had just acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1984. It was true that acceding to conventions was not sufficient; they must be implemented, which was unfortunately not the case for many States, such as Syria, for example, which was a member of the Commission on Human Rights, but whose cynicism and cruelty was reaching untold proportions. He cited the 1984 report of Amnesty International which described, inter alia, the prison conditions of 250 conscientious objectors and concluded that a routine of arbitrary arrest was being applied to thousands of A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 3 (Mr. Dowek, Israel) Syrians detained without, cause and without trial, some for more than 12 years. The document also noted that torture had been frequently inflicted during interrogation, and a number of disappearances and summary executions had occurred, requiring investigations and explanations on the part of the Syrian Government. 3. His delegation then cited a report published in May 1984 by a Swiss association for the defence of freedoms and political persons in Syria, which recorded 25 methods of torture currently being used in Syrian prisons, and recommended the reading of a 400-paqe book published in 1983 in Arabic by the information bureau of Frères musulmans entitled El-Hammon, the Tragedy of the Century, which described abhorrent crimes in detail. 4. His delegation accused Syria of political kidnapping and murder, and the taking of hostages with the aim of making exchanges and blackmailing, in addition to torture. It cited a 1986 report published by the Association for the Defence of Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms in the Arab World, composed exclusively of eminent Arab persons from various countries, which recorded 5,000 disappeared persons. That association had communicated, in a letter addressed to President Mitterrand and dated 20 November 1984, a list of names of 1,531 political prisoners detained without trial in Syria. Moreover, those who had disappeared were not only Syrians, but also Palestinians, Lebanese, Jews, Iranians, French, Americans and Egyptians. They were not all being held in Syria, nor directly by Syrian authorities; many were in Lebanon in the hands of various terrorist organizations, but in all cases, their fate depended solely on the Syrian security services. His delegation therefore stressed that, when Syria claimed to have located some of those disappeared persons, or to negotiate their freedom, it would be naive to believe that, in a police State such as Syria or in territories controlled by it in Lebanon, anything could escape its vigilance or be done without its consent and help, whether active or passive. Only by the taking of a clear position, public denunciation and constant pressures could Syria be led to change its cynical policy with regard to disappeared persons, hostage-taking and torture. He expected that the Syrian delegation would certainly defend itself by calling attention to the many humanitarian instruments to which it was a party, but the reports of various humanitarian organizations spoke for themselves. 5. Besides, Syria was not the only Arab country where disappearances were taking place and where torture and inhuman prison conditions existed. The Centre for the Documentation of Human Rights had all the documents of humanitarian organizations on that subject, in particular the 1985 report of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms in the Arab World, from which he had quoted. That document stated that Iraq promoted all kinds of violations of human rights, summary executions, torture and arrests of political opponents in its own territory and in the following countries: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, the Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Kuwait and the occupied Palestinian territories. Nor did Iraq hesitate to monitor or ex| el foreign reporters assigned to its territory. According to the aforementioned report, torture was still frequently used as a method of dissuasion, notably in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, the Sudan, Egypt, the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. A/C.3/41/SR.4S English Page 4 (Mr. Dowek, Israel) 6. However, AS the report concluded, a change In the human rights situation In the Arab world was possible provided that there was a general mobilization. His delegation fully supported that appeal and spoke out against the systematic refusal of international forums to consider what was happening in the Arab countries with regard to human rights, why was interest expressed only in the real or Imaginary fate of the 2 million Arabs in "Palestine" out of the 100 million living in the Middle East? His delegation denounced the abhorrent doctrine of the "Arab family", according to which what Arabs did to other Arabs concerned only the Arabs themselves. That theory could not and should not prevail with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms. They were universal values which should be applied to all, without any exception. 