Anti-racism conference proposed during six-week session.

• Position: United Nations Commission on Human Rights

Six weeks of intense deliberations on the current state of human rights in the world took place at the fifty-first session (30 January-10 March, Geneva) of the UN Commission on Human Rights. In one notable move, the Commission asked the General Assembly to consider convening a world conference against "racism, racial and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia and other related contemporary forms of intolerance". The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism was also asked to make concrete recommendations at national, regional and international levels.

Human rights situations in the crises-torn former Yugoslavia and Rwanda prompted strongly-worded texts on the part of the Commission, which also instituted measures for the continued study of a broad range of specific human rights areas, encompassing indigenous people. women, children, development and others.

New special rapporteurs--on Burundi and on toxic waste dumping in Africa and other developing countries--were called for, as was an independent expert on Haiti. A number of new human rights mechanisms, including units and focal points within the UN Centre for Human Rights, were established.

In all, some 2,000 people participated in the Commission's session. A total of 93 resolutions and 15 decisions were adopted, including texts concerning more than a dozen countries.

Outgoing Commission Chairman Peter P. Van Wulfften Palthe of the Netherlands said that as long as human rights violations continued, the Commission's work had to continue. "The Commission is not for the benefit of delegates or their Governments, rather it is for the millions of victims of human rights violations the world over". The body's ultimate goal--the complete eradication of human rights violations--should never be forgotten.

A `plethora of issues'

New Chairman Musa bin Hitam of Malaysia said the plethora of issues before the Commission required "conscientious and careful deliberations". Members should use their expertise and resources to enhance the body's work.

More than 900 statements were presented, including those by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights lose Ayala Lasso on the deteriorating human rights situation in Burundi, and by the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy.

The Commission, in terminating it consideration of apartheid, congratulated the South African people on having laid the foundations for a new, non-racial, democratic country. A series of resolutions were adopted on human right in the Middle East, including a call for Israel to withdraw from occupied territories.

Delegates also focused attention on follow-up to the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. In his first annual report, High Commissioner Ayala Lasso said progress towards securing human rights for all people worldwide, in cooperation with Governments, national institutions and nongovernmental organizations, would continue to be his principal objective.

Three official statements by the Commission Chairman were approved, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Chechnya, expressed concern over continued reports of human rights violations in East Timor, and commended the Government of Sri Lanka for protecting human rights, while condemning abuses in that country by the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam.

The Commission decided to hold its 1996 session from 18 March to 26 April.

High on the session agenda was consideration of situations in many States and regions, including Afghanistan, Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, Burundi, Cambodia, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa, Myanmar, Rwanda, Sudan, Togo, Western Sahara, the former Yugoslavia and Zaire. Proposed action on China, Nigeria and the United States was not taken.

In reaffirming that regional arrangements "play a fundamental role in promoting and protecting human rights and should reinforce...