EU Backs Proposal for New Rights Council

By Edith M. Lederer
March 1, 2006
The Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102716.html

UNITED NATIONS -- The European Union gave its backing Wednesday night to a proposal to create a U.N. Human Rights Council, a move leaving the United States isolated from some of its closest allies in its opposition to the new body.
Opposition to the proposed council, which would replace the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission, put the U.S. on a collision course with supporters including many U.N. member states, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, key human rights groups, a dozen Nobel peace laureates and now the European Union.
A brief EU statement said the 25-nation body believes the proposal meets the basic requirements for the establishment of a Human Rights Council.
General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, who authored the proposal, told The Associated Press the EU's backing was very good news.
I'm very grateful for this support, and I hope we will move closer to taking a decision on this important matter, he said.
The United States announced Monday that it would vote against the council unless Eliasson's draft was renegotiated to correct what it views as serious deficiencies.
Richard Grenell, a spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, reiterated the U.S. opposition Wednesday night.
The Human Rights Commission has been criticized for allowing some of the worst rights abusers to use their membership to protect one another from condemnation, or to criticize others. In recent years, commission members have included Sudan, Libya, Zimbabwe and Cuba.
The U.S. had lobbied for a permanent Human Rights Council of 30 members chosen primarily for their commitment to human rights by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly. The U.S. believes that structure would help keep human rights abusers off the council.
Under the new proposal, the 53-member Human Rights Commission would be replaced by a 47-member Human Rights Council that would be elected by a majority of all the 191 members of the General Assembly, presumably making it easier for rights offenders to be elected to membership.
The United States made its decision not to support the current draft based on the principle that we should not compromise when talking about human rights, Grenell said.
Eliasson said he is still hoping to unite all member states behind a resolution that would establish the new council before the commission meets in Geneva on March 13.
He stressed that the draft would require every council member to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights and have their human rights record reviewed during their three-year term.
The proposal also contains provisions to allow members to call special sessions to deal with human rights emergencies, and to suspend a member for gross and systematic rights violations.
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said earlier Wednesday that adopting a text without United States support isn't good for human rights and not particularly good for the council.
The EU statement said it fully supports Eliasson's efforts to secure the broadest possible backing for the early establishment of the Human Rights Council.