GA/SHC/4388
SEVENTY-EIGHTH SESSION,
30TH & 31ST MEETINGS (AM & PM)
Spotlighting Horrific Terrorist Acts, UN Expert Condemns Cause-Related Violence
Special mandates holders called for domicide, starvation as a war tactic, and poverty wages to be classified as war crimes and rights violations, while delegates also sounded an alarm over terrorist threats to civilian populations in Israel and Palestine, as the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) continued its series of dialogues on human rights today.
Briefing the Committee in the morning, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, stressed the importance of recognizing “domicide”, or the destruction of homes, as a crime, applying equally to rocket attacks on communities in Israel and to massive attacks on civilian homes and infrastructure in Gaza. He voiced concern that, by 2030, an estimated 100 million people will be homeless, noting that the affordable housing crisis falls disproportionately on vulnerable groups who already face discrimination.
He expressed dismay that the cost of adequate housing is out of reach for those on an average income everywhere, forcing millions to live in substandard housing or informal settlements. States should invest resources in developing alternative models for affordable housing, transcending the sole paradigm of homeownership and proactively regulate land ownership as well as curb the role of speculation, he said.
Also addressing the Committee, Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, spotlighted conflict, noting that starvation recently has been used to trigger ethnic cleansing, citing the blocking of aid to Armenian civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh and now to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Urging the Committee to act to stem the risk of genocide in Gaza, he recalled that the General Assembly can be effective by introducing a legal framework for peace.
Turning to his report, he noted that no country has escaped the food crisis, which has been worsening since 2015, and policymakers have failed to address it adequately. States must develop national plans, international coordinated responses and transform their food systems to increase resilience to climate change and prevent biodiversity loss. Without a coordinated global response grounded in multilateralism, national plans will fail, he said.
Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, expressed alarm at a large increase in poverty since 2020, noting that the cost-of-living crisis has particularly affected low-income households. If current trends continue, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, he added. Many workers remain poor because of low wages from the decline in full-time employment contracts and are either forced by employers into low-paying “casual” contracts or misclassified as “self-employed”.
Poverty wages are “a violation of human rights law,” he said, underscoring Governments’ duty to ensure all workers receive a “living wage” corresponding to at least 60 per cent of the median wage in the country. Minimum wage often is not set at an adequate level because countries still seek to improve their cost-competitiveness in a globalized economy, which condemns workers to poverty so these nations can remain attractive to investors.
In the ensuing interactive dialogue, Brazil’s delegate detailed the country’s reforms to both increase minimum wage in pace with inflation in 2024 and tax capital gains on money in tax havens. Malaysia’s delegate asked asked what role the Government and private sector play in implementation of an instrument on platform workers, while the representative of France asked how States can finance the new eco-social contract to break the poverty cycle.
Briefing the committee in the afternoon, Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, spotlighted recent acts of terrorism in Israel, Brussels, the Mastung district of Pakistan and in the Sahel, including Mali and Burkina Faso. “Nothing, no creed and no cause justifies the use of indiscriminate violence and acts of terrorism against civilians, including hostage taking.” She voiced concern that the misuse of counter-terrorism measures have pervasive discriminatory aspects, against religious, ethnic and cultural minorities, women, girls, LGBT persons, and Indigenous communities.
Finding cruel, inhumane and degrading conditions for detainees during technical visits to the United States-operated Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba as well as detention centres in northern Syria, she commended the former, noting the importance of countries to face their own human rights abuses and expressed concern for the latter, noting gregarious violations of children’s’ rights who make up most of the 70,000 detained persons.
When the floor opened for questions, the representative of Mexico condemned all terrorist acts without exception, including those committed on 7 October by Hamas against the Israeli people, reiterating that any response to a terrorist act should be carried out in strict accordance with international law.
The representative of Pakistan expressed alarm that counter-terrorism policies have made Islam synonymous with terrorism, making Muslims the targets of violent xenophobia and nationalism worldwide, and that both India and Israel use counterterrorism as a pretext to violate the rights of those residing in occupied Jammu and Kashmir as well as Palestine. She urged the Rapporteur to discourage occupying Powers from labelling legitimate struggles for freedom as terrorism.
To counter, the representative of the United States said that Israel, like all countries under the Charter of the UN, has the right to defend itself. His country was pleased to grant unprecedented access to Guantanamo for the Special Rapporteur, he said.
Right to Adequate Standard of Living
In the morning, the Committee elaborated on the theme “Promotion and protection of human rights”, with interactive dialogues featuring presentations by Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; and Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Mr. RAJAGOPAL presented his report “A place to live in dignity for all: make housing affordable” (document A/78/192). He said today we need to recognize domicide as an international crime of its own standing. This applies equally to indiscriminatory rocket attacks by Hamas on many communities in Israel and to massive attacks on and destruction of apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in Gaza by Israeli bombing — killing, injuring and displacing thousands of people. “My urgent and humble appeal to you, as well as your Member States, is this: Please take this seriously. Please act. The world depends on it.” Every day, he said, thousands of people are evicted because they cannot pay their housing costs, contributing to rising homelessness. A staggering 1.6 billion people around the world lack adequate housing and basic services, with projections that this could rise to 3 billion by 2030. It is estimated that 100 million people worldwide are homeless.
