Category: Oral Statements

Item 11: ALRC’s Oral Statement on Civil and Political Rights including the question of, (a) Torture and detention; (b) Disappearances and summary executions; and (f) States of emergency

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 58th Session - 2002, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 16, 2002August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

Presented by: Asmin Fransiska Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. Mr Chairman The Asian Legal Resource Centre has in a written statement to the Commission expressed its concern over the Australian government’s policies towards asylum seekers (E/CN.4/2002/NGO/70). In recent months the Centre’s attention has been drawn to the case of Mr Stephen Khan, a twenty-seven year old Kashmiri asylum seeker who has been held in detention by the Australian authorities for three and a half years. Mr Khan’s case is indicative of the unjust system for determining asylum claims in Australia. Having failed his initial claim in 1998, Mr Khan was not aware of […]

Item 10: ALRC’s Oral Statement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 58th Session - 2002, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 11, 2002August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

Item 10: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights  Presented by: Asmin Franciska Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. The Asian Legal Resource Centre wishes to bring to the attention of the commission the decision of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China to deny right of abode to thousands of people from mainland China. Most of these cases involve the children of Hong Kong families who have at least one parent who is a permanent resident of the HKSAR. The result of this decision is to separate members of these families in contravention of Article 10 […]

Item 9: ALRC’s Oral Statement on the Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 58th Session - 2002, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 10, 2002August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

Item 9: Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world Presented by: Asmin Franciska [not delivered due to time contraints intruduced by the CHR] Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. The Asian Legal Resource Centre is greatly concerned by the obstacles to enforcement of rights in countries throughout Asia. This condition stems in part from the neglect of article 2 of the ICCPR by state parties, and even by the human rights community itself. The absence of inquiries into violations of human rights guaranteed under UN covenants and conventions, and the poor quality of investigations that […]

Item 18: Effective functioning of human rights mechanisms: (a) National institutions and regional arrangements

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 19, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Ms. Parinya Boonridrerthaikul of ALRC on April 19, 2001, at the 67th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Ms. Parinya Boonridrerthaikul Dear Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC). The increasing numbers of national human rights commissions in Asia are a positive development despite the many disappointments they have caused thus far. The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, for example, attracted a great deal of attention because of its clear mandate and promised independence. However, the actual selection procedure has been disappointing as only some of the members have been selected […]

Item 15: Indigenous issues

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 12, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Ms. Ester Indahyani Jusuf of ALRC and Solidaritas Nusa Bangsa (Indonesia) on April 12, 2001, at the 57th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Ms. Ester Indahyani Jusuf Mr. Chairperson, The multiple problems of ethnic and religious minorities, political segregation and xenophobia, which have plagued Indonesia for so long, still continue. There are still 62 discriminatory regulations that remain in the Indonesian legal system. Most of these are specifically targeted at the Chinese ethnic group. These regulations cover virtually all sectors of life, including economic, social, cultural, educational and religious life (for example, Confucianism remains an unrecognised religion). […]

Item 12: Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective: (a) violence against women

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 10, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Rita Kolibonso of ALRC on April 10, 2001, at the 47th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Ms. Rita Kolibonso Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC). In our written submission to this commission (UNCHR) [E/CN.4/2001/NGO/72] on violence against women, ALRC highlighted the lack of legal and institutional remedies for women who are victims of gender violence. We cited a number of cases to support this contention and identified the following main causes for the failure of governments and the judicial system in most Asian countries to protect the rights of women […]

Item 11: Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of (a) Torture and Detention and (b) Disappearances and Summary Executions

ALRC AT THE UN, Asia, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements, World April 4, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Sanjeewa Liyanage of ALRC on April 4, 2001, at the 38th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Mr. Sanjeewa Liyanage Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC). The 1994 Convention against Torture Act (CATA) made torture a specific crime and a punishable offence in Sri Lanka. The High Court has jurisdiction over violations, and a criminal conviction carries a seven-year minimum sentence. However, the prosecution of this offence suffers from the same defects of the prosecution system as does all other serious violations, such as extrajudicial killings. The prosecutor, who is a […]

Item 10: Economic Social and Cultural Rights

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements April 3, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Sanjeewa Liyanage of ALRC on April 3, 2001, at the 34th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Mr. Sanjeewa Liyanage Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC). Ample evidence suggests that the Government of Myanmar is systematically denying food to its civilian population. The ALRC brought these concerns to the attention of the Commission’s 56th session in light of findings made by the People’s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma. The ALRC appreciates the efforts of the former Special Rapporteur to highlight food security concerns in Myanmar and hopes that […]

Item 9: Question of the violence of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements March 29, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

(Note: The following oral presentation was made by Tina Johannesen on March 29, 2001, at the 24th meeting of the 57th session of the UNCHR.) Presented by: Ms. Tina Johannesen Mr. Chairman, I speak on behalf of the Asian Legal Resource Centre. Recently the attorney general of India stated, “It is undeniable that, despite constitutional and legal provisions, caste-based discrimination in our country persists and is pervasive and strong effective measures are needed to stamp out this evil” (Times of India, March 15, 2001, Letters section). The purpose of this submission is to look at what measures are necessary to stamp out this evil. The admission of the evil nature […]

Item 6: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination

ALRC AT THE UN, CHR 57th Session - 2001, Commission on Human Rights, documents, Oral Statements March 26, 2001August 25, 2015 admin 0 Comments

DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF OCCUPATION AND DESCENT Joint statement by Lutheran World Federation and Asian Legal Resource Centre (Note: Following statement was made by Aishya Prakash as a joint statement of Lutheran World Federation and the Asian Legal Resource Centre on the 26 March 2001 during the 13th Meeting of the 57th Session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland) Mr. Chairman, Already in 1996, whilst commenting on India’s report, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination made it clear that “the term ‘descent’ mentioned in article 1 of the Convention [on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination] does not solely refer to race.” […]