HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS INTERACTIVE DEBATE ON CONTEMPORARY FORMS OF SLAVERY AND ON MERCENARIES
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held a clustered interactive debate with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences, and the Chair of the Working Group on mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination.
Gulnara Shahinian, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences, said equality and human dignity were the basic values underlying all human rights. There was perhaps no greater denial of these universally shared values than treating human beings as mere chattels that could be owned, controlled, exploited and enslaved - and yet, human beings across the world still suffered this fate. Slavery was not a dark chapter of history; it was the shocking reality of today, and continued to affect all regions of the world. The international community had to make it its common concern to reaffirm the equal worth and dignity of anyone anywhere in the world. All here today, Member States, international organizations and civil society, should join hands against slavery, to end it in all its forms, once and for all.
Brazil, Ecuador and Mauritania spoke as concerned countries in response to the reports of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery on her missions to those countries.
Amada Benavides de Perez, Chairperson of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, said the Working Group had continued to monitor the phenomenon of mercenary groups, including its impact on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, and had also continued to communicate individual allegations of human rights violations to concerned States. The Working Group found that the trend toward the extensive privatisation of security was intensifying, while the private military and security industry remained fundamentally unregulated at the international level and often insufficiently regulated at the national level. There was a clear need for a new international instrument, with the ultimate aim of ensuring better protection of human rights and preventing violations that could arise from the activities of private military and security companies.
Afghanistan and the United States spoke as concerned countries in response to the reports of the Working Group on mercenaries on its missions to those countries.
In the interactive debate ensuing, speakers said, among other issues, that domestic servitude was a modern-day form of slavery, reducing domestic workers to live and work in appalling conditions and leaving them vulnerable to all kinds of abuses, depriving this category of persons of their liberty and human dignity, and it was imperative for the international community to check this obnoxious practice, which posed serious challenges for all societies. Domestic workers contributed much to the economic and social development of many countries, both for sending and receiving States, but were not given the recognition and protection that they deserved. The issue of trafficking in persons was also raised by several States. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur was vital and should be renewed during the current session.
On the issue of mercenaries, speakers said, among other things, that operatives of private military and security companies were hardly ever held liable for human rights violations they committed in the course of their operations. The world therefore needed to fill in this legal gap in order to make these private companies accountable to international law. The activities of private and military security companies should be subject to international human rights and domestic law, and they should be put under the oversight of an international mechanism. The recommendations of the report were worthy of serious attention by the Human Rights Council, some speakers said, whilst others said that while both mercenaries and private military and security companies raised important issues, neither of them raised primarily human rights issues and therefore they fell outside of the competence of the Human Rights Council.
Speaking in the interactive debate were the representatives of the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Syria on behalf of the Arab Group, Republic of Moldova, Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Philippines, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Poland, Nepal, Cuba, China, Libya, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Algeria, Ecuador, Armenia, India, Uruguay, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Brazil, United States and Venezuela.
Speaking in right of reply were Georgia and the Russian Federation.
The next meeting of the Council will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 September, when it is scheduled to conclude its interactive discussion with the Special Rapporteur and the Chair of the Working Group, after which it should hear the presentation of reports by the Independent Expert on international solidarity and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxic waste, which should be followed by a clustered interactive debate with these two Special Procedure mandate holders.
Documents
The Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Gulnara Shahinian, (A/HRC/15/20), provides a brief overview of activities of the Special Rapporteur and focuses on the manifestations and causes of domestic servitude and issues recommendations on how to end this global human rights concern.
Communications to and from Governments, (A/HRC/15/20/Add.1), sets out summaries of communications sent to governments by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences, from 1 July 2009 to 1 June 2010 on individual cases and general situations of concern, based on reliable and credible information received from victims or other persons acting on behalf of the victims. This addendum also includes summaries of Government replies received from 1 July 2009 to 2 August 2010.
Mission to Mauritania (24 October to 4 November 2009), (A/HRC/15/20/Add.2), details the Special Rapporteur’s mission to Mauritania, the objective of which was to look at the effectiveness of Mauritanian policies, laws and specific programmes to combat slavery. The mission also explored the extent to which factors like discrimination, poverty, culture, religion, education and employment policies hinder or contribute to the end of slavery.
Mission to Ecuador (25 January to 1 February 2010), (A/HRC/15/20/Add.3), examines the situation of human rights in Ecuador with a focus on the persistence of contemporary forms of slavery. The report presents the legal framework pertaining to the prohibition and eradication of contemporary forms of slavery at the international, inter-American and national levels, underscoring some gaps in the implementation of existing laws, and noting policies that should benefit from a human rights approach. The Special Rapporteur presents major challenges, highlights good practices of cooperation among stakeholders and makes recommendations.
