Number 4 2000 Department of Public Information
Third Committee
Keeping An Eye on Crime
On traditional human rights issues, there was both good and bad news. On the one hand, the centrality of human rights to the mission of the United Nations was firmly committed by world leaders in the Millennium Declaration; on the other, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said during her annual report to the Third Committee that the overall human rights situation worldwide continued to be worrisome and, in some areas, was worsening to a degree that had given rise to grave concern. It was, she said, “a chastening environment” in which the Committee held its first meeting of the millennium. As one delegate said during the debate, no country was beyond criticism for its human rights record, and country-specific reviews of human rights situations triggered the most diverse responses. Committee Chairperson Yvonne Gittens-Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago told the Chronicle that despite some very controversial subjects, of the 63 resolutions recommended by the Committee for adoption, 48 were adopted without a vote. Many resolutions took into account the spirit of the Millennium Declaration, as well as new dynamics on issues of concern to the Committee, namely, children, women, indigenous people and migrants. A new resolution concerned the abuse of women. According to the State of World Population 2000 published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), each year as many as 5,000 women and girls are murdered by members of their own families, many of them for the “dishonour” of having been raped, and the numbers are on the rise. The issue has been discussed over the years in the Third Committee, but this year for the first time it was introduced under the resolution “Towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honour”. Between 1997 and 1999, this was addressed under the resolution on “Traditional practices that affect the health of women”. It is twice mentioned in the “Beijing+5” document—a follow-up to the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women—and dealt with in UNFPA and “Women 2000” [A General Assembly special session] reports. However, after conducting its own research in the summer of 1999, the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands found that the issue “does not quite fit” under the scope of traditional practices that affect the health of women and deserved to be tackled in its own right. Thus, the subject was brought to the fore. In an interview with the Chronicle, Paul Peters, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands, said his country sought to bring the matter to the attention of policy makers in the international arena after having supported a number of small local projects, which dealt with violence against women in general, around the world, for over $3 million in foreign aid in the past two years. “We just wanted it to have an integrated approach by addressing the issue at both the policy-making fora and on the ground in projects managed by small groups”, said Mr. Peters. In the Third Committee, the draft resolution was the subject of intense debate because some Member States objected to the manner in which a documentary on the subject was shown to delegates, albeit not as part of the work process of the Committee, and left an impression that the problem had religious connotations. Talking to the Chronicle, Norlin Othman, Counsellor at the Malaysian Permanent Mission, said: “It is a problem, but why select one particular crime against women?” Malaysia, as chair of the Organization of Islamic Conference, issued a statement regretting what the organization sees as an attempt to link honour killings with Islamic countries. Ms. Othman stressed that the magnitude of the problem is not as big as other crimes against women and that it is not condoned by Islam. In addition, there were also efforts to amend the language to include the term “premeditated” before the word “crime” in the preambular paragraph and one operative paragraph, but objections were raised that the due diligence of Governments in preventing all forms of violence against women was the language that had been agreed upon at the Beijing+5 meeting—a universally recognized document on women’s issues which had placed no limitation on definitions of crimes of honour. The amendments were defeated by a recorded vote of 22 to 80, with 24 abstentions. The resolution went on to be adopted in the Plenary. In it the Assembly expressed its concern about women continuing to be victims of violence, including many forms of crime committed in the name of honour. It would also express concern that some perpetrators assumed they had justification for such crimes, and call upon States to take certain actions, including implementing obligations under human rights laws and intensifying efforts to prevent such crimes. Another kind of criminal act was the focus of a second new resolution. “I suppose crime comes under the social aspect of the Third Committee”, said Avraham Rabby, Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Officer at the United States Permanent Mission, who introduced a resolution on the criminal misuse of information technology. The purpose of the resolution, he said, was first of all to raise awareness of the issue of “cyber-crime”, which is a relatively new subject in the General Assembly, secondly, to encourage countries to modify their legal and law enforcement systems to deal with this type of criminal activity, and lastly, since the crimes could be committed anywhere in the world, to have good cooperation among nations. There was concern about how a resolution on such a subject could be made when countries around the world were at different stages of development in technology. That the issue came up at a time when developed and developing countries are bemoaning the large digital divide between the rich and the poor, both between and within countries, does not make it less relevant, according to Mr. Rabby, who told the Chronicle that even in developing countries, many important sectors, such as banking and public utilities, are run by computers which are vulnerable to hackers. A growing number of incidents, such as the “Melissa” and the “I-love-you” viruses, wreaking havoc on computer data worldwide gives good reason to bring up the issue in the General Assembly, said Mr. Rabby. Precisely because it is a new issue, many countries have not had any provisions in their law to deal with it. Intergovernmental bodies, such as the Group of 8 and the Council of Europe, have already started cooperation on the matter and their positive response to the resolution was immediate. In addition to the issue of the digital gap, one concern during informal negotiations on the resolution was the definition of “cyber-crime”. Mr. Rabby emphasized that the resolution deliberately does not get into the business of what cyber-crime is.
