UN Human Rights Treaties

linked Nations GENERAL THIRD COMMITTEE 63rd meeting ASSEMBLY held on THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION Friday, 27 November 1981 Official Record* New York SUMMAHI RECORD OF TEE 63rd MEETIIG Chairman: Mr. O'DONOYAN (Ireland) CONTENTS AGENDA ITEM 12: REPORT Of TIE ECONOMIC AID SOCIAL COUNCIL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 229: DRBRIASIOIAL CAKPAIGIT AGAINST TRAFFIC IN DRUGS (continued) AGKNDA ITEM 138: NEW INTERNATIOIAL HUMAITARIAN ORDER (continued) AGHDA TIEM 30: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DISABLKD PERSONS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GE1ERAL (continued) AGENDA ITEM 88: UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMERT AID PEACE Continued) (a) WOELD C0IFERENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (b) VOLUNTARY FUND FOR THE UNITED NTIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORTS OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (c) DRAFT DECLARATIOI ON THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN II THE STRUGGLE FOR THE STRENGTHENING OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AID SECURITY AID AGAINST COLONIALISM, APARTHEID, ALL FORMS OF RACISM AID RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, FOREIGN AGGRESSION, OCOIPATION AND ALL FORMS OF FOREIGN DOMINATION: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AGENDA ITEM 79: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AID WAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE KFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS (Continued) ORGANIZATION OP WORK Distr. GENERAL A/C.3/36/SR.63 10 December 1981 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: SPANISH A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 2 The Meeting was called to order at 10.45 a.m. AGENDA ITEM 12: REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (continued) (A/36/3, chaps. II, V, VIII, XIX, XXIII (parts I and II), XXIV, XXVII, XXVIII, XXXII (part I and Corr. l and 2, and part II), XXXIV (parts I and II), XXXVI and XXXVII; A/36/61, 117, 136 and Add. l and Corr. l, 138, 179, 187, 209 and Add.1, 214, 216 and Add. l, 255, 284, 354, 355, 378, 383, 421 and Corr. l, 423, 500, 524, 540, 560, 566, 584, 594, 608, 705; A/C.3/36/3, 7 and 10; A/C.3/36/L.5, L.6, L.55, L.59/Rev.l, L.60, L.61, L.62, L.63, L.64, L.66, L.67/Rev.l, L.68, L.69/Rev.l, L.70, L.71, L.72, L.73, L.74, L.75, L.77, L.78, L.81, L.82 and L.83) AGENDA ITEM 129: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRAFFIC IN DRUGS (continued) (A/36/193; A/C.3/36/L.80) AGENDA ITEM 138: NEW INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ORDER (continued) (A/36/245; A/C.3/36/L.65) AGENDA ITEM 30: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF DISABLED PERSONS: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (continued) (A/36/471 and Add. l, 363 and 491; A/C.3/36/L.79) AGENDA ITEM 88: UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (continued) (A/36/3/Add.20; A/36/620 and A/36/490) (a) WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE IF OR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/564) (b) VOLUNTARY FUND FOR THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/485, A/36/646 and A/36/647) (c) DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR THE STRENGTHENING OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY AND AGAINST COLONIALISM, APARTHEID, ALL FORMS OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, FOREIGN AGGRESSION, OCCUPATION AND ALL FORMS OF FOREIGN DOMINATION: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL (A/36/476 and Add. l) AGENDA ITEM 79: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AND WAYS AND MEANS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVE ENJOYMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS (continued) (A/C.3/26/L.43, L.44 and L.46) 1. Miss BROSNAKOVA (Czechoslovakia) noted the impartial character of the report submitted to the Committee by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Chile. The report stated that civil, political and social rights were subject to mass violations in Chile. The Government of Chile was no longer even trying to whitewash the terrible reality. After all, it did not need to, for it had received public assurances from the representatives of the State which had helped to plot and to carry out the military coup in 1973. However, the repressive Government of Chile and those who supported it could not expect that the interest shown by international organizations and the international community in the human rights situation would decrease. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 3 (Hiss Brosnakova, Czechoslovakia) 2. The situation in E1 Salvador urns characterized by a climate of repression, murder and violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, while the Government of El Salvador remained indifferent or actually participated in those acts, as was stated in the preliminary report of the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights in document A/36/608. Given the large-scale assistance provided by the country for which, according to a number of statements, El Salvador was a place in which to prove its own prestige and strength, the people of El Salvador could not realize their true aspirations, namely, to create a society based on democratic and just social principles. It was urgently necessary that the Third Committee should condemn the mass violations of human rights in El Salvador and call on the Government of El Salvador to restore full democratic rights and freedom in that country; it should likewise call for the termination of military assistance to the Government of El Salvador, which did not have the support of a majority of the people. 3. Equally alarming was the violation of human rights by the regime in the Republic of Korea, which was also receiving effective support from abroad. In addition to the areas she had mentioned and southern Africa and the territories illegally occupied by Israel, there were other parts of the world where mass violations of human rights were taking place. In the spirit of the United Nations Charter which proclaimed the duty of States to respect human rights, the United Nations and the relevant organizations had the obligation to follow developments in those parts of the world. 4. Mr. MATELJAK (Yugoslavia) said that the action taken by the Commission on Human Rights with a view to further elaborating and defining the right to development as a human right was of exceptional importance. His delegation looked forward with great interest to the results of the work of the group of experts established under the COMMIssion’s resolution 36 (XXXVII). It was also pleased to note that progress had been made in elaborating the draft declaration on the rights of minorities. 5. The experience of the Working Group established by the Commission on Human Rights to study the question of missing persons showed that it was a very delicate question which required hard work, patience and goodwill on the part of the States concerned and the Working Group itself if concrete results were to be achieved. 6. In connexion with the situation of human rights in various countries the relevant United Nations bodies, especially the Commission on Human Rights, had been dealing with several specific cases. The situation of human rights in El Salvador had aroused deep concern within the United Nations system. As had been noted at a recent meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and heads of delegations of non-aligned countries, the current situation in that country called for a genuine political and democratic solution which would take into account all the political forces in the country, without any outside interference. The United Nations should continue its efforts along those lines until peace was established in El Salvador. 1, With reference to the situation of human rights in Chile, the report in document A/36/594 showed convincingly that it had not improved since the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly and in some respects had even deteriorated. Therefore, the United Nations should not only continue to pay attention to the human rights situation in Chile but should also explore new ways and means of improving it. It went without saying that his delegation was in favour of extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Chile for another year. A/C.3/36/5R.63 English Page (Mr. teljak, Yugoslavia) 8. The Republic of Korea was another country where the situation of human rights was cause for concern. The scant information available on that situation indicated that there were thousands of people in the so-called "re-education camps" and "purification camps". When speaking of the violation of human rights it was impossible not to refer to the situation in South Africa and Namibia, where the policy of apartheid had led to the permanent departure of students for neighbouring countries. According to document A/36/423, several thousand student refugees from South Africa and Namibia were currently living in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia. The international cossunity must continue to provide financial support for the creation of decent living conditions and the establishment of educational opportunities for those students. 9. With respect to the question of social development, his delegation was pleased to see that the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs was further intensifying its activities in promoting social rights and social development. In that connexion, the report of the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Social Aspects of Development Activities of the United Nations in document E/1981/3 was of great value. As the report contained a large number of recommendations for the promotion of social activities within the United Nations system, his delegation was looking forward with great interest to the results of the consideration of those recommendations at the forthcoming first regular session of the Economic and Social Council in 1982, as well as the action which would be taken by the United Nations Secretariat and other United Nations bodies concerned with the implementation of those recommendations. 10. His delegation attached great importance to the international seminar on various forms of popular participation in economic development, including workers' self-management, proposed in General Assembly resolution 34/152. His Government had agreed to host the seminar, which would probably be held in May 1982. 11. The Working Group on the elaboration of a draft convention on the protection of migrant workers and their families had made encouraging progress at the current session of the General Assembly. It had concluded its first reading of the preamble and a section of the future convention and provisionally adopted a number of paragraphs. His delegation was convinced of the need for the Working Group to hold an intercessional meeting in May 1982 so that work on the draft convention could be completed at the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly. 12. There were some problems of co-ordination of activities within the United Nations system with respect to migrant workers. There was no doubt that the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs had a mandate to concern itself with the social welfare of those workers and their families. The Economic and Social Council, for its part, had adopted resolution 1981/21 requesting the Secretary-General to include, in the programme budget for 1982-83, two studies on the questions of the welfare of migrant workers and their families. His delegation did not agree with the recommendation of the Committee on Programme and Co-ordination that those studies should be deleted from the programme budget for 1982-83. 