States, intergovernmental organizations and institutions should make more concerted efforts to address the underlying causes of housing unaffordability, he continued. The affordable housing crisis does not affect everyone equally but falls, again, disproportionately on vulnerable groups who already face discrimination. In many countries, including in wealthy and low-income countries alike, the cost of adequate housing is far out of reach of average income. This forces millions to live in informal or substandard housing or informal settlements, often without adequate access to water and sanitation, energy, health services or schooling, reinforcing spatial segregation. There are many reasons that have contributed to the housing affordability crisis. The financialization of housing and the retreat of many States from public and social housing policies are among the contributing factors. Often local Governments lack authority to adequately regulate rents or land use or lack financial resources to ensure that everyone living in their jurisdiction has address to affordable housing. Tax policies often privilege those already well housed, while at the same time leaving insufficient fiscal space for the State to make housing affordable and overcome homelessness.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring affordable housing for all, he said, adding that States should choose options that best suit their specific needs and circumstances. Among many other proven measures which they can and should take, States should recognize affordability as an integral part of the right to adequate housing in their national or constitutional law. Only few States have so far done this. States should invest resources in developing alternative models for affordable housing, transcending the sole paradigm of homeownership, including community land trusts and cooperative housing. States should ensure that local Governments have adequate legal, regulatory and fiscal authority to ensure affordable housing through measures such as rent regulation. This may in many cases call for changes at the constitutional level. States should enact legislation to shield tenants from evictions due to non-payment of rent. They should reverse the reduction of public and social housing stocks designed for vulnerable individuals and households. Measures should include improved maintenance, anti-corruption initiatives and halting privatization of public housing. States should also proactively regulate land ownership and land use, curb the role of speculation and explore the use of public land banks.
In the ensuing interactive dialogue, discussion focused on the global housing affordability crisis and the destruction of homes in conflicts.
The delegate for Chile noted that women-headed households have the most difficulty in accessing affordable housing. She asked Mr. Rajagopal if there is a practice to address the gender aspect of housing accessibility.
The delegate for the European Union, in its capacity as observer, asked for examples of good practices to address the housing affordability crisis. On the affordability crisis, Croatia, aligning with the European Union, asked how young people worldwide can actively participate in initiatives and policies aimed at averting it.
Also on affordability, the representative of Bangladesh asked how Mr. Rajagopal plans to garner more attention to the reform of the finance sector, and how he plans to engage with real estate entities on issues of ethics.
The representative of China asked for recommendations for safeguarding and assessing housing affordability of vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities and the elderly. The representative of Malta, meanwhile, asked how best to integrate the right to housing into efforts to ensure equitable access, while preventing marginalization.
The delegate for the United States asked for examples of successful strategies to accurately monitor the number and condition of people in homelessness situations.
The representative of Ukraine said that more than 4,500 residential buildings, 570 educational institutions and 150 health facilities in her country have been damaged or destroyed by Russian missiles and bombs. On the theme of conflict, the delegate for Israel noted that Member States who want to implement measures to secure adequate housing for their populations under hostilities must instead invest those funds in building bomb shelters.
The representative of the Russian Federation said he agreed with the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation that the right to sufficient housing must be enshrined in the constitution of UN Member States but regretted that not all have done so.
The delegate for Cameroon highlighted a recommendation to States to invest resources in alternative affordable housing models and asked for examples for developing countries that can be easily reproduced.
In his response, Mr. RAJAGOPAL said that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 — make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable — is very important, covering the commitment to ensure affordable housing. However, he noted that eradicating homelessness is not a SDG goal, unlike poverty eradication.
Modalities for monitoring and measuring the number of people who are impacted by the affordability crisis is woefully inadequate, he said. It is often not very well defined, and it is not clear how many people are actually impacted. To monitor homelessness, he suggested an open data format, which allows citizens and self-monitoring groups to measure their own homelessness and self-report. He noted that technology exists to do so.
With respect to participation by youth and other groups, he stressed that this only makes sense if participants feel there is a concrete way in which they can influence an outcome. In this context, he noted the particular importance for local Governments to encourage different forms of participatory involvement in the planning process, as well as questions of land use, revenue raising and budget allocation.
He mentioned Ukraine and Gaza in the context of civilian housing damaged or destroyed in conflicts. There is not only an obligation to treat intentional destruction as a crime, he said, but an obligation to repair and rebuild. He said that, per capita, the people of Gaza already have incomes comparable to those of other very poor least-developed countries. Further, military actions end up damaging houses that belong to innocent people who have nothing to do with terrorism.
