AS DELIVERED
United Nations General Assembly
60th session
Third Committee
Agenda item: 73
Human rights questions
STATEMENT BY MS.OCHIR ENKHTSETSEG,
DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF
MULTILATERAL COOPERATION,
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF MONGOLIA
2 November 2005
Mr. Chairman,
The centrality of human rights to the broader mission of the United Nations was
undoubtedly reaffirmed by the world leaders at the September Summit. The strong
commitment of the international community to the protection and promotion of all
human rights was clearly demonstrated by the resolve of the world leaders to
reinforce the UN human rights machinery through creation of a Human Rights
Council, to strengthen the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights by,
inter alia, doubling its regular budget resources over the next five years, to
improve effectiveness of the HR treaty bodies as well as support the further
streamlining of human rights throughout the UN system activities.
Underlying principles and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the body of norms
and standards, developed since the inception of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, have been widely accepted by member states and recognized in
international law. Yet we cannot but agree with the High Commissioner that as
the normative framework of rights is largely in place, the central challenge
today is to translate these rights into reality by bridging the implementation
gaps at the national level.
Against this backdrop my delegation welcomes the shift of the focus towards
national implementation of human rights commitments envisaged in the Plan of
Action of the OHCHR. Mongolia commends the leadership demonstrated by High
Commissioner Ms. Louise Arbour in furthering the three core priorities
identified in the Plan of Action, namely country engagement, leadership and
partnerships.
As holders of primary responsibility for the respect of human rights and
fundamental freedoms of their citizenry States’ role in ensuring the
implementation of human rights commitments cannot be overemphasized. However, in
light of a broad range of human rights challenges facing the international
community, including wide-spread poverty, discrimination, armed conflict and
violence, democratic deficits and institutional weaknesses, the efforts of
Member States ought to be supported more substantively through technical
assistance and advisory services aimed, inter alia, at capacity-building and
human rights education.
Mr. Chairman,
As a state party to over 30 international human rights treaties and conventions,
including the seven core human rights treaties, Mongolia stands committed to the
promotion and protection of all human rights. Since the adoption of its
Constitution of 1992, which promulgated a whole new chapter devoted to the
protection of human rights, Mongolia has been actively engaged in carrying out
an extensive legal reform aimed at bringing the body of national laws in line
with the international standards. The reform has envisaged both the revision of
existing laws, including the Criminal Code and Civil Code, labor relations,
taxation as well as enactment of new standards related to public administration,
NGOs, privatization of state property and land, operation of business
enterprises etc. This extensive exercise has laid down, by and large, sound
legal background for the protection and promotion of human rights.
In addition, the adoption by the Parliament of the Law on the National Human
Rights Commission and its subsequent establishment back in 2001 in accordance
with the Paris Principles constituted an important step in promoting human
rights. The National Human Rights Commission in cooperation with the Government
hosted the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum of national human
rights Institutions last August in Ulaanbaatar. The participants agreed, inter
alia, to set up a working group of the Forum to develop draft guidelines
designed to strengthen the application of the Paris Principles in the context of
the Asia-Pacific region.
Furthermore, National Human Rights Action Program, pursuant to the Vienna
Declaration and Program of Action, was adopted in 2003 as a result of
all-inclusive participatory consultations involving various strata of human
rights holders, including from the grassroots. The Program is a main policy
document that aims at improving capacity and accountability of the authorities,
enhancing participation of civil society, mass media and private sector, and
encouraging public motivation for strengthening human rights protection and
combating their violations. Since its adoption, various activities were carried
out aimed at furthering the judiciary reform and administration of justice,
promoting human rights education and capacity building of law enforcement
agencies and local administration authorities.
As part of advocacy of human rights a special edition of the official
legislation bulletin, containing all conventions on human rights joined by
Mongolia, was published and widely distributed among governmental and
non-governmental organizations, including law enforcement agencies.
All in all, it could be summed up that political commitment to the protection
and promotion of human rights along with standard-setting are largely in place
in Mongolia. However, as was rightly pointed out by the High Commissioner no
human rights record is perfect. The implementation of human rights commitments
in my country is hampered mostly by two combined gaps, i.e. knowledge gap and
capacity gap that are further hindered by high vulnerability of our economy to
external shocks, poverty, shortage of resources, particularly needed for
ensuring the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. Furthermore,
emerging trans-boundary threats such as spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious
diseases, human trafficking, migration and others require an adequate collective
response based on effective regional and international cooperation. In this
regard, my delegation welcomes the activities envisaged by the High Commissioner
to enhance country engagement and develop effective partnerships to help ensure
protection and promotion of human rights at the national level. Mongolia stands
committed to actively continue its cooperation with the OHCHR with a view to
bridging the existing implementation gaps for the enjoyment of all human rights.
Mr. Chairman,
The report of the Secretary-General on the effective implementation of
international instruments on human rights pointed out to the ongoing substantive
debate among the Member States to find out the best ways to increase the
effectiveness of the human rights mechanisms. We believe that the reporting and
monitoring system is vital to the implementation of human rights. In this
regard, my delegation regards the revised draft harmonized guidelines, prepared
by OHCHR, as an important tool for improving the reporting obligations of State
Parties. My delegation is in favor of further enhancing the assistance provided
by OHCHR to member States in meeting their reporting obligations as well as in
following up on the recommendations of the relevant committees as it remains as
an important and effective tool to the implementation of human rights standards
at the national level. We also note with interest the proposal by the High
Commissioner to explore ways of setting up a unified standing treaty body
together with relocation of CEDAW to Geneva. In this respect, we look forward to
the intergovernmental consultations to be convened in 2006 and its substantive
preparations with a view to making implementation of international human rights
instruments more effective.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, may I reiterate my delegation’s confidence that the
implementation of the OHCHR’s Plan of Action, the broader reform agenda of the
UN human rights machinery, including the ongoing consultations on establishment
of a Human Rights Council and renewed commitment of our leaders to the promotion
of all human rights will help us bridge the existing implementation gap so that
every human being can enjoy his/her human rights in larger freedom in the years
to come.
Thank you.