7. Ms. COLL (Ireland), speaking on agenda item 94, recalled that in 1960, following an outbreak in certain countries of incidents which indicated the continued existence of groups fomenting hatred against various religious groups, the General Assembly had resolutely condemned all manifestations and practices of racial, religious and national hatred in the political, economic, social, educational and cultural spheres of the life of society as violations of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The preparation of a draft declaration and draft convention on the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance had been initiated two years later. From the outset, the United Nations bodies concerned had recognized freedom of thought, conscience and religion as an absolute right, which could be restricted only by such limitations as were prescribed by law and were necessary to protect public health, order of morals and the fundamental freedoms of others. 8. Her delegation recalled that the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief had been adopted by the General Assembly without a vote in 1981, and cited the various provisions of article 4. She felt that it was essential, in order to implement the Declaration, to make sincere efforts to combat intolerance. Actions should be taken to that end at the local, national, regional and international levels to mobilize the potential contribution of all - politicians, legislators, church leaders, civil servants, educators, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and concerned indiviDUALS. Moreover, the usefulness of considering those questions in the competent United Nations bodies should not be underestimated. Indeed, every effort should be made to proceed from the assumption that each had something to learn from the other, not something to teach him. 9. Her delegation believed that the study submitted by the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission, Mrs. Odio Benito (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1987/26;, would contribute to an informed judgement of world-wide problems in the area, and would point the way to future action. Her delegation would await with particular interest her findings concerning the root causes of intolerance, which undoubtedly in used ignorance, prejudices and their cynical exploitation to further questionable objectives talon caused by competing trends towards secularization and socialization; historical legacies; social tensions and the absence of dialogue within and between A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 5 (Ma. Coll, Ireland) religious communities Her delegation expected that the remedial measures recommended would emphasize the absolute importance of education for tolerance and the need for further research on those very complex problems. 10. She recalled that in July 1986, the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-second session had appointed a Special Rapporteur for one year to examine incidents and governmental actions in all parts of the world which were inconsistent with the provisions of the 1981 Declaration and to recommend remedial measures. She hoped that the Special Rapporteur, Mr. d'Almeida Ribeiro, would draw on Mrs. Odio Benito's study and on the working methods of the special rapporteurs appointed by the Commission to examine arbitrary executions and torture, as well as its Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; they had understood the value of seeking the co-operation of the Governments concerned. Her delegation encouraged all Governments to assist the Special Rapporteur by supplying the information he requested. She wished to underline the provisions of article 3 of the Declaration and hoped to introduce a draft resolution with wide sponsorship the objective of which would be to promote the various complementary activities for the implementation of the Declaration. 11. Ms. YOUNG (United Kingdom), speaking on item 95 on behalf of the 12 States members of the European Community, stressed the close relationship between scientific and technological developments and the enjoyment of human rights. Such developments obviously offered opportunities to promote economic, social and cultural rights. There could not now be many communities that did not enjoy the benefits of scientific and technological developments, either in the form of increased agricultural productivity, a decline in infant mortality through immunization or the dissemination of information by satellite in remote areas. At the international level, there was now greater understating of the need to ensure that technological developments were put to use in the right context. 12. Certain Governments were committed to promoting international co-operation to ensure that the benefits of their progress were shared with other countries. The Twelve were united in their commitment to that objective: their aid programmes were designed to assist poorer countries to overcome the major problems they faced in their economic and social development. The Twelve looted forward to the day when other developed countries would follow their example. 13. The implications of scientific and technological developments were not, however, confined to economic, social and cultural rights; they also had an impact on civil and political rights. It was up to Governments to ensure that those developments were not used to infringe the rights of individuals. With the development of nuclear weapons, the Twelve were aware of the importance of disarmament and of the urgent need to agree on concrete measures in that field. 