COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-eighth session
Item 11 (b) of the provisional agenda
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING QUESTIONS OF:
DISAPPEARANCES AND SUMMARY EXECUTIONS
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Asma Jahangir, submitted
pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2001/45
[Extracts referring to Myanmar. Full text of the report on http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2002.74.En?Opendocument
B. Communications
15. The Special Rapporteur further transmitted allegations regarding violations of the right to life
of more than 700 individuals to the Governments of the following 41 countries: Albania (1), Algeria (1), Azerbaijan (1), Bangladesh (1), Bolivia (3), Brazil (1), China (17), Colombia (264), Ecuador (1), Egypt (4), Georgia (1), Guinea (1), Honduras (8), India (50), Indonesia (19), Israel (26), Jamaica (18), Kenya (4), Kyrgyzstan (2), Liberia (1), Mexico (1),
Myanmar (122), Pakistan (7), Nicaragua (2), Nigeria (over 100), Paraguay (5), Papua New Guinea (4), Peru (1), Philippines (5), Portugal (3), Russian Federation (60), Rwanda (3), Slovakia (1), Turkey (14), Senegal (1), Sri Lanka (4), Sudan (2), United Arab Emirates (1), Ukraine (1), Uzbekistan (7), Zimbabwe (2). Allegations were also transmitted to the Palestinian Authority regarding four cases of alleged violations of the right to life. In more than 380 of these cases the Special Rapporteur intervened jointly with other mandate holders, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders.
C. Deaths in custody
33. The Special Rapporteur transmitted allegations of the death in custody of 150 persons to the Governments of the following countries: Albania (1), Azerbaijan (1), China (17), Colombia (2), Ecuador (1), Egypt (2), Georgia (1), Guinea (1), Honduras (4), India (14), Indonesia (3), Kenya (2), Kyrgyzstan (2), Liberia (1),
Myanmar (8), Pakistan (6), Nicaragua (1), Peru (1), Portugal (3), Russian Federation (50), Rwanda (3), Slovakia (1), Sri Lanka (1), Sudan (2), Turkey (14), United Arab Emirates (1), Uzbekistan (7). One allegation was sent to the Palestinian Authority. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur sent urgent appeals to the Governments of China and Uzbekistan. In both cases, there were fears that the detainees in question could die owing to lack of adequate medical attention.
A. Violations of the right to life of women
46. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur transmitted urgent appeals on behalf of 38 women whose lives were believed to be at risk to the Governments of Bahrain, Colombia, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. An urgent appeal was also sent to the leadership of the province of "Puntland" in Somalia. In addition, the Special Rapporteur transmitted allegations of 109 cases of violations of the right to life of women to the Governments of the following countries: Bolivia (1), China (17), Colombia (18), Honduras (2), India (2), Israel (5), Mexico (1),
Myanmar (52), Pakistan (1), Russian Federation (6), Sri Lanka (4).
49. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur wishes to express her particular concern with regard to the situation in Myanmar. During the present reporting period she submitted 52 cases of alleged killings of women by government forces to the Government of Myanmar. It is reported, that many of these women were severely ill-treated and gang-raped before being beaten or shot dead.
A. Violations of the right to life during armed conflict
66. The Special Rapporteur has continued to receive alarming reports of civilians and persons hors de combat killed in situations of armed conflict and internal strife in various regions of the world. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur transmitted allegations of violations of the right to life to the Governments of Colombia,
Myanmar, the Russian Federation and Sri Lanka. In this context, she also sent an urgent appeal to the Taliban Council
B. Deaths due to attacks or killings by security forces, paramilitary groups
or private forces cooperating with or tolerated by the State
72. A cause for continued and deepening concern for the Special Rapporteur is the increasing incidence of large-scale extrajudicial killings carried out by government security forces and armed groups reported to be sponsored, supported or tolerated by Governments. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur transmitted allegations on behalf of more than 400 individuals killed by security forces, by paramilitary groups or private forces to the
Governments of Bangladesh (1), Colombia (223), India (9), Indonesia (12), Israel (24), Jamaica (1),
Myanmar (114), Pakistan (1), Nicaragua (1), Nigeria (over 100), the Russian Federation (10) and Sri Lanka (3). In this context, she also sent urgent appeals to the Governments of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel and Turkey.
73. The situation in Myanmar is alarming and requires immediate international attention. Grave abuses continue to be committed unabated. Reports describe harrowing scenes in which government soldiers summarily execute civilians, with complete impunity. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government allegations of 114 extrajudicial killings attributed to government soldiers. Fifty-two of these persons were women, many of whom were reportedly gang-raped and tortured before being beaten or shot dead. Eighteen of the victims were allegedly children under the age of 18, with the two youngest ones being only four years of age.
D. Violations of the right to life of children
83. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur sent urgent appeals on behalf of 13 identified children under the age of 18 and several groups of minors to the Governments of Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, India, Iran, Israel, Jamaica and the United States of America. She also sent one urgent appeal to the Taliban Council. In this context, the Special Rapporteur took action with regard to three persons who were facing imminent execution in the United States of America, after having been sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age. For a more detailed discussion of this issue, reference is made to section F of this chapter. The Special Rapporteur further transmitted allegations of violations of the right to life of 38 minors to the Governments of the following countries: Colombia (6), Honduras (2), Indonesia (2), Israel (2), Jamaica (1),
Myanmar (18), Nicaragua (2), Paraguay (4), the Sudan (1). In this context, the Special Rapporteur also transmitted one allegation to the Palestinian Authority.
2. Children in armed conflict
89. Since her appointment, the Special Rapporteur has devoted a section of her reports to the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly to the issue of children in armed conflict (see, for example, E/CN.4/2001/9, chap. V, sect. D). Reports indicate that many children are directly engaged in combat or in other extremely hazardous activities, such as laying or clearing landmines. Moreover, wherever minors are used as fighters, all children are put at risk as they are seen as potential enemy soldiers.
90. The situation is particularly alarming in many African and Asian countries. It is estimated that around 120,000 minors are engaged in armed activities in Africa alone. The armed conflicts in central and western Africa are cases in point. Reports from Burundi indicate that, on 7 November 2001, around 54 children aged between 12 and 15 were abducted by the armed political group National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD). Another 250 children were reportedly abducted by the same group on 9 November 2001 from a boarding school in Kayanza province. There are fears that the motive for these abductions was to recruit the children forcibly as soldiers for the CNDD-FDD. In Asia, some of the worst situations are reported in Afghanistan and
Myanmar, where children have routinely been recruited for many years. As the targeting and killing of civilians appear to have become part of military tactics in most of today's conflicts, children are increasingly deliberately killed in connection with bombardments or attacks aimed at terrorizing and demoralizing the civilian population. It is estimated that, in the past 10 years, more than 2 million children have died as a result of armed conflict.