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U N I T E DN A T ION S U N G A6 1 3'd Committee SITUATION DEMOCMCYAND HUMANRIGHTSIN THE UNITEDSTATES OF OF (A A M E R T CA /C .s/ 6 t / L .4 2 )

E xp l a n a ti o n f Vote on behalfof the Eur opeanUnion o H.E. Ms. Kir sti Lintonen Am bassador P e rma n e n tR e p resentive Finlandto the United Nations of

N e w Yor k, 22 November2006

(checkagainst delivery)

P e r m a n e n tM i s s i o no f F i n l a n dt o t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s 8 6 6 U n i t e d a t i o nP l a z a , u i t e 2 2 ,N e w o r k N . Y1 0 0 1 7 N s S 2 Y , . t e l .+ 1- 2 1 23 5 5 - 2 0 0 .f a x+ I - 2 I 2 - 7 9- 6 1 5 6. h t t p : / / w w wn lfa n d u n , o r q 1 5 i.

M r . C h a i r p e rso n ,

2

I h a v e t he h o n o u r to sp e a k on behalf of the Eur opean Union. The Ac c edi ng C o u n t r i e s B u l g a ri a a n d R o ma nia,the CandidateCountr iesTur key, Cr oatia* anl t h e f o r m e r Y u g o sl a vR e p u b l i c f M acedonia*, Countr ies the Stabilisat i on o the of and As s o c i a t io nP ro ce ssa n d p o te ntial candidatesAlbania, Bosnia and Her zegov i na, M o n t e n e g ro ,S e rb i a ,a n d th e E FTAcountr iesIceland and Nor way, member J of the Eu r o p e a nE co n o mi cA re a , a s w ell as Ukr aine and M oldovaalign themselvesw i th t h i s e x p l an a ti o no f vo te . T h e r e a r e a n u mb e r o f ve ry i mpor tant and ver y ser ioushuman r ights r esoluti ons , i n c l u d i n g o n h u ma n ri g h ts si tuations in specific countr ies, that have to be c o n s i d e r ed b y th i s ye a r's 6 1st session of the UN Gener al Assembly T hi r d C o m m i t t e e .T h i s d ra ft, h o w e ver ,tabled by Belar uson the situationof dem oc r ac y a n d h u m a n ri g h ts i n th e U n i te dStatesof Am er ica,is not one of those r esolu ti ons . M r . C h a i r pe rso n , T h e EU f i rml y b e l i e ve si n th e pr inciplethat it is the gr avity of the hum an r i ghts s i t u a t i o n o n th e g ro u n d th a t should deter m ine whether the Gener al Rss em bl y c o n s i d e r sa d ra ft re so l u ti o no n any countr y. W e also believe,M r , Chair per so n, that t h e c o u n try'sw i l l i n g n e ss n d i ts dem onstr atedeffor ts to addr essthese issuesand a t o e n g a g e i n co n stru cti ved i a l ogue m ust be taken into account. Belar ushas , s o f a r , f a i l e d to e i th e r co o p e ra tefully or to enter into any m eaningfuldialogu ew i th t h e U N ' s hu ma n ri g h ts ma ch i n er y. That is why we fully suppoft the r esoluti onon t h e s i t u a ti o no f h u ma n ri g h ts i n Belar usthat has been tabled by the USA,and that is also why we reject the text that is before you. M r . C h a i r p e rso n , T h e r e s o lu ti o no n B e l a ru s,w h i c h all EU M ember States have cosponsor e d,s a i c r i t i c a l y e t b a l a n ce dte xt, h i g h lightinga ser ies of well docum entedand ser i ous h u m a n r i gh ts vi o l a ti o n sa n d u rging the Gover nmentof Belar usto finally adh er eto i t s i n t e r n ati o n a lo b l i g a ti o n sa n d com m itm ents. For this Gener al Assem bl y ,the r e s o l u t i o no n B e l a ru si s j u st th e latest expr ession the inter national of com m uni ty 's g r o w i n g c o n ce rn a b o u t th e si tuation in that countr y, followingthe r esoluti ons on Be l a r u sa d o p te d b y th e co mmi ssionof Human Rightsin 2oo4 ind 2005. B y c o n t r ast, h o w e ve r, th i s B elar us- sponsor ed esolution on the situati on of r d e m o c r a cya n d h u ma n ri g h ts i n the USA clear ly does not r eflectthe pr incip l e that t h e g r a v i ty o f th e si tu a ti o no n the gr ound is deter minative.It is well known that t h e EU h a s co n ce rn sa b o u t so me of the issuesthat ar e cover edby this text. I n the o n g o i n g d i a l o g u e b e tw e e n th e EU and the USA on human r ights issue s , w e r e g u l a r l y r a i se th e se co n ce rn sand we wor k together to addr essthem. W e al s o welcome the United States' readinessto listen to criticism from the UN's treaty b o d i e s a n d h u ma n ri g h ts me chanism s,not to mention fr om its own vibr an t c i v i l s o c i e t y . A s w i th a l l co u n tri e s,we encour agethe USA to enhanceits cooper ati on
croatia and the former YugoslavRepublic Macedonia of continueto be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process,

as EU countr iesseek to do w i t h t h e s e i mp o rta n t U N h u ma n r ights mechanisms, t h e m s e l v es. M r . C h a i r p e rso n , to the USA's resolutiOnon the It is very obvious that this resolution is a reaction cr ear r yintendedto diver t attenti on h u m a n r i g h ts si tu a ti o ni n B e ra rusitser f,and is fromBela_rus'ownconcerninghumanrightsrecord. dr aft r esor ution,Mr . chair per s on' I f t h e s e we re n o t re a so n se n o ugh against this of this text has also j oi ntl y t w e w o u l d l i ke to re ca l l a s a fi n al- poin-that the.author pur por tsto advocatedialog ueon i t a b r e d a n oth e r re so ru ti o n n th i s comm ittee that T r countr y- specific esor utions . he h u m a n r i gh ts i ssu e s a n d i s h ighly cr iticar of ma-kettl: proposalsis glaring' and inherent contradictionin presentlngthese two berievethat Berarusitself should draft before you even more unten#re. we firmry |iveuptothestandardsexpressedinitsowndocuments. the EU will vote againstthis r esolu ti on' F o r a l l o f th e se re a so n s,Mr. C h air per son,