Mission to Brazil (17 to 28 May 2010), (A/HRC/15/20/Add.4), details the Special Rapporteur findings that forced labour in the rural areas of Brazil is most prevalent in the cattle ranching industry, followed by the agricultural industry. The victims are predominantly boys and men aged 15 years and older. In urban centres, forced labour is a feature of the garment industry. Such sectors are in need of urgent reform to prevent slavery-like practices, such as forced labour, from being used. In all these situations, the victims of forced labour work long hours, with little or no pay. They are threatened with or subjected to physical, psychological and sometimes sexual violence.
The Report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the right of peoples to self-determination, (A/HRC/15/25), describes the progress achieved by the Working Group towards the elaboration of a possible new draft convention on private military and security companies. It summarizes the core rationale for the Working Group’s proposals on the adoption of a new legal instrument on private military and security companies, its scope of application and its content. The report also provides a summary of the consultation process and the comments received from Member States and non-governmental entities on the proposed convention. Finally, the Working Group recommends Member States to carefully consider the present draft proposal for a possible new international legal instrument regulating private military and security companies and the Human Rights Council to establish an intergovernmental open-ended Working Group with the task of drafting a new convention taking into account the initial work carried out by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries.
Communications to and from Governments, (A/HRC/15/25/Add.1), contains a comprehensive account of communications sent to Governments between 16 December 2008 and 25 July 2010, along with replies received between 1 February 2009 and 25 August 2010. It also contains responses received to communications that were sent in earlier years.
Mission to Afghanistan (4 to 9 April 2009), (A/HRC/15/25/Add.2), describes the trip made by the Working Group to Afghanistan and makes several recommendations to the Government of the State party, including that it should investigate, disarm and prosecute all private military and security companies operating without licenses in the country and investigate all reported cases of incidents involving casualties committed by private security contractors, prosecute the perpetrators and ensure effective remedy for victims. It also recommends the establishment of an independent public complaints mechanism to which the local population and civilian international actors can submit complaints about violations committed by private military and security companies. In addition, the Working Group calls for the publication of statistics regarding private military and security casualties and civilian casualties resulting from the activities of private military and security companies, and increased oversight over the private military and security companies they employ.
Mission to the United States (20 July to 3 August 2009), (A/HRC/15/25/Add.3), describes the trip conducted to the United States and recommends, among other things, that the Government of the United States: (a) support the Stop Outsourcing Security (SOS) Act, which clearly defines the functions which are inherently governmental and that cannot be outsourced to the private sector; (b) rescind immunity to contractors carrying out activities in other countries under bilateral agreements; (c) carry out prompt and effective investigation of human rights violations committed by private military and security companies and prosecute alleged perpetrators; (d) ensure that the oversight of private military and security contractors is not outsourced to private military and security companies; (e) establish a specific system of federal licensing private military and security companies for their activities abroad; (f) set up a vetting procedure for awarding contracts to private military and security companies; (g) and ensure that United States criminal jurisdiction applies to private military and security companies contracted by the Government to carry out activities abroad.
The Regional Consultation for Asia and the Pacific on the activities of private military and security companies: regulation and monitoring (26 to 27 October 2009), (A/HRC/15/25/Add.4), sought to gain a regional perspective on the current practices related to mercenaries and private military and security companies registered, operating or recruiting personnel in Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. It provided an opportunity to discuss the fundamental question of the role of the State as holder of the monopoly of the legitimate use of force and to share information on steps taken by States in the region to introduce legislation or other measures to regulate and monitor activities of such companies on the international market.
The Regional Consultation for Africa on the activities of private military and security companies: regulation and monitoring (3 to 4 March 2010), (A/HRC/15/25/Add.5), sought to gain a regional perspective on the current practices related to mercenaries and private military and security companies registered, operating or recruiting personnel in Africa. It provided an opportunity to discuss the fundamental question of the role of the State as holder of the monopoly of the legitimate use of force and to share information on steps taken by States in the region to introduce legislation or other measures to regulate and monitor the activities of such companies on the international market.
The Regional Consultation for the Western European and Others Group on the activities of private military and security companies: regulation and monitoring (14 April 2010), (A/HRC/15/25/Add.6), sought to gain a regional perspective on the current practices related to mercenaries and private military and security companies registered, operating or recruiting personnel in Western European and Others Group Member States and to share information on steps taken by States in the region to introduce legislation or other measures to regulate and monitor the activities of these companies on the international market.
Presentations on Reports on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and on Mercenaries
Gulnara Shahinian, Special Rapporteur on the Contemporary Forms of Slavery, its Causes and Consequences, said equality and human dignity were the basic values underlying all human rights. There was perhaps no greater denial of these universally shared values than treating human beings as mere chattels that could be owned, controlled, exploited and enslaved - and yet, human beings across the world still suffered this fate. Slavery was not a dark chapter of history; it was the shocking reality of today, and continued to affect all regions of the world. The international community had to make it its common concern to reaffirm the equal worth and dignity of anyone anywhere in the world. The importance of country visits for the mandate must be stressed, as it was through understanding the multi-dimensional realities faced by a country that the nature of the phenomenon could be studied.
