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Summary: An international coalition of 38 human rights groups today urged the UN to prevent abusive regimes from joining its Human Rights Council, the emerging body slated to replace the largely discredited Human Rights Commission.
[GENEVA, 22 November 2005] - An international coalition of human rights groups today urged the UN to prevent abusive regimes from joining its Human Rights Council, the emerging body slated to replace the largely discredited Human Rights Commission. The Commission, whose lack of credibility was candidly acknowledged this year by Kofi Annan, convened in Geneva today for a special joint session with Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly, and the Peruvian and Panamanian Ambassadors to the UN, who together head the multilateral reform talks underway in New York. The gathering of states and non-governmental organizations discussed Eliasson's November 3rd blueprint for the new Human Rights Council, and heard several proposals. "States seeking election to the Human Rights Council should be required to demonstrate, in the word of the Secretary-General, 'a solid record of commitment to the highest human rights standards,'" said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, while testifying on behalf of 38 international human rights groups. Under the current system, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan are regular members of the 53-nation Commission. The NGO coalition also proposed that:
"The UN World Summit in September resolved to create a Human Rights Council, but then held back on adopting the substance of Annan's positive proposals," said Neuer. "With Eliasson rightly aiming for a December target to put flesh on the Council skeleton, repressive regimes are rallying to impede any real reform. Quite literally, the devil is now in the details." * * * JOINT NGO STATEMENT African Services Committee COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, 61ST SESSION INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A Civil Society Proposal for the Human Rights Council Mr. Chairperson, I make this statement on behalf of UN Watch, along with the Arab Organization for Human Rights, the African Services Committee, Freedom House, the Transnational Radical Party, the World Federalist Movement, World YWCA, and 31 other NGOs, representing a broad and diverse spectrum of international civil society. The Secretary-General shared the conclusions of the High Level Panel and many others in finding that the Commission was terminally infected by politicization and selectivity. "We have reached a point," he said, "at which the Commission's declining credibility has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole, and where piecemeal reforms will not be enough." We agree. Creation of the new Council must be more than a change in name. The UN human rights machinery needs serious and meaningful reform. Accordingly, consistent with the Civil Society statement submitted to the President of the General Assembly on 1 November 2005, and aiming to strengthen the Options Paper of 3 November, we respectfully offer the following proposals concerning the new Council. Status The Council should be elevated to principal organ status within five years, while transitionally serving as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly. Mandate The Council should address any matters relating to the protection and promotion of human rights, including specific situations of gross, systematic, continuing or urgent violations. The Council should be empowered to make recommendations and report on all such matters to member states and bodies within the UN system, including to the Security Council and the General Assembly. Composition States seeking election to the Human Rights Council should be required to demonstrate, in the words of the Secretary-General, "a solid record of commitment to the highest human rights standards"; undertake to cooperate fully with the Council; and put forward a platform describing what they seek to accomplish during their term of membership. Elections Members of the Council should be elected by an individual and direct vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly. Regional groups should be required to put forward more candidates than the number of seats allocated to their region. When establishing membership, due consideration should be given to the contribution of Member States to the protection and promotion of human rights. Methods of Work The Council should be a standing body which meets regularly throughout the year and is able to respond in a timely fashion to any matters involving the protection and promotion of human rights. Meetings of the Council in addition to the regular sessions could be called by one-third of Council members, its Chair, the Secretary-General, or the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Agenda The Council should rationalize the items of its agenda based on the principle that every Member State is entitled to equality before the law. Special Procedures The system of special procedures should be transferred to the Council with enhanced coherence and support, as well as greater participation in Council meetings. NGO Participation The Council should ensure a level of participation by NGOs at least as high as that at the Commission on Human Rights by retaining the existing rules and practices. Conclusion Only by incorporating each of these elements will the Human Rights Council fulfill the UN's promise of reform, and meet the legitimate hopes and expectations of the world's rights-bearing citizens. Failure to secure any of these key and interrelated points would compromise the entire effort. We look forward to continuing to work with the President and the Co-Chairs to support the establishment of an effective, credible, and authoritative Human Rights Council that will genuinely provide help to those who need it. Thank you.
Anglican Consultative Council
Arab Organization for Human Rights
B'nai B'rith International
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Center for Development of International Law
Center for Women's Global Leadership
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (CBJO)
Covenant House/Casa Alianza
Environment Liaison Centre International (ELCI)
Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS)
FIAN International (Foodfirst Information and Action Network)
Freedom House
Forum Maghrebin Pour l'Environnement et le Developpement
International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW)
International Council of Women
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
International Institute of Humanitarian Law
International League for Human Rights
International Multiracial Shared Cultural Organization (IMSCO)
International Volunteerism Organization for Women Education and Development
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
INTERSOS Humanitarian Aid Organization
Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Pax Christi International
Penal Reform International
Socialist International Women
Tarumitra
Transnational Radical Party
UN Watch
United Town Agency for Cooperation Nord-Sud
Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO)
World Association for the School as an Instrument of Peace (EIP)
World Federalist Movement
World Student Christian Federation
World YWCA
GENEVA, 22 NOVEMBER 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL AND THE TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENT
Joint NGO Statement Delivered by Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director, UN Watch
Many of us here today were present in this hall in April when Secretary-General Kofi Annan inspired us with his vision of a new Human Rights Council: a "society of the committed," comprised of member states with "a solid record of commitment to the highest human rights standards."