UNPO - The UN GA Debate over the Human Rights Council Resolution (Part 1)

On 15 March 2006 United Nations Member States overwhelmingly approved the establishment of a new Human Rights Council, aimed at strengthening the world body’s machinery to promote and protect fundamental rights, and deal with major human rights offenders. Adopting a resolution by a recorded vote of 170 in favour to 4 against (Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, United States), with 3 abstentions (Belarus, Iran, Venezuela), the General Assembly decided to set up the new Council to replace the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights, which has come under fire for excessive politicization. (For details of the vote, see Annex.)

Over objections from the United States that the resolution did not go far enough to exclude some of the world’s worst human rights abusers from membership in the new body, the 191-member Assembly approved the text, which decided “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights, fully cooperate with the Council, and be reviewed under the universal periodic review mechanism, during their term of membership”.

The resolution calls for the election of new Council members on 9 May 2006, and an inaugural meeting on 19 June. The Commission, which postponed its annual meeting earlier this week, awaiting a decision on the new Council in New York, will be abolished on June 16. The 47 members would be individually elected by an absolute majority of 96 votes of the General Assembly’s members. If the Council members failed to uphold high human rights standards, they could be suspended by a two-thirds majority vote by Assembly members present at the meeting.

Presenting the text to the world’s nations, Assembly President Jan Eliasson of Sweden, who led the final days of the contentious, months-long negotiations, called today’s session a “decisive moment”, not only for human rights, but for the standing of the United Nations as a whole. “Today, we stand ready to witness a new beginning for the promotion and protection of human rights,” he said. By adopting the draft, a body would be established, which would be based on dialogue and cooperation; be principled, effective and fair; and whose members would uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.

But, when the applause that met the adoption of the text faded in the Assembly Hall, United States Ambassador John Bolton warned: It should not ever be said that the United Nations Member States were willing to “settle for good enough, for a compromise, for merely the best we could do”, rather than for [a Council] that ensured that Governments were doing all they could to promote human rights.

In focusing on membership of the new body, the United States had been in excellent company, as the Secretary-General had also targeted that as the fundamental problem with the existing Commission. Too many countries sought membership to protect themselves against criticism, or to criticize others, he said, and absent assurance of a credible membership, he had insufficient confidence in the text; he could not say that the new body would be better than its predecessor. Nevertheless, the United States would do everything possible to make the Human Rights Council as strong as it could be, he said.

Before action was taken on the resolution, Cuban Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz declared that the decision to establish the new Council had been driven by the need to end the “huge discredit”, which had befallen the Commission, due to the “political manipulation, hypocrisy and double standards imposed on its work by the United States and the European Union”. The current draft was by no means a sufficient response to addressing that challenge. Indeed, nothing in the creation of the new Council would prevent a repeat of the tradition of manoeuvring by the powers of the North, to unjustly condemn third world countries.

Cuba had been hoping for the establishment of a body that contributed to strengthening the international system of promoting and protecting human rights, through genuine cooperation, but the United States and its allies had insisted on making the “punitive and sanctioning” approach prevail, this time evinced by a provision in the text, which allowed for the suspension of the rights of those who questioned, interfered, or just disagreed, with the “hegemonic domination plans of the Empire”.

Ambassador Peter Maurer of Switzerland said the resolution was a “good compromise”, which created an institution with greater legitimacy, in that members would not only be more carefully selected, but they must also cooperate with the Council, and undertake voluntary commitments. It also created a framework for a “fresh start”, for exploring new forms of engagement, and provided an opportunity to build trust, by addressing human rights in a spirit of fairness, equal treatment and avoidance of double standards, and “it is our sincere hope that we will not fall back into old patterns of behaviour”, he said.

“We do not share the intransigent and maximalist approaches of certain delegations, who want to make us believe that they are the only ones fighting for ambitious human rights machinery. All too often, high ambitions are cover-ups for less noble aims and oriented, not at improving the United Nations, but at belittling and weakening it.” He stressed that the adoption of the resolution was an important strategic achievement for the overall United Nations reform process, adding “Indeed, change is a process, not an event”.

After the last Member State took the floor, Assembly President Eliasson said: “We need to move ahead, now. The development issues are out there, the poverty, disease and underdevelopment are still out there”. And many had been waiting for the moment to get to work on other important issues, including those on United Nations reform agenda, as well as other measures agreed by world leaders at the United Nations 2005 Summit this past September, such as reform of the Economic and Social Council and the Organization’s management practices.

Also explaining his position before the vote was the representative of Venezuela. Explanations of vote after the adoption of the text were also made by the representatives of Mexico, Austria (on behalf of the European Union), Norway, Chile, Yemen (on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference), Singapore, Viet Nam, South Africa (on behalf of the African Group), the Sudan, Argentina, Liechtenstein, Syria, Japan, Russian Federation, Egypt, Israel, Indonesia, Algeria, Morocco, Malaysia, Iceland, Iran, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (on behalf of the Caribbean Community), Kenya, China, Brazil (on behalf of Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay), New Zealand (also on behalf of Canada and Australia), Timor-Leste, India, Pakistan, Monaco (also on behalf of Andorra and San Marino), Peru, Sao Tome and Principe (on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-speaking countries) and Georgia.

Wrapping up the Assembly’s work today, Mr. ELIASSON said that he had listened intensely to the round of interventions, and had found that, indeed, this was a very important and, as some had said, a historic moment. The exercise had also been an important opportunity for all delegations to listen to each other express their hopes, aspirations and dreams in the area of human rights. The statements and opinions should be seen as contributions to the newly established Human Rights Council, he said, expressing the hope that the Assembly would continue to work in a positive spirit, to better promote human development and dialogue, as well as the protection of human rights.

Indeed, the human dimension was at the core of much of the work of the United Nations, and the Assembly today had moved to elevate that dimension. “Let us now go to work”, he said, adding that the negotiation process had been a “long and arduous road”, and he was pleased that all delegations had appreciated the work that had gone into the talks from which the resolution had emerged. But, now, “we need to move ahead, the development issues are out there, the poverty, disease and underdevelopment are still out there”. And, many had been waiting for the moment to get to work on other important issues, including those on the United Nations reform agenda, pertaining to the Economic and Social Council and the Organization’s Management practices.

But, nevertheless, he told the Assembly, that to come to today’s decision, with the world facing such turmoil, had been a particular achievement. That Member States could lift themselves over that turmoil and over their national perspectives, to take on an international perspective -- that the global human rights machinery needed to be strengthened –- was a testament to the power of cooperation and dialogue. Indeed, such cooperation and dialogue must always guide the work, so the Organization could move forward together. The Assembly today had underlined the power of the word “together”, he said.