The Special Rapporteur had undertaken a mission to Mauritania, where slavery, despite its prohibition, continued to exist de facto in both the Moor and the black African society. De facto slavery continued to be a slow, invisible process which resulted in the "social death" of many thousands of men and women. Women were the most vulnerable as they suffered triple discrimination. To fully eradicate slavery, a more comprehensive approach, grounded in a national strategy to combat slavery, a reform of the 2007 Slavery Act and improved mechanisms to implement the Act was required. With regard to her mission to Ecuador, the Special Rapporteur said contemporary forms of slavery persisted there, and were directly related to pervasive instances of discrimination, social exclusion and poverty. Afro-descendants and indigenous peoples were particularly affected, but it affected everyone. In recent years, Ecuador had shown genuine efforts to establish policies aimed at the elimination of contemporary forms of slavery, with particular regard to the worst forms of child labour.
On her mission to Brazil, the Special Rapporteur said that forced labour was still prevalent in rural areas, mainly in the cattle ranching industry and in the sugar cane industry, from which ethanol was produced. In urban centres forced labour featured in the garment industry. The Brazilian Government had been very active in putting an end to these problems, and was leading the way in the fight against forced labour. With regard to her thematic report on domestic servitude, Ms. Shahinian said this was a global human rights concern, affecting every region in the world, and the victims were almost always women and girls. Too little was done to protect domestic workers, and children were particularly vulnerable to domestic servitude. The fate of migrant domestic workers had also been repeatedly brought to the attention of the Council, and the report before the Council contained a number of very concrete recommendations in this regard. All here today, Member States, international organizations and civil society, should join hands against slavery, to end it in all its forms, once and for all.
AMANDA BENAVIDES DE PEREZ, Chairperson of the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries as a Means of Violating Human Rights and Impeding the Exercise of the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination, updated the Council on the key activities that the Working Group had carried out over the past 18 months. During that period, the Working Group had undertaken country visits to Afghanistan, the United States and Equatorial Guinea. It also held regional consultations in Bangkok for Asia and the Pacific, in Addis Ababa for Africa, and in Geneva for the Western Europe and Others Group. The Working Group had continued to monitor the phenomenon of mercenary groups, including its impact on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, and had also continued to communicate individual allegations of human rights violations to concerned States.
The Working Group had continued to examine the activities of private military and security companies, as mandated by the Council. The Working Group found that the trend toward the extensive privatisation of security was intensifying, while the private military and security industry remained fundamentally unregulated at the international level and often insufficiently regulated at the national level. The Working Group recognized the unique human rights challenges that these companies raised for the international community and was pleased to report that they had drafted a text for a new international convention on the regulation of private military and security companies. There was a clear need for a new international instrument in this regard, with the ultimate aim of ensuring better protection of human rights and preventing violations that could arise from the activities of private military and security companies. It should be recalled that the principal objective of the proposed new convention was not the outright banning of private military and security companies, but the establishment of minimum international standards to regulate their activities and personnel.
In concluding, Ms. Benavides de Pérez briefly described the results of her three country visits and reaffirmed that the Working Group would continue to promote accession to the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, and Financing of Mercenaries. The first country she discussed was Afghanistan, which, together with Iraq, clearly represented the largest theatre of operations for private military and security companies. While the Working Group welcomed the adoption in 2008 of a comprehensive regulation on private military and security companies, it was insufficient to ensure adequate oversight and the Working Group therefore recommended that the Afghan Government investigate, disarm and prosecute all private military and security companies operating without licences in the country. Regarding the county visit to the United States, the Working Group noted that the United States’ Government relied heavily on the private military and security industry in conducting its military operations around the world. The Working Group trusted that the United States would take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate follow-up to its recommendations, including the adoption by Congress of the Stop Outsourcing Security Act.
Finally, with regard to Equatorial Guinea, Ms. Benavides de Pérez said that the 2004 coup attempt constituted a clear example of the links between the phenomenon of mercenaries and private military and security companies, as the mercenaries involved were mostly former private military and security companies personnel and some were even still employed by a private military and security company. The Working Group recalled that while States were entitled to combat mercenary activities, they should always do so in accordance with international human rights standards.
Statements by Concerned Countries
MARIA NAZARETH FARANI AZEVEDO (Brazil), speaking as a concerned country, welcomed the presentation of the report by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery on her visit to Brazil and considered it an objective and balanced assessment of the problem of forced labour in Brazil. Eradication of forced labour was a consolidated and permanent State policy and constituted a pillar of the Decent Work Agenda in Brazil. Brazil took due note of the challenges identified by the Special Rapporteur and said that conclusions and recommendations would be forwarded to relevant national authorities. Forced labour in Brazil was statistically residual and was far from predominant in any economic sector. Its complete eradication was a mater of priority and a moral imperative. The Government reiterated its full commitment to poverty eradication and said that in the past 8 years around 10 million Brazilians had risen above extreme poverty and Brazil had witnessed the early achievement of many Millennium Development Goals. The fight against contemporary forms of slavery in Brazil involved not only the Government but also the private sector, workers’ unions, international organizations and non-governmental organizations. Finally, Brazil welcomed the presentation of the annual report of the Special Rapporteur focusing on domestic servitude and shared the priority attached to the adoption of a convention on decent standards for domestic workers at the International Labour Organization.