14. The Third Committee should focus its attention on determining the benefits to or abuses of human rights that stemmed from scientific and technological development, for benefits and potential abase often went hand in hand. One example of that was the development of information technology, with its potential for A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 6 (MB. Young, United Kingdom) violating individual rights. Another issue of concern was the abuse of psychiatry and medical treatment in the case of persons detained on non-medical grounds. The conclusions of the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on that question had confirmed that psychiatry was often used to subvert the political and legal guarantees of individuals, that hospitalization and treatment were forced upon individuals who opposed the Government in power and that some people were used without their consent for scientific experiments. 15. It was imperative for guidelines to be established rapidly to deter such practices. The Twelve regretted that the Sub-Commission had not completed its consideration of the draft principles proposed by the Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Daes, and hoped that all Governments would consider how best to reflect those principles in their national practice, taking account of the obligation that they had long since undertaken to guarantee the rights of the individual. 16. Ms. BASNYAT (Nepal), speaking on item 94, said that her country, where Hinduism blended with Buddhism, was one of the few countries in Asia which had never experienced serious religious discord. While declaring Nepal a Hindu kingdom, the Nepalese Constitution stipulated that no citizen could be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, sex, caste or tribe and guaranteed to all the right to practice their religion. 17. In view of Nepal's total faith in the principles of the United Nations Charter, in particular the promotion of universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, her delegation had welcomed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the General Assembly in 1981 (resolution 36/55) which, it was convinced, would go a long way towards promoting harmony and global peace. 18. Mrs. MAZARRASA (Spain), referring to item 94, said that it was sufficient to read the newspapers to realize that in many parts of the world, even in areas that claimed to be democratic, persecution based on religious belief or political conviction was still being carried out. It was therefore appropriate to appeal once more to the international community to recognize the need for tolerance and freedom of conviction. Freedom of conscience was related to other human rights. It was incumbent upon States to recognize the right of their citizens to profess a religion or belief or not to do so. It was also Incumbent upon them to establish the necessary legal mechanisms to punish acts of discrimination based on conviction or religion. For that reason, at the latest session of the Commission on Human Rights Spain had supported the appointment of a Special Rapporteur to consider human-rights violations based on religious intolerance. 19. With respect to item 95, she noted that although the mo earn era was marked by considerable scientific and technical progress, it should also be recognized that the gap between those who controlled such developments and ordinary people was increasing. Such developments promoted the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and her delegation therefore considered that Governments which possessed such new technologies had a duty to promote the development of other A/C.3/41/SR.4S English Page 7 (Mrs. Mazarrasa, Spain) countries through a policy of multilateral and bilateral co-operation. However, the positive effects of scientific and technical progress should be felt not only in the area of economic and social rights, but also in that of civil and political rights. In the latter area, the State should ensure that the scientific and technical progress placed at its disposal should not be used to restrict the rights of individuals. The use by States of computerized data on individuals and of psychiatric and medical treatment demonstrated that such progress could be used to serve immoral ends and could give rise to grave violations of human rights, instead of promoting their enjoyment. It was therefore necessary, on the one hand, for all human beings to benefit from such progress without it posing a threat to their life and individual integrity and, on the other hand, for that progress to serve peace and development. 20. On items 97 and 98, she recalled that her Government's policy was based on certain fundamental concepts. Firstly, the individual was the subject par excellence of human rights: human rights were indivisible and it was therefore absurd to place civil and political rights over economic, social and cultural rights, or individual rights over collective rights. Secondly, human-rights violations, wherever they took place, were a source of concern for the international community and thus went beyond the exclusively national responsibility of States, which could never take refuge in Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter to prevent the United Nations from intervening. The Spanish Government was determined to respect the Covenants and to fulfil its obligations In the submission of periodic reports, which it considered very useful in strengthening the defence of human rights at the international level. 