HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE OPENS FIFTH SESSION

The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee this morning opened its fifth session, hearing statements from the President of the Human Rights Council, the Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the outgoing and incoming Chairpersons of the Committee. The Committee then elected a new Chairperson, following which it discussed the agenda and organization of work for the session. It then took up the third item on its agenda, namely requests addressed to the Advisory Committee stemming from Human Rights Council resolutions: elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow, President of the Human Rights Council, underscored the appreciation of the Human Rights Council for the important work carried out by the Advisory Committee, which had provided valuable expertise and advice to the Council on a wide range of issues, which had advanced the Council's work. The Council looked forward to further contributions by the Committee. This year, the Council would begin the formal process of a review of its work and functioning, which should offer an opportunity to improve the Council's performance in the protection and promotion of human rights for all - it would be important to build upon the Council's successes, which were many. With regard to the Advisory Committee, the review should not only address the relationship between the Council and the Committee, but also the Committee's engagement with all relevant stakeholders.

Marcia V. J. Kran, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said over the last two years, the Advisory Committee had undertaken important work within the scope of the mandates attributed to it by the Council. At its last session, the Committee endorsed the draft declaration on human rights education and training and then submitted it to the Council. At this present session, the Committee was to contribute further to its thematic expertise in the context of other important mandates, stemming from Council resolutions. In particular, there was an expectation that the Committee would finalize the draft set of principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.

Halima Embarek Warzazi, outgoing Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, said in her presentation to the Human Rights Council, she had noted that her colleagues had spared no efforts to complete the tasks entrusted to them. She had also raised the serious time problem encountered by the Committee, which had obliged some members to spend their own time on the tasks entrusted to them. The Human Rights Council had examined the report of the Advisory Committee, and had adopted a resolution to the effect that a Working Group was established to spend five working days on the draft declaration on human rights education and training. The Council also adopted a resolution which took note of the results of the study on the right to food, and this was followed by a resolution which answered the Committee's requirements for the rights of people working in rural areas, and women.

Purificacion V. Quisumbing, incoming Chairperson of the Committee, said on the issue of mainstreaming the role of women in the work of the United Nations and human rights, there was still a lot of work to be done. As just one example, among the 18 members of the Advisory Committee’s experts, only four were women. Ms. Quisumbing then proceeded to the election of officers of the Advisory Committee. Dheerujlall Seetulsingh, Wolfgang Stefan Heinz and Vladimir Kartashkin were elected as Vice Chairpersons and Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected as Rapporteur.

The Committee then took up the issue of the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, introduced by Shigeki Sakamoto, Committee Expert, who said that with respect to these revised principles and guidelines, there were a number of constructive proposals made by individual governments. After listing and describing a number of changes and modifications, he acknowledged that the process of adopting this draft set of principles and guidelines in the Human Rights Council had been delayed by one year. He hoped that the draft would be adopted during this fifth session of the Advisory Committee. Mr. Sakamoto concluded by reiterating the need for the draft text to be coherent and to ensure that the Council did not lose any further momentum toward the adoption of these revised principles and guidelines at its fifteenth session in September.

Among the issues raised by speakers in the context of the discussion on this matter was the involvement of the World Health Organization in the development of the text. The main issue of concern in this regard, namely isolation, was one of importance, and speakers urged precision on the issue. Further, while the word leper may be considered discriminatory, there were simply no alternatives to describe someone affected by leprosy, and in this sense, discrimination occurred not against the word itself but against those affected by the disease.

The Committee also held a minute of silence in memory of Miguel Alfonso Martinez, Committee Expert who died in February 2010, and another minute of silence for all human rights advocates.

Following the election of the Advisory Committee’s bureau, the Committee discussed the agenda, along with the organization of work. The Committee nominated Jose Antonio Bengoa Cabello to the Working Group on Communications of the Complaints Procedure of the Human Rights Council.

Speaking this morning were Alfred Ntunduguru Karokora; Shiqiu Chen; José Antonia Bengoa Cabello; and Vladimir Kartashkin.

The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be this afternoon at 3 p.m., when it is scheduled to continue consideration of this agenda item and the discussion on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.


Opening Statements

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Chairperson of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, in opening remarks, said this was the fifth session of the Advisory Committee. She welcomed all the Experts, and paid tribute to Miguel Alfonso Martinez, who, thanks to his knowledge, integrity and commitment, had enabled the Advisory Committee to get up and running. She expressed gratitude to the President of the Human Rights Council and to the Director of the Research and the Right to Development Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for participating in the opening session - their presence and contribution to the work of the Committee would be of great benefit to the latter.