JUAN HOLGUIN (Ecuador), speaking as a concerned country in response to the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, said as regarded the protection and guarantee of rights, Ecuador had a policy in compliance with its Constitutional mandate that the State had a duty to ensure the enjoyment of all human rights, in which regard the State had adopted various policies to eradicate the contemporary forms of slavery, including State policies to combat illegal trafficking in migrants, and illegal forms of prostitution. Ecuador had done a lot of work within the United Nations to implement a comprehensive action plan to combat trafficking in persons. On the eradication of child labour, the Constitution deemed that children and adolescents were a priority focus group, protected against any form of work exploitation. Ecuador had a national ten-year plan to protect children and adolescents, with the main aim of ensuring access to educational institutions, providing decent and traditional education. The Government was working with the international community to eradicate all forms of the scourge of slavery. The report said the Special Rapporteur welcomed the Government's initiatives in this regard. Ecuador was seriously committed to the protection of all human rights and the special mechanisms that made this possible, and the observations and recommendations made in the report were being considered by the Government which would abide by all of the items that fell within its mandate.
CHEIKH AHMED OULD ZAHAF (Mauritania), speaking as a concerned country, said that Mauritania had not received a copy of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery’s final report in Arabic, which was the country’s official language. Mauritania had welcomed and collaborated with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery. The Government had answered all queries and was therefore very surprised to note that these contributions were not taken into account in the final report, or even mentioned during the Special Rapporteur’s statement. While the Special Rapporteur claimed that traditional forms of slavery still existed in Mauritania, this was a complete fallacy and totally contradicted the facts on the ground. Furthermore, the Government wished to clarify the point made by the Special Rapporteur that slavery had been abolished in the 1980s and that the Government of Mauritania only ratified this as law in 2008. What the Special Rapporteur had omitted to mention was that this law was set up to provide victims with the legal grounds to sue perpetrators. Mauritania not only sought to establish legal remedies but had also put in place mechanisms to help train and rehabilitate the unfortunate victims of slavery. On such a basis, the Government of Mauritania wished to reiterate its continued opposition to any forms or vestiges of slavery within its borders.
OBAID KHAN NOORI (Afghanistan), speaking as a concerned country in response to the report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, said that Afghanistan had achieved many improvements in the area of human rights in the last nine years and remained cooperative with Special Procedure mandate-holders. Afghanistan thanked the Working Group for the visit and the report presented to the Council and noted that the report had mentioned why there was need for the private military and security companies and their impact on the local population. The Government remained committed to gradually increasing the capacity and training of the national army, national police and security forces in order to ensure the safety and security of its population. In August 2010 President Karzai had issued a presidential decree on the closure of private security companies which inter alia mentioned that those companies which were not registered with the Ministry of Interior were established illegally and would be annulled and their arms, ammunitions and other military equipment would be legally confiscated. Embassies, consulates, international organizations and non-governmental organizations active in Kabul and other cities might provide for their security using their own private security personnel within their premises and such personnel would have no contact with outside their premises and should not be allowed to move around in the surrounding areas. They are provided and registered by the Ministry of the Interior according to requirements.
MARK CASSAYRE (United States), speaking as a concerned country, said the United States welcomed the visit of the Working Group on mercenaries, and appreciated the opportunity for constructive dialogue. The United States had carefully reviewed the Working Group's report and would continue to consider it as it reviewed policies and programmes in the various areas it addressed, but believed some areas of the report were inaccurate or misleading. The term "private military and security companies" was poorly defined in the report, and the United States believed it had limited usefulness. The report also misleadingly failed to discuss the difference between offensive combat actions and defence. United States Government policy prohibited contractors from using force beyond that which was required for self-defence or the defence of others. The United States shared the commitment of the Working Group to provide appropriate oversight and effective accountability for private security contractors, and had adopted various measures aimed at increasing Government oversight over private security companies and expanding and clarifying jurisdiction over offences committed by contractors operating abroad.
Interactive Dialogue
NICOLE RECKINGER (European Union) expressed the appreciation of the European Union to the Governments of Mauritania, Brazil and Ecuador for their cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and called on all States to cooperate with the mandate by agreeing to requests for visits. In this report, the Special Rapporteur drew attention to the challenges posed by the invisibility of domestic workers, which made them vulnerable to domestic servitude, domestic slavery and other forms of exploitation. The European Union asked what actions the Special Rapporteur would recommend to be taken at the national level to give greater visibility to this situation.