Right to Food
In opening remarks, Mr FAKHRI called on the Third Committee to include language in its resolution on the right to food to prevent genocide and starvation in Gaza and elsewhere. It should also address pandemic recovery and food system transformation, fulfilling the right to food for all, and include language that further boosts his mandate. It is difficult to talk about the right to food when food insecurity and starvation are used as a weapon through unilateral coercive measures or in armed conflicts, he added. Worse, starvation recently has been used to trigger ethnic cleansing, he said, citing the blocking of aid to Armenian civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh and now to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. He expressed serious alarm about the risk of genocide in Gaza, noting that the international community can act to reduce the risk, again calling on the Third Committee to include language reaffirming existing resolutions from the Security Council and the Human Rights Council in the resolution on the right to food. The General Assembly can be very effective when it acts to introduce a legal framework for peace, he said.
Turning to his report on food system recovery and transformation (document A/78/202), he voiced alarm over a worsening food crisis as Governments ended their pandemic programmes, including school lunches and cash transfers, while the food system itself suffers from structural problems. “[T]he rate of hunger and malnutrition has been on the rise since 2015. The pandemic made existing problems worse. No country, rich or poor, has escaped the food crisis,” he said. Hunger is a political problem, linked to power and institutions rather than production. To recover in the immediate future and transform food systems in the long term, States must respond to the food crisis with national plans, develop international coordinated responses and transform their food systems to increase resilience to climate change and prevent biodiversity loss. These issues are interdependent, he added, noting that, without a coordinated global response grounded in multilateralism, national plans will fail.
Policymakers have failed to address how to adequately transform the food system, he said, noting that recommendations are available in his report. He recalled that the international community came together in 2021 and 2022 to pass resolutions addressing the food crisis, giving the world hope. Since then, countries have championed the right to food in international forums. That energy must continue, he stressed, adding that recognizing that the right to food is key to national food plans will give the world the ability to work in a coherent and cohesive way in all international forums.
When the floor opened for questions and comments, the representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, asked the Special Rapporteur to share best practices or examples of international cooperation and partnerships conducive to the realization of the right to food, transition to sustainable food systems, and the need to respect UN Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018) condemning the use of food security and starvation as a military tactic. On the same note, the representative of Lesotho said the Special Rapporteur was right in pointing out that the agenda of international food security only gained momentum only after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In his turn, the representative of the Russian Federation said that, in June 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed on the export of Ukrainian food and Russian ammonia, but that agreement never had a chance to work, as Western countries continued introducing sanctions and blocked Russian bank payments, the accounts of agricultural cooperation and provision of spare parts. “In addition, on 5 June this year, the Kyiv authorities blew up the ammonia pipeline between Togliatti and Odesa,” he said. Meanwhile,the representative of Ukraine said that the full-scale war against her country influenced not just Ukraine or Europe. “[The] Russia-led war against our country created the global food security crisis, contributing to widespread starvation and poverty,” she stressed, adding that, in July, the Russian Federation announced the termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which led to bad consequences for the world.
The representative of Cuba, stressing that genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people, asked about impacts of the deprivation of food and water, and how unilateral coercive measures affect the right to food. The representative of Brazil, referring to the current war in the Gaza Strip, urged States to provide essential goods and services to civilians, including food, electricity, water, fuel and medical supplies.
In her turn, the representative of Israel said it is not her country that is denying the right to food. “It is Hamas, whatever food, electricity and fuels that exist within Gaza are used by Hamas for the maintenance of their terror forces and infrastructure,” she stressed. She added that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced that such resources had been stolen by Hamas militants from their facilities and then deleted their statement. She emphasized that it is utterly shameful that any accusation in the context of the right to food is made against Israel. “We know these supplies will only feed the death machine and their dreadful terror organization,” she said, stressing that the only entity with genocidal aspirations is Hamas. “They say it, they do it. Why do you disregard their actions harming the Palestinians?” she asked, urging other delegations to speak out for the Palestinians, deprived of the right to food.
The representative of Syria said that Israel and its allies are facing tremendous problems in promoting their allegations to cover their crimes against humanity. “It is obvious who is the victim and who is the occupying authority,” he stated. The representative of Iran urged States to ensure the right to food for innocent Palestinians in Gaza under the siege of the Israeli apartheid regime.
The representative of the Dominican Republic asked what measures are in place to help small producers gain access to public policies, with a view to enhancing the promotion and protection of the right to food, as well as how cooperation between countries can be fostered to ensure production and equitable distribution of food. In the same vein, the representative of Romania, associating with the European Union, asked how synergies in international cooperation and solidarity can take place in practice to realize the right to food and how the UN ecosystem responds to such needed synergies.
The representative of Belarus said the report’s weakness is that some steps suggested are far from the scale of the tragedy and systemic solutions do not take some important factors into account, as the report does not mention various restrictions like unilateral coercive measures. He also cautioned the Special Rapporteur from excessive focus on the fashionable vocabulary of “heteronormative and cisgender families” that reduces the value of his work.
