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Debate
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A new chance for human rights
04/2006 |
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[ Comment ]
A new chance for human rights
In March, the UN General Assembly voted for a new Human Rights Council to replace the much-criticised Human Rights Commission.
The USA voted against it, arguing that the original proposal by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had been watered-down too much during
the year-long discussions. But if member states make serious use of the new body, it will significantly strengthen the UN’s human
rights regime.
[ By Lotte Leicht ]
In April 2005, Kofi Annan, did what was once unthinkable: He told the UN Commission on Human Rights that the best way to improve it
was simply to throw it away and start from scratch.
One year later, on 15 March, the UN General Assembly voted for a new Human Rights Council, which represents a significant improvement
over the existing Commission. Election to the council will now require an affirmative vote by an absolute majority of the 191 members of
the United Nations – that is, 96 positive votes. This requirement should enable human rights support- ers to block states that severely violate
human rights. Furthermore, new Council members must pledge to uphold the highest human rights standards, subject themselves to review of
their human rights record during their term on the council. Moreover, they can be suspended for gross violations.
The council will meet at least three times a year for ten weeks – an improvement on the commission’s single annual six-week
meeting – with a right for one-third of the council members to call additional sessions “when needed”. The old commission’s system
of independent “special rapporteurs” and other procedures, which is one of the great strengths of the UN human rights system, will
be retained, as will the tradition of access for human rights NGOs.
Members of the council are committed to cooperate with the council – an improvement on current practice, in which some members of
the commission refuse to grant full access to UN human rights investigators. The right of the council to address serious human rights
situations through country-specific resolutions is reaffirmed. A new universal review procedure will scrutinise the records of even
the most powerful countries – an important step toward redressing the double standards that the commission was often accused of applying.
But although the creation of a Human Rights Council is an important step forward we are only at the very beginning. Countries must
make the new body as effective as possible by electing members that, in practice, promote and protect human rights and by utilising the
new standards and procedures built into the resolution. Hopefully, the intense focus on membership during the five months of negotiations
will change perceptions, so that membership is seen as a privilege, not a right, that will depend on proven respect for human rights.
The challenge is for UN member states to ensure that elections to the council, slated for 9 May, deliver the best possible candidates from
each region of the world. Regional groups should present their nominations to the council at least 30 days prior to election to allow for
public scrutiny of their human rights records. And they should present more candidates than spots on their slates so that governments
have a real choice.
Candidates must commit themselves to cooperate fully with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council by granting unimpeded access
to UN human rights investigators. They also have to set forth a concrete and positive human rights agenda at home and for service
on the council.
Once elected, the new council will have to address the worst human rights situations in the world regardless of political considerations,
including by convening emergency sessions to ensure a timely and effective response. In addition, it must develop an effective universal
review procedure that will provide neutral, objective scrutiny of the human rights records of all countries in the world – starting
with council members – and make robust recommendations.
While the new council marks a historic step towards enhanced human rights protection within the UN system, it has problems and is
less than ideal. But it can be made to work if the governments of the world show the necessary commitment. The ball is now in their court.
Lotte Leicht
heads the European Union office of Human Rights Watch in Brussels.
leichtl@hrw.org
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