On the issue of regulating private military and security companies, the European Union considered it important that these companies were properly regulated. The most appropriate forum to address this issue would be the General Assembly in New York, taking into account the interaction with different branches of international law. In light of these elements, the European Union was convinced that the call for an open-ended Working Group to begin drafting a convention on this issue was premature.
ALI BAHITAHAM (Saudi Arabia) thanked the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and said that Saudi Arabia took note of the recommendations in the report and took all necessary measures to guarantee the rights of workers. The Government was promoting a favourable environment for all workers and there were laws enabling employees to bring employers to justice. Migrant workers and their families had freedom of movement within the country without employers’ agreement and they could address the authorities for any kind of services. A number of laws had been passed to increase the protection of migrant workers and their families. Saudi Arabia had joined the International Labour Organization convention on the rights of domestic workers and had laws aimed at their greater protection. Saudi Arabia had also joined the International Labour Organization convention 182/111 on the use of child labour and took all necessary measures to implement the provisions of this Convention.
HECTOR RAUL PELAEZ (Argentina) said Argentina had followed the work of the Working Group on mercenaries with great attention, and supported resolution 10/11 of the Human Rights Council and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, and took note of the efforts to reach a text restricting the operations of private military and security companies, and guaranteeing the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law. Argentina based this position on the international responsibility of the State for the use of force, its responsibility for the actions of contracted or military personnel, and its responsibility for the territorial integrity of the State. The recommendations of the report were worthy of serious attention by the Human Rights Council.
FAYSAL KHABBAZ HAMOUI (Syria), speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said that the Arab Group had examined the report on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights. The Arab Group thought the report was excellent as it dealt with the issue of private military and security companies, many of which were already operating in the Arab region. In its opinion, the right to use force should only rest in the hands of States and not private entities. Private security companies often fell outside national and international laws, making their regulation today near impossible. The world therefore needed to fill in this legal gap in order to make these private companies accountable to international law. The Arab Group agreed with the Working Group that consultations needed to take place at the highest possible levels in an effort to tackle head on this important problem. Syria asked the Working Group to continue working on this issue and to protect the victims of private military and security companies.
TATIANA LAPICUS (Republic of Moldova) said that one of the most important challenges in the Republic of Moldova was the elimination of trafficking in human beings. The Government was determined to combat this global scourge and to implement existing instruments in the fight against this trans-national organised crime. The Republic of Moldova had adopted in 2005 the law for preventing and combating the trafficking in human beings and was implementing a comprehensive prevention and protection programme based on a human rights-based approach and national legal framework. It had amended the Criminal Code in order to harmonise the national law with the European Union standards and had established a cabinet-level national committee on trafficking. Concerning the activity of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, the Republic of Moldova asked what additional measures the Working Group envisaged in order to ensure the possible ratification of the international instrument by all United Nations Member States.
OSITADINMA ANAEDU, (Nigeria), speaking on behalf of the African Group, said the African Group agreed that domestic servitude was a modern-day form of slavery, reducing domestic workers to live and work in appalling conditions and leaving them vulnerable to all kinds of abuses, depriving this category of persons of their liberty and human dignity. It was regrettable that every year, millions of people, particularly women and children, were trafficked across international borders against their will, and lured to work in some form of servitude. It was imperative for the international community to check this obnoxious practice, which posed serious challenges for all societies. The African Group also supported the Working Group on mercenaries' view that even though private military and security companies had been operating for several years, there existed no international legal framework governing them. The elaboration of an international convention in this regard became ever more imperative in view of the fact that operatives of private military and security companies were hardly ever held liable for human rights violations they committed in the course of their operations. There should be a legally-binding international convention to regulate the activities of private military and security companies. It was the responsibility of States where these companies originated to regulate their activities and hold them fully accountable for whatever violations they committed.
EVAN P. GARCIA (Philippines) said that the Philippines agreed with the Special Rapporteur’s observation in paragraph 15 of her report, which mentioned that “domestic workers provide an indispensable contribution to society”. Domestic workers contributed much to the economic and social development of many countries, both for sending and receiving States, but were not given the recognition and protection that they deserved. Women made up the majority of the workforce engaged in domestic work and they often worked long hours in difficult conditions and lacked access to social protection. Addressing the vulnerabilities of domestic workers to abuse and maltreatment remained a top concern for the Philippines.
MARIAM AFTAB (Pakistan), speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, supported the finding of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries that there existed a regulatory legal vacuum covering the activities of private military and security companies as the definition of “mercenaries” as set out by relevant international instruments did not apply to their personnel. Those companies were rarely held accountable for violations of human rights and the Organization of the Islamic Conference supported the creation of a legally binding convention to regulate their activities and activities of their personnel. If States chose to contract out certain security functions, they remained primarily responsible to hold the private military and security companies responsible for violations and misconduct.
