ADVISORY COMMITTEE DISCUSSES WORKING PAPER ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF ELDERLY

The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee this morning discussed an initial working paper on the rights of older persons.

Chinsung Chung, the Committee Expert tasked by the Advisory Committee to draft an initial working paper on the human rights of older persons, presenting her paper, said the necessity for the study had been brought up in the former Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which had commissioned a report on the rights of elderly persons. The elderly were the fastest growing population, and by 2050 they would be larger than the population of children aged 0 to 14. However, while ageism and stereotyping against the elderly led to discrimination, age was not currently a specifically listed ground for discrimination in human rights treaties. Among concerns were the prevalence of violence and abuse against the elderly, as well as the denial of health care on grounds that elderly people did not contribute to society. Ageism could also take more extreme forms, such as witch hunting, the denial of the right to work or poor work conditions for elderly persons. There were international policy documents in the area, but they were not legally binding and implementation was weak. She recommended that the Human Rights Council establish an agenda item on the rights of elderly people and called for an international instrument on the protection of the rights of the elderly to be elaborated.

In their discussion on the initial working paper, Advisory Committee Experts said that the problem of elderly people was a very important and neglected problem. One did not see elderly people go out in the streets demonstrating, to make others aware of their demands or abuses of their rights. Among issues that needed to be looked at in this area were social welfare and pension schemes; care for elderly people; the right to health of elderly people; State supervision of institutions for elderly people; the treatment of elderly people in some institutions like children and their infantilization; the situation of imprisoned elderly people; and discrimination in job recruitment advertisements.

Experts agreed that the issue deserved serious consideration and should be under discussion in the Human Rights Council, and to conduct further studies. Some Experts, however, felt that a tenth human rights convention in this area would not necessarily be useful. Others thought that they should first prepare documents and studies that would help the Council to realize the need for such a convention. In concluding remarks, Ms Chung acknowledged that putting forward the idea for a convention might be premature, while underlining that, irrespective of cultural traditions, the rights of elderly people were universal.

Also speaking this morning were the following Committee Members: Mona Zulficar; Emmanuel Decaux; Vladimir Kartashkin; José Antonio Bengoa Cabello; Dheerujlall Seetulsingh; Shiqiu Chen; Wolfgang Stefan Heinz; Shigeki Sakamoto; and Bernards Andrews Nyamwaya Mudho.

The next meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. when it will consider a study on discrimination in the context of the right to food.

Discussion on Human Rights of Elderly Persons

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Advisory Committee Chairperson, said that Experts had agreed to change the order of items to be discussed today. Turning to the item on older persons, she said that she had always been shocked by the way certain countries were dealing with older persons. One had to look at all the problems linked to older persons, whether in developed or developing countries.

CHINSUNG CHUNG, Advisory Committee Expert, presenting a paper on the issue of the human rights of elder persons, said the necessity for the study had been brought up in the former Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which had commissioned a report on the rights of elderly persons. The Subcommission had found that more effective protection was needed on the international, regional and national levels with regard to the rights of elderly people.

The elderly were the fastest growing population, and by 2050 they would be larger than the population of children aged 0 to 14. However, while ageism and stereotyping against the elderly led to discrimination, age was not currently a specifically listed ground for discrimination in human rights treaties, Ms. Chung pointed out.

Ms. Chung also raised the issues of the prevalence of violence and abuse against the elderly, as well as the denial of health care on grounds that elderly people did not contribute to society. Ageism could also take more extreme forms, such as witch hunting, the denial of the right to work or poor work conditions for elderly persons. Furthermore, natural disasters and situations of conflict put the elderly in an extremely vulnerable position, as elderly people in such circumstances were unable to escape. Also highlighted was the need for a gender perspective in considering older populations, as women outlived men and elderly women were most vulnerable, as they suffered from multiple biases, such as both gender stereotypes and stereotypes based on age. Older women were also more susceptible to poverty and violence.

There were a number of international and United Nations-related initiatives and policy documents that referred to the rights of the elderly, including the Madrid International Plan on Action on Ageing, which was a policy document providing specific directions for State action. However, Ms. Chung was concerned that those documents were not legally binding and that implementation was weak.

