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[27 January 2010] - The Human Rights Council is in session to discuss "The Support of the Human Rights Council to the Recovery Process in Haiti after the Earthquake of 12 January 2010: a Human Rights Approach." Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaking on behalf of High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay who was unwell, expressed solidarity with the victims of the disaster. The bravery and mutual solidarity in the face of immense tragedy was heartening, she said. The earthquake not only exacted a massive toll in lives and livelihoods, but also destroyed infrastructure. The effects have been further exacerbated by previous conditions of poverty, instability, and weak institutions. International organisations and the international community has pledged to help Haiti beyond immediate relief efforts to sustain effective development policies, bolster good governance, and improve access to good services, and for this, initiatives must to be anchored in human rights, ensuring that the root causes of vulnerabilities - namely poverty and discrimination - could be addressed. The paramount goal must be to ensure that Haitian people achieved their rights in full, and this should not be postponed until more favourable conditions prevailed. It must be made part and parcel of the action undertaken right now. World's attention returns to Haiti A representative of Haiti, speaking as the concerned country, said that the country was now at its lowest ebb but it took comfort from the major international drive and generosity that would be forever embedded in its memory. Now, the world must again turn its attention to Haiti to create a genuine plan to support it in coping with natural disasters and helping its people access food, water, work, a healthy environment and to improve lifestyles and remove them from the shackles of poverty. The recent earthquake had come as a blow to Haiti's economic and social rights that were precarious even before the disaster struck. It had destroyed many official buildings, taking with it files and archives that were the backbone of Haiti's national life. Celso Amorim, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, said in today's globalised world, the destruction of Port-au-Prince and other Haitian cities could not be seen as anything but a tragedy for humanity as a whole. The disaster is certainly a major challenge to the international community's ability to help rebuild a devastated country in a way that preserves its sovereignty while also setting the conditions for a sustained cycle of social and economic development with greater security, democracy, and full enjoyment of human rights. The protection and promotion of all human rights- economic, political, social, civil, cultural and the right to development- should also be mainstreamed in relief and reconstruction efforts. Michel Forst, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, said no one could have imagined the scale of such a catastrophe in Haiti. Although the immediate priority is humanitarian assistance, human rights should not be eclipsed. The most vulnerable people are also the most fragile including women, children, internally displaced people and the elderly. Poverty was a violation of human rights. Emphasising that human rights issues must be at the heart of discussions, he said the Human Rights Council is the best place to deliver points in that regard. Progress had been made on civil and political rights. The Human Rights Council should meet in one year to see how far human rights in the reconstruction process had been implemented. Read the full article here. The Special Session on Haiti is the Human Rights Council's 13th Special Session. Read reports from previous Sessions on CRIN's UN Human Rights Council news page.
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