[women-rights] Human Rights Council discusses violence against women and trafficking in persons

UNITED NATIONS Press Release 

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xxxxxxxxxx HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL DISCUSSES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 

Human Rights Council 
MORNING
20 September 2006

*Concludes Discussion on Extrajudicial Executions and Internally
Displaced Persons*

The Human Rights Council this morning heard presentations by the
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, and from the Special Rapporteur on the human rights
aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women
and children. The Council also heard concluding statements from the
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary
executions, and the Representative of the Secretary-General on the
human rights of internally displaced persons. 

Yakin Erturk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, said in the course of 2006, she had
conducted missions to Turkey, Sweden and the Netherlands, and was in
the process of formulating her findings and recommendations. She had
also conducted missions to the Russian Federation, Iran, Mexico, and
Afghanistan. In the Russian Federation, the adverse impact of
political and economic transition had disproportionately affected
women. In Iran, although the principle of equality was enshrined in
the Constitution, gender inequality was a salient feature of Iranian
society. The high levels of violence against women in Mexico were
both a consequence and a symptom of widespread gender discrimination
and inequality. The situation for women in Afghanistan remained
dramatic, and severe violence against them was all pervasive.
Throughout Darfur, a surge in sexual violence continued. 

Sigma Huda, Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the
victims of trafficking in persons, said all forms of trafficking of
persons violated fundamental human rights and presented issues of
pressing global concern. While the human rights of women and children
were violated in many forms of trafficking, sex trafficking was a
particular form of trafficking in which the human rights of women and
children were violated because the victims were in fact women and
children. That made it important for her to focus on sex trafficking
and in particular the role of the prostitute-user in creating demand.
Laws and policies that penalized victims of prostitution and
trafficking should be condemned. Measures to address demand should
ensure that victims of trafficking were neither criminalized not
subjected to punitive measures. 

Speaking as concerned countries to the reports of violence against
women and trafficking in persons were Afghanistan, Iran, Mexico, the
Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon. 

Participating in the interactive dialogue were the delegations of
Belarus, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Chile, Norway,
Brazil, Australia, Japan, Finland, Sudan, Canada, Iceland, Morocco,
Switzerland, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Thailand. 

Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, responding to the questions and issues that
were raised after he presented his reports at the meeting on Tuesday
afternoon, said he was greatly reassured by the general tenor of the
remarks made, in particular those of the Governments of countries he
had visited recently, which had been particularly encouraging, and
demonstrated the importance of the dialogue the Council was engaged
in.

Walter Kalin,* *Representative of the Secretary-General on the human
rights of internally displaced persons, thanked the delegations for
the many positive and encouraging comments on the work he had
undertaken during the last year. With reference to how to improve the
action of country-teams in the protection of internally displaced
persons, the new cluster approach had to be understood as an improved
version of the collaborative approach. There also had to be a closer
collaboration between Special Procedures and the countries.

Zimbabwe, Philippines, Algeria, Sri Lanka and Georgia exercised their
right of reply on the reports on extrajudicial executions and
internally displaced persons.

The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. this afternoon to conclude its
discussion with the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and
trafficking in persons. It will then start its discussion on the
reports of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; the Chairperson of the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and the Special Rapporteur on
the independence of judges and lawyers. 

*Concluding Statements by Special Procedures on Extrajudicial
Executions and Internally Displaced Persons*

PHILIP ALSTON, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, responding to the questions and issues that
were raised during the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, said he was
greatly reassured by the general tenor of the remarks made, in
particular those of the Governments of countries he had visited
recently, which had been particularly encouraging, and demonstrated
the importance of the dialogue the Council was engaged in. In
relation to the draft law on amnesty, there would inevitably be a
difference between the position of the general international
community in relation to amnesties, and that of individual
Governments coming out of conflict situations. The international
community as a whole was clearly moving towards a fairly strict
approach to the question of amnesty laws. The key factor for a
special procedure was effectiveness. 

In relation to the comments by Nigeria, the Government was thanked
for its very cooperative approach, and there was only issue with the
question that had arisen with regards to the crimes of sodomy and
adultery, and the explanation offered by the Representative was not a
compelling one. The Government was requested to reaffirm its legal
obligations and acts in such a way as to ensure conformity on the
part of the States. With regards to the Government of Iran, the
comment that setting a date for a visit took a long time was
appreciated. The only way forward was for a visit that allowed for
clarification of the cases that continued to be brought to the
Special Rapporteur's attention regarding the execution of juveniles. 

