國家人權機構與發展權之共同聲明
於第一屆亞洲太平洋國家人權組織論壇(APF)雙年會2011年9月6日泰國曼谷
編註:本文為2011年9月6~7日第一屆亞洲太平洋國家人權組織論壇(APF)雙年會上,由28個NGO所組成的亞洲國家人權委員會民間團體督導網絡(Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions,ANNI)發表之聲明。台權會為ANNI在台灣的唯一會員。今年九月適逢聯合國發展權25週年紀念,故亞太地區國家人權組織論壇年會定發展權之討論為會議主題之一。
我們,來自亞太地區各地的人權捍衛者--亞洲國家人權委員會民間團體督導網絡(Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions,ANNI),於2011年九月5-6日於泰國曼谷共同參與第一屆亞洲太平洋國家人權機構論壇(Asian Pacific Forum,APF)。
1. 因應聯合國發展權宣言 (UN Declaration on the Right to Development) 25周年紀念,重申發展是為了全體的人權,且國家人權機構(NHRIs)在其中扮演實際角色;
2. 重申「發展是經濟、社會、文化與政治各方面整體福祉的進步,包涵個體與群體為目標」以及「所有人權與基本自由皆是唇齒相依的,以為提倡發展、關注平等、以及緊要需求等公民、政治、經濟、社會、文化權利之施行、倡議、與保障,並且各個權利之享用不得危害其他人權之施行」;
3. 在此極端貧富差距的世界─有者過度消費與物質缺乏、權力濫用與無力制衡的現象─我們重申平等權與反歧視、自由積極的社會參與、機構公開透明與權責等皆為普天之下人權準則的核心價值;
4. 聯合國人權理事會有關國家人權機構決議文(A/HRC/RES/17/9)確認國家人權機構的在一國之中人權保障的重要性,且1993年人權世界會議之維也納宣言與行動綱領(Vienna Declaration and Program of Action)給予相關機關向其諮詢,防止人權之違犯並予救濟,廣佈人權相關訊息與教育;
5. 國家人權機構應以國家位階積極執行監督國家人權保護之任務,確保各項人權之實行與推廣得以落實,包括資源取用、教育、健康服務、食宿、與工作收入上的機會平等;
6. 國家人權機構須提倡婦女、弱勢、行動不便、原住民以及其他弱勢族群與團體得以積極參與且獲益自發展之成果;
7. 國家人權機構須針對軍事擴張提出抗議與行動,監督國家與私人安全部門在經濟活動上的權力膨脹。與人權捍衛者站在一起,用文字與行動等和平方法表達對上述問題的抗議;
8. 國家人權機構(NHRIs )應支持經濟、社會與文化人權的立法,並且支持經濟社會文化權利國際公約與其任擇議定書的批淮。
9. 國家人權機構應該監督區域與多邊組織確保在貿易與技術轉移、智慧財產權與藥物使用、氣候變遷與政府再造等政策上,人權受到尊重、保護與履行的,國際上人權與發展唇齒相依,各國環境資源也與人權一樣必須得到保衛;
10. 重申第十屆國家人權機構國際評分委員會(ICC‐NHRIs)2010年所通過的愛丁堡宣言(Edinburgh Declaration),任何國際或國內商業行為不得傷害人權國家人權機構應在國家、區域、國際各層面上增強其維權商業與人權的功能;
11. 愛丁堡宣言(Edinburgh Declaration)中國家人權機構(NHRIs)強化在商業與人權的角色,包括監督跨國企業與其他商業團體符合人權標準,譬如在實質審查過程中透過設計審查指標與綱領;以真相調查任務進行獨立、有意義的人權評估、介入司法系統加強司法公平正義、與國際人權標準接軌、糾正商業行為對人權的戕害;
12. 國家人權機構應該協助聯合國祕書長所強調的誇國合作,以「保障、尊重、與救濟」(Protect, Respect and Remedy)的國內框架下,實行跨國企業與其他商業落實人權教育,並且加強國家人權機構(NHRIs)之間在跨國人權案件之合作;
13. 重申法律諮詢委員會2008年針對企業責任,2007年環境人權議題之建議,國家人權機構應該更積極地諮詢人權捍衛者與公民團體,以提倡與保護發展權;
14. 亞太地區的國家人權機制,應該投入國家機構協評分委員會(ICC‐NHRIs)2009年創立的商業與人權工作小組,並且全力參與2011年10月份與首爾舉行的商業與人權大會,以強化監督商業行為在人權上的傷害;
15. 國家人權機構應該保障人權捍衛者免於威脅與報復,包括以國家刑法罪責其公民抵抗行動。對抗這類戕害與不義的暴力,無論是當地、國家、區域還是全球性的機關,以強制拆遷、迫遷、公有財產財團化、土地佔有等,國家人權機構應監督政府是否落實其義務;
16. 發展應以人為本,且人權為其核心價值,因此國家人權機構(NHRIs)應該保障表意自由、資訊透明之權利、以及人權捍衛者的基本人權;
17. 至少要有一個亞洲國家人權機構參與聯合國發展權小組(UN Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development);鼓勵更多亞太地區國家人權機構參與─2011年11月14日至18日於日內瓦召開聯合國發展權小組第十二會議;同時國家人權機構也應多方徵詢各界意見。(翻譯:台權會志工David K. W. Wu)
以下為共同聲明原文:
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS(ANNI) AND THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT
1st Biennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions
We, human rights defenders from across the Asia‐Pacific region, gathered at the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) Regional Conference on Engagement with the Asia‐Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) on 5‐6 September 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, in parallel to the 1st Biennial Conference of the APF,
1. Reaffirmed in the 25th anniversary year of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, that development is a human right for all, and that national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have a role in its realization;
2. Reiterated that “development is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political process, which aims at the constant improvement of the well‐being of the entire population and of all individuals” and that, “all human rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible and interdependent and that, in order to promote development, equal attention and urgent consideration should be given to the implementation, promotion and protection of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and that, accordingly, the promotion of, respect for and enjoyment of certain human rights and fundamental freedoms cannot justify the denial of other human rights and fundamental freedoms.”;
3. Reaffirmed that in a world characterized by extremes of wealth and poverty; over‐consumption and scarcity; power and vulnerability, the key human rights principles of equality and non‐discrimination; active, free and meaningful participation; transparency; and accountability, must be at the core of the process of development if all people and persons are to enjoy the fair distribution of benefits therefrom;
4. Recalled the UN Human Rights Council resolution on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (A/HRC/RES/17/9), which recognized and reaffirmed the importance of NHRIs in the promotion and protection of human rights at the national level as enshrined in the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, particularly in their advisory capacity to the competent authorities and their role in preventing and remedying human rights violations, in disseminating information on human rights and in education on human rights;
5. Reaffirmed that NHRIs should proactively exercise their mandate to monitor the State’s human rights obligations at the national level, and to undertake all necessary measures within the ambit of their mandates to ensure the promotion and protection of the right to development, inter alia, through equality of opportunity for all in their access to basic resources, education, health services, food, housing, employment and the fair distribution of income;
6. Resolved that NHRIs should advocate specific measures to ensure that women, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and other disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalized groups are active participants and beneficiaries of development;
