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Bangladesh.-In March 1971, the efforts to reconcile the differences between the political parties of East and West Pakistan collapsed. In a frantic effort to maintain national unity, the Government of Pakistan unleashed its army against the people of East Pakistan. From March to December 1971, the army slaughtered at least several hundred thousand men, women, and children. The Government of Bangladesh estimates that 3 million were killed. Most of those killed or otherwise brutalized had not committed any acts against the Government. The army singled out especially the Hindu minority.

The United Nations responded only to the humanitarian consequences of the massacre. It provided massive relief to the 10 million refugees in India as well as to the people in East Pakistan. The Security Council, despite a call for action by the Secretary General in July, did not convene until December after war broke out between India and Pakistan.

Burundi.-The Government of Burundi is controlled by a minority tribe. the Tutsis. In April 1972, when there was an attempted coup by the Hutus, the majority tribe, the Tutsi tribe reacted and killed an estimated 200,000 Hutus. The U.N., again, responded principally in terms of providing humanitarian relief. Neither the Security Council nor any other U.N. organ was seized with this problem. The Secretary General did undertake a number of initiatives which were, however, largely unsuccessful.

The United Nations can only do what its member states allow it to do. The failure of the U.N. to act in Bangladesh and Burundi was because most member states did not want it to act. Governments are especially sensitive to criticism from other governments about how they treat their own people. Consequently, most governments will not criticize other governments even in situations of massacre.

If governments cannot perceive a moral imperative to prevent massacre, they ought to recognize that these massacres often are incipient threats to the international peace. The Bangladesh massacre did result in war between India and Pakistan. Accordingly, whenever a massacre begins (or is likely to begin), the Security Council, under chapter VI of the charter, could encourage the parties involved to reach an agreement through negotiation, conciliation, or other means. The Council could authorize an observer mission to go to the conflict situation and report back on its findings. Even if the Council were unable to act, the fact that it was seized with the problem would encourage the parties concerned to reach a nonviolent solution.

The subcommittee has recommended that the Commission on Human Rights be authorized to hold special sessions at any time to deal with urgent situations involving gross violations of human rights.18 Situations comparable to Bangladesh and Burundi warrant consideration by the Security Council. Some situations, however, might be handled by the Commission.

The proposed High Commissioner for Human Rights, as contained in an earlier recommendation, would be another useful instrument

18 See p. 30.

for dealing with these situations before they reach catastrophic proportions.19

Effective international efforts to prevent massacre will not be realized until governments are willing to give human rights considerations a higher priority in political decisions. The United Nations cannot act unless governments ask it to act. The U.N.'s inability to act when massacre occurs is determined largely by the miniscule importance that governments give to human rights in their own foreign policies.

Recommendation

25. Whenever massacre occurs or appears likely to occur, the United States (if no other state takes such action) should convene the Security Council to consider appropriate measures under the charter.

PREVENTING TORTURE

In recent years, the world has witnessed an alarming increase in the practice of torture. Amnesty International, a respected international nongovernmental organization concerned with political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, estimates that torture exists in 64 countries. Torture is practiced in all geographic regions of the world and is not limited to any particular ideology; it has become one of the standard instruments of political oppression. It is used against political dissenters and instills fear in others who would otherwise dissent.

No government will admit using torture, yet in most cases of torture, government involvement, though disguised, is there nonetheless. In his testimony before the subcommittee, Martin Ennals, Secretary General of Amnesty International, stated that:

When torture is carried out within states, it is done, with very rare exceptions, with at least the acquiescence of the government concerned and in many cases as a deliberate part of government policy.20

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." In 1973, the General Assembly expressed its grave concern "that torture is still practiced in various parts of the world." The Assembly rejected "any form of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment," urged governments to become parties to existing international instruments which prohibit torture, and decided to examine the question of torture at a future session. The Commission on Human Rights, and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, will also be considering the question.

The United Nations should take any action which would bring to public attention the practice of torture. Such publicity would serve to embarrass the offending governments.

The recent action of the Assembly should be followed by a U.N. study of the practice of torture. There should be established a periodic reporting procedure with respect to the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. These measures would serve to

19 See pp. 29-30.

20 Hearings, Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements, Oct. 10, 1973.

focus world public attention on the problem of torture which, in itself, could discourage governments from practicing or condoning torture.

