UN 'must bar countries that abuse human rights'

February 3, 2006
Ireland Online
Original Source: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=73372108&p=7337z4yx


The latest proposal for a new Human Rights Council calls on the UN General Assembly to elect a 45-nation body taking into account a country’s human rights record – but rights groups warn that offending nations could still gain membership.

The new draft, circulated yesterday by the co-chairs of an assembly committee trying to negotiate a text that would be supported by all 191 UN member states, leaves unresolved the question of whether the new council should be elected by a simple majority or a two-thirds vote.

“Overall we think it’s a significant advance and contains the elements necessary for a stronger council but the key will be achieving the two-thirds vote for election of council members,” said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. “Without the two-thirds vote, the risk is that the worst abusers will continue to be elected.”

US Ambassador John Bolton warned UN members last month that the United Nations cannot play a global leadership role unless it establishes a new council that bars countries abusing human rights.

At a UN summit in September, world leaders agreed to create a new human rights watchdog to replace the current Human Rights Commission, which has been widely criticised as an irrelevant body that is powerless to stamp out abuses because its members include some of the worst offenders and it has no mandate to punish violators. Members in recent years have included Sudan, Libya, Zimbabwe and Cuba.

World leaders attending the summit left the details to the deeply divided General Assembly. 

With the Geneva-based commission scheduled to meet in mid-March, pressure has intensified to reach an agreement this month, but serious differences remain.

The new draft resolution circulated to member states by Panama’s UN Ambassador Ricardo Arias and South Africa’s UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo calls for the 53-member Human Rights Commission to wrap up its work at the March session and go out of existence on June 15. The General Assembly would elect members of the new Human Rights Council on May 9 and it would meet for the first time on June 16.

The informal committee headed by Arias and Kumalo is scheduled to take up the new draft on Monday. A senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said there is no deadline and the UN is hoping a resolution establishing the council will be adopted by consensus.

The size of a new council is an issue, as is its composition and election.

The US wants a maximum of 30 members chosen primarily for their commitment to human rights by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly. Many developing countries want a 53-member council elected by a simple majority.

The new draft calls for a 45-member council elected for three years from all regions, with countries allowed to serve a maximum of two terms. That means the five permanent Security Council members – the US, Russia, China, France and Britain – would not have permanent seats on the council as Bolton proposed last month.

The draft says membership should be open to all countries but declares that “member states shall take into consideration the candidates’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and … whether there are any situations that constitute systematic and gross violations of human rights” in the country.

Under the proposal, every member elected to the council must fully cooperate with the council and be subject to a review of its human rights record during its three-year term. The draft calls for “a universal periodic review” of every country’s human rights obligations “based on objective and reliable information.”

The US has agreed to the concept of “universal periodic review,” but Bolton has said the new council’s priority should be to respond quickly to evidence of gross human rights abuses and adopt resolutions criticising specific countries by a simple majority – not a two-thirds vote.

The latest draft says the council “should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations.” The senior UN official said this would be by a simple majority.