The representative of Morocco asked about the Special Rapporteur about the right to food evolving in the future and the role of Member States and international institutions in such an evolution. The representative of El Salvador asked what measures States should take in terms of trade to ensure that the world food supply is adequate. The representative of Azerbaijan, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, expressed deep concern at the high volatility in global food prices, which directly challenges the fundamental human right to food, while the multiple and complex causes of this crisis require a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained response by the international community.
The representative of Japan asked how the export ban on agricultural products should be addressed in ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and what the Special Rapporteur’s position is on subsidies for fishery. Also, the representative of Cameroon asked about the deepening of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and his suggestions in this regard.
In response, Mr. FAKHRI highlighted what worked during the pandemic and what measures should be kept in place to protect the most vulnerable. He recalled the funding of universal school meals, feeding all children regardless of their background, and direct cash payments from Governments to cover the necessities of life. He urged States to move away from industrial agriculture towards agroecology and support territorial markets, rather than prioritize global markets. “We should depend less on corporations and strengthen the social and solidarity economy,” he stressed. Speaking about structural issues and challenges related to debt, trade, international financial institutions and specifically fertilizers, he said many countries depend on chemical fertilizers, which results in global inequality and depletion of soil nutrients.
“Whether you are imposing an embargo or you are occupying another country, the first people who are harmed are civilians,” he emphasized, adding that the Black Sea Grain Initiative underscored that even enemies in a war are forced to work together, as the world’s food system is interconnected. As he is going to Rome where the annual meeting of the UN Committee on World Food Security will be held, he called for a strong right to food resolution from the General Assembly to deal with the food crisis in action. “Connect human rights to food system transformation and address the issues of our generation,” he stressed, adding that international trade is a necessity, and that more and more countries are framing food as a human right within the WTO. He also called on States to terminate the WTO agreement on agriculture, as it is outdated.
Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
Mr. DE SCHUTTER, presenting his report (document A/78/175), said that, midway towards the deadline for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress on poverty eradication is fading fast, with 165 million additional people falling into poverty between 2020 and 2023. The cost-of-living crisis has particularly affected low-income households, who dedicate a larger proportion of their budget to energy and food expenditures, which have increased the most in price. If current trends continue, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030. While many Governments would like to do more to protect their populations, debt servicing has crowded out social protection, health and education expenditures: developing countries paid $400 billion in debt service in 2021 — more than twice the amount they received in official development assistance (ODA).
He went on to underscore that more than one in five workers globally now live in poverty. In the United States, around 6.3 million workers fall below the national poverty line, representing 4.1 per cent of workers; and in the European Union, about 8.5 per cent of the workforce, almost 20 million people, are at risk of poverty, with an income below 60 per cent of the median income. The main reason why many workers remain poor is because of low wages due to the decline in full-time employment contracts. Many workers are forced by employers into low-paying “casual” part-time contracts, or they are misclassified as “self-employed”. Persistent violations of trade union rights over the past 30 years have also undermined workers’ ability to negotiate higher wages, leading to a vicious cycle: “The casualization of work leads to a decline in unionization, and the weakening of unions in turn allows the proliferation of non-standard employment forms to proceed with little resistance,” he added.
Citing poverty wages as “a violation of human rights law”, he reiterated Governments’ duty to ensure all workers receive a “living wage” — one that allows workers and their families to achieve an adequate standard of living, or that corresponds to at least 60 per cent of the median wage in the country. Yet, the statutory minimum wage often is not set at an adequate level, not least because countries still seek to improve their cost-competitiveness in a globalized economy, as if condemning workers to poverty to remain attractive to buyers or investors were a viable development strategy. However, even when the statutory minimum wage is adequate, employers are routinely allowed to ignore this requirement with complete impunity. This is the case for informal workers, or for undocumented migrant workers.
Furthermore, he spotlighted the requirement under human rights to ensure workers receive a “fair remuneration” for their work. “It is absurd that the jobs that are of most value to others, particularly to people in poverty, such as care, charity work or health care, are some of the lowest paid, while others are paid so handsomely to perform jobs that are in fact harmful to society — in financial trading, in the production of fossil fuels, pesticides, plastics or tobacco, or in advertising,” he said. Accordingly, he urged Governments to draw up lists of the most socially valuable professions, ensure decent wages for workers in these sectors and cap salaries in the sectors that impose high costs to society.
When the floor opened for comments and questions, delegates shared policy reforms to increase minimum wage in line with inflation and on the rights of domestic workers, while others asked about new legal instruments that can regulate the “gig economy” through electronic platforms.
The representative of Cameroon said that the poorest suffer the most from a lack of rights, underscoring the right to development as interlinked with combatting poverty. She asked how Governments might increase compliance for businesses to pay minimum wage and what legally binding measures might look like in that regard.
