Special UN Rapporteurs: Summary Executions and Access to Medication

04/06/2009

The UN Special Rapporteur for Summary, Arbitrary or Extrajudicial Executions, Philip Alston , and the Rapporteur for The Every Person Right to Enjoy the Highest Level Possible of Mental and Physical Health, Anand Grover , presented their reports to the Human Rights Council during the 11ª session, that begun on June 2nd, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lucia Nader, Conectas'  International Relations Coordinator, highlighted on oral speech during the plenary of the Council the high levels of police violence and impunity in Brazil. Besides, reported that the intellectual property rights have represented an obstacle to the access to medications in countries under development, violating the right to health of millions of people.

Anand Grover took over the position of UN Special Rapporteur on August 1st, 2008 and presented the first report analyzing the relation between the right to health and the rights to intellectual property, specially on what concerns to medications (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/11session/A.HRC.11.12_en.pdf). Draw attention to the fact that the implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) did not achieve the declared goals. In fact, it represented an obstacle to the duty to respect, protect and follow through with its obligations due to the right to health, duty assumed by the States in international scenery.

Conectas and ABIA (Brazilian AIDS Inter-disciplinary Association) in their joint speech brought attention to the need of countries to use the flexibilities present on the TRIPS Agreement and to not adopt any TRIPS-plus measurement as a way to promote the right to health. Emphasized as well that the developed countries must respect the countries under development and less developed countries right to adopt necessary measures to preserve public health, without threats of illegitimate retaliations. See the speech video.

The Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, completed a mission to Brazil on November, 2007, when he gathered information about police violence and impunity that resulted on the report presented today to the UN Human Rights Council (http://www.conectas.org/arquivospublicados/A_HRC_11_2_Add_2_Portugues.pdf). On his report, he brought attention to the fact that the murder is not an acceptable technique and has a low level of efficiency on the criminality control and that there is no conflict between everyone´s right to public safety and the right to not be arbitrarily killed by the police. Brazil has the obligation to grant the right to life of all its citizens, which includes the ones suspect of having committed crimes.

Conectas Human Rights and Global Justice remembered on their joint speech the Brazilian Police high level of lethality and, particularly, the problem because the register of homicides committed by police agents are investigated as "autos da resistência" a situation on which the victims conduct is investigated and not the homicide itself. Conectas and Global Justice paid compliments to the UN Rapporteur document and called attention to the importance of his recommendations, that constitute a valuable instrument to break the violence and impunity cycle in Brazil. See the speech video.