21. Referring to item 96, she said that her delegation attached great importance to the completion of a draft convention on the rights of the child. Spain had actively participated in drafting the convention and was open to any new proposal, whether from non-governmental organizations or from other States. It had refrained from engaging in polemics around the question of the age at which the child could enjoy the rights under the draft convention. The child was above all a human being and, as such, enjoyed the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in universally recognized international instruments. But the child was also by his nature in need of special protection. The drafters of the convention would therefore do well to avoid the casuistry which had surrounded their work on certain articles. 22. On the subject of item 103, she said that her delegation denounced torture as one of the gravest violations of human dignity. To condemn the practice was, however, not enough in order to eliminate it: in many parts of the world torture was still used in the name of State authority and national security. The adoption two years previously of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment meant that countries could henceforth undertake, within the framework of legal instruments, to eradicate torture. The reluctance of some countries to become parties to the Convention, whatever the difficulties facing them, should not be viewed with complacency. Her delegation therefore appealed once again to all countries which had not yet done so to sign the Convention. Spain, which had actively participated in drafting the Convention, was A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 8 (Mrs. Mazarrasa, Spain) among the 54 States which had signed it and would ratify it shortly. It had also adopted legislative measures which pursued the same ends and had punished their violators. Her delegation continued to support the work of the Special Rapporteur entrusted with the consideration of matters relating to torture, whose mandate had been renewed at the forty-second session of the Commission on Human Rights, and hoped that other countries would do likewise. Lastly, her Government considered that the international community should demonstrate its solidarity with victims of torture by contributing, for example, to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture established under General Assembly resolution 36/51. Spain had already made a contribution to the Fund and had just increased the amount of its next contribution by 21 per cent. Elimination of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment was essential to any coherent policy of protection of human dignity and human rights. 23. Mr. BUZO (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) said that his delegation regarded as a major event the solemn meeting devoted by the General Assembly on 3 November 1986 to the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was satisfying to note that the rules embodied in the Covenants had stood the test of time and that the overwhelming majority of delegations which had taken the floor on that occasion had reaffirmed their support for the rights proclaimed in them. 24. International co-operation in human rights was conducive to the implementation of those rights in countries with different political and social systems and levels of economic development. Bach State was sovereign in the choice of approaches and development policies. The task of bodies set up to implement United Nations covenants and conventions was to determine to what extent the national policy of a State corresponded to a real application of standards established in the human rights field. In that respect there was a striking contrast between, on the one hand, the bombastic statements by many Western representatives about the prosperity of the citizens of "market economy countries" and, on the other hand, the tens of millions of unemployed, homeless, illiterate and desperate people in those countries. Their economic and social policies corresponded in reality to the interests of a small group to which only those with a well-filled purse had "equal" access. 25. It was inadmissible that the ideals represented by human rights should be used demagogically and as a pretext for blackmail, aggression and imperialist interference in the domestic affairs of States. Certain States continued to boycott the International Covenants on Human Rights. That policy was in practice a screen for gross violations of human rights. That had been made patently clear by a representative in the Third Committee who, speaking in explanation of vote after the vote on draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.35/Rev.1, had said that her country did not accept the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5 of that document concerning the equal participation of women in all spheres of working and political life because they were in contradiction with the policy officially applied in her country. Such an attitude needed no comment. A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 9 (Mr. Buzo, Byelorussian SSR) 26. It was the wish of his delegation that all States which had not yet done so, and above all the United States, should become parties to the Covenants and should implement their provisions. 27. The report of the Secretary-General entitled "Reporting obligations of States parties to United Nations conventions on human rights" (A/41/510) called for some comments. It should be recalled that the Byelorussian SSR was a party to the five United Nations .instruments mentioned in the document. Its reports on the implementation of their provisions had been submitted within the prescribed time-limits to the experts of the supervisory bodies and had been found entirely satisfactory. 