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The New Human Rights Council is Launched: Its Implications
20 June 2006
June 19th, 2006 marks the inauguration of the first session of the UN’s new Human Rights Council, which aims to better address human rights violations worldwide.
This 47-member Council replaces the UN Commission on Human Rights, which was widely criticized for its inclusion of member states with poor human rights records.
During the opening ceremony, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the Council’s member states not “…to become caught up in political point-scoring or petty maneuver.” He further cautioned that member states should not “…accept the widely parroted notion that there is a built-in tension, or a necessary trade-off, between freedom and security.”
Since the very beginning, the Council has been overwhelmed with criticism and it does not include the US. The US Congress voted against the Council because it viewed the reforms as insubstantial regarding the need to correct flaws in the form and operation of the former Commission. Also, the US opposed the inclusion of Cuba and other known rights abusers, such as China and Saudi Arabia.
The results of the Council’s member elections on May 9th show that critical hurdles remain. While states with good human rights records won a majority of seats, several states known to have committed violations were also elected. Member states of concern, according to an NGO coalition composed of Freedom House, Democracy Coalition Project, and the Transnational Radical Party, include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and Tunisia.
As a result, according to the NGO coalition, Council’s member states that are also members of the Democracy Caucus are “obligated” to build a strong government coalition to thwart spoilers from deteriorating this new Council. In addition, the NGO group stated that the Democracy Caucus will have to make changes in three main areas: “respond quickly to gross and systematic violations; construct a universal periodic review process which provides an independent and objective assessment of a country's implementation of human rights standards; and ensure continued and improved procedures for consultation with civil society.” The Council for a Community of Democracies actively supports the work of the coalition.
The Council's first meeting, which proceeds through June 30th, seeks only to establish its operating procedures, agenda, and the new universal periodic review mechanism (UPR). The establishment of the UPR system, which investigates the human rights practices of all the 191 member states, will be a significant test for the Council. Other initiatives include expanding NGO participation as well as recognizing and protecting well-known human rights activists living in countries plagued by human rights abuses.
To visit the new HRC website, you can visit: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/
"UN Human Rights Council: Time for Action”
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2060757,00.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3981942.html
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