The representative of Peru said that policies in the country have combated both monetary and multidimensional poverty and asked what differences the Rapporteur observed in poor workers in Latin America versus other areas of the world.
The representative of Brazil underscored the importance of respecting “app workers”. To that end, the Government has created a Working Group on Applications to discuss legal norms in the sector. Further, he said that policy reform will see a raised minimum wage in 2024, which will keep pace with inflation, as well as a bill sent to Congress to tax the super-rich and institute capital gains taxes in tax havens. He asked Mr. De Schutter to elaborate on tax justice and a human rights approach to wages.
The representative of Malaysia said his country focuses on addressing multiterminal poverty through access to basic social services, such as education and health. He asked what role the Government and private sector play in implementation of an instrument on platform workers.
The representative of France, speaking on behalf of the Core Group of sponsors of the General Assembly resolution on human rights and extreme poverty (2022), noted that the Rapporteur’s mandate helped demonstrate the importance of paying attention to women, children and vulnerable persons living in extreme poverty. He asked how States can finance the new eco-social contract to break the poverty cycle.
The representative of Pakistan said the working class is the bedrock of any society and the right to a living wage, including for domestic workers, is the responsibility of each State. Reviewing policy reform in her country, she said that minimum wage had been increased and a new policy protects the rights of domestic workers by formalizing the work through contracts. Further a domestic worker’s trade union made up of 95 per cent women has been founded.
In response, Mr. DE SCHUTTER noted that developing countries are often victims to enterprises that control the world supply chain, as companies can threaten to leave when countries increase salaries nationally. The only approach is to maintain a robust minimum wage in national legislation, he said. A country like Bangladesh cannot increase minimum wage in the textile sector for fears that buyers will turn to Myanmar, he said, stressing that such situations cannot continue. He said that the directive adopted in 2022 on minimum wage in the European Union is promising, but the bloc is limited in its scope on platform workers, such as Uber. Such platforms pit workers against each other, globalizing competition, he said, noting that the average wage of platform employees is only $3.40 an hour. The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) work is important in this regard. Globally organized competitiveness will result in a losing situation for all, he said.
In Latin America, to avoid formalization being too costly, protections for formal workers are reduced to encourage employers to register them, which is the position of the World Bank, he said. The ILO position is that accelerating formalization must come with an extension of protections to the informal sector, which he voiced support for. Denying informal workers protections through health legislation and collective bargaining is like saying that those without a driver’s license can ignore the rules. The second challenge is complying with labour legislation in the agricultural sector, he said, recalling slavery-like conditions he has witnessed in South America in that sector. Financing the eco-social contract to advance the 2030 Agenda is vital, he said, noting that industrialized countries must end subsidies for fossil fuels, while prioritizing increased funding for social protections and inheritance taxes.
In the afternoon, the Committee further elaborated on the theme of the promotion and protection of human rights, with interactive dialogues featuring presentations by Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Ms. SATTERTHWAITE, presenting her report (document A/78/520), recognized the very painful moment the world is in: “This is a moment when the power of law — and thus of lawyers and judges — seems entirely too weak to combat the horrors of the automatic rifle, the hand grenade and the rocket.” However, “it is at just these moments that we most need the law, specifically human rights and international humanitarian law, which must be fully respected in all circumstances”, she said, calling on lawyers around the world who are charged with advising militaries and security forces to do their jobs independently and with the principle of humanity foremost in mind. “The very lives of many — children, the elderly, women, and men — depend on their decisions and recommendations,” she added. She expressed dismay over the great vulnerability of independent justice operators around the world: judges face threats to their lives and harassment for the work they do, while encountering administrative and disciplinary sanctions. She voiced concern over lawyers who represent human rights defenders and political opposition figures, who are targeted, subjected to surveillance, criminalized, detained and even killed, often in circumstances that appear to amount to retaliation for their peaceful and legitimate legal work.
If legal systems are ineffective at checking abuses and solving problems, if people cannot access legal institutions equally and if communities are left feeling alienated and disenfranchised, these systems are failing, she underscored. An estimated 5.1 billion people — two-thirds of the Earth’s population — lack meaningful access to justice, including those who cannot obtain justice for everyday problems, people who are excluded from the opportunity the law provides and people who live in extreme conditions of injustice. For example, in many places, undocumented workers cannot access remedies when they are not paid. In rural areas, pregnant persons die when their local health centre is out of materials needed for an emergency blood transfusion. In indigenous territories, communities are forced to abandon water sources when companies mining on their lands leave toxic waste that seeps into their water. In other cases, laws may not yet exist to help people impacted by emerging issues, such as the environmental and humanitarian devastation wrought by climate change. Importantly, there are not nearly enough lawyers and judges to close this justice gap.
