A/HRC/7/32 page 6 13. The South African Human Rights Commission expressed concern that the inclusion in the draft guiding principles of criminal penalties for negligence would deter people from acting to ensure the progressive realization of social and economic rights, highlighting paragraphs 23, 27 and 33. Although the Commission did see a place for criminal sanctions in certain contexts, they might not be the most effective way of advancing the objectives of the draft guiding principles. II. COMMENTS ON THE CONTENT OF THE DRAFT GUIDING PRINCIPLES Preamble 14. The Government of Argentina expressed the view that extreme poverty might be more than just a human condition; it could be the result of socio-historic transformation by means of political action. In spite of the influence of intergovernmental organizations, national and transnational enterprises and non-governmental organizations, only the State or armed groups acting under State consent could be considered as violators of human rights by action or omission. 15. The Government of Costa Rica considered that the definition of poverty in paragraph 1 excludes the concept of “circumstantial poverty”, which is neither continuous nor chronic but temporal and acute. The current definition could only be used if circumstantial poverty were to be definitely excluded from the scope of action of the rights laid out in the draft guiding principles. It was also pointed out that the concepts of extreme and basic poverty as well as social exclusion used in the draft guiding principles were not defined in the text. 16. The Government of Italy suggested emphasizing the linkage between human rights, human development and human security, a view shared by several NGOs.2 In particular, the close relationship between disarmament and development, as laid out in the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, was highlighted. 17. The Government of the Philippines suggested that the phrasing of the paragraph recognizing that “eradication of extreme poverty constitutes a major challenge in the process of globalization” be modified to call not only for decisive action for the eradication of extreme poverty on the national but also on the subnational levels. The Government also indicated that the current definition of poverty does not recognize transient poverty, a phenomenon caused by sudden or temporary dislocation, which may be triggered by calamities and shocks, both natural and man-made, leading to a loss of employment, livelihood, income and assets, thereby rendering a family extremely poor. 18. The independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty stressed the need for a working definition of extreme poverty, so that indicators could be established and the situation with regard to extreme poverty as a human rights violation monitored. The former 2 Human Rights Centre of the University of Padova, Associazione ONG Italiane, Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights and Volontari Nel Mondo - FOCSIV.