The Federal Republic of Germany

The issues before the Federal Republic of Germany are:

1. The use of torture and degrading treatment to war prisoners

2. The violation of rights of refugees

The Federal Republic of Germany, as a State Party to all major human rights conventions of the
United Nation and their supplementary protocols and as a country for which the respect for and
development of human rights are a priority of the Government’s policies, expresses its deeply
concern for the alarmingly high number of grave human rights violations and assures the
international community of its engagement to follow all the necessary steps which will allow it to
take assertive action against these violations.
Witnessing the current status of affairs at the international level, characterized by a high degree of
insecurity, the German Government considers that protecting individuals from violations of their
rights and basic freedoms and creating a viable and efficient framework for this will ensure that
suppression, the arbitrary use of power and exploitation no longer have a chance to flourish, in
accordance with the Article 1 of the Basic Law which describes human rights as the basis of
every community, of peace and justice in the world.

1. The use of torture and degrading treatment of war prisoners

The multiplication of conflicts world wide and the current war against terrorism represents a
tragedy not only for those involved but for us all - it entangles suffering, violence, misery and
oppression. War is a great tragedy and the internationally-agreed norms must continue to apply
without restriction. Conflict must not be, under any circumstances, an excuse for flagrant human
rights violations and abuses. War prisoners must not be the subject of such abuses and their
treatment must be based on the United Nations’ “Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment” and its additional documents.

To this respect, the Federal Republic of Germany considers that cooperation at an

international level and with the implication of all actors concerned is essential for
preventing rights violation of war prisoners. This supposes:

 Elaborating a well-establish framework for dealing with rights violations of war

prisoners
 Establishing a monitoring system regarding the situation of war prisoners world –
wide
 Increasing accountability between governments, state actors and international
organizations
2. The violation of rights of refugees

The issue concerning the violation of rights of refugees is one of prime concern for the
international community: although the general trend conveys to a decrease in the number of
refugees, their living condition and the respect or their rights and freedoms is deteriorating.
Therefore, the Federal Republic of Germany considers that providing humanitarian aid is an
imperative in supporting people who are in acute need. The actions undertaken by the German
Government in order to alleviate refugees’ sufferings were accordingly to its guiding principle:
humanitarian aid has to be geared exclusively to meeting the needs created by the emergency and
granted regardless of sex, race, religious conviction, nationality, political convictions or other
criteria.
The German Government is concerned by the situation of the refugees in their country from
which they originate as well in the country where they seek asylum, where they are often the
subject of discriminatory measures. One of the most important challenges that the international
community has to face is the efficient implementation of long term solutions to assure the respect
of the rights of refugees and to provide them with a viable and realistic future perspective.

In order to address these issues, the Federal Government envisages:

 Multilevel solution scheme taking into account the internal and the external dimension
regarding the consequences of the refugee fled
 Strengthening international cooperation
 Building national capacity for receiving and integration of refugees coordinated with the
enhancing the role of the local partners