unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/12/89)
HUMAN RIGHTS SUB-COMMISSION ADOPTS 22 RESOLUTIONS AND THREE
DECISIONS
GENEVA, 31 August -- At its extended meeting this afternoon, the
Sub-Commission of Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities adopted 22 resolutions and three decisions relating
to the situation in the Palestinian and other Arab territories
occupied by Israel, the human rights situation in China,
Guatemala, Timor, Lebanon, El Salvador, and the Islamic Republic
of Iran, human rights monitoring mechanisms established within
the United Nations framework, principles and guarantees for the
protection of persons detained on grounds of mental ill-health
or suffering from mental disorder, and several other subjects.
The Sub-Commission, by a vote, decided not to take action on the
draft resolution relating to the situation in Iraq.
The Sub-Commission continued its debate on the promotion,
protection and restoration of human rights at national, regional
and international levels.
It heard statements by the observers for the International
Commission of Jurists, and the International Movement for
Fraternal Union among Races and Peoples, as well as for Israel,
China, Iraq, Guatemala, Indonesia, El Salvador and Islamic
Republic of Iran.
Action on Resolutions
Under a resolution on the situation in the Palestinian and other
Arab territories occupied by Israel, the Sub-Commission
reaffirmed that the Israeli occupation itself constituted a
gross violation of the human rights in the occupied Palestinian
and other Arab territories, and a crime prejudicial to the peace
and security of humanity under international law.
It also reaffirmed that the acts perpetrated by the Israeli
occupation authorities of deliberate killing of Palestinians,
including children, constituted grave violations of
international law.
The Sub-Commission affirmed once again the right of the
Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation by all means
in accordance with the United Nations resolutions, and affirmed
that the Intifadah of the Palestinian people against occupation
since 8 December 1987 was one such means confirming their
determination to liberate their land and exercise their
established rights.
It condemned the continued occupation by Israel of the South Arab
Golan and its defiance of the relevant United Nations
resolutions, in particular, Security Council resolution 497
(1981) of 17 December 1981, and considered that the decision
taken by Israel in 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and
administration on the occupied Syrian Arab Golan was null and
void.
The Sub-Commission supported the call to convene an international
peace conference on the Middle East, with the participation of
all parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation
Organization as an equal partner and the five permanent member
States of the Security Council in accordance with Security
Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, and on the
basis of the established rights of the Palestinian people,
especially their right to self-determination, and the withdrawal
of the Israeli occupation forces from all occupied Arab
territories, including Jerusalem.
The resolution was adopted by secret ballot of 15 in favour to 5
against, with 2 abstentions.
In a resolution on the situation in China, the Sub-Commission
requested the Secretary-General to transmit to the Commission on
Human Rights information provided by the Government of China and
by other reliable sources. It also made an appeal for clemency,
in particular in favour of persons deprived of their liberty as
a result of recent events.
The draft was adopted by secret ballot of 15 in favour to 9
against.
The Sub-Commission, by a vote of 14 in favour to 10 against,
decided not to take action on the draft resolution relating to
the situation in Iraq.
Under a resolution on the situation of human rights in Guatemala,
the Sub-Commission urged the Government of Guatemala to
intensify its efforts to ensure that the human rights and
fundamental freedoms of its citizens are fully respected, and
that it adopts and applies energetic measures to prevent
violation of those rights and freedoms; reiterated the need to
secure by effective means the enjoyment of human rights by the
indigenous populations of Guatemala and to promote their social,
economic and cultural development. It encouraged the Government
of Guatemala to intensify its efforts to create the conditions
which would allow refugees to return to their places of origin
with full guarantees for their safety and the exercise of their
human rights; and drew attention to the importance of an
independent judiciary as a vital means of effectively protecting
human rights and publishing violations thereof.
In a resolution on the situation in East Timor, the
Sub-Commission appreciated the Indonesian Government's new
policy of openness in East Timor
since January 1988; regretted however that more arrests, torture
and summary executions were alleged to have taken place since
the end of 1988; and hoped therefore that the Indonesian
Government would go a step further to allow representatives of
human rights organizations to visit the territory.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 12 in favour to 9
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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