Against this backdrop, she stressed the importance of placing people and communities at the heart of the debate and enhancing their ability to make their voices heard. Spotlighting good practices in legal empowerment, she said they entail supporting the ability of individuals and communities to know, use and shape the law. She called for an expanded legal ecosystem through the embrace of community justice workers, who raise awareness of rights, laws and policies; help people navigate legal and administrative processes in pursuit of remedies; and support communities’ engagement in law and policy reform. Justice defenders also bring special expertise such as indigenous knowledge and problem-solving methods derived from custom and innovation alike. They help to democratize the rule of law, she said, highlighting numerous obstacles facing community justice workers, including physical and online attacks and smear campaigns against community paralegals. Importantly today, she emphasized that in many countries, community justice workers operate under threat of criminalization for dispensing advice or conducting other legal empowerment activities that are sometimes deemed to amount to unauthorized legal practice. Accordingly, she called on Member States to work with Bar Associations to decriminalize the provision of legal assistance by trained community justice workers.
In the ensuring interactive dialogue, delegates highlighted the urgent need for meaningful access to justice for all, with the representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, stressing that those who are discriminated against and marginalized are often excluded from access to justice. Many do not engage with formal justice institutions due to discrimination and poor representation among lawyers and the judiciary as a whole. Intersecting forms of discrimination, exclusion and marginalization are therefore perpetuated in legal systems, she said, underlining the need to embrace community justice workers, including human rights defenders and civil society.
Lesotho’s delegate, citing access to justice as “an indispensable requirement of democratic society”, spotlighted several laws in her country concerning the protection of human rights related to the access of justice.
The representative of Indonesia, noting that community justice workers in her country provide vital assistance to refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons, asked about strategies to ensure effective legal assistance under domestic laws.
Chile’s delegate called on countries in the Global South to open their doors to special procedures which contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights.
Lichtenstein’s delegate, meanwhile, voiced concern over the recent arrest warrants against judges of the International Criminal Court by the Russian Federation, asking how Member States can respond to such actions.
The representative of the United States said respect for the rule of law allows lawyers to represent human rights defenders and judges to rule without fear of retribution. Both are necessary for peaceful and democratic societies. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, judges make decisions based not on the rule of law but on instructions of Government officials — outcomes often appear predetermined rather than reflecting the legal merits of the case. When judges are unable to act independently, it limits the ability of individuals to seek justice in, inter alia, cases concerning torture, housing discrimination or environmental pollution.
The representative of the Russian Federation, highlighting the alarming number of people lacking justice worldwide, asked the Special Rapporteur to look at the situation in Ukraine: after the anti-constitutional coup d’état in 2014, the Kyiv authorities began persecuting dissidents who championed their own political convictions. Many civil society activists were subjected to torture, he said, adding that if these cases reach court, the subservient Ukrainian judges will impose on them long prison sentences. He also voiced concern over the situation of persons of Afro-American descent in the United States, who constitute the majority of prisoners in that country.
Ukraine’s delegate underscored that, since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, the human rights situation has deteriorated. Ukrainian political prisoners are subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention, harassment and prosecution, she said, calling for increased international monitoring presence in Crimea and in Ukraine in general, to prevent further human rights violations there.
Ms. SATTERTHWAITE, providing examples of legal empowerment, highlighted the need to embrace community justice workers — “people who are called different names in different systems”. They are not typically university graduates but receive training in particular areas of law. Once trained, they raise awareness of human rights and help navigate people through the pursuit of remedies, thus extending legal “first aid” to marginalized communities and bringing special expertise, such as Indigenous knowledge. Through their work, they help “democratize the rule of law”. However, in many countries, they operate under the threat of criminalization, she said, calling on States to decriminalize their legal assistance. In this context, she recalled an Indigenous community facing unlawful activities on its territory. It trained its members to carefully monitor such activities and was then able to share that data with the Government and eventually stop these illegal activities.
Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
Mr. TIDBALL-BINZ presented his report titled “Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions” (document A/78/254). Tragically, extrajudicial killings, summary killings and arbitrary killings continue to see alarming figures in terms of the number of victims around the world. This includes war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as massacres that are planned and carried out and aimed at a defenseless civilian population. Their most common victims are women, children, boys and girls, as well as the selective killings of political dissidents, human rights activists, environmental activists, journalists, minorities and vulnerable groups, including people labeled as undesirable. Similarly, he highlighted deaths in custody and killings due to gender or sexual orientation, in particular femicide. These amount to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, which very often are not sufficiently well investigated. There have also been examples of the use of the death penalty in a discriminatory way, and a flagrant violation of international law, including the prohibition of torture.
The report represents an alert, he said, a call to the community of States to do more and better to prevent the deaths of girls and women, including trans women, due to their gender. It is a global tragedy. It is scandalous and unacceptable, and requires urgent action by States. It is global because these are deaths that occur in all countries and all regions. It is unacceptable because such deaths simply should not occur in light of States’ obligation to respect, protect and guarantee the right to life of all people and to put an end to discrimination and violence based on gender. It is also scandalous because the vast majority of these deaths could be avoided through the adoption of relatively simple and not terribly onerous measures. And yet, hundreds of thousands of women and girls die as victims of femicide every year, which is a grave breach of the responsibility of States to adopt measures preventing these avoidable deaths. He urgently called for implementation of recommendations in his report, to end and prevent, in a sustainable and satisfactory way, deaths due to gender, while recalling the duty of States to respect and protect the right to life. This is not optional, he said, but an obligation under international law.