Recommendation

26. The Department of State should urge the United Nations. to undertake the following measures to help prevent the practice of torture:

(a) The Commission on Human Rights should conduct a thorough study of the practice of torture, based upon information received from governments, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and other available sources, and make recommendations concerning measures to be taken at local, national, regional, and international levels to prevent the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;

(b) The U.N. Committee on Crime Prevention and Control should adopt a periodic reporting procedure to be used by governments, specialized agencies, and nongovernmental organizations concerning the implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; and

(c) The Fifth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, to be held in 1975, should give special attention to the problem of torture.

PROMOTING THE STATUS OF WOMEN

The subcommittee devoted a special session to the status of women, examining the extent to which U.N. activities and U.S. bilateral programs are promoting full integration of women into the economic, social, and political life of national societies.

In 1970 the General Assembly, in resolution 2626 included as an objective of the Second United Nations Development Decade the encouragement of the full integration of women in the total develop-. ment effort. The Economic and Social Council, however, has expressed concern about concentrating solely on the most elementary stages of development and neglecting the needs of women at the higher levels. The Council urged member states to insure that their development programs enable women "to achieve their maximum potential not only as wives and mothers but also as citizens and full participants in the development of their countries."

In 1972 the General Assembly proclaimed 1975 as International Women's Year:

(a) To promote equality between men and women: (b) to insure the full integration of women in the total development effort, especially by emphasizing women's responsibility and important role in economic, social and cultural development at the national, regional and international levels, particularly during the Second United Nations Development Decade; (c) to recognize the importance of women's increasing contribution to development of friendly relations and cooperation among states and to the strengthening of world peace.

The United Nations, therefore, has reaffirmed the objective of promoting full integration of women into the development of mem

ber states. It is doubtful, however, that U.N. development agencies have adequately incorporated this objective into their programs. The Commission on the Status of Women, the primary organ in this field, has initiated many measures for improving the status of women. The Commission, however, is not responsible for the operation of the U.N. development programs. Moreover, it only meets every 2 years.

Special machinery should be incorporated into the U.N. development agencies to insure that the recommendations of the Commission on the Status of Women are carried out and that development programs promote full integration of women. In this regard the Department of State's recommendations to the United Nations are helpful. The Department has recommended that the United Nations and each of the specialized agencies establish machinery which would "compel the specialized agencies to consider the full integration of women in development on the basis of equality with men." 21

The United Nations will be better able to promote the full integration of women in national societies if there is adequate representation of women at the professional level in the U.N. Secretariat. The question of employment of women was first raised in 1970 by the Commission on the Status of Women. That same year the GeneralAssembly urged that measures be taken to insure equal employment opportunity for women at the professional level and asked the Secretary General to report annually on the progress in that area.

As of August 31, 1971, 15.2 percent of the U.N. professional staff were women; as of June 30, 1973, that figure was 16.3 percent. At the more senior levels, the percentage of women is considerably lower. At the Under and Assistant Secretary General levels, only one of the 30 officials is a woman. (Until 1971, the U.N. did not have any women at that level.) At the lowest professional level, 41.8 percent of the individuals are women.

The Secretary General's report to the 1972 General Assembly stated that the percentage of women employed at the professional level might actually decrease. He said:

That the "under-represented" nationalities on the staff were those which have had the lowest proportion of female staff. Nevertheless the Secretariat should encourage governments to nominate women as candidates for Secretariat positions.

The Department of State should take a leadership role in this field and nominate as many U.S. women as possible for the U.N. Secretariat. Also, the Department should increase the number of women on its delegations to international meetings.

The subcommittee also studied the extent to which the programs of the Agency for International Development (AID) promoted the full integration of women into national societies. AID should give greater priority to this objective. In addition, AID and the Department of State should increase the number of women they hire at the professional level.

21 Letter from Marshall Wright, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, to Congressman Fraser, Nov. 7, 1973. See hearings, International Protection of Human Rights: The Work of International Organizations and the Role of U.S. Foreign Policy.

Recommendation

27. The Department of State should urge the relevant U.N. organs and agencies to undertake practical measures:

(a) For insuring that its development programs promote the full integration of women in the civic, political, social, economic, and cultural areas of national societies; and

(b) For increasing the number of women at the professional level in the U.N. Secretariat.

To accomplish these objectives the professional staff in the Directorate of Labor and Women, Bureau of International Organization Affairs of the Department should be increased.

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