03.04.03
Urgent Interventions
OMCT's intervention at the Commission on Human Rights under Item 9
Human Rights Commission
59th session
March – April 2003
Item 9 of the agenda: Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world
Check against delivery
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is gravely concerned by the breakdown of or set-backs to peace agreements and negotiations in several countries, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nepal and Burundi, which have led to a serious deterioration in the human rights and humanitarian situations and risk worsening in the coming weeks and months.
Concerning the DRC, OMCT is appalled at the widespread human rights violations that are being perpetrated in the country by the parties engaged in the conflict, notably the Government of the DRC, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) rebel forces, supported by Rwanda, and other armed groups, for example those supported by the Ugandan Government. All of these groups stand accused of having committed grave and widespread violations of human rights and humanitarian law against the civilian population, including extortion, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, rape, mutilations, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and massacres, with the casualties alone thought to number several hundred thousand persons since the beginning of the conflict. In this respect, OMCT welcomes the report submitted to this Commission’s session by the Special Rapporteur on summary executions concerning the events that took place in Kisangani on May 14th, 2002. OMCT is shocked by the extreme nature of the violations in the DRC, as typified by the infamous case of cannibalism of members of pygmy tribes by members of the rebel forces and their prisoners in Eastern Congo that occurred during late 2002.
OMCT therefore urges the Commission to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the DRC and to ensure that the necessary funds are immediately available for a joint mission to the country by the Special Rapporteur on the DRC, the Special Rapporteur on summary executions and the Working Group on forced disappearances, as was provided for in the Commission’s resolution 1999/56, to enable the mission to take place as soon as security permits it. OMCT calls on the Government of the DRC to issue a standing invitation to all of the Commission’s mechanisms and urges all parties engaged in the conflict to immediately cease the afore-mentioned violations and to ensure that impartial investigations are carried out into all reported violations, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee reparations to the victims or their families.
Similarly, in Nepal, the grave and widespread violations that are being perpetrated – both by Government forces and the Maoist rebels - include arbitrary and incommunicado detention for lengthy periods, rapes, torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings. OMCT wishes to express its support for the establishment of an office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal. OMCT calls on the Government of Nepal to launch impartial investigations into all reported human rights violations and to cooperate fully with the afore-mentioned office, the Commission’s mechanisms and UN treaty monitoring bodies.
In Burundi, OMCT has received increasing reports of massive violations being perpetrated against civilians including the blocking of humanitarian aid, forced displacement of large sections of the population, rapes, torture, and frequent and intensifying cases of extra-judicial killings and massacres, which are accompanied by total impunity for the perpetrators – in this case, both the authorities and the rebel FDD forces. Of particular note concerning this is the current plight of Burundian refugees who face a very real risk of being killed as they are being forced to return to their country from Tanzania.
Consequently, OMCT requests that the Commission increase the amount of resources allocated to both its office in Burundi, to continue monitoring the situation there, and to ensure that refugees are able to stay in adequate conditions in Tanzania. OMCT also calls upon the Government of Burundi and the FDD forces to immediately halt the massive violations of human rights that are being perpetrated against civilians, and ensure that impartial and effective investigations are carried out into violations that have taken place, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.
OMCT vigorously condemns the large-scale human rights violations that are taking place as a result of the Government of Thailand’s ongoing anti-drug campaign, which has seen thousands of arrests, many of which are thought to have been arbitrary in nature, and reports of over 1,400 killings, since the inception of the campaign at the beginning of February 2003.
The authorities claim that they have only been involved in a small number of killings, and always in self-defence, and that the majority result from clashes between gangs involved in the drugs trade. However, OMCT has received allegations that the police involved in the operation, which is due to end on April 30th, 2003, have received financial incentives for their actions, leading to planting of evidence and summary executions.
OMCT welcomes the statement on February 24th, 2003 by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions1, in which the Thai authorities are urged to carry out transparent and independent investigations into each death and ensure that law enforcement officials respect human rights. OMCT requests that the Commission urge the authorities to immediately put a halt to this anti-drug campaign, due to the scale of violence that it has engendered, and to issue a standing invitation to all of the Commission’s mechanisms, in particular the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Concerning Iran, OMCT is gravely preoccupied by a serious deterioration in the human rights situation in the country, which has been characterised by a stark increase in the number of harsh sentences, including flogging, amputation of limbs and executions, notably hangings. OMCT has witnessed a tripling in the number of such sentences in certain periods of 2002 compared with the same period in 2001, and believes that the end of the UN Special Representative to Iran’s mandate and the failure of the Commission to adopt a resolution on Iran during its 58th session, may have been interpreted by the country’s clerical regime as a green light to pursue and increase the systematic repression of the people of Iran.
Consequently, OMCT fears that if the Commission again fails to adopt a resolution during this session of the Commission, it will pave the way for further violations. OMCT therefore calls on the Commission to closely monitor the reforms that are being put into place by the Iranian authorities, in order to ensure that they are substantive, sustainable and lead to a real improvement in the human rights situation. OMCT urges Iran to accept an increase in the number of monitors in the country and to ensure that all recommendations made as a result of such activities are implemented in full in the quickest possible time.