28. At the fortieth session of the General Assembly the Byelorussian delegation had expressed doubts as to the usefulness of convening a meeting of the Chairmen of the supervisory bodies as envisaged for 1987. Any decisions concerning the procedure for submission of reports and their form could be taken only by States and not by officials of United Nations bodies. The main concern of committees and all other United Nations bodies active in the human-rights field should not be how long a State party took to submit its reports - although it was indeed, required to submit them - but how that State acquitted itself of its obligations. 29. Thus, paragraph 11 of document A/41/510 contained a breakdown by United Nations regional groups of States having more than two overdue reports. Chile did not appear on that list. An inexperienced reader might therefore infer that Chile, which submitted its reports regularly, also discharged its obligations in a proper manner. Yet the dictatorial and anti-democratic Pinochet regime flouted the Covenants and scorned the international community's entreaties to put an end to its mass and gross violations of the human rights of Chileans. Similarly, Israel, which paradoxically was a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, appeared as a "model" State with regard to the regularity with which it submitted its reports. Yet the international community was well aware of Israel's "merits" in the human-rights field, since in General Assembly resolution 3379 (XXX) it had described as racist the official policy of the Zionist State. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had stated in 1985 that it had difficulty in judging the manner in which Israel was implementing that Convention because Israel continued to scorn the principles of international law and to follow a foreign policy based on aggression and the occupation of Arab territories. 30. The efficacy of the work of supervisory bodies could therefore be improved only by watching over the complete and universal implementation of international rules in the field of human rights and by identifying the obstacles which prevented States from fulfilling their obligations in that respect. Those obstacles were principally the arms race and the assistance given by certain well-known States to racist and dictatorial regimes, as well as Israel's policy of aggression in the Middle East. The Byelorussian SSR remained prepared to co-operate with the United Nations in eliminating those obstacles. A/C.3/41/SR.4S English Page 10 AGENDA ITEM 100: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRAFFIC IN DRUGS: REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/C.3/41/L.17/Rev.2, L.4 3 and L.4 5) 31. The CHAIRMAN said that none of the draft resolutions submitted under item 100 had programme budget implications. Draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.17/Rev 2 32. Ms. KAMAL (Secretary of the Committee) said that Canada, Denmark, India, Italy and Zambia had joined the sponsors of the draft resolution. 33. Mrs. UMANA (Colombia) drew attention to an omission in the sixth preambular paragraph of the draft. The words "the Narcotics Division" should be inserted after the words "the International Narcotics Control Board". 34. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.17/Rev.2 without a vote. 35. It was so decided. Draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.43 36. The CHAIRMAN reminded the Committee of the technical corrections in the French and Spanish texts made by the representative of Venezuela when introducing the draft resolution. If he heard to objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.43 without a vote. 37. It was so decided-Draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.45 38. Mrs. UMANA (Colombia) said that the sponsors had made a few revisions to the draft in response to the wishes of some delegations. In the fifth preambular paragraph, the words "responsibility, making it possible through integrated action, to tackle the" were to be replaced by "responsibility for combating the". In the sixth preambular paragraph, the words "areas are, for strategic and other considerations, particularly" should be replaced by "areas, because of their strategic c, graphical location and other considerations are". In the eighth preambular paragraph, the words "and the Division of Narcotic Drugs" should be inserted after the reference to "the International Narcotics Control Board", and, as a result, in the preceding enumeration, the word "and" should be replaced by a comma. In paragraph 2, the word "all" after the word "Urges" should be deleted, and the words "that they share responsibility" should be replaced by "that they share the responsibility for combating the problem of illicit consumption, production and transit traffic". In paragraph 12, the words "particularly in" should be replaced by "including". In paragraph 13. the word "Invites" should replace the word "Requests". A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 11 (Mrs. Umana, Colombia) 39. Moreover, in the fourth preambular paragraph of the English version, the words "of narcotic drugs" should be inserted after the word "abuse". As suggested by the representative of the Bahamas, the words "and psychotropic substances" should also be inserted after the words "of narcotic drugs". 40. Mr. LINDHOLM (Sweden) said that in paragraph 10 in the English version only, the expression "drug-controlled bodies" should be replaced by "drug control bodies". 41. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.45 without a vote. 42. It was so decided. AGENDA ITEM 101: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND WAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS: REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/C.3/41/L.39 and L.40/Rev.l) 43. The CHAIRMAN announced that neither of the draft resolutions submitted under agenda item 101 had any programme-budget implications. Draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.39 44. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.39 without a vote. 45. It was so decided. Draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.40/Rev.l 46. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/41/L.40/Rev.l without a vote. 47. It was so decided. AGENDA ITEM 93: FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN TO THE YEAR 2000 (continued) Draft decision A/C.3/41/L.38/Rev.l 48. The CHAIRMAN announced that a number of amendments had been made to draft decision A/G.3/41/L.38/Rev.l. 49. At the end of the second preambular paragraph, the words "relating to subprogramme 3, 4, 5 and 5A of programme 1 of chapter 21, Global social development issues (DIESA)" had been moved and inserted immediately after the words "the Secretary-General" in the second line. The paragraph should therefore read: A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 12 (The Chairman) "Aware of the revisions to the medium-term plan for the period 1984-1989 proposed by the Secretary-General 1/ relating to subprogramme 3, 4, 5 and 5A of programme 1 of chapter 21, Global social development issues (DIESA and the recommendations mode thereon by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination 2/," In subparagraph (a) of that preambular paragraph, the words "proposed Subprogramme 5A" would be replaced by the word "proposal". The beginning of the subparagraph would therefore read: "(a) Considers that the Secretary-General's proposal 'Promotion and monitoring of the achievement of the goals and objectives of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, and of the Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies' incorporates the ..." 50. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft decision A/C.3/41/L.38/Rev.1, as amended, without a vote. 51. It was so decided. 52. Miss LAFORTUNE (Canada) expressed her thanks to the delegations that had participated in consultations on the draft decision; their efforts had made it possible to arrive at a compromise text. 53. Mr. BRAUN (Federal Republic of Germany) thanked the delegations that had facilitated a compromise on draft decision A/C.3/41/L.38/Rev.1 for their flexibility in accommodating the views of his and of other delegations. Such a spirit of understanding had made it possible for his ci*.Vqation to join in the consensus, despite considerable difficulties relating, not to the subject-matter it jelf, namely the advancement of women, but to the importance of following established procedures, in view of the serious crisis confronting the Organization. Unless the structures and the terms of reference of United Nations bodies were taken into account, the very foundations of the system would be shaken. His country would continue to oppose any such initiative during the Committee's future discussion on that issue. 54. Miss BARKER-HARLAND (United Kingdom) said that she shared the opinion expressed by the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, and emphasized the need for a logical approach to administrative and financial questions and for appropriate co-ordination of United Nations programmes in general. Admittedly, the implementation of the Forward-looking Strategies must be effectively promoted and monitored. However, considering the issue from a broader perspective, her delegation notes that the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination had deteitt ned, in its consideration of the Secretary-General's proposals concerning amendment' to the medium-term plan. In particular the subprogramme proposal, that no subprogramme was necessary. The Main Committees! were familiar with their own areas of activity, but. it was for the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination to make recommendations In view of United Nations activities taken as a whole. A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 13 55. The CHAIRMAN said that. If there was no objection, he would take it that the Committee took cognizance of the it by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on the activities of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (A/41/600), which it was considering under agenda item 93. 56. It was so decided. 57. The CHAIRMAN announced that the Committee had concluded its consideration of agenda item 93. He asked if any delegations wished to exercise their right of reply. 58. Mr. BENHAMIDA (Tunisia) said that his delegation would exercise its right of reply at a subsequent meeting. 59. Mr. DAMM (Chile) said it was preposterous that the representative of the Soviet colony of Byelorussia, a territory to which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) should be applied and which should be included among the Non-Self-Governing Territories considered by the Special Committee of 24, dared to speak of human rights and to excoriate an independent, sovereign and upright country like Chile, while the Byelorussian, Soviet or Russian people - or whatever they were culled - were completely deprived of its rights. The people of Chile had adopted its Constitution by a vote of more than 60 per cent. By their own volition, they would be returning to a democratic system in 1989, without yielding to any pressure whatsoever. The situation was quite different in the Soviet colonies, where the totalitarian political regime remained unchangeable, as if suspended in time. His delegation not only categorically rejected the statements made by the representative of Byelorussia, but also stressed that it was not words but deeds that showed how the life of Chileans differed from that of Byelorussians. 