Ms. Chung underscored the normative gap in the existing human rights literature. Just as women, children, the disabled and indigenous people had been recognized as groups in need of special protection, elderly people should also be recognized as such a group. Elderly people should be guaranteed the special protection they deserved and to have their rights respected. Specifically, the rights of elderly persons to be free from discrimination, to equal treatment before the law, to own property, and to be free from violence, needed to be ensured, among others.

Ms. Chung concluded that there must be a systematic mechanism on the protection of elderly people such as an international committee. She also called on United Nations Special Reporters to include age as a consideration in their reports, and called upon all United Nations bodies to work together in this area. She recommended that the Human Rights Council establish an agenda item on the rights of elderly people and called for an international instrument on the protection of the rights of the elderly to be elaborated.

EMMANUEL DECAUX, Advisory Committee Expert, reacting to Ms. Chung’s report, said that it was very important to have initiatives under the Committee’s agenda item 3 on new initiatives. The problem of elderly people was a very important and neglected problem. One did not see elderly people go out in the streets demonstrating, to make others aware of their demands or abuses of their rights. It was also a very important political problem. The age pyramids varied a lot from one country to the other. In some countries, people lived up to the age of 100. Some grandparents were looking after their children, grandchildren and even their own parents. Others were affected by severe illnesses, such as Parkinson’s. There was also a difference between the age pyramid for men and women. There was always a risk of segregation, such as the pushing aside of elderly people in the job sector, as was reflected by the current economic crisis, where younger people were favoured over older persons in the employment market. Among other issues that needed to be looked at in this area were social welfare and pension schemes; care for elderly people; the right to health of elderly people; State supervision of institutions for elderly people; the treatment of elderly people like children in some institutions and their infantilization; and the situation of imprisoned elderly people. It was important to have a study covering all the problems, as well as to identify the gaps. However, a tenth human rights convention in this area would not necessarily be useful.

VLADIMIR KARTASHKIN, Advisory Committee Expert, thanked Ms. Chung for introducing the paper, which identified new topics and some ways forward. Particular attention should be paid to the lack of resources and low standard of living of the elderly. Some elderly people did not receive any pension at all, or very little, even in very developed countries. Moreover, measures to raise pensions were met with criticism from certain groups in society, because they believed funds should be allocated to economic development in a time of financial crisis, rather than public spending. Other issues of concern were discrimination in job recruitment advertisements and in access to ambulance services, as in some countries if people disclosed that they were 60 years old, the ambulance would not come. He concurred with Ms. Chung’s recommendation to develop an international instrument on the rights of elderly persons, and disagreed with the scepticism that Mr. Decaux expressed in that regard. He concluded by emphasizing the economic aspects of the rights of the elderly, and recommended that in future studies Ms. Chung take up the issue of an international convention as the basis of the study and that she should propose potential treaty provisions.

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Advisory Committee Chairperson, thought that they could not propose right now to the Council to draft a convention. What they could do for the moment was to prepare documents and studies that would help the Council to realize the need for such a convention. One had also to be realistic about the fact that a new convention would take at least 10 years to be drafted.

JOSE ANTONIO BENGOA CABELLO, Advisory Committee Vice-Chairperson, said the document presented by Ms. Chung was of an exceptionally high standard. Over past decades there had been a change in the structure of families. A new category of persons had emerged; perhaps in the first time of humankind’s history one saw the emergence of elderly people living on their own, aside from their families. Many reports on human rights neglected the problem of age. Studies on the matter should lead to various drafts or discussions on something that would enshrine and protect the rights of the elderly. Also, older people had a right to health and insurance companies nowadays made elder people pay higher prices. The State had obligations in this area but in many countries it had withdrawn from the fields of public social security and public health. The World Bank and other international organizations were also promoting new forms of State-withdrawal in those areas. A study should thus be as concrete as possible and look into practical problems.

DHEERUJLALL SEETULSINGH, Advisory Committee Expert, agreed that the proposal for an international convention should not be put forward yet. However, the issue deserved serious consideration and should be under discussion in the Human Rights Council. Age should be included as a ground for discrimination in national laws, and legislatures around the world were currently considering the issue. Jurisprudence in this area was developing. It was worth noting that, due to their large numbers, at election time Governments took elderly persons’ views into consideration and catered to their needs, as they wanted to attract their vote. Finally, he was concerned that in many countries elderly persons were left to die in prisons due to lack of care.