In the ensuing interactive dialogue, delegates discussed steps to curb femicide, denounced extrajudicial killings in conflicts, and highlighted arguments for and against States’ use of the death penalty.
The representative for Mexico said femicide is the most extreme expression of the structural inequality that women and girls face. She asked what measures States can take to prevent and eradicate domestic violence, especially femicide committed by partners or spouses. Taking up the issue, the delegate for the United Kingdom asked what three steps Member States can immediately take to protect the lives of women and girls globally.
The representative of Ukraine said arbitrary executions are a hallmark of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against her country. In this regard, she welcomed Mr. Tidball-Binz’s visit to Ukraine in December and hopes it will contribute to the investigation of summary or arbitrary executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians committed by the Russian Federation.
The representative for the Russian Federation said harrowing videos circulated on the Internet show Ukrainian nationalist fighters killing wounded Russian servicemen. He noted that this is the defense of Ukrainian democracy that the West is now financing and arming.
The representative for Myanmar said the military in his country continue to attack and kill the civilian population, committing international crimes, including crimes against humanity. He asked what steps States can take to respond to and prevent further such atrocities.
Turning to the death penalty, the delegate for Belgium expressed concern at what he said is femicide directly perpetrated by the State. The death penalty can in some cases constitute femicide, because many capital laws are applied in ways that exacerbate prior gender-based discrimination and violence, he said. The delegate for Malta reiterated what he said was a growing call within society to abolish the death penalty. Taking a contrary stance, the representative for China said his country’s policy of retaining the death penalty is a prudent choice, anchored in international human rights treaties and China’s national context.
The delegate for the United States asked what policy reforms have been most successful in rebuilding trust with communities and in aiding transitional justice efforts.
In his response, Mr. TIDBALL-BINZ noted that many questions revolved around what to do to prevent femicide. He said the adoption of a clear public policy is essential. It cannot be half baked. It is not just about discourse and cosmetic superficial measures, but a real commitment by the State in terms of fighting femicide.
In Latin America, almost without exception, countries have passed legislation characterizing the crime of femicide, and have created institutions to ensure the investigation, documenting, monitoring, sanctioning and prevention of the crime.
Highlighting good practices, he said Pakistan has adopted a series of measures to complement its Penal Code, making honor killings illegal. Further, Mexico created a special office to prosecute femicide, which has seen a notable increase in cases that have been successfully investigated. For its part, Colombia has developed a specialized guide for the investigation of crimes where there is a suspicion of gender-based violence. Together, these practices have had considerable success in terms of adjusting public policy so as to tackle this issue.
Fundamental Freedoms and Terrorism
Ms. AOLÁIN, presenting her annual report, spotlighted recent acts of terrorism in Israel, the Mastung district of Pakistan and the Sahel, including Mali and Burkina Faso. “Nothing, no creed and no cause, justifies the use of indiscriminate violence and acts of terrorism against civilians, including hostage-taking,” she stressed, presenting position papers on the human rights of children in contexts affected by terrorism; international human rights law considerations for counter-terrorism financing regulations of crowdfunding, virtual assets and new payment technologies; global regulation of the counter-terrorism spyware technology trade; and global study of the impact of counter-terrorism on civil society and civic space. She said that the misuse of counter-terrorism measures has pervasive and discriminatory aspects, specifically against religious, ethnic and cultural minorities, women, girls, LGBT and gender-diverse persons, indigenous communities and other groups in society that are historically discriminated against.
Summarizing her technical visit to the United States and the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she noted the important precedent set by the United States. “Few countries have the courage to examine their painful human rights past,” she said, specifying that her visit addressed the human rights of victims of terrorism, persons detained and persons repatriated to countries of nationality or resettled. “I found the conditions in the detention facility continue to reach the standard for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law,” she said, highlighting the extreme human rights challenges faced by former detainees in many countries, including penury, sustained health challenges, no torture rehabilitation, surveillance and in some cases reimprisonment and retorturing. The visit itself opens a path to de-exceptionalizing this detention facility, she said.
Turning to her visit to north-east Syria, she highlighted egregious violations of the rights of the child in multiple closed camps, prisons and detention facilities, including Al Hol, Al Roj, Alaya prison, Panorama prison and Orkesh and Houri centres. “All of these facilities are places of detention where no one is free to leave, where no process of law exists to justify detention, and where torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment is rife,” she stated, adding that most of the detained population of 70,000 are children. “I saw over 200 traumatized young boys, and I grieve the trauma and violence these boys have experienced over the course of their young lives, and I state unequivocally that it must end,” she said, underscoring that north-east Syria is now the largest detention site for children on the grounds of terrorism anywhere in the world. She reminded all Member States that they have an obligation to prevent and remedy serious violations of international law, particularly where those obligations amount to peremptory norms under international law.
When the floor opened for comments and questions, the representative of Switzerland asked what measures should be taken to better protect civil society partners and hold accountable those responsible for reprisals. The representative of Morocco, noting the widespread exploitation of children in armed conflicts, asked what measures have been undertaken to address the recruitment and use of children to perpetrate terrorist attacks, as well as violations and abuses committed by terrorist groups against children and women. Aligning herself with the European Union, the representative of Ireland asked how States and the UN can best support efforts to ensure accountability for sexual and gender-based violence in the terrorism context.
The representative of Mexico condemned all terrorist acts without exception, including attacks against the people of Israel on October 7 by Hamas, and asked about essential capabilities and capacity that the United Nations architecture for peace and counter-terrorism must have to identify and prevent undue restrictions on civic space.
The representative of Pakistan said that counter-terrorism policies have so far singled out one religion — Islam — for affiliation with terrorism and extremism, which has led to the targeting of Muslims worldwide by xenophobic and violent nationalists. She also said that India, illegally occupying Jammu and Kashmir, continues to use so-called counter-terrorism measures to violate human rights and fundamental freedoms. She urged the Special Rapporteur to discourage occupying Powers like India and Israel from presenting legitimate struggles for freedom as terrorist movements. Later, the representative of India dismissed the remarks by Pakistan as baseless and politically motivated.
The representative of Belgium, aligning himself with the European Union, said his country has repatriated all eligible Belgian children from camps in north-east Syria — 33 in total. He asked whether the Special Rapporteur has discussed her visit with the Special Representative for the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and if there any operational conclusions. Also on this topic, the representative of Syria said that his Government facilitated the Special Rapporteur’s visit to his country to cast light on the humanitarian situation in detention centres organized by separatists and militias. Such centres are supported by the United States, which has a military presence in them, he said, adding that 33 Belgian children were part of some 60,000 detained children. “What are we going to do with the other families?” he asked, calling for cooperation with his country to repatriate detainees of all nationalities.
The representative of the Russian Federation disagreed that Washington should be commended for its readiness to speak openly about its problems, including Guantanamo prison. “It should have been closed long time ago, it shouldn’t have existed in first place,” he said, also spotlighting that 33 children were repatriated from Syria several days ago, thanks to the cooperation of Syrian friends, and 150 more are to follow. The representative of Ukraine demanded the return of all Ukrainian children who are forcibly and illegally held in the Russian Federation and Belarus, and are exposed to re-education and Russification, which is nothing but aggressive brainwashing.
The representative of Cuba said the United States is still detaining people in Guantanamo, whose return his country will continue to demand, asking what can be done to close the prison in Guantanamo.
The representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, condemned Hamas and its brutal terrorist attacks across Israel, reiterating the importance of ensuring the protection of civilians. She expressed alarm at the denial of humanitarian access and gross and systematic human rights violations mentioned in the report. She asked the Rapporteur to elaborate further on the importance of predictable humanitarian access.
The representative of the United States said that Israel, like all countries under the Charter of the UN, has the right to defend itself. He also noted the concerning shift in Member States’ terminology from “violent extremism” to vague “extremism” without qualifiers, which can negatively affect the ability of civil society members and human rights defenders to exercise their rights of freedom of expression. He also said that his country was pleased to grant unprecedented access to Guantanamo, and asked how human rights protection can be strengthened in international frameworks for preventing and countering violent extremism.
The representative of China called on countries to address the root causes of terrorism and practice true multilateralism, rejecting the double standards, politicization and instrumentalization of counter-terrorism.
In response, Ms. AOLÁIN said that all victims of terrorism have human rights and must be protected. “States who are engaged in targeting civil society not only are breaching human rights but they are actually doing really bad counter-terrorism,” she said, stressing the need to look at definitions of terrorism. Turning to the issue of repatriation, she underscored that the return of nationals from Syria is the only international law-compliant solution to the problem. “We insist in all places, including north-east Syria and Gaza, that there is reliable and consistent humanitarian access,” she emphasized. She also welcomed comments on detention facilities, urging other States to follow the example of the United States and enable access to high-security places of detention without restriction. “Let me commend the United States, Morocco, Mexico, Ireland and South Africa for fundamentally committing to the idea of the rule of law and human rights in counter-terrorism,” she said. “And if we ignore violence coming from certain groups because it is convenient or politically unacceptable to name that violence as terrorism, then we impoverish the discourse and the meaningful application of counter-terrorism,” she stressed, complaining that her mandate has been deeply troubled by the way in which “violent extremism, conducive to terrorism” has slipped to simply “violent extremism” and now is being used unthinkingly in the term of “extremism”.
For information media. Not an official record.
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