60. People did not risk their lives to leave Chile, for the simple reason that no one needed permission to leave and, in the final analysis, no one wished to do so. The Chileans were free to practice their religion or demonstrate for what they believed in, as was apparent in the numerous articles in the Soviet press on anti-Government demonstrations in Chile. The democratization process, the terms and stages of which had been approved by a majority of Chileans, was under way, despite the attempts made abroad to weaken, adulterate or ignore it. Neither terrorist acta nor insults would prevent the Chilean people from pursuing the democratization process for which they had freely opted. 61. Mr. OGURTSOV (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) said that his delegation reserved the right to respond to the statement made by the Chilean representative when the Committee examined the report on human rights violations in Chile in the context of its consideration of the report of the Economic and Social Council. 62. Mr. RAZZOOQI (Kuwai said that the ritual of untruthful allegations in which the representative of the Zionist entity indulged had no other purpose than to divert the Committee's attention from the question under consideration, namely the A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 14 (Mr. Razzooqi, Kuwait) torture, detention and other criminal acts perpetrated by the police force, the army and the Zionist settlers against Palestinians and other Arabs In the occupied territories. Those allegations fooled no one, particularly when they concerned Kuwait, a country in which, as everyone knew, torture was not practised. 63. Mr. DOWEK (Israel) said that he had not accused any country in particular in his statement, but had merely cited documents from Arab sources. Tunisia and Kuwait were mentioned in them, but the documents in question were also concerned with the occupied Arab territories. 64. The question was whether the Arab countries had the right to trample underfoot the fundamental rights of their citizens. In the view of his delegation, those rights should be universally implemented. 65. Responding to the representative of the Byelorussian SSR, he recalled the words of Lenin who had said that liberty was precious, so precious that it must be rationed rennin’s successors had taken that statement literally and had not only rationed liberty but often totally suppressed it, depriving hundreds of millions of Individuals, in the USSR itself and in the territories occupied by it, of the most elementary human rights. 66. Mr. ADNAN (Iraq) said that the representative of the Zionist entity had, as usual, attacked most of the countries of the world. Including Iraq, and had even gone so far as to condemn the United Nations. With such onslaughts of lies In all directions, that representative was trying to make the world forget the numerous condemnations of Israel, in some cases by some of its own senior officials. For example, Abba Bean, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel, had written in The New York Times of 9 November 1986 that no other political entity in the world was as incoherent as Israel. Moreover, he had said that the Palestinians lived without a, right to vote or be elected, without any control over the Government that determined the conditions of their lives, and were exposed to restraints and punishments that could not be applied against them if they were Jews. The Palestinians were permitted to cross Into Israel to work, but did not have permission to sleep there overnight. They were Buffering from the consequences of an ideology of superiority which went so far as to put into effect appeals for the destruction of Muslim holy shrines and to invoke vengeful passages from Biblical texts. In the view of Abba Bean himself, there was no precedent for believing that the situation could long endure without leading to an explosion. He (Mr. Adnan) believed that that state of affairs was the logical conclusion of the history of the Zionist entity, consisting of a long series of crimes, from those of the Stern Gang, then led by Itzhak Shamir, to the massacres of Sabra and Shatila and the supply of arms to the bloodthirsty regime in Teheran. 67. Mr. ABOU-HADID (Syrian Arab Republic) said he was not surprised that the representative of Israel was talking about human rights and their violation at the very time when world Zionism and imperialism were engaged in a campaign of false allegations against Syria, which was defending the legitimate rights of the Arabs and opposing the occupation of their territories. In the view of his delegation, A/C.3/41/SR.45 English Page 15 (Mr. Abou-Hadid, Syrian Arab Republic) the representative of Israel was not in a position to talk about prisons, torture and other questions relating to human rights when he represented an entity built upon racism, occupation and even massacres and mass detention. 