From DEBRA@oln.comlink.apc.orgFri Sep 8 09:15:42 1995 Date: Thu, 07 Sep 1995 10:35:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: WCW: Mrs. Clinton, Dr. Sadik make tough speeches [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## Original in: /HRNET/WOMEN ## author : theearthtime@igc.apc.org ## date : 05.09.95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mrs. Clinton, Dr. Sadik make tough speeches By Jack Freeman Earth Times News Service BEIJING--In an eagerly-awaited speech Tuesday before delegates at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a tough condemnation of violations of human rights--including the obstruction of rights of women to attend international conferences. "It is indefensible," the US First Lady said, "that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this Conference have not been able to attend--or have been prohibited from fully taking part." Freedom, she said, "means the right of people to assembly, organize and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions." Another strong speech, delivered by Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, denounced involuntary family planning practices. "Any form of coercion is completely unacceptable, on practical as well as well as ethical grounds," Dr. Sadik told the plenary. "Coercion is a violation of human rights. Although it is every country's sovereign right to determine its own policy, that right does not extend to coercion." She also said it was also unacceptable "for anyone who claims to support the process in which we are involved to pay lip-service to the importance of women's varied roles in the family and society--if they go on to ignore or downplay reproductive health and reproductive rights." Earlier yesterday, Hillary Clinton's arrival in China drew large crowds at the Beijing International Convention Center, where she had a packed schedule of speeches. Dressed in a pink suit with gold jewelry, Clinton smilingly went from event to event, surrounded by grim security personnel. Although her face suggested fatigue from her long jet journey from Washington, she was clearly elated at being able to attend sessions relating to the Women's Conference. Among the events she addressed was a panel sponsored by the World Health Organization, where the actress- activist Jane Fonda was seen applauding vigorously. In her speech before Conference delegates, Clinton said: "I believe that on the eve of a new millennium, it is time to break our silence. It is time to say here in Beijing, and the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights. These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today," she added, "there are those who are trying to silence our words. The voices of this Conference and of the women at Huairou must be heard loudly and clearly." "It is a violation of human rights," she said--emphasizing the word "human"--"when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will." Her address was listed in the program as a "special event" preceding the afternoon Plenary session, and the only other person who shared the dais with her was Conference Secretary General Gertrude Mongella, who introduced her. Later in the day, Nafis Sadik spoke to Conference delegates and said that "no one has the right to impose reproductive decisions" on women. She added: "It is 20 years since it was enunciated that all couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children, and to have the information and the means to do so Our generation has the power to make the right a reality." She called on women to be courageous in speaking out. "We must not bend under the weight of spurious arguments invoking culture or traditional values," she said. "No value worth the name supports the oppression and enslavement of women. The function of culture and tradition is to provide a framework for human well-being. If they are used against us, we will reject them, and move on. We will not allow ourselves to be silenced."