SIHASAK PHUANGKETKEOW, President of the Human Rights Council, in an opening statement, said he wished to underscore the appreciation of the Human Rights Council for the important work carried out by the Advisory Committee, which had provided valuable expertise and advice to the Council on a wide range of issues, which had advanced the Council's work. The Advisory Committee had accomplished many significant tasks, such as the draft declaration on human rights education and training, which was a tangible example of the potential for stronger collaboration between the Council and its subsidiary expert mechanisms. The Human Rights Council looked forward to further contributions by the Advisory Committee, in particular in regard to the ongoing work that it was doing such as the study on discrimination in the context of the right to food; the study on best practices in the matter of missing persons; and the draft set of principles and guidelines to eliminate discrimination against persons affected by leprosy.

At its thirteenth session in March, the Human Rights Council considered a number of thematic issues, and adopted 27 resolutions, among which it gave a clear commitment towards strengthening the rights of the child, and provided for the establishment of an open-ended inter-Governmental Working Group to finalise the draft declaration on human rights education and training. At the fourteenth session in June, the Council furthered its thematic work, and adopted 16 resolutions along with three decisions. At the upcoming session in September, the Council would take up, among others, the issues of the integration of gender perspective and women's equality before the law, which would be relevant to the recommendations previously made by the Advisory Committee, and the discussion it would continue to have in this session.

This year, the Council would begin the formal process of a review of its work and functioning, which should offer an opportunity to improve the Council's performance in the protection and promotion of human rights for all - it would be important to build upon the Council's successes, which were many. It would be equally important not to shy away from tackling whatever key issues that needed to be addressed as part of the review. With regard to the Advisory Committee, the review should not only address the relationship between the Council and the Committee, but also the Committee's engagement with all relevant stakeholders. Mr. Phuangketkeow was convinced that an important component of the Council's effectiveness was its ability to work in coherence and synergy with all its mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review and the expert bodies such as the Advisory Committee, and the latter should continue to provide valuable inputs, recommendations, and contributions both to the work as well as to the review process of the Human Rights Council, in order to advance the protection and promotion of human rights for all.

MARCIA V.J. KRAN, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that over the last two years, the Advisory Committee had undertaken important work within the scope of the mandates attributed to it by the Human Rights Council. At its last session, the Advisory Committee endorsed the draft declaration on human rights education and training and then submitted it to the Human Rights Council. The High Commissioner had commended the work of the Advisory Committee on this draft declaration, which acknowledged that imparting and receiving such education was a right. The draft also contained recommendations for action at the national and international levels.

At this present session, the Advisory Committee was to contribute further to its thematic expertise in the context of other important mandates, stemming from Council resolutions. In particular, there was an expectation that the Advisory Committee would finalize the draft set of principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, to be submitted to the Human Rights Council for its consideration at the fifteenth session. The Advisory Committee was also expected to work towards the finalization of its study on the best practices in the matter of missing persons. Furthermore, the Human Rights Council had requested that the Committee undertake an additional preliminary study on ways and means to further advance the rights of people working in rural areas. In this regard, the Human Rights Council had asked that the Advisory Committee focus in particular on women working in rural areas, including women smallholders engaged in the production of agricultural products.

Lastly, the Advisory Committee was encouraged to continue discussions in the context of Council resolution 7/9 on the human rights of persons with disabilities, and also Council resolution 6/30 on integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system. Council resolution 6/30 requested the Advisory Committee to regularly and systematically integrate a gender perspective into the implementation of its mandate, including when examining the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination against women, and to include in its reports information on and qualitative analysis of the human rights of women and girls. Laws, policies and programmes that discriminated against women, in law or in practice, impaired women’s ability to produce or obtain adequate food for themselves and for their families throughout the world.

HALIMA EMBAREK WARZAZI, Chairperson of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, summing up the work of the Council over the past year, said her colleagues had spared no efforts to complete the tasks entrusted to them, and she had said so to the Human Rights Council. She had also raised the serious time problem encountered by the Committee, which had obliged some members to spend their own time on the tasks entrusted to them. The Human Rights Council had examined the report of the Advisory Committee, and had adopted a resolution to the effect that a Working Group was established to spend five working days on the draft declaration on human rights education and training. The Council also adopted a resolution which took note of the results of the study on the right to food, and this was followed by a resolution which answered the Committee's requirements for the rights of people working in rural areas, and women. The Secretariat addressed to all members of the Advisory Committee the results of the discussions on the recommendations the Committee had made to the Council.

However, the new study that the Advisory Committee had proposed to the Human Rights Council as a result of the extent of the problems affecting older persons was unfortunately not adopted by the Council, and there was a problem in this regard, on which the Chair had received no clarification. This was in regard to her nomination of Chinsung Chung as representative to attend an Expert group meeting on the human rights of older persons, which took place in Geneva on 25-26 May 2010 - Ms. Warzazi had been asked to appoint another Expert, and had replied that it was Ms. Chung or no-one. Since that date, she had heard nothing further, and was still awaiting an explanation. The President of the Human Rights Council had also transmitted to the Committee a note by the Indian delegation, which, after joining consensus on the mandate of the Committee, contained an interpretation of that mandate. The Advisory Committee then proceeded to the election of officers, and elected Purificacion V. Quisumbing, as Chairperson of the Committee.

PURIFICACION V. QUISUMBING, Chairperson of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, thanked the Advisory Committee for accepting her candidacy as Chairperson and also expressed thanks to Ms Warzazi and pride in being her successor. Ms Warzazi was a woman of great distinction. Ms. Quisumbing added that she had worked in the field of human rights for many years, starting out as a professor of law. On the issue of mainstreaming the role of women in the work of the United Nations and human rights, Ms. Quisumbing pointed out that there was still a lot of work to be done. As just one example, among the 18 members of the Advisory Committee’s experts, only four were women. After a short moment of silence for the victims of human rights abuses, Ms. Quisumbing proceeded to the election of officers of the Advisory Committee. Dheerujlall Seetulsingh, Wolfgang Stefan Heinz and Vladimir Kartashkin were elected as Vice Chairpersons and Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected as Rapporteur.


Statements on Revised Principles and Guidelines for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons Affected by Leprosy

SHIGEKI SAKAMOTO, Advisory Committee Expert, introduced the discussion on revised principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. He noted that during the twelfth session of the Human Rights Council, it had adopted Resolution 12/7 on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members. In this resolution, the Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect the views of relevant actors on the draft set of principles and guidelines, including Governments, observers of the United Nations, relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and programmes, NGOs, scientists, medical experts as well as representatives of persons affected by leprosy and their family members.

With respect to these revised principles and guidelines, Mr. Sakamoto said that there were a number of constructive proposals made by individual governments. In one example, the Government of the United Kingdom proposed an amendment to the wording of Article 1, which he agreed with and had adopted in the revised version. After listing and describing a number of changes and modifications, he acknowledged that the process of adopting this draft set of principles and guidelines in the Human Rights Council had been delayed by one year due in part to the strong reservation expressed by the World Health Organization and other relevant actors on the issue of isolation. Now that this point had been reviewed and revised, he hoped that the draft would be adopted during this fifth session of the Advisory Committee. Mr. Sakamoto concluded by reiterating the need for the draft text to be coherent and to ensure that the Council did not lose any further momentum toward the adoption of these revised principles and guidelines at its fifteenth session in September.

ALFRED NTUNDUGURU KAROKORA, Advisory Committee Expert, asked whether the Committee was medically competent to define persons affected with leprosy and their family members, and suggested that the World Health Organization be asked to inform the whole world that leprosy was curable, and that persons affected by the disease should not suffer from discrimination. This was the role of the World Health Organization, and the role of the Advisory Committee was to support them with regard to the human rights of individuals.

PURIFICACION V. QUISUMBING, Advisory Committee Chairperson, said that a paper had already been commented on adequately by the World Health Organization, and, as pointed out in the introduction, the comments of the Organization had been adequately addressed. The issue, particularly of isolation, which was one of the more substantive issues pointed out by the Organization, had been resolved. The medical competence of the Organization had been taken into account by Mr. Sakamoto and the Experts.

SHIQIU CHEN, Advisory Committee Expert, congratulated Ms. Quisumbing on her new appointment. He asked for some clarification on paragraph 9, on the issue of discriminatory language. In his esteem, defining what should be considered as discriminatory language would give rise to some ambiguity. For instance, while the word leper may be considered discriminatory, there were simply no alternatives to describe someone affected by leprosy. In this sense, discrimination occurred not against the word itself but against those affected by the disease. This was equally applicable to AIDS and other serious medical afflictions and the expert requested some discussion and debate on this particular topic.

JOSE ANTONIO BENGOA CABELLO, Advisory Committee Expert, said this topic had been before the Committee for a long time, and it had been discussed at length with the World Health Organization. On matters of form, there was no doubt that the main issue was that of isolation, and this had been discussed at great length by the Committee. Mr. Sakamoto had said this issue could be settled by footnotes, and Mr. Bengoa referred to footnote e on page three, on which introductory principles were set out. The text should say that isolation of leprosy patients, for many years, was considered a useful measure, but since new medication and cures for leprosy were developed, it was no longer considered a useful public measure. This would avoid questions arising on the matter, and therefore the Committee should be very exact on this issue, or it would repeatedly return to the point that for centuries isolation had been considered the only measure, but with present systems of control, it was not today a necessary measure, and the Committee should be explicit on this. Mr. Bengoa also raised various issues with regard to the Spanish translation.

VLADIMIR KARTASHKIN, Advisory Committee Vice-Chairperson, said that the text revised by Mr. Sakamoto was a significant improvement from the previous version. That said, in paragraph 14/2, the text should be reworded to include the suggestion that each committee associated with an international treaty consider how the States parties implement and monitor the provisions of that international treaty with respect to persons suffering from leprosy and their families.


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AC10/012E