2. Views expressed by member and observer States
of the Council on the review outcome
625. No views were expressed by States members and observers of the Council.
3. General comments made by other relevant stakeholders
626. The Latin American Committee for the Defence of Women’s Rights, in a joint statement with Action Canada for Population and Development, Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer, Federation for Women and Family Planning, International Women’s Rights Action Watch - Asia Pacific, emphasized as a best practice meetings held by the Argentinean delegation with various organizations from the country which were present in Geneva prior to the adoption of the report of the Working Group, providing an opportunity to discuss the content and express concerns about the situation in the country. It also welcomed the adoption of a voluntary commitment to preserve and strengthen the role of non-governmental organizations. With reference to paragraphs 16 and 21 of the report regarding the effective implementation of Law 26.150 on sexual education, the organization welcomed that a minimum content was approved, including various forms of family organization, prevention of sexual abuse, birth control, respect for identities and gender equality, in compliance with recommendations 1, 2 and 17 and a voluntary commitment made by Argentina on the implementation of a national plan to combat discrimination.
627. The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights stated that many challenges that Argentina was facing in the field of human rights were not included in the recommendations of the report of the Working Group. The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights urged the Government of Argentina to take measures to prevent the recurrence of violent deaths in jails, as well as to inquire in a prompt and impartial manner into crimes perpetrated in prisons. It expressed concern at the lack of transparency of the Division of Internal Affairs and the opportunity given to the
police to judge its own officers, and called on Argentina to reform the Ley Organica de la Policía Federal and Act No. 21.695.965. Finally, the fact that the Security Secretariat was recently transferred within the competence of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, to which also the Human Rights Secretariat belongs, raised further alarm.
628. The Comisión Jurídica para el Autodesarrollo de los Pueblos Originarios Andinos, with reference to recommendations 15 and 16 of the report of the Working Group regarding the protection of indigenous peoples, noted that they should be taken into account for the resolution of potential conflicts related to the social impact of the operations of mining industries on the lands of indigenous peoples.
629. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions welcomed the attention paid to indigenous issues, especially indigenous rights to land, and of women, children and other members of vulnerable groups in the universal periodic review of Argentina. It was noted that the Argentinean national report made no reference to the realization of particular standards as defined, inter alia, in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, notably the right to an adequate standard of living for all. The lack of security of tenure and the continuing increase in forced evictions has not been adequately addressed. Argentina does not have a policy to prevent forced evictions and does not ensure adequate protection for those who lose their houses. The Centre on Housing and Evictions was also concerned that regularization and urbanization programmes in informal settlements are carried out in a discretionary basis and with uncertain results, without the possibility of recourse to judicial or administrative remedies. Argentina should transpose into the domestic legal order United Nations standards concerning housing rights and forced evictions as stated in general comments Nos. 4 and 7 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
630. Action Canada for Population and Development, with reference to paragraphs 16 and 25 of the report of the Working Group, regretted that the discussion of the issue of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights did not result in any recommendation. Implementation of the National Law on Sexual and Reproductive Health mentioned in paragraph 16 is very unequal across the country, due to the lack of political will on the part of some authorities and uneven distribution of contraceptive devices to public hospitals. It noted that unsafe abortion, being the leading cause of maternal mortality, is a problem of social justice because it affects poor women in a disproportionate way. It stressed the importance for the Government to take action to protect women’s and girls’ lives by, inter alia, guaranteeing ample provision of contraceptive devices to stop abortions, regulating the provision of therapeutic abortions that are currently allowed by law, and providing proper medical care to women and girls who have undergone unsafe abortions.
631. The Centre for Women’s Global Leadership stated that, in spite of some legislative advances, Argentina still lacks a clear agenda for women’s rights. In order to implement adequately recommendations 1, 2, 3, 17 and 18 of the report on the review of Argentina, a number of important issues should be addressed, namely the lack of sex-disaggregated official data on violence against women; women’s vulnerability to HIV infection; the steadily decrease of the budget of the Consejo Nacional de la Mujer; the State’s failure to implement the recommendation made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
to incorporate domestic work - 90 per cent of which is performed by women - into the national accounts; and public housing plans’ preference to two-parent households, which are discriminatory for families led by women.
4. Views expressed by the State under review on
the outcome and concluding remarks
632. Argentina thanked the various actors who have made it possible for this new mechanism to come to life for their work and efforts, in particular, the President, the Secretariat of the Council and the delegations that worked in the preparation of the guidelines and modalities for the process, the methods to elect the States to be reviewed and the troika members. Argentina also expressed its appreciation to the troika members for Argentina - the delegations of Cameroon, Cuba and Ukraine - for their work and efforts during the review, as well as for the constructive spirit and dialogue on issues under consideration.
633. Argentina thanked OHCHR for Human Rights for its crucial cooperation and support. The inputs provided by the Office, both substantive and logistic, made a significant contribution to the mechanism, in particular, for the consolidation of the practice in the preparation of reports, which include the views and contributions from the treaty monitoring bodies, the special procedures mechanisms and the civil society. The contributions from stakeholders and other actors strengthen the mechanism and should be further supported and consolidated in the near future.
634. Argentina noted that it had also taken due note of the statements and suggestions expressed during the adoption of the final outcome of the review. Argentina reiterated its firm support to the universal periodic review as well as its commitment to continue to work in a constructive way within the framework of the review mechanism in the near future.
Gabon
635. The review of Gabon was held on 5 May 2008, in conformity with all the relevant provisions contained in Council resolution 5/1, and was based on the following documents: the national report submitted by Gabon in accordance with the annex to Council resolution 5/1, paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/GAB/1); the compilation prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/GAB/2); and the summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/GAB/3).
636. At its 18th meeting, on 11 June 2008, the Council considered and adopted the outcome of the review on Gabon (see section C below).
637. The outcome of the review on Gabon is constituted of the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/8/35), together with the views of Gabon concerning the recommendations and/or conclusions, as well as its voluntary commitments and its replies presented before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary to questions or issues that were not sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group.
Share with your friends: |
