STATEMENT MADE AT 3RD COMMITTEE OF UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia /MONTSAME/ The Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations (UN) O.Och has made a statement at a meeting of the UN General Assembly's 3rd committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee. It was held on October 23 in New York, USA. He introduced the gathered to Mongolian government's policy on protection of human rights and related measures. Mr Och said his delegation welcomes the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the strengthening of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. “We also underline the importance of the consensus resolution extending the intergovernmental process of the General Assembly on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system (66/295),” he noted. “We reaffirm our full support for and remain committed to enable the Human Rights Council to fulfill all aspects of its mandate. We have shown consistent support for the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. Desirous of making an active contribution to the work of the Council, Mongolia has decided to present its candidature to the Human Rights Council for the term 2016-2018 at the election to be held in fall of 2015," he said. The strong commitment of the international community to the protection and promotion of human rights was reaffirmed by the world leaders at the High Level Meeting on the Rule of Law at National and International Levels, which took place last September, he mentioned. "Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented international quest for effective implementation of human rights because effective enjoyment of human rights, real development and prosperity are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. There is an impressive record of accession to and ratification of international human rights instruments, as well as establishment of national human rights machinery by many countries. At the same time, we see weak implementation or reluctance to implement the human rights due to lack of capacity, expertise, democratic deficits and corruption. "These challenges urge the states to implement sound policies at the national level and enhanced cooperation at international level. Concurrently, states concerned need more substantive support from the international community to address these issues through enhanced technical assistance and advisory services aimed at capacity-building and human rights education. "Today, Mongolia is a party to more than 240 multilateral conventions, including international core human rights treaties and conventions lasting the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By ratifying the Second Optional Protocol we are undertaking step-by-step measures to amend the existing legislation with the aim of abolishing the death penalty in law and practice. 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," Mr Och said. "With a view to effectively implement the international treaties on human rights, a special edition of the 'State bulletin' Volume #1, containing all conventions on human rights joined by Mongolia, was published and widely distributed among governmental and non-governmental organizations, including law enforcement agencies. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of Mongolia passed a resolution in 2009 enabling national courts to directly use the international human rights norms and standards contained in the 'State bulletin'. "Moreover, Mongolia attaches great importance to the reporting obligation under human rights treaties. We consider the Universal Periodic Review as a unique mechanism for promoting human rights worldwide. The First National Human rights report of Mongolia was reviewed under the UPR in 2010. The Government of Mongolia is fully committed to implement proposals and recommendations emanated from the Council," he stressed. He reported that Mongolia submitted its 5th Periodic Report on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and presented the Combined 3rd and 4th Periodic Reports on the Committee on the Rights of Child in 2010. Immediately after the UPR of the National Report, Mongolia presented its Initial Report on the Convention against Torture at the 45th session of the Committee against Torture. Moreover, earlier this year, the Government of Mongolia submitted its first report on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. "We are confident that consideration of the report will be instrumental and important measure to advance the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in Mongolia," he said. The Permanent Representative also underlined that protection of women's and children's rights is given priority by the Government of Mongolia. The Government of Mongolia signed an Agreement on the Cooperation to Combat Trafficking in Persons with the Macao Special Administrative Region of PRC, to facilitate better prevention of human trafficking, as well as stronger protection and the smoother return and reintegration of trafficking victims. "Recently, the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Business, an independent group of experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, visited Mongolia to examine the human rights impacts of business activity in Mongolia, and to make recommendations to government, business, and civil society on how to address them. We are grateful to the UN Working Group for its important findings and recommendations which correspond to the Government's policy to provide effective remedy for citizens when their human rights are affected by business activities," he said. In conclusion, Mr Och said he would like to reiterate his Government's commitment to continued cooperation with the UN Human Rights Bodies and other partners. B.Khuder