68. Here called that the annual report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, and the reports of numerous fact-finding missions, the Red Cross and Amnesty International contained endless lists of examples of violations of human rights by the Israeli occupation authorities: various types of physical and psychological torture inflicted on prisoners, deplorable foud and sanitation for prisoners, solitary confinement, denial of communication between prisoners and their families, torture by the police and security forces during interrogations, etc. 69. Mr. ZARIF (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that the representative of the Zionist entity and the representative of Iraq had both raised questions, which went beyond the scope of the Committee's debates. The representative of the Zionist entity had levelled accusations against other States in order to divert attention from the crimes it was committing against Palestine and other occupied territories. Iraq, for its part, wished to mask its criminal aggression against Iran and the criminal methods of combat it was using. 70. Iran had already responded in detail to those unfounded allegations in another body, and therefore he did not intend to dwell on the subject. However, he wished to point out that Iran categorically rejected the accusations regarding arms deals between Iran and Israel, allegations which had been entirely fabricated by Zionist circles in the United States in order to mobilize the support of the American public. 71. Mr. ADNAN (Iraq) said that if the Committee was concerned with human rights, it must consider the very first right, the right to life. In pursuing its bloody war against Iraq, the Teheran regime was trampling underfoot that fundamental right, in increasingly open collusion with the Zionist entity. 72. Mr. ZARIF (Islamic Republic of Iran) said it was interesting that in order to make allegations against Iran, Iraq was using words he himself had used before the Zionist media. He recalled that his delegation had categorically rejected all those accusations, which in its view were simply part of a Zionist plot. 73. As to the right to life referred to by the representative of Iraq, he wondered whether that right had become important only recently, but had not been Important six years previously, when Iraq had invaded Iran, dropped bombs on the Iranian population, killing children in schools and hospitals, and used chemical weapons against the Iranian people. There seemed to be nothing in common between the right to life as viewed by Iraq and the right to life as recognized at the United Nations. A/C.3/41/SR.45. English Page 16 74. Mr. DOWEK (Israel) said that the sharp exchanges between Iran and Iraq clearly demonstrated the truth of the affirmation made in his delegation's statement. Mr. Abba Khan wan free to write whatever he saw fit; nevertheless, he was Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset at Jerusalem) he had been neither imprisoned nor hanged, which demonstrated that Israel was a free country where problems could not be covered up. Mr. Eban had referred to the Arabs living In Judea, .Samaria and the Gaza Strip who indeed did not have the right to vote since they were not citizens of the State of Israel.. The Palestinians who were citizens of the State of Israel enjoyed that right and fully exercised It. 75. Responding to the representative of Syria, he said that Israel was often accused of diverting attention from the situation in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. He therefore wished to stress that the debate on Israel took place not in the Third Committee but in the Special Political Committee, which had already adopted many resolutions condemning Israel. His delegation had drawn attention to human rights violations in Arab countries and particularly in Syria, which had not denied that the situation in Syrian prisons was appalling and that torture was commonplace. Even if Israel were a monster, that did not give Syria the right to raze the town of Hama with its tanks and kill 30,000 Syrian citizens, occupy Lebanon, take hostages, cause the disappearance of S,000 people and imprison the former President of the country for 16 years without trial. 76. Israel believed that the United Nations should study such problems. 773 Mr. AL-KIDWA (Observer, Palestine Liberation Organization) said that there was a difference between violations of human rights in a particular country, including Arab countries on the one hand, and systematic occupation, repression and torture, on the other. Regarding the situation of Arabs living within the Zionist entity, a situation referred to by the representative of Israel, he said that those Arabs were second-class citizens in an entity based on racial, discrimination which refused to recognize the existence of the Palestinian people and even went so far as to discriminate between eastern and western Jews. 78. Mr. RAZZOOQI (Kuwait) said it was strange that Israel, those past and current actions against innocent Palestinians were well known, had suddenly become a champion of human rights. In that respect, he referred to the report, of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories and noted that Israel was a past master in the art of diverting attention to extraneous questions, in the Third Committee and elsewhere. 79. He wished to stress that the truth of the affirmations made by Mr. Abba Eban (The New York Times of 9 November 1986) concerning both the Israelis themselves and the Palestinians were true. 80. It was difficult to regard Israel as a peace-loving democracy, particularly when it: was known that certain members of the Knesset had been convicted of fraud and corruption. The meeting rose at 5.30 p.m.