UN commission urges immediate release of all women, children detained in war

Condemning all violence committed against civilians during war, a United Nations commission has called for the immediate release of women and children taken hostage during armed conflict.

The call came as the Commission on the Status of Women wrapped up its annual session with the adoption of a resolution that also condemned the consequences of hostage-taking, particularly torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, murder, rape, slavery, and trafficking in women and children.

The resolution strongly urged all warring parties to respect international humanitarian law and to protect civilians and to provide safe, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance for those women and children. It stressed both the need to end impunity and the responsibility of all States to prosecute those responsible for war crimes, including hostage-taking.

While that resolution was adopted by consensus, the Commission voted on a measure demanding that Israel comply fully with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention in order to protect the rights of Palestinian women and their families.

That text also called on Israel to facilitate the return of all refugees and displaced Palestinian women and children to their homes and properties. Forty-one countries voted in favour of the resolution, which was opposed by Canada and the United States, while Nicaragua abstained.

Acting by consensus, the Commission adopted a resolution on the AIDS pandemic, urging governments to strengthen initiatives that would increase the capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the provision of health services.

By other resolutions adopted by consensus, the Commission called for reporting on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and for further study of the advisability of designating a UN expert, known as a special rapporteur, to examine laws that discriminate against women.

The 45-member Commission, a subsidiary of the UN Economic and Social Council, meets annually for two weeks with a mandate to promote women’s rights in the political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission also makes recommendations to the Council on urgent problems facing women that require immediate attention.