With regards to Sri Lanka, which a great number of Governments had
focused on, in particular Asian Governments, the Special Rapporteur
was pleased that they wished to help resolve the conflict. There was
a need for human rights monitoring, ideally with some form of
international monitoring mechanism. There was no existing model to be
superimposed, and there was a need for an international monitoring
arrangement to meet the needs of the people of Sri Lanka. On
security, it was a mistake to juxtapose security and human rights -
the road to security led through respect for human rights. 

WALTER KALIN, Representative of the Secretary-General on the human
rights of internally displaced persons, thanked the delegations for
the many positive and encouraging comments on the work he had
undertaken during the last year. With reference to the Balkans, he
was pleased to have heard expressions of commitment to the Sarajevo
Process. The Sarajevo Process was key to bring peace to the region,
and therefore had to be sped up and translated into action. 

On country-related questions, Mr. Kalin said that to be able to
secure humanitarian access in Darfur, the Abuja Peace Agreement had
to be fully implemented so that there would not be a return to the
use of force, and there should also be a strong presence of
peacekeeping forces. With reference to the presence of the African
Union peacekeeping force, it had a positive impact on the protection
of internally displaced persons, but it was insufficient overall. The
United Nations peacekeeping forces would play a key role and their
deployment should be agreed upon as proposed. On Zimbabwe, the
situation had not improved in the last year and the measures
undertaken by the Government were insufficient. In Sri Lanka, he
agreed that domestic response to a natural disaster during the first
48 hours was of paramount importance, as had also been demonstrated
in the response to the earthquake in Pakistan. 

On United Nations security measures, a balance had to the struck
between the needs of humanitarian workers to have access to the
populations in distress and those of the peacekeeping missions.

With reference to how to improve the action of country-teams in the
protection of internally displaced persons, the new cluster approach
had to be understood as an improved version of the collaborative
approach. There also had to be a closer collaboration between special
procedures and the countries.

On a question on whether the Guiding Principles would also apply to
natural disasters, the answer was affirmative. These Guiding
Principles were important to the protection of internally displaced
persons and also persons affected by a natural disaster.

*Right of Reply*

ENOS MAFEMBA (Zimbabwe), in a right to reply, said that yesterday's
statement by Finland on Murambatsvina (operation clean up) wanted to
bring confusion in the Council. The figures given did not even tally
with those in the infamous Tabaijuka Report, which Zimbabwe had
rejected as not balanced since it was written at the instigation and
assistance of one of the EU Member States with the aim of demonising
Zimbabwe. The Representative of Finland did not mention that Zimbabwe
was providing decent houses to its people on the acquired farms using
its own resources. Nobody in Helsinki would tell Zimbabwe how bad
Murambatsvina was without telling how good Garikayi operation was and
support the State. Zimbabwe was not a colony and did not want to
expose that astounding and astonishing hypocrisy since Zimbabwe was
not blind to violations of human rights by those who clamed to be
custodians of democratic values. Zimbabwe appreciated that the
delegate of Finland was ignorant about the complex nature of the
bilateral dispute with a country that because of its weird colonial
past in Zimbabwe had no shame hormones when dealing with Zimbabwe.

HENDIK GARCIA (Philippines), in a right of reply, said with regards
to a statement made by a non-governmental organization yesterday, the
Government of the Philippines was pursuing exercises at the highest
levels to pursue incidents of extrajudicial killings. The killings of
political activists and journalists had no place in the country or
Government, and the President had affirmed this. A special task force
had been created to investigate political killings and attacks on
journalists. Work was being done to eradicate the root causes of
extrajudicial killings and break the cycle of violence once and for
all. The President had recently met with Amnesty International to
discuss these means. These domestic initiatives should be fully
supported, and given the opportunity to make changes and progress. 

There was a need to investigate the motives of allegations. It should
only be after careful and systematic investigation that such offences
be classed as human rights violations. Substantiation of allegations
should be done in all cases. 

IDRISS JAZAÏRY (Algeria), speaking in a right of reply in
response to Mr Alston's comments this morning, said he had referred
to the Charter and Peace and National Reconciliation as an amnesty
law, despite the public statements by the Head of State saying that
the law did not encompass amnesty. Priority should be given to
bilateral and lateral diplomacy, before resorting to press releases,
which latter should be resorted only to under circumstances which the
Human Rights Council should determine in the future. Mr. Alston had
not respected diplomatic law and practice and addressed his comments
to the appropriate bodies. Special Rapporteurs should not see their
task as being above the law. 

SARALA FERNANDO (Sri Lanka), in a right to reply, said the Special
Rapporteur on extraordinary, summary or arbitrary executions was
deliberately trying to confuse the debate on the situation of Sri
Lanka. During yesterday's debate, several Asian countries spoke in
favour of Sri Lanka and affirmed their solidarity while the Special
Rapporteur was attempting to mislead the debate.

TEIMURAZ BAKZADZE (Georgia), speaking in a right of reply, said on
the groundless and cynical imputations of the Russian delegation, the
latter had not even troubled to read the report of the Special
Rapporteur. Yesterday, the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
had been addressed, and it would also be addressed in the future. 

*Reports to be Presented to the Council*

A report (E/CN.4/2006/61) entitled the due diligence standard as a
tool for the elimination of violence against women by Yakin Erturk,
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, says the failure of international human rights law to
adequately reflect and respond to the experiences and needs of women
has stimulated much debate on the mainstream application of human
rights standards. This has resulted in the transformation of the
conventional understanding of human rights and the doctrine of State
responsibility. Under the due diligence obligation, States have a
duty to take positive action to prevent and protect women from
violence, punish perpetuators of violent acts and compensate victims
of violence. However, the application of due diligence standard, to
date, has tended to be State-centric and limited to responding to
violence when it occurs, largely neglecting the obligation to prevent
and compensate and the responsibility of non-State actors. 

The current challenge in combating violence against women is the
implementation of existing human rights standards to ensure that the
root causes and consequences of violence against women are tackled at
all levels from the home to the transnational arena. The multiplicity
of forms of violence against women as well as the fact that this
violence frequently occurs at the intersection of different types of
discrimination makes the adoption of multifaceted strategies to
effectively prevent and combat this violence a necessity. In this
regard, the potential of the due diligence standard is explored at
different levels of intervention: individual women, the community,
the State and the transnational level. At each level, recommendations
for relevant actors are highlighted. The report concludes that if we
continue to push the boundaries of due diligence in demanding the
full compliance of States with international law, including to
address the root causes of violence against women and to hold
non-State actors accountable for their acts of violence, then we will
move towards a conception of human rights that meets our aspirations
for a just world free of violence. 

An addendum to the above report (E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.1) contains, on a
country-by-country basis, summaries of general and individual
allegations, as well as urgent appeals transmitted to Governments
between 1 January and 31 December 2005, as well as replies received
during the same period. Observations made by the Special Rapporteur
have also been included where applicable. An addendum to the above
report (E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.2) contains an account of the Special
Rapporteur's mission to the Russian Federation. An addendum to the
above report (E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.3) contains an account of the
Special Rapporteur's mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran. An
addendum to the above report (E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.4) contains an
account of the Special Rapporteur's mission to Mexico. An addendum to
the above report (E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.5) contains an account of the
Special Rapporteur's mission to Afghanistan. 

The Council also has before it the report of the Special Rapporteur
on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children, Sigma Huda (E/CN.4/2006/62, Add.1,
Add.2 and Add.3) for its consideration. The report is submitted in
accordance with Commission on Human Rights decision 2004/110 and
covers the period January-December 2005. The addenda to the report
are a summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies, as
well as the Special Rapporteur's missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Lebanon. The main report is divided into three sections and
outlines the Rapporteur's activities during the reporting period,
while section two and three are devoted to thematic study on the
relationship between trafficking and the demand for commercial sexual
exploitation and conclusions and recommendations. Among the
recommendations were human rights approach to trafficking; and
criminalizing the use of prostituted persons. Information, education
and advocacy campaigns against trafficking have also been recommended
by the Rapporteur.

*Presentation of Reports by Special Procedures*

YAKIN ERTURK, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences, said it was a firmly established principle
of international law that States had a duty to take positive action
to prevent and protect women from violence, to punish perpetrators
and to assure compensation for victims, and failure to do so
constituted a breach of international law. The application of the due
diligence standard had tended to be limited to responding to violence
when it occurred, largely neglecting the obligation to proactively
prevent violence. This included the duty to address the root causes
of violence, namely unequal power structures and gender-based
discrimination in all its shapes and forms. A State, therefore, could
not be said to live up to the full range of its obligations related
to violence against women as long as it allowed discriminatory laws
and practices to prevail. 

States should employ alternative approaches to supplement the human
rights discourse in their interventions at the individual and
community level and in State apparatuses and the transnational arena.
One such alternative approach was the empowerment discourse as
engrained in the Beijing Platform for Action, which embraced the
progressive realisation of the full range of rights - economic,
social, cultural, civil and political. Another effective approach was
cultural negotiation, which required a State's active engagement in
the promotion and support of a public dialogue aimed at transforming
discriminatory values and norms. 

In the course of 2006, Ms. Erturk said she had conducted missions to
Turkey, Sweden and the Netherlands, and was in the process of
formulating her findings and recommendations. She had also conducted
missions to the Russian Federation, Iran, Mexico, and Afghanistan. In
the Russian Federation, the adverse impact of political and economic
transition had disproportionately affected women. In Iran, although
the principle of equality was enshrined in the Constitution, gender
inequality was a salient feature of Iranian society. The high levels
of violence against women in Mexico were both a consequence and a
symptom of widespread gender discrimination and inequality. The
situation for women in Afghanistan remained dramatic, and severe
violence against them was all-pervasive. Throughout Darfur, a surge
in sexual violence continued. 

SIGMA HUDA, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in person, especially
women and children, said she continued to receive complaints of cases
of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, on the
basis of which she transmitted to governments numerous
communications. The communications concerned a wide array of issues
including trafficking for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation,
forced marriage, forced labour, child labour, and exploitation of
children in armed conflict. Communications also addressed
disappearances of children, contemporary forms of slavery and
systematic sexual violence perpetrated by States or armed non-state
actors. A number of communications also addressed factors that caused
or exacerbated trafficking in persons such as inadequate legislation,
law enforcement gaps, corruption, refoulement despite a well-founded
fear of torture or persecution, discrimination on the basis of
gender, race or social status, poverty and lack of access to
education. 

Speaking on the relationship between trafficking and the demand for
commercial sexual exploitation, the Special Rapporteur said all forms
of trafficking of persons violated fundamental human rights and
presented issues of pressing global concern. While the human rights
of women and children were violated in many forms of trafficking, sex
trafficking was a particular form of trafficking in which the human
rights of women and children were violated because the victims were
in fact women and children. That made it important for her to focus
on sex trafficking and in particular the role of the prostitute-user
in creating demand. It should also be noted that the prostitute used
was simultaneously both demand creator and virtue of the receipt of
the trafficked person, a part of the trafficking chain. Moreover, the
demand for commercial sex was often further grounded in social power
disparities of race, nationality, caste and colour. The laws and
policies that penalized victims of prostitutions and trafficking
should be condemned. Measures to address demand should ensure that
victims of trafficking were neither criminalized not subjected to
punitive measures. 

Ms. Huda said she had conducted country missions to Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Lebanon in 2005. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite
major positive changes having been made to the laws and the
institutional settings dealing with trafficking, weaknesses
persisted. Increased attention had to be paid to the emerging
phenomenon of internal trafficking and the mechanisms in place to
combat trafficking and protect the persons involved had to be
reviewed and adapted so as to ensure that they properly covered
nationals. In Lebanon, her visit had allowed her to confirm that
despite some progress and a clear willingness from the authorities to
address the problems of trafficking and the human rights issues
tightly linked to this, the Government was still not fully meeting
international obligations with regard to trafficking in persons. She
had four broad recommendations for the Lebanese authorities,
including that they should adopt legal reforms to criminalize all
forms of trafficking and strengthen the labour law framework, and
that they should assure an effective prosecution of acts of
trafficking and related crimes. 

*Statements by Concerned Countries*

ASSAD OMER (Afghanistan), speaking as a concerned country, said that
Afghanistan was in reconstruction after more than 20 years of war,
and 5 years in the dark. The Special Rapporteur's report showed that
Afghanistan was still far from realising the goals which the country
was striving to attain. Notwithstanding this, the Constitution
contained an explicit reference to the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, and out of the 249 deputies to the national Parliament, there
were 70 women, which made up 27 per cent of the entire number. The
issue of women was one of the priorities in the policy of development
which was in place in the country. 

Afghanistan could not ignore that women were the first victims of
insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and the high figures of maternal
mortality. Facing up to growing insecurity due to terrorist attacks
coming from outside, the country still managed, with international
aid, to encourage women to take once more the place that was owed
them in Afghan society. Since the liberation of the country, the
percentage of school attendance for young girls kept on growing, and
this growth was visible both in urban and in rural areas. 

ALI REZA MOAYERI (Iran), speaking as a concerned country, expressed
appreciation for the visit of Professor Yakin Erturk, the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
Iran hoped that that visit paved the way for a better understanding
of the situation and contributed to the advancement of the rights of
women in Iran. Positive trends and an ever deepening insight on the
rights of women in Iran would only be strengthened, and consolidated
by a fair, realistic and forward looking attitude on the part of the
international human rights mechanisms. A great deal of discussion and
debate at the international level had been and was still addressing
the issue of women's status in present day Iranian society; however,
only a few among them had been able to avoid painting a grim picture
of the situation of the women in Iran. It was in that context the
role of the Special Rapporteur became essential as an impartial
arbiter to open a window to the United Nations human rights system to
show what Iranian women had achieved over the last couple of decades,
by way of strength, optimism and courage and what challenges lay
ahead to overcome and go forward. On the substance of the report,
Iran said that no one could claim to be perfect. Wiping out all
positive steps by allegations such as continuing reports of
violations of women's human rights, the high rate of unemployment for
women, restriction of political activities and the like, downgraded
the report to a political statement. Unemployment was a national
economic problem targeting men and women alike. When women set up
their NGOs, became members of parliament, were assigned to high
ranking official posts such as vice-president, launched their
campaign for their rights and so on, allegations on restriction on
political activities for women became difficult to understand.

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico), speaking as a concerned country, said that the
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its cause and
consequences had visited Mexico and the Government had collaborated
in her work. Mexico had undertaken many efforts for the promotion and
protection of women's rights in the society. A series of measures had
also been taken against violence perpetrated on women. Mexico also
recognized that much remained to be done in order to prevent violence
in the society. As the Special Rapporteur indicated, still there was
room for improvement. After assessing the recommendations of the
Rapporeteur, the Government would continue to further take measures
to improve the situation of women in the country and reduce the rate
of violence. 

A Special Procurator's office had been established to deal with
gender-related violence. Such offices would also be extended in all
areas in order to deal with violence. The specialized office had
presented its report in which homicide cases involving women had been
included. Information and statistical data had been collected by the
office referring cases of murders in Chiwawa. In August this year,
the national institute for indigenous development had also been
involved in dealing with cases of violence against women. The
Government believed that change in public attitude was essential to
bring a real change in the society with regard to violence against
women.

VALERY LOSHCHININ (Russian Federation), speaking as a concerned
country, said on the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, when the Russian Federation had invited her, it had
counted on an objective analysis of the situation in respect of
women's rights, including the prevention and prosecution of violence.
During her visit, the Special Rapporteur had been provided with an
opportunity to communicate with regional authorities, women's and
non-governmental organizations, and officials had provided
information and answered questions. However, the report was
politicised and not impartial - it gave the impression that there was
a State policy of violence against women, which was occurring against
a background of prevailing insecurity at large. Those familiar with
the contemporary reality in Russia and the role of women in society
could not accept these affirmations. 

Women were the greater part of the population of the country, and
almost half of the working resources. They were actively moving into
new areas of entrepreneurship, and were 70 per cent of State civil
servants, 60 per cent of the overall number of judges at all levels,
and the number of women entering the armed forces and the forces of
law and order were constantly growing. Such a State could not be
conducting a deliberate policy of discrimination and violence against
the majority of the population. If such were the case, then the
Russian Federation would not be seeing the situation of economic
growth and other advances that it was seeing today. There were
problems, and there were crimes of violence, and disfavoured families
where women and children were subjected to violence. There was no one
single recipe to resolve these issues. The recommendations addressed
to the Government on the basis of unreliable information could not be
accepted. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur should be
substantially changed and corrected. 

SAMIR RIZVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), speaking as a concerned
country, thanked Sigma Huda, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, for the visit to Bosnia and
Herzegovina and for today's presentation of her report. Bosnia and
Herzegovina thanked the Special Rapporteur for having stated in her
conclusions that since the emergence of the phenomenon of trafficking
in persons, the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina had spared no
effort in combating it. Bosnia and Herzegovina was glad that it had
been recognized by the Special Rapporteur that the situation in the
areas of prevention and suppression of trafficking in Bosnia and
Herzegovina had changed substantially since the adoption of the
National Plan of Action. A large number of foreign women who were
illegally in Bosnia and Herzegovina had left, many bars were closed,
and several persons involved in trafficking were serving prison
sentences. Major changes had occurred in the legislation and the
institutional setting to deal with trafficking, law enforcement,
border control, identification of and assistance of victims and
prosecution of perpetrators. Bosnia and Herzegovina fully agreed with
the Special Rapporteur's conclusion that, however, weaknesses
persisted in all of these areas and that efforts must continue to
achieve further progress towards breaking the trafficking cycle. 

GEBRAN SOUFAN (Lebanon), speaking as a concerned country with regard
to the mission of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects
of the victims of trafficking in persons, said the Lebanese
Government welcomed the visit of the expert and acknowledged the need
to continue to address the issue of human trafficking, mainly
concerning domestic migrant workers and any other abuse to workers.
The recommendations of the Rapporteur were a guiding framework to the
Government and civil society on how to better prevent and combat
trafficking and protect trafficked persons. The Ministry of Justice
was keen to thanking her as well as the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights for the efforts deployed to prepare a
report which reflected the appropriate initiative to assist Lebanon
as well as the international community. Trafficking in children was
not an issue in Lebanon. The root causes of human trafficking should
be addressed in the transit, destination countries, and also in the
sending States.

*Interactive Discussion*

SERGEI ALEINIK (Belarus) said the mandate of the Special Rapporteur
on trafficking had been created fairly recently, but the report
contained clear areas for future work. The intention to pay
heightened attention to the issue of demand was appreciated, as this
was an important issue, and the combat against trafficking had not
yet been reacted to fully by the international community. During her
action to carry out her mandate, the Special Rapporteur should enjoy
a degree of support from the Council and the High Commissioner's
Office. 

The Government of Belarus was working actively with the thematic
procedures with the aim of improving the national legislative system.
The Special Rapporteur on trafficking had been sent an official
invitation to visit, and it was hoped this would soon took place, and
she would learn about the efforts made in the country to counter
trafficking, and make suggestions in this regard, and it was hoped
this would include elements on regional cooperation. 

SERGIO CERDA (Argentina) thanked Sigma Huda, the Special Rapporteur
on trafficking, for her report and encouraged her to continue her
work along those lines. Argentina also praised the excellent
recommendations contained in the report. It agreed with the inclusion
of the theme of supervision, and also stated that the issue of sexual
tourism was a broad one and had to be tackled in conjunction with the
other issues dealt with in her report. Lastly, Argentina said that it
was important to identify best practices, and also interact with the
Committee on the Rights of the Child.

ALEJANDRA DE BELLIS (Uruguay), referring to the report on violence
against women, said Uruguay shared the aspects reflected in the
report. The Special Rapporteur had stressed the lack of insufficiency
in legislation and measures to protect women. However, there were no
resources made available to effectively protect women from violence.
Could the Rapporteur explain from the point of view of good practice
how to effectively protect women in the event of scarce resources. 

LUIS VARELA QUIROS (Costa Rica) said on the report on trafficking,
Ms. Huda was thanked for the straightforward way in which she dealt
with this sensitive theme. Costa Rica was concerned for the sexual
exploitation of children, and had implemented programmes to protect
children, and all violations of rights were reported. Costa Rica's
heritage of boys and girls was the future of the country, and this
was why it attached high value to them. What measures should be
adopted by the international community to ensure that the Internet
was not used by offenders to engage in activity related to the
mistreatment of children, the speaker asked the Special Rapporteur. 

MILINDA HILL (New Zealand) said that the mandate of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women was one of the most important
mandates for New Zealand. New Zealand had commented on the concept of
exercising due diligence in the prevention, investigation and
punishment of violence against women in such a dialogue two years
ago. Ms. Erturk's report to the Council this year provided a very
comprehensive answer. As her report made clear, due diligence in this
context was an international human right. But States would continue
to require guidance about how to implement this standard because of
the potential scope of the concept and the role of non-state actors.
New Zealand considered Ms. Erturk's advice an invaluable resource,
especially as they moved to consideration of the Secretary-General's
comprehensive report and the new debate at the General Assembly. 

PATRICIO UTRERAS (Chile), with regard to the report on trafficking in
persons, said that report contained valuable information on the
issue. Trafficking in persons was an alarming phenomenon and had
become the third most powerful trade next to drug and arms
trafficking. It used women and children for prostitution. In Chile,
that phenomenon had started to emerge, however, the Government was
taking appropriate measures to combat it. It was essential that
States should taken actions in order to penalize the traffickers and
protect the victims. 

ASTRID HELLE AJAMAY (Norway) said the Special Rapporteur and the
Secretary-General's Representative were thanked for their reports,
and the two mandates were very important. The reports took up
important aspects with regards to the protection of human rights. It
was important to focus on sex-trafficking and the role of the user in
creating demand. There was a fine line between the sex industry and
trafficking in human beings. Criminal sanctions relating to the sex
industry should not be used to penalise the victims. On the
relationship between the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on
trafficking and that of the Special Rapporteur on child prostitution
and child pornography, how could this be strengthened to bring a halt
to trafficking in children, the speaker asked. 

MAGALI NAVES (Brazil) congratulated both Special Rapporteurs for
their reports. First, with reference to Ms. Huda's report, Brazil had
ratified in March 2004 the International Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime and its two Protocols. The adoption of
those instruments was a legal milestone. The Special Secretariat of
the Presidency of the Republic on Human Rights and the Ministry of
Justice were the entities mainly responsible for combating
trafficking in women and girls. In 2004, Brazil, together with
MERCOSUR countries, launched a campaign to alert the public opinion
against the crime of trafficking in persons and to denounce the
perpetrators. In the social area, Brazil had also taken measures to
facilitate the access of women and girls to education, health and to
the labour market to prevent prostitution. The fight against
trafficking in women and girls would only be successful if
governments combined judicial and repressive actions with investments
in the social area, which were the main causes of prostitution.

GUY O'BRIEN (Australia) welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur
on violence against women and its consequences on the due diligence
standard as a tool for eliminating gender-based violence. The report
raised the bar on the issue and focused on the implementation
challenges that the international community was faced in addressing
gender-based violence. The report mentioned that the response to
violence against women had been fragmented and treated in isolation
from the wider concern for women's rights and equality due to narrow
interpretation and application of human rights law. The Rapporteur
had noted the potential of the due diligence standard and suggested
two options for how States could or should implement their obligation
to exercise due diligence in eliminating violence against women.
Could the Rapporteur elaborate on those options, and provide examples
so as to show how States could implement either one?

SHIGERU ENDO (Japan) said trafficking in persons was a grave
violation of human rights, and with globalisation and the widening in
the economic gap, human trafficking had become a growing threat, and
the international community should cooperate to implement measures
against it. The issue of the demand for commercial sexual
exploitation was crucial in protecting the rights of human beings.
Japan had amended its penal code to punish prostitute-users and those
in the trafficking business. It had also taken legal measures to
protect trafficked users. Japan believed any counter-trafficking
measures could not be successfully achieved without cooperation
between countries of origin and destination, and had dispatched
officials to those States to counter trafficking. 

KIRSTI POHJANKUKKA (Finland), speaking on behalf of the European
Union, said the analysis in the report of the way in which control
over women's sexuality was at the heart of political and cultural
justifications for violence against women, and noted the concern over
violence directed against women on the grounds of their sexuality and
gender identity, and asked for the Special Rapporteur's suggestions
on how the international community could better address these
concerns. How had the Independent Afghan Commission's report been
received, the speaker asked. The report of Ms. Huda contained a clear
analysis of the causes of trafficking, and of the influence of demand
on this phenomenon. What were the most efficient means of reducing
trafficking, and how should the demand for trafficked persons be
addressed at the national level, she asked. 

ATTIAT MUSTAFA (Sudan), referring to the report of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, asked why she specifically
mentioned the situation in Darfur while ignoring violence that was
taking in other regions. The Government had created units, including
in Darfur, to work on gender-based violence. Those who committed
crimes of rape or other violence had so far been prosecuted. A plan
of action at the national level had been developed to identify the
perpetrators and to punish them, while assisting the victims,
including medical treatment.

TERRY CORMIER (Canada) asked how did Ms. Erturk see her work being
affected by the Study of the Secretary-General on violence against
children which would be launched on October 9. 

EDDA MAGNUS (Iceland) said full compliance and global adherence to
international human rights law was of utmost importance, and it was
essential for each and every Government to address violence against
women on its own doorstep. It would be interesting to receive more
information regarding violence committed against honour, and how
extensive this problem was, where problems lay, and what were the
possible measures to be taken by the international community. 

MOHAMMED LOULICHKI (Morocco) said that the elimination of violence
against women was a goal to be pursued by all States. The elimination
of such violence was part of the efforts to further the emancipation
of women. In that respect, it was paramount to implement to Beijing
Plan of Action as well as the Millennium Development Goals. Morocco
had taken a number of steps towards the elimination of violence
against women, such as the creation of a new family code, the royal
decree granting citizenship to children born from non-Moroccan
fathers and Moroccan mothers, the establishment of shelters for women
victims of violence, a toll-free phone line to assist women, as well
as the support of NGOs dealing with violence against women. Morocco
encouraged the international community to continue strengthening the
partnership between civil society and governments to combat this
scourge.

JEAN-DANIEL VIGNY (Switzerland) asked the Special Rapporteur on
violence against women if more States were using the notion of due
diligence in order to consolidate the fundamental rights of women.
What measures should be taken in order that more States use the
notion? With regard to trafficking in persons, the human rights of
women should be the main focus when looking at strategies to combat
human trafficking. He asked the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
women and children, how the Rapporteur would assess the risk of
pushing prostitution out of sight and making sex workers and victims
of trafficking even more vulnerable to human rights abuses by
criminalizing prostitution. Did the criminalization of prostitution,
as a strategy in combating human trafficking, serve the best human
rights of women?

JUNEVER MAHILUM WEST (Philippines) said the two Special Rapporteurs
were commended for their reports and for their extensive and
thought-provoking work. Both were important mandates. On trafficking,
the recommendations were supported, and the human rights of the
victims should always be upheld, and it would be an injustice to put
the future responsibility of trafficking on the victims. The Special
Rapporteur could include assessment of national measures in her
future work to compile a list of best practices. 

IDRISS JAZAÏRY (Algeria) said the elimination of violence
against women was part of the promotion of women's rights overall,
and Algeria had amended its family code to give priority to women in
certain realms, including divorce law and access to the family code,
and sexual harassment had been criminalized. Algeria regretted it had
not received the Special Rapporteur this year, and looked forward to
doing so next year. Women had been the particular victims of violence
during terrorist acts in the 1990s. The penal code condemned all
violence, including against women and in the family. Sanctions were
published in the media to increase awareness in society, and the
Ministry for Women organised days of study to promote heightened
awareness. 

MARINA KORUNOVA (Russian Federation) praised the report of the
Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons for having rightly
focused in the discussion on the question of trafficking, especially
women and children, as a question that required combating demand, as
it was demand that was one of the sources of trafficking. In
addition, the Russian Federation focused on the need to get rid of
the social causes that gave place to prostitution and encouraged
trafficking. It was also important to address labour conditions that
required cheap labour, and combat crime networks involved in
trafficking. 

MUSTAFISUR RAHMAN (Bangladesh), referring to the report on
trafficking on women and children, said that the Special Rapporteur
should give further thought on the issue of demand for prostitutes,
which she had already dealt with. 

AMNART NETAYASUPHA (Thailand) said the two reports were very
interesting and constructive. Great importance was attached to the
empowerment of women and the creation of equal treatment between the
sexes. The Government of Thailand was drafting an Act aimed at
reducing violence against women and improving their situation.
Thailand was in the process of drafting an Act on Trafficking in
Human Beings, and was implicated in combating this phenomenon in
Asia. Thailand invited Ms. Huda to visit the country early next year.


*CORRIGENDA*

In press release HR/HRC/06/39 of 19 September, the statement by Fabio
Burrafato of the International League for the Rights and Liberation
of Peoples, should read as follows:

FABIO BURRAFATO, of International League for the Rights and
Liberation of Peoples, in a joint statement with Mouvement contre le
racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peoples (MRAP) and
Europe-Third World Centre, said that Turkey pretended that Kurds were
considered as equal citizens. However, in practice, there was a
contradictory picture. The most underdeveloped region of Turkey was
the region where Kurds lived. That region was deprived of any
economic undertakings that could benefit the people. The Turkish
security forces were very quick in finding criminals, however, the
Government had not shown the same readiness in the cases of Kurds
killed by unknown state agents who continued to kill.

In press release HR/HRC/06/39 of 19 September, the statement by John
Fisher of Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network should read as follows: 

JOHN FISHER, of Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, commended the report
of Mr. Alston, particularly with reference to having affirmed in
strong terms the condemnation of the killing of lesbians and gays. A
Member State had stated earlier during the discussions that the
killings of people on account of their sexual and gender orientation
was "appropriate and acceptable." Whenever a State was involved in
such serious violations, it demanded swift condemnation. The Network
requested further information from the Special Rapporteur concerning
his reference to the execution of people in Iran based on their
sexual orientation, an issue on which he had not yet received
information from the Government of Iran.

* *** *
/For use of the information media; not an official record/