7. Resolved that NHRIs should speak and act against the militarization of development, by scrutinizing the increased role of the security sector in State and non‐State economic activities; and express their solidarity in words and deeds with human rights defenders and others who exercise their right to peaceful protest and dissent against these practices;
8. Reaffirmed that NHRIs should support the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights; extend their protection mandate to include those rights; and advocate the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
9. Resolved that NHRIs should monitor regional and multilateral organizations to ensure that their policies and practices on trade and technology transfer, capital flows and investment, development assistance and debt, agriculture and industry, intellectual property rights and access to medicines, climate change and institutional reform, are in compliance with human rights obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of the people, and foster cooperation towards an international order in which the right to development may be realized, and the right of the people to exercise full and complete sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources is safeguarded;
10. Recalled the Edinburgh Declaration adopted at the 10th International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC‐NHRIs) conference on business and human rights (2010), noting that national or transnational business activities can generate harm to human rights; and therefore emphasizing the important role of NHRIs in addressing corporate‐related human rights challenges at the national, regional, and international level;
11. Recognized the commitment by NHRIs as enshrined in the Edinburgh Declaration to interpret their mandates or wherever possible to strengthen their mandates, in order to promote and protect rights as they relate to business, including, among others: to monitor transnational corporations and other business enterprises compliance with human rights standards, for example, through design and supervision of indicators and guidelines in due diligence processes; conducting fact‐finding missions and human rights impact assessments that are accessible to, and involve the free and meaningful participation of, affected groups; intervention in judicial mechanisms and facilitating non‐judicial grievance mechanisms, consistent with international human rights principles, to redress the business impacts of human rights;
12. Reiterated that NHRIs should assist in the operationalisation of the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework at national‐level which was developed by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary‐ General on human rights, transnational corporations and other business enterprises as well as introduce business and human rights into their human rights education programs and enhance cooperation between NHRIs on cross‐border or transnational harm and human rights violations by business enterprises.;
13. Recalled the references of the Advisory Council of Jurists on corporate accountability (2008), and on human rights and the environment (2007), and reiterated that NHRIs should take forward their recommendations in consultation with human rights defenders and civil society organizations, in the course of the promotion and protection of the right to development;
14. Reiterated that NHRIs in the Asia‐Pacific region should engage with the ICC‐NHRIs Working Group on Business and Human Rights established in 2009, and fully participate in the forthcoming APF regional conference on Business and Human Rights in Seoul between 11 and 13 October 2011, in order to strengthen the capacity of national human rights institutions to monitor the business impacts on human rights and to support the victims of corporate abuses;
15. Resolved that NHRIs should be seized of the threats and reprisals against human rights defenders – including criminalization of their legitimate work – when they resist the ‘violence of development’, that is, harmful and unjust practices of local, national, regional and global actors and agencies such as forced evictions, development‐induced displacement, privatization of public services (including through public‐ private partnerships), land‐grabbing for resource‐extraction and corporate agriculture, and so on, and monitor the state’s obligation to protect them;
16. Reiterated that if the human person is to be at the center of development, and the process of development is to be human rights centered, then NHRIs must protect freedom of expression and opinion, advocate the right to information, and defend the rights of human rights defenders;
17. Recognized that at least one Asian NHRI has made a submission on the implementation of the right to development to the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development; and encouraging other Asia‐Pacific NHRIs to similarly engage with the Working Group ahead of its forthcoming 12th session in Geneva on 14‐18 November 2011, and moreover to consult widely, including with human rights defenders, in the preparation of their submissions;
18. Resolved that NHRIs and the APF should commit themselves to the evolution of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development into an international legal standard of a binding nature, and towards the realization of the right to development as a human right for all.