Concerning the report by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, domestic servitude was unfortunately a global phenomenon and the traditional institution of slavery had re-emerged today in the form of exploitation of marginalized individuals and groups. The Special Rapporteur had not addressed historical imbalances in place which forced vulnerable people of developing countries to succumb to such inhuman practices either home or abroad. There was a need to differentiate between domestic servitude and domestic workers not just in theory but also in terms of implementation. This dimension of slavery merited the close attention of all societies in order to accord dignity and autonomy to those people who worked tirelessly for the comfort of others.
ANDREJ SADOS (Poland) said with regard to slavery, Poland welcomed the attention given in the report to the particular problem of domestic servitude, particularly regarding women and children. It was important to highlight this problem, as domestic work constituted one of the largest service industries in the world, and domestic workers were particularly vulnerable to economic exploitation and abuses leading even to domestic slavery. The undervaluation of domestic work led also to perceive the relationship between domestic workers and employers as status-based rather than a contractual arrangement. The Special Rapporteur should explain whether she would consider it useful to gather and promote best practices and experiences from State and non-State actors.
BHRIGU DHUNGANA (Nepal) said that Nepal attached high importance to the mandate and function of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery. Wide ranging and highly pertinent themes, including domestic servitude, child labour, international migration and bonded labour, among others were widely explored in her report. International migration in search of employment had been a defining phenomenon of the new millennium and it included the migration of women for domestic work. Nepal was a party to the 1926 Slavery Convention as well as the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956. As such, Nepal remained committed to abolishing any kind of practice that fell under the definition of slavery.
RESFEL PINO (Cuba) said that the proliferation of so-called private military and security companies was a new and sophisticated form of mercenaries, which clearly had a negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights. According to public sources, there existed hundreds of such companies that operated in more than 100 countries, which were making lush annual profits and were often connected to cross-border crimes such as drug trafficking and terrorism. Cuba welcomed the presentation of the draft of the possible new international instrument which would regulate private military and security companies. Cuba said that the consultations on this convention were held in all regions of the world which allowed the Working Group to find out more about the outlook of individual countries and also to understand more about the regional dimensions of the phenomena. Existing instruments were non-binding and not conforming to the current protection needs and that was why Cuba welcomed the recommendation under which the Council should set up open-ended Working Group which would draft the said convention. Cuba welcomed the decision of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery to focus her report on domestic servitude, which was a phenomenon occurring principally in developed countries. Its victims were women and children from developing countries who lacked access to mechanisms for their protection. Cuba wanted to hear more about the impact of global economic and financial crises on the situation of domestic workers.
XU JING (China) said with regard to contemporary forms of slavery, the analysis of domestic servitude and its causes was important, and China had taken note of phenomena such as debt bondage and labour exploitation as being widespread problems in the world. Poverty, migration and discrimination on various grounds such as origin and sex were the main causes of contemporary forms of slavery. The legal framework for the prohibition and uprooting of contemporary forms of slavery should be established, and the international community should improve its cooperation in this regard. The Chinese delegation also commended the work of the Working Group on mercenaries for its work - the activities of private and military security companies should be subject to international human rights and domestic law, and they should be put under the oversight of an international mechanism. Private security workers should not engage in activities that should be the purview of the Government. They should not evade international legal obligations, and there should be a new international convention to regulate and oversee their work. An inter-governmental Working Group should be established to draft this convention.
IBRAHIM ALDREDI (Libya) urged the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery to take into account some of the points made by the Mauritanian delegate and to include the Mauritanian contributions into the final report. The issue of domestic servitude deserved particular attention as it denied people their basic rights. Libya was gravely concerned about the high number of children being forced to work. Child labour was physically exhausting, demeaning and denied children their right to education. Libya was curious as to why the Special Rapporteur had not examined the relationship between contemporary forms of slavery and the colonial exploitation of Africa and Latin America. Finally, Libya added that any convention on the regulation of private military and security companies should protect the national sovereignty of countries but should not serve the interests of the world’s most powerful nations at the expense of the weakest.
PETER GOODERHAM (United Kingdom) said that contemporary forms of slavery remained a pressing human rights issue of the utmost gravity in all regions of the world and in almost every country. The United Kingdom remained convinced that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was vital and looked forward to its renewal during the current session. The United Kingdom noted in the report a number of examples in which States enacted good legislation but encountered problems in their implementation and wanted to hear more about the main challenges to the implementation of domestic laws to combat slavery. The United Kingdom asked to what extent States needed to enhance their domestic efforts to obtain reliable national data on the extent of slavery and slavery like practices. Concerning the report of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, the United Kingdom considered that while both mercenaries and private military and security companies raised important issues, neither of them raised primarily human rights issues and therefore they fell outside of the competence of the Human Rights Council. As those companies usually could not be considered mercenaries, the United Kingdom disputed the competence of the Working Group to deal with this subject. The United Kingdom wanted to correct any misunderstanding that it would go along with work on a convention: it did not support the current draft convention proposed by the Working Group and did not support the call for an open ended Working Group.