13. In that connexion, his delegation had prepared a draft decision which it would present formally on behalf of a number of delegations, subject to the Chairman's approval since the time-limit for the presentation of draft decisions had expired. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 5 (Mr. Mateljak, Yugoslavia) It was of a procedural nature and would request the Inclusion, in the programme budget for 1982-1983, of various studies on the welfare of migrant workers and their families. 14. With respect to the item entitled "The new international humanitarian order", it must be borne in mind that the proposal was completely new and would have to be studied carefully ** Governments before they could express any opinions on it. For the time being ***** procedural resolution could be adopted, postponing consideration of the matter until the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly. 15. In that corsexion, he drew the Committee's attention to the fact that in the second and thrill preambular paragraphs of draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.65 it was implied that the Committee had already taken a stand on that proposal, which, if it were the case, might prejudice the Committee's discussion on that issue at the following year's session. It would be better to delete those two paragraphs from the draft resolution. 16. With respect to the International Year of Disabled Persons, his country, as a member of the Advisory Committee on that Year, had had the opportunity to follow closely the work related to the Year. In order to ensure the continuation of that work, the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs would have to maintain through 1982 the temporary posts provided for the Year in document A/34/158/Add.l; the necessary resources should be provided for keeping up the activities related to the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1982. 17. Mr. OILMAN (United States of America) said that currently drug production and trafficking represented tens of Millions of dollars and caused suffering for millions of people throughout the world. Ho nation, regardless of its political ideology or its social or economic status, was immune from the devastating and debilitating effects of drug abuse, which affected * stly yocng people. 18. So far, very little priority had been. **** to in *** drag abuse control activities; that had been due to genial lack of commitment in many nations and in some international organizations. If the united Nations was to be able to wage "war" effectively on the drug problem, Member States must submerge their competing political and economic differences. They should also remember that narcotics production, trafficking and drug abuse were not going to disappear all of a sudden; drug abuse convention and control was a never-ending battle requiring co-ordination among all nations. 19. It was heartening to note that the twenty-ninth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs had prepared a draft resolution on a drug control strategy and policies consisting of a five-year programme of action for drug control. In general, the strategy called for greater attention to the issues of drug abuse both within the United Nations agencies and elsewhere. It also recommended an increase in programmes aimed at drug abuse control and further recommended that the increased attention to United nations drug-related activities should be part of regular agency programmes and budgets. Similarly, it was necessary to co-ordinate resources to limit duplication of efforts and waste. For that reason, there was a need to promote an exchange of information and the development of efficient information management. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 6 (Mr. Cilman, United States) 20. The strategy document called for stronger commitments to drug abuse control programmes, especially in matters of legislation and law enforcement. In some cases, what was most necessary was wider adherence to the international drug control treaties and conventions. 21. In addition to adopting that long-term strategy and five-year programme of action, Member States must pool their resources, personnel, funds and expertise. In that connexion, and as the major contributor to the united Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control (UHFBAC), his country was somewhat disheartened that only a handful of nations had contributed $100,000 or more to the Fund. In particular, some nations, including those which were most adversely affected by illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse, had failed to contribute anything at all to the Fund. At the same time, it was encouraging to note that at the United Nations Fledging Conference for Development Activities UNFDAC had received pledges to telling nearly $3.5 million. 22. He then introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.77 entitled "International Drug Abuse Control Strategy". His delegation envisioned the Task Force which would be established in pursuance of the resolution as including key united Nations agencies and limited Member State representation to the extent that resources were available. One of the advantages of such a procedure would be the Integration of the drug abuse policies and activities of the United Nations agencies with those of the regional bodies and of Member States. The participation of all Member States and the serious attention of each individual Member State would ultimately be the key to the success of the entire project. Because of its monitoring and reporting functions, the Task Force would provide an important mechanism to help guarantee the timely and productive implementation of the strategy. 23. The intent of the draft resolution was to encourage all States to participate in the fight against all aspects of the problems associated with the production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs. The time had come for the General Assembly to endorse that international strategy, for the world-wide drug abuse situation was worsening each year; ail Member States had to commit themselves to the solution of that problem. 24. Mr. PERESSA (Ethiopia) recalled that the Committee had considered the problem of assistance to displaced persons in Ethiopia at length during the thirty-fifth session and had adopted resolution 35/183 which, inter alia, had endorsed the appeal of the Secretary-General urging Governments and international organizations to provide prompt and generous assistance to displaced persons in Ethiopia, who currently numbered 2.4 million persons. 25. His delegation wished to express its appreciation of the work of both the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the United Nations Disaster Belief Co-ordinator, which had been working quietly at a task that did not lend Itself to the dictates of politics and the sensationalism of the media. it was unfortunate that the capacity to attract public attention to humanitarian causes should depend so much on short-term political considerations. UNDRO merited increased support and assistance. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 7 (Mr, Deressa, Ethiopia) 26. In Africa there were nearly 17 million displaced persons. In Ethiopia alone there were 2.4 million victims of war, and their problems had been magnified by a series of natural disasters; their plight cried out for urgent attention and a generous response from the international community. Sixty per**cent of the displaced persons were women and children whose situation was marked by lack of resources and basic infrastructure, an acute food shortage and malnutrition aggravated by persistent drought, disease, illiteracy and a host of other economic and social ills. 27. Ethiopia lacked the means to reconstruct its war-ravaged areas and to help the 2.4 million displaced persons; the situation of 1.5 million of them was particularly critical and could become catastrophic if urgent measures were not adopted. In that connexion, it should be noted that displaced persons had not benefited from the increased attention and assistance provided for refugees; when that imbalance was redressed, their situation might worsen and, in the long run, have implications that would threaten peace and security in many parts of the world. 28. The problem was further compounded by the absence in the United Nations system of a mechanism which was appropriately equipped to handle displaced persons. It was to be hoped that the efforts of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly would bring a response coanensurate with the magnitude of the problem. 29. During the previous year a United Nations interagency mission as well as a multi-donor mission had visited Ethiopia; both missions hud reported on the extent of the damage to property and the condition of the people affected by both man-made and natural disasters. They had indicated the gravity of the situation and the level of assistance required for the relief and rehabilitation of displaced persons for the three-year period from mid-1980 to the end of 1983. As a consequence of those reports the Economic and Social Council and the Secretary-General had appealed for assistance for those displaced persons but unfortunately the response of the international community had not been adequate. 30. A UNHCR mission had concluded that a $14 million multi-year project must be established to facilitate the rehabilitation of 250,000 returnees in Ethiopia. In the immediate future, a further UNHCR mission would undertake a planning mission to establish the priority needs of returnees in 1982 and to draw up a plan of operations. It was to be hoped that there would be an adequate response from the international community which would make it possible to believe that, beyond the rhetoric surrounding the causes and effects of the problem of refugees, there was a genuine humanitarian concern that would motivate States to do what was best for the refugees and not just for strategic allies. Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.61 31. Mrs. FERNANDO (Sri Lanka) reminded the Committee that her delegation had submitted draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.61 on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights; the administrative and financial implications were set out in document A/C.3/36/L.82. The delegations of Ghana and Senegal had joined the list of sponsors of the draft resolution. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 8 Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.73 32. Mr. AUST (United Kingdom) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.73 on the question of the international legal protection of the human rights of individuals who were, not citizens of the country in which they lived; the administrative and financial implications of the draft resolution were set forth in document A/C.3/36/L.81. The sponsors of the draft resolution had been joined by Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, the Netherlands and Uruguay. 33. The draft resolution concerned the draft declaration in document A/35/363 currently under consideration by the open-ended working group which had been entrusted with the task of elaborating a final version of that draft declaration. The draft resolution was procedural, as its purpose was to enable the working group to continue with its task at the next session of the General Assembly. He trusted that the draft resolution would be adopted without a vote. Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.77 34. Miss RITTERBOFT (United States of America) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.77 concerning international drug abuse control strategy; the document concerning the administrative and financial implications of the draft resolution would be circulated later. Mr. Gilman, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives, had already eloquently set forth the reasons why the United States delegation had sponsored the draft resolution. She hoped that the Committee would adopt it without a vote. Draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.78 35. Miss LORANGER (Canada) introduced draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.78 regarding the observance of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the statement of administrative and financial implications of the draft would be circulated later. The sponsors of the draft resolution had been joined by Austria, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, France, Samoa, Senegal and Sweden. 36. Throughout history, certain events and documents, by virtue of fundamental importance of their meaning, had won a special place in human affairs. During the past four decades the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had certainly been in that category. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been adopted on 10 December 1948. All States Members of the United Nations had voted in favour of that Declaration. Since 1948, the General Assembly had thought it appropriate to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration and in certain years had celebrated i with special events. The draft resolution under consideration, which she then ou lined paragraph by paragraph, was intended to continue that tradition for the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration, which would occur on 10 December 1983. She hoped that the Committee would adopt the draft resolution under consideration without a vote. Diaft resolution A/C.3/36/L.79 37. Mr. ALLAFI (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said that his delegation had submitted draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.79 on the International Year of Disabled Persons, sad English Page 9 (Mr. Allafi, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) that its administrative and financial implications were contained in a separate document. The delegations of the Philippines, Viet Nam, Venezuela, the Federal Republic of Germany, Zaire and Cuba had become sponsors of the draft resolution. 38. The importance of the draft resolution did not need to be stressed. It was sufficient to recall that 500 million persons currently suffered from some kind of disability, and that 400 million of them lived in developing countries. 39. In formulating the draft resolution, the sponsors had taken account of the recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee for the International Year of Disabled Persons (A/35/471/Add.l) and the proposals made at the World Symposium of Experts on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries and Technical Assistance in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (Vienna, October 1981) and at the World Conference on Actions and Strategies for Education, Prevention and Integration (Torremolinos, November 1981) organized by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in observance of the International Year of Disabled Persons. 40. He briefly explained the contents of the operative paragraphs. Concerning paragraph 5, in which the Secretary-General was requested to convene a meeting of the Advisory Committee in 1982 to finalize the draft World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, he said that the sponsors hoped that when the date for that meeting was set, the need to allow sufficient time before the thirty-seventh session for Member States to study the results of the Advisory Committee's deliberations would be kept In mind. With regard to paragraph 6, he stressed that the idea of proclaiming the period 1983-1992 as the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons had emerged from the World Symposium held in Vienna, and that it had later been considered at the World Conference in Torremolinos; the participants in those meetings had expressed their support for the proclamation of the Decade. In the view of the sponsors, it was a procedural matter. The same could be said with respect to paragraph 7, in which the Advisory Committee was requested to study; the possibility of creating an optional international identity card for disabled persons. 41. He proposed an amendment to paragraph 15. In the first line, after "Secretary-General", the words "and the heads of the specialized agencies" should be added. The paragraph would then read "Also calls upon the Secretary-General and the heads of the specialized agencies to take all necessary measures to strengthen and expand ..."and so on until the end of the paragraph. He also proposed an amendment to paragraph 17. In the fifth and sixth line, the words "of the IYDP Secretariat" should be replaced by the words "of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs". 42. As all delegations agreed on the need to achieve the noble and humanitarian goals of the International Year of Disabled Persons, and since the draft resolution was based on humanitarian, not ideological concerns, the sponsors hoped that it could be adopted by consensus.' 43. The CHAIRMAN invited the Committee to consort draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.68 entitled "Measures to improve the situation and unsure the human rights and dignity of all migrant workers". The financial implications of that draft resolution were contained in document A/C.3/36/L.83. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English English 10 44. Mr. GONZALEZ de LEON (Mexico), introducing draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.68 on behalf of the sponsors, said that the delegations of Cape Verde, Denmark and India had recently joined the sponsors. He listed the meetings held so far by the open-ended Working Group established under General Assembly resolution 34/172 with a mandate to elaborate a Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Their Families. The results of the latest stage of the Working Group efforts were contained in document A/C.3/36/10, which the Committee had before it. As delegations could see, since the thirty-fifth session, the Working Group had engaged in a broad exchange of views, pinpointed the main concerns of participants with respect to the substance of the item and, finally, begun to identify the principles which should be reflected in a convention on the subject and the human rights and fundamental freedoms which that instrument should safeguard. A start had been made on the preparation of the preambular part of the Convention and the elaboration of provisional texts of the substantive provisions referring to the civil rights of all migrant workers and their families. The rights included in that part would be recognized and protected by States in respect of all migrant workers and their families, irrespective of the labour relationship which they entered into and of their migrant condition. 45. In later stages of its work, the Working Group would devote itself to determining the substantive provisions relating to labour rights and economic, social and cultural matters which should be Included in the Convention and would begin to prepare the part relating to the extent of its applicability and the definitions which would be necessary in order to make the instrument's scope perfectly clear. That aspect, namely, the extent of its applicability and the definitions, had been left for a later stage of the Group's work, since most of the Group's members were convinced that the elaboration of that aspect of the Convention would be greatly facilitated once ail of the human rights and fundamental civil, economic, social and cultural freedoms which the Convention must cover had been determined. 46. As the report of the Working Group clearly showed, substantial progress had been made so far. The texts for the preamble and the first few provisions of the Convention, which had been agreed on tentatively by the Working Group were indeed purely tentative and their provisional acceptance was equivalent to a first reading. It should be noted that in many of the agreed texts, a number of objections or reservations expressed by various delegations, which would be carefully considered at later stages, was shown by the use of brackets. 47. The elaboration of any agreement or treaty was a laborious, time-consuming and difficult task. In the case of a convention for the protection of migrant workers and their families, the work was particularly difficult because of the complexity of the subject, the multifarious aspects it dealt with and the delicacy of the situations which were often created by the movements of migrant workers. Nevertheless, the international community must have a legal framework which would allow it to deal with the problems posed by those movements. The phenomenon of workers' migration was not restricted to one or two areas; it currently affected many countries throughout the world and had an impact on the lives of tens of millions of people. Workers' migrations took extremely varied forms: they could be spontaneous or forced, individual or collective, organized or chaotic, they could be sponsored by Governments or by individuals; in some cases they were regulated by agreements between States, while in others they were not, and workers did not always A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 11 (Mr. Gonzalez de Leon, Mexico) comply with the demands and procedures established by the receiving States. The Working Group must keep all those considerations in mind in fulfilling its mandate, but it must also take account of the often beneficial though sometimes undesirable effects felt, both in the migrant workers' countries of origin and in the receiving countries. Above all, it was important to preserve the basic rights of human beings. 48. Since the resolution related to a procedural matter, the sponsors were confident that it could be adopted by consensus. 49. With regard to the financial implications of the draft resolution, he was forced to contest some of the information contained in the document submitted by the Secretariat. The draft resolution called for the Working Group to meet in New York in Hay 1982 for a period of two weeks, which would make It possible to take advantage of the presence in new York of many representatives who would be attending the session of the Economic and Social Council. However, the document on financial implications presented another option, which had not been requested, and which would mean that the Working Group would meet in Geneva. It would be less expensive for the meeting to be held in that city apparently, but the arguments put forward to justify that option were somewhat strange: for example, the contention that the Working Group would produce 40,000 words In New York and only 33,000 in Geneva, and the difference in the cost of interpreting services in the two cities. The Secretariat, moreover, was mistaken in its statement in paragraph 4 of document A/C.3/36/L.83 that a New York meeting in Hay would constitute an exception to the provisions of General Assembly resolution 31/140. The Working Group was a body of the General Assembly, not of the COMMIssion on Human Eights. The headquarters of the General Assembly and its bodies was New York, and therefore it was wrong to state that the Group had its headquarters in Geneva. His delegation hoped that delegations would adopt the draft resolution in its present form by consensus, including the part relating to the question of the headquarters. 50. Mr. VOICU (Romania) in reduced and outlined draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.55 of 16 November 1981, entitled "The right to education", which reiterated, developed and brought up to date the ideas contained in General Assembly resolution 35/191. The sponsors of the draft resolution, being aware of the ever more disquieting phenomenon of the persistence of illiteracy in numerous areas of the world, had deemed it necessary to include the new paragraph, recognizing that the eradication of illiteracy had a special priority and urgency for the effective implementation of the right to education. 51. The sponsors hoped that the report to be submitted by the Director-General of UNESCO in 1982 would permit a thorough examination of the right to education and lead to practical conclusions designed to accelerate its universal implementation. 52. The sponsors wished to remind the members of the Third Committee that the two previous resolutions on the right to education submitted to the General Assembly had been adopted by consensus, and they hoped the present draft resolution would also be adopted by consensus. 53. Mr. NORDENFELT (Sweden) said that although broad agreement had been reached among delegations concerning the amendments introduced to draft A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 12 (Mr. Nordenfelt, Sweden) resolution A/C.3/36/L.53, the representative of Morocco had now suggested an amendment to the fourth preambular paragraph. The Committee would have to vote on the amendment and then decide whether to adopt the draft resolution with or without a vote. 54. The CHAIRMAN said that the Committee had before it draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.53 as ©rally revised by the sponsors. The delegation of Morocco had proposed the addition of wording on the following lines at the end of paragraph 4: "... and are not always free from discrimination at the time of their recruitment,". He invited the Committee to vote on the amendment submitted by the delegation of Morocco. 55. The amendment was adopted by 46 votes to none, with 60 abstentions. 56. Mr. DERESSA (Ethiopia) asked for the revised text of the operative paragraph (paragraph 5) of draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.53 to be read out. 57. Mr. NORDENFELT (Sweden) read out the revised version of operative paragraph 5 of the draft resolution in English: "Invites Governments in host countries to consider granting, when appropriate and to the extent possible, working permits for spouses accompanying members of diplomatic missions or consular posts and staff members of intergovernmental organizations. 58. The CHAIRMAN said that, if there were no objections, he would take it that the Committee wished to adopt draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.53, as revised orally by the sponsors and with the amendment of the delegation of Morocco, without a vote. 59. It was so decided. 60. Mr. MASSOT (Brazil) said that his delegation had supported draft resolution L.53 on the understanding that applications for working permits, referred to in the operative paragraph, would be granted in conformity with the national legislation of the host State. 61. Mr, VSRKERCKE (Belgium) said that his delegation had joined in the consensus on draft resolution L.53 because it covered the problem of spouses of diplomatic and international officials, and on the understanding that the draft, as revised, did not impose any legal obligations on Member States. However, the practical measures for granting working permits for spouses of diplomatic and international officials could give rise to discrimination between foreigners on the labour market. Moreover, legal problems might arise, such as incompatibility between the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Privileges and Immunities and the exercise of a profession, particularly an independent profession. For all those reasons, his delegation would have preferred the matter to be submitted to a more appropriate body than the Third Committee. 62. Mr. LAGOS (Chile) said that his delegation had joined in the consensus on the understanding that the granting of working permits referred to in the draft resolution would be subject to the domestic legislation of the country concerned and that anyone working independently would have to renounce diplomatic immunities. A/C.3/36/SR.63 English Page 13 63. Mr.DERESSA (Ethiopia) said that in the opinion of his delegation, the measures set forth in the operative paragraph of draft resolution L.53 should be subject to the national legislation and administrative regulations of the host country. 64. Hiss LORAHGER (Canada) said that her delegation had joined the consensus on the understanding that the measures referred to in the operative paragraph would be based on reciprocity. 65. Mr. SIBAY (Turkey) said that his delegation had joined in the consensus on the understanding that the granting of working permits would be subject to the national legislation of the host country. 66. Mrs. WARZAZI (Morocco) said that her delegation had not opposed draft resolution A/C.3/36/L.53 in order not to prevent a consensus once the Moroccan amendment had been adopted; however, she had reservations concerning the operative paragraph. ORGANIZATION OF WORK 67. Mr. ASANTE (Ghana) said that he wished to make some comments on the report of the Secretary-General contained in document A/36/705, concerning agenda item 12. The list of speakers under that item had been closed for some time, but as the report had been issued on 24 November, after the closing of the list of speakers, he felt that he would be justified in asking the Chairman for permission to make his comments at the next meeting, 68. The CHAIRMAN, having agreed to the request of the representative of Ghana, reminded the Committee that the delegation of Yugoslavia had proposed, as a matter of procedure, that the Committee should endorse the request contained in Economic and Social Council resolution 1981/21, that provision should be made in the programme budget for 1982-1983 for studies on questions relating to the welfare of migrant workers and their families. 69. He could not see anything against that request, and if there were no objections he would take it that the Committee supported it. 70. It was so decided. The meeting rose at 1.15 p.m.