Mihaela Blajan, Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Romania, agreed with critics of the resolution on promoting and consolidating democracy that there is no one universal model of democracy. But she also thought that the resolution, introduced by Romania, was saying just that—there is no one universal model, but democracy, wherever it is practised, has shared, common values that UN Member States must recognize. “We think it is a theme and an approach that is good for the UN entering the new millennium. More and more countries are choosing democracy as the best form of organizing society and people in decision-making. It has deep respect for human rights and sustainable development”, she told the Chronicle. Ms. Blajan also stressed that “we might not be able to agree on a definition of democracy acceptable to all, but we can identify things, principles and actions that we consider to be essential for democracy. … There are many paths and steps countries are taking towards democracy that are acceptable within their own social and cultural background.” Some of the key principles the resolution highlights are the promotion of pluralism, in which a number of political parties participate in an election, good governance, accountable public institutions and the practice of responding to different interests in society through legal dialogues. Although there were reservations by some countries on a single-model concept and the issue of a pluralistic media, the resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 145 to none, with 14 abstentions. China, in explanation of its abstention, said “each and every Government and its people have the right to choose and determine its economic and social paths according to its own circumstances. … Promoting democracy should take into full account the different phases of development, cultural and historical background. … The draft resolution requested each and every country to promote and consolidate democracy based on one model, rather than respect the rights of each people to choose the path towards democracy based on their own national situation, which is not in the spirit of democracy.” Asked what she thinks about what scholars call a “back-sliding” of democracy in some places, Ms. Blajan said that such things can happen, but stressed “democracy is something you have to work on every day”. Another theme that was prominent in the work of the Third Committee was racism, which bodes well for the upcoming World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to be held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 7 September 2001. There were several resolutions in 2000 condemning acts of racism in light of the prominence of some extremist organizations, including one on measures to be taken against political platforms and activities based on doctrines of superiority, which are based on racial discrimination or ethnic exclusiveness and xenophobia, including in particular neo-Nazism. The Assembly also proclaimed the year 2001 as the International Year of Mobilization against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In addition, the Assembly decided to devote two plenary meetings of its fifty-sixth session to the question of volunteering to coincide with the close of the 2001 International Year of Volunteers. It also decided that the Second World Assembly on Ageing as a follow-up to the 1999 International Year of Older Persons would be held from 8 to 12 April 2002 in Madrid, Spain. As part of the resolution on the 1994-2004 International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, the Assembly welcomed the Economic and Social Council’s decision in July 2000 to establish a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as a subsidiary organ of the Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.
In her last address to the Assembly after 10 years as the High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata reflected on the work of the Organization in the last decade. She said the UNNHCR “had helped millions return home in Mozambique, in Indochina and Central America. But a key lesson learned was that real and lasting solutions take time, effort and sustained international engagement”. The Declaration against Transnational Organized Crime, which was opened for signing at a high-level meeting in Palermo, Italy on 11 December, was considered jointly by the Third Committee and the Assembly directly. In its deliberations, the Committee affirmed the nexus of drug trafficking, arms trade and terrorism, saying that drug trafficking was a major source of illegal proceeds and created a strong financial base for terrorist activities. |
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