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UN: Rights Council Should Tackle Crises Worldwide

10 Sep 2007 17:19:39 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch

(Geneva, September 10, 2007) – The Human Rights Council should actively address serious human rights abuses in countries across the globe, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. The council began the first session of its second year today in Geneva. "The council's second year should be much more than a continuation of its first disappointing 12 months," said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Continuing to ignore grave human rights abuses in places like Burma and Somalia is unacceptable."

In its first year, the council's work was dominated by the "institution-building" process of creating new structures and procedures. In the face of serious human rights abuses worldwide, the council took action on only three: Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Darfur. While each of those situations warranted the attention of the UN's premier human rights body, the council's failure to take up more than two dozen situations worthy of its attention has created a substantial backlog of work which must now be addressed. (See "More Business than Usual: The Work which Awaits the Human Rights Council").

The council will not have far to look to find additional situations on which action is required. Human Rights Watch's paper profiles 10 more countries facing human rights crises: Burma, Burundi, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. In each of these locations, the council has the ability to make a difference by not only recognizing the ongoing abuses, but by engaging to strengthen human rights protections, as it has already on Darfur.

For example, the council should discuss Sri Lanka, where the resumption of major fighting in the two-decades-long civil war has placed hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk. Drawing on the experience of other countries that have faced such conflicts, the council should consider proposals for deployment of a human rights monitoring mission to conflict areas.

The council's agenda expressly includes an item for discussion of "Human rights situations that require the Council's attention," but only a half-day of the three-week session has been allotted for that item, which includes the council's follow-up discussions on Darfur. The council's agenda also provides specifically for discussion of "human rights situation in Palestine and the other occupied Arab territories," and a half-day has been set aside for that item as well.

During this session, the council will assess the mandates of experts appointed to address the situations in Burundi, DRC, Sudan and Haiti. This will provide the council with an opportunity to discuss ongoing serious human rights abuses in those four countries. However, media reports point to possible attempts to cut back the HRC's work by discontinuing the mandates of these experts.

"Talk of ending the mandates of country experts shows a troubling lack of vision," Hicks said. "The council's role may need to change as situations evolve, but no one can doubt that countries like Burundi, DRC, Haiti and Sudan continue to warrant the council's attention."

On a more positive note, the council is also scheduled to look at gