In addition to the 53 member States, nearly a hundred observer States and over 200 Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) attended the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights (Commission) from 18 March to 26 April 2002.

Elected Chairman of the Commission was Krzystof Jakubowski of Poland. The composition of the Commission for 2002 is as follows: Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia.

Main items on the Commission's agenda were the following:

- Organization of the work of the session - Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights - The right of peoples to self-determination - Racism - The right to development - Question of violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine - Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world - Economic, social and cultural rights - Civil and political rights - Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective - Rights of the child - Specific groups and individuals - Indigenous issues.

Problems posed by racism figured prominently in the Commission's deliberations. The Commission decided to establish a voluntary fund to provide, among other things, additional resources for the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit an analytical report at its next session of implementation of the Programme of Action of the Third Decade to Combat Racism.

The written statement SERVAS INTERNATIONAL presented before the Commission reads:

Extensively discussed during the Commission's fifty-eighth session were the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and the effects on human rights of efforts to combat international terrorism in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an address to the Commission on 12 April, said security against terrorism could not be achieved by sacrificing human rights.

Chairman's statements on the situation of human rights in East Timor, Colombia and Haiti have been made. Over a hundred resolutions and decisions have been taken.

In her closing remarks, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said she sensed there was agreement that every effort should be made to spread an universal culture of human rights and to act to protect victims of violations in any part of the world.

The dates of the fifty-ninth session of the Commission were set for 17 March to 25 April 2003.

The SERVAS INTERNATIONAL representation was composed of Hilda BURER, Janine HALL, Catherine BURER LEHMANN, Thanh Trung NGUYEN. There was the presence of 2 SERVAS host visitors.

Hilda BURER

(Geneva, 29 July - 16 August 2002)

Created by the Commission on Human Rights in 1947, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (Sub-Commission) is made up of 26 Experts from five regional groups. According to its mandate, it undertakes studies and makes recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights. One of its jobs is to explore issues that are considered important and have not received sufficient attention. Before the Sub-Commission, national delegations may only address human-rights matters in their own countries; and the Sub-Commission is barred from dealing with situations in countries that already are the subject of the Commission on Human Rights.

The fifty-fourth session of the Sub-Commission was preceded by the Social Forum held on 25 and 26 July 2002.

Among the Agenda items of the fifty-fourth session of the Sub-Commission were the following:

Organisation of work - Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including policies of racial discrimination and segregation in all countries, with particular reference to colonial and other dependent countries and territories - Administration of justice, rule of law and democracy - Economic, social and cultural rights - Prevention of discrimination - Women and human rights - Contemporary forms of slavery - New priorities, in particular, terrorism.

In her opening address, Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed deep appreciation to the Sub-Commission for the support it had provided during her time in office.

The subject of international efforts to combat terrorism in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States attracted much debate. The Subcommission opposed foreign military intervention contrary to the principles and other provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as all threats to overthrow by means of armed force duly constituted Governments. It deplored the immunity automatically allowed to nationals of States parties or not parties to the Rome Statute who participated in operations decided or authorized by the Security Council. It recommended public recognition of the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. It recommended that the secretariat of the World Trade Organization and the members of its Council for Trade in Services include consideration of the human rights implications of the international trade in services and take into account the relevant reports of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Among measures adopted regarding economic, social and cultural rights, the Sub-Commission adopted measures on promotion of the realization of the right to drinking water and sanitation.

The Sub-Commission invited the High Commissioner for Human Rights to explore the possibility of convening a world conference on indigenous peoples in 2004.

In closing the Sub-Commission's three-week session, Chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (Brazil) said the re-invention of the Sub-Commission as the think-tank of the Commission on Human Rights had consolidated its role as an expert forum providing substantial contributions to the central themes of the multilateral agenda on human rights.

Dates for the fifty-fifth session of the Sub-Commission were not decided; the Chairman said he would explore the possibility of moving the annual session of the Sub-Commission from August to December or January.

More than a hundred Governments and as well more than a hundred Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) attended this fifty-fourth session of the Sub-Commission.

The representation of SERVAS INTERNATIONAL was composed of Hilda BURER, Janine HALL, Catherine BURER LEHMANN, Thanh Trung NGUYEN. There was one SERVAS host visitor present.

Hilda BURER