*************************************************************************** The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women Secretariat. *************************************************************************** AS WRITTEN Statement on women's human rights by International Human Rights Law Group to the Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing, China, 13 September 1995 Madame Chairperson, Distinguished delegates, I am speaking on behalf of over 65 women's rights and human rights organizations. We call on you to reaffirm the basic principle of equality between women and men as enshrined in the United Nations Charter. In Vienna, governments proclaimed that all human rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent, and that States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, have the duty to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. At the same time, you emphasized that "the human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights." All governments must not only reaffirm these basic principles, but actively protect women from violations. All over the world today, women's rights are violated at the hands of governments. They face executions, torture including rape, and arbitrary arrest. Women are often excluded from full and equal participation in all aspects of their societies, experiencing discrimination in health, education, jobs and political participation, and frequently facing double jeopardy because of their race, ethnicity, language, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation, or other status. They are often denied the right to make free and independent decisions in their intimate lives, including over sexuality and reproduction. In Vienna, governments stated that the full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life was a priority of the international community, and that gender-based violence must be eliminated; in Cairo they proclaimed that the empowerment of women and their ability to control their own fertility, were a cornerstones of sustainable development; in Copenhagen, they committed to the integration of women into all aspects of social development. Today in Beijing, we urge you to make these promises a reality by taking concrete steps to protect and promote women's human rights and remove obstacles to women's full enjoyment of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights in all countries, consistent with international human rights standards. International human rights norms make clear, and women from all regions have emphasized, that religion and culture can never be used to justify discrimination or other violations of women's human rights. Governments must eradicate human rights violations of women and prosecute the perpetrators. Among the most pressing steps that must be taken, we call on you to: l) Ratify, without limiting reservations and implement all international and regional human rights instruments. Withdraw reservations which are contrary to the object and purpose of the relevant treaty, and review all reservations with a view to withdrawing them expeditiously. 2) Take real steps at the international level to mainstream the human rights of women into the work of the UN -- commitments must be made in the United Nations General Assembly to integrate women's human rights system wide. 3) Draft and adopt as soon as possible, an optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, creating a right of petition. 4) Allocate additional human and financial resources to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. 5) Cooperate fully with the ad hoc war crimes tribunals and quickly establish a permanent international criminal court which will fully integrate consideration of gender-based violations into its operations. And, governments must review and revise national laws and practices, including in the areas of asylum, family, and customary law to comply with their international human rights obligations. Finally, the UN and all governments should create the necessary conditions in law and practice for effective and independent NGO activities at the national and international levels. The UN must ensure that NGOs attending future UN conferences not face the exclusion and harassment experienced in this Conference. The human rights of women returning home from Beijing, and all women, including women activists must be guaranteed, in their own countries. Action is the real test by which the success of this Conference will be measured by women worldwide.