ARDHYA ERLANGGA (Indonesia) said that as a country which saw many of its nationals working in domestic service overseas, Indonesia welcomed the much-needed attention being paid to this important issue, and urged all Member States to pay close attention to the report's findings and recommendations. Thousands of migrant domestic workers, in desperate search of an income, were still finding themselves in a position of domestic servitude, deprived of their basic human rights, their freedom, and their dignity. Slavery had not been eradicated - it had merely changed its form, and it was the responsibility of all to ensure the safety and welfare of workers. More progress needed to be made both by countries of origin and by the countries in which these citizens were employed. Member States had an obligation to criminalise all forms of slavery and servitude and ensure that the labour rights of domestic workers were protected.
IDRISS JAZAIRY (Algeria) said that the negative effects of contemporary slavery were felt in all corners of the world. Algeria wished to commend the International Labour Organization (ILO) for its work in this field. Through its standard-setting action, which included decent work, the ILO had helped to improve the lives of many domestic workers around the world. Algeria also pointed out that particular attention should be given to ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Migrants, particularly for Western countries. In addition, the efforts made by the Government of Mauritania to address and combat the vestiges of servitude in its country should be welcomed and fully supported and not subjected to empty politicisation and attack. Finally, on the issue of private military companies, Algeria welcomed regional consultations being held on this complex issue and supported the recommendation from the Working Group to establish an open-ended Working Group to draft a convention on the regulation of private military and security companies.
MAURICIO MONTALVO (Ecuador) took note of the missions, communications and country visits that the Working Group on the use of mercenaries had carried out. The accountability of private military and security companies continued to be a challenge for the international community. There was an alarming lack of judicial procedures and those companies were rarely held accountable for their violation of human rights. The operations of private military and security companies had impacts way beyond country borders and therefore must be regulated by an international norm. Their activities fell between public and private spheres and required very carefully legal analysis where international humanitarian law considerations should prevail. Ecuador expressed its support for the new instrument that would guarantee transparency, responsibility and accountability, as well as mechanisms for redress provided to the victims. Initiatives such as the Montreaux Document of 2008 were not sufficient and could not replace international norms and instruments. The services provided by private military and security companies had a very tangible impact on relations between countries, international law and human rights. Legally binding minimal standards must be established in full concert and consultations and that was why Ecuador supported the call for the establishment of an open-ended Working Group on formulating a convention to deal with private military and security companies.
VAHEH GEVORGYAN (Armenia) said the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery largely captured the essence and forms of one of the most ancient yet transferable slavery-like practices: domestic servitude, plausibly arguing that no society, subculture, or social group was immune from being involved in perpetuating this social vice. One of the merits of the report was the clear delineation of traditional domestic servitude from the emerging modern forms of transnational domestic servitude. The latter phenomenon required further studies and elaboration, such as whether family reunification measures undertaken both in countries of origin and destination could help to overcome domestic servitude, whether there were underlining reasons behind this insufficiency, and how newly established communication procedures could be elaborated to be instrumental to combat cases of child enslavement and servitude; and how useful could be a joint study undertaken by various Special Procedures dealing with migration, gender discrimination, slavery, child protection and trafficking issues.
SANJEEV KUMAR SINGLA (India) thanked the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery for her report on domestic servitude and shared her general concern. While highlighting the vulnerabilities of those employed in domestic work, the Special Rapporteur had correctly noted that domestic work constituted one of the largest but probably the least visible service industries in the world. While India agreed with some of the Special Rapporteur’s conclusions and recommendations, it did have some serious reservations about her characterisation of discrimination and lack of state protection as root causes of domestic servitude. While they might be linked, to varying degrees, with the phenomenon of domestic servitude, this did not necessarily imply a causal relationship. From India’s national experience, the underlying cause of the problem was economic and, in fact, experience had shown that economic growth and inclusive development had a much greater capacity to empower the disadvantaged to break through regressive social patterns and attitudes.
LAURA DUPUY LASSERRE (Uruguay) thanked the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery for her report and fully agreed that there was a need to fight against invisibility of victims of domestic servitude and recognise it as a global problem that affected all regions of the world. Uruguay particularly appreciated the particular attention given to vulnerable groups such as migrants, boys, girls and adolescents. In 2006 Uruguay adopted the law relative to domestic work in order to regulate a largely informal sector. The participation in the drafting of this law by all political parties, employees and to a degree employers demonstrated that Uruguay understood the crucial need to address this issue and to formalize the sector in order to guarantee social protection to workers.
ANDREY LOUCHIKOV (Russian Federation) said the professional approach of the Working Group on mercenaries in fulfilling their mandate had allowed for a fruitful and transparent dialogue, as the activities of private military and security companies often had a negative impact on human rights, particularly in conflict and post-conflict areas. Those States who used private military and security companies should regulate their activities and ensure that they carried out their work in full compliance with the law.
SAMIRA SAFAROVA (Azerbaijan) said that Azerbaijan fully shared the view that States should bear the responsibility of contracting private military and security companies and should ensure that a legal framework was in place to respect international human rights and humanitarian law when private military and security companies operated in conflict zones. Holding accountable those who were responsible for human rights violations and providing access to effective remedies were important pillars for the regulation of private military and security companies and their operations in conflict zones. Moreover, Azerbaijan acknowledged the regulatory gap covering the activities of private military and security companies at the international level and added that any international legal instrument for the regulation of such companies should aim to promote transparency, responsibility and accountability in the use of the companies and their personnel and should establish mechanisms for the rehabilitation of victims.
OTAVIO AUGUSTO DRUMMOND (Brazil) thanked the Working Group on the use of mercenaries for drawing attention to the complex issues related to the activities of private military and security companies. Brazil remained deeply concerned about the numerous incidents reported on the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by those companies and believed that such crimes must be investigated and those responsible held accountable. Discussions about an international convention were important and should take due account of discussions held in other fora, such as the Peace Building Commission. Two issues deserved further consideration and Brazil invited the Working Group to comment on them. The first was the need for cooperation among States and within the human rights system to deal with challenges posed by private military and security companies and Brazil asked for the views of the Working Group on the role of technical assistance for the prevention, investigation and the engagement of the responsibility of these companies for human rights violations. The second issue was related to jurisdiction and Brazil encouraged the Working Group to follow closely examples of good practices where jurisdiction was exercised to address the matter.
MARK CASSAYRE (United States) said the United States thanked the Special Rapporteur on slavery for her thorough report, and welcomed the in-depth analysis she brought to the too-often overlooked issues of exploitation, servitude and slavery in domestic work, and was deeply concerned with the large number of persons, mainly female, who were subjected to slavery and domestic servitude around the world, in particular the growing number of children held in domestic servitude. The United States was committed to combating all forms of slavery, regardless of whether a person was held in servitude overseas, in their own country, or in their own village. The victims of domestic servitude were largely invisible, toiling behind closed doors, and needed the help of the international community to help them pursue a life based on freedom. The international community must pursue and prosecute the traffickers endlessly. With regard to the work of the Working Group on mercenaries, the United States disagreed with its conclusion about the necessity of advisability of negotiating a convention at the Human Rights Council that would regulate private military and security companies. Private security providers should be held accountable for their actions, and this was best addressed via strengthened implementation and oversight and industry best practices, not through a new human rights instrument. The Code of Conduct for private security companies set out best practices for private security service providers, and this initiative should be given a chance to mature before further action on this issue was determined.
FELIX PENA RAMOS (Venezuela) said that Venezuela supported the Working Group in its very important work on mercenaries. Venezuela expressed its serious concern about the use of private military and security companies and, more generally, about the privatisation of armed conflict, which went against the basic principles of international law. In addition, the United States had violated international law by remaining silent to the numerous requests by Venezuela to extradite one of its citizens, Luis Posada Carriles, back to Venezuela. On this particular issue, Venezuela hoped that the Working Group would help apply pressure on the United States Government to collaborate.
Right of Reply
LLIA IMNADZE (Georgia), speaking in a right of reply, said Georgia had to take the floor to reply to the misleading comments made by the Russian Federation this morning. The Tagliavini report described and confirmed mass human rights violations committed by the Tskhinvali proxy regime backed by the Russian armed forces. The facts were confirmed by other reports including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe. A few days ago, the General Assembly had adopted a resolution on internally displaced persons and refugees from those regions. Russia had voted against this resolution. It was ridiculous that Georgia was blamed for blocking the humanitarian access. All urgent humanitarian aid was allowed to the occupied regions by Georgia. Over a year ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had come up with proposals to allow double entry of the humanitarian aid to the Tskhinvali region to ensure that people did not suffer because of political disagreements. Unfortunately Russia continued its Soviet style propaganda with one single aim – to mislead the Member States and to cover up the crimes.
VLADIMIR ZHEGLOV (Russian Federation), speaking in a right to reply, said with regard to the statement made by Georgia during the dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children in armed conflict, Tbilisi surely could not see its activities in South Ossetia as concern for children. The Tbilisi regime had seen over 1,000 children and adolescents required to leave their homes, and not all were saved. Around 500 were targeted by Georgian artillery when sheltering in a valley, and many lost their lives, families, and relatives, whilst living without food and water. After the villages around the valley were occupied, many houses were destroyed, and families within them killed. The Georgian troops bombed the Zarsk road which refugees with children were trying to use to escape the town. Ambulances were also fired on, and requests for a humanitarian corridor ignored. Fire was set to houses, schools, hospitals, and even kindergartens. These cynical attacks by Tbilisi against human rights should be seriously judged by the international community and should not go unpunished. Efforts to create a single ethnic State where national minorities had no place should be condemned. Children in the area remained open to further Georgian attacks.
For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC10/092E