Geneva, April 2nd, 2003
59th session
March – April 2003
Item 9 of the agenda: Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world
Check against delivery
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is gravely concerned by the breakdown of or set-backs to peace agreements and negotiations in several countries, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nepal and Burundi, which have led to a serious deterioration in the human rights and humanitarian situations and risk worsening in the coming weeks and months.
Concerning the DRC, OMCT is appalled at the widespread human rights violations that are being perpetrated in the country by the parties engaged in the conflict, notably the Government of the DRC, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) rebel forces, supported by Rwanda, and other armed groups, for example those supported by the Ugandan Government. All of these groups stand accused of having committed grave and widespread violations of human rights and humanitarian law against the civilian population, including extortion, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, torture, rape, mutilations, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and massacres, with the casualties alone thought to number several hundred thousand persons since the beginning of the conflict. In this respect, OMCT welcomes the report submitted to this Commission’s session by the Special Rapporteur on summary executions concerning the events that took place in Kisangani on May 14th, 2002. OMCT is shocked by the extreme nature of the violations in the DRC, as typified by the infamous case of cannibalism of members of pygmy tribes by members of the rebel forces and their prisoners in Eastern Congo that occurred during late 2002.
OMCT therefore urges the Commission to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the DRC and to ensure that the necessary funds are immediately available for a joint mission to the country by the Special Rapporteur on the DRC, the Special Rapporteur on summary executions and the Working Group on forced disappearances, as was provided for in the Commission’s resolution 1999/56, to enable the mission to take place as soon as security permits it. OMCT calls on the Government of the DRC to issue a standing invitation to all of the Commission’s mechanisms and urges all parties engaged in the conflict to immediately cease the afore-mentioned violations and to ensure that impartial investigations are carried out into all reported violations, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee reparations to the victims or their families.
Similarly, in Nepal, the grave and widespread violations that are being perpetrated – both by Government forces and the Maoist rebels - include arbitrary and incommunicado detention for lengthy periods, rapes, torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings. OMCT wishes to express its support for the establishment of an office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal. OMCT calls on the Government of Nepal to launch impartial investigations into all reported human rights violations and to cooperate fully with the afore-mentioned office, the Commission’s mechanisms and UN treaty monitoring bodies.
In Burundi, OMCT has received increasing reports of massive violations being perpetrated against civilians including the blocking of humanitarian aid, forced displacement of large sections of the population, rapes, torture, and frequent and intensifying cases of extra-judicial killings and massacres, which are accompanied by total impunity for the perpetrators – in this case, both the authorities and the rebel FDD forces. Of particular note concerning this is the current plight of Burundian refugees who face a very real risk of being killed as they are being forced to return to their country from Tanzania.
Consequently, OMCT requests that the Commission increase the amount of resources allocated to both its office in Burundi, to continue monitoring the situation there, and to ensure that refugees are able to stay in adequate conditions in Tanzania. OMCT also calls upon the Government of Burundi and the FDD forces to immediately halt the massive violations of human rights that are being perpetrated against civilians, and ensure that impartial and effective investigations are carried out into violations that have taken place, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.
OMCT vigorously condemns the large-scale human rights violations that are taking place as a result of the Government of Thailand’s ongoing anti-drug campaign, which has seen thousands of arrests, many of which are thought to have been arbitrary in nature, and reports of over 1,400 killings, since the inception of the campaign at the beginning of February 2003.
The authorities claim that they have only been involved in a small number of killings, and always in self-defence, and that the majority result from clashes between gangs involved in the drugs trade. However, OMCT has received allegations that the police involved in the operation, which is due to end on April 30th, 2003, have received financial incentives for their actions, leading to planting of evidence and summary executions.
OMCT welcomes the statement on February 24th, 2003 by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions1, in which the Thai authorities are urged to carry out transparent and independent investigations into each death and ensure that law enforcement officials respect human rights. OMCT requests that the Commission urge the authorities to immediately put a halt to this anti-drug campaign, due to the scale of violence that it has engendered, and to issue a standing invitation to all of the Commission’s mechanisms, in particular the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Concerning Iran, OMCT is gravely preoccupied by a serious deterioration in the human rights situation in the country, which has been characterised by a stark increase in the number of harsh sentences, including flogging, amputation of limbs and executions, notably hangings. OMCT has witnessed a tripling in the number of such sentences in certain periods of 2002 compared with the same period in 2001, and believes that the end of the UN Special Representative to Iran’s mandate and the failure of the Commission to adopt a resolution on Iran during its 58th session, may have been interpreted by the country’s clerical regime as a green light to pursue and increase the systematic repression of the people of Iran.
Consequently, OMCT fears that if the Commission again fails to adopt a resolution during this session of the Commission, it will pave the way for further violations. OMCT therefore calls on the Commission to closely monitor the reforms that are being put into place by the Iranian authorities, in order to ensure that they are substantive, sustainable and lead to a real improvement in the human rights situation. OMCT urges Iran to accept an increase in the number of monitors in the country and to ensure that all recommendations made as a result of such activities are implemented in full in the quickest possible time.
Geneva, April 2nd, 2003