SHIQIU CHEN, Advisory Committee Expert, said Ms. Chung’s paper was excellent. In the current world, a society was considered an old-age society when at least 11 per cent of its population was over 65 years old. China already was an old-age society and there were more and more elderly people in the world. He fully supported the study; there was currently not enough emphasis on this issue. Children, persons with disabilities, women and migrant workers all had their own convention. He hoped the Council would mandate the Advisory Committee to continue to work on the issue of the rights of elderly persons.

WOLFGANG STEFAN HEINZ, Advisory Committee Expert, thanked Ms. Chung for conducting the study and emphasized the need to engage the Human Rights Council. One should, however, distinguish between the issues of human rights of elderly persons, on the one hand, and social policies on the national level, on the other hand. States around the world presented a wide variety of different social policies, some with little or no State involvement, others with very extensive State obligations. They should focus on the human rights aspect instead of on national social policy. He noted that debates existed with regard to responsibility to next generations and sustainability. An issue of particular concern was neglect of elderly people when the State was not active in protecting them. In that regard, it was highlighted that the Committee on Torture now also directed its inquiries and visits and to social homes for elderly people. The issue of neglect was different from active conscious acts of discrimination and violence. There was merit in addressing the issue of neglect in institutions, but also in families. He further proposed that State budgets should be analysed with regard to elderly people in order to establish how resources were distributed. There was a need to engage the Human Rights Council on this issue, to raise more awareness in human rights bodies on the rights of the elderly and to further focus on certain areas where mainstreaming efforts was important. One area where more knowledge was needed was the right to health of elderly people.

SHIGEKI SAKAMOTO, Advisory Committee Expert, congratulated Ms. Chung for her work. The issue of the human rights of elderly persons was an urgent subject. When tackling this new issue there were two approaches: a comprehensive one or a specific one concentrating on the human rights issues which elderly people were facing. Also, Ms. Chung had used the term “International law” in her document; it might have been more appropriate to reframe that to refer to “international human rights law”.

MONA ZULFICAR, Advisory Committee Expert, said the report had been an eye-opener for her. Elderly people would soon become a critical mass of the general population in many parts of the world. One would thus have to strike new balances in the social fabric. There was also a dilemma that needed to be considered. On one side, future generations were asked to pay for the social welfare of an ever-growing elderly population. But if one increased the retirement age to make use of the added-value of seniority, it deprived the younger generation from taking leadership. It was important to look deeply at how to handle that issue from a human rights perspective. She hoped the Advisory Committee would be mandated to continue to look at this matter. A convention was something they should work for but they should not set aside all the other possible instruments.

BERNARDS ANDREWS NYAMWAYA MUDHO, Advisory Committee Expert, congratulated Ms. Chung on the depth and breadth of the study. As the process went forward, the Committee needed to focus on the gaps in international instruments. He endorsed the comments made by Mr. Heinz and Professor Sakamoto, and proposed that the focus should be on identifying areas where the human rights of the elderly had been neglected, rather than on undertaking a long and cumbersome process of creating a new convention. He supported the initiative of engaging the Human Rights Council on the issue of the rights of elderly persons.

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Advisory Committee Chairperson, noted that there were many differences among the various cultural traditions with regard to the care given to elderly people. Those differences should be included in future studies of the subject. In France, for example, parents were being paid by the State when they decided to stay at home to take care for their children. Why could one not try to do the same for elderly persons?

CHINSUNG CHUNG, Advisory Committee Expert, in concluding remarks, thanked the Committee Experts for their encouragement and productive comments. She drew attention to the disagreement within the Committee on the need for a convention. Considering the international context, putting forward the idea for a convention might be premature, as the discussion was in its initial phase. She supported the idea that, at this stage, age should be mainstreamed in already existing procedures. She agreed that they needed to look at the issue of the separate needs of elderly women, and supported Mr. Heinz’s suggestion that it was necessary to distinguish between the human rights approach and the social policy approach, and that a rights-based approach should be the focus. Finally, she underlined that, irrespective of cultural traditions, the rights of elderly people were universal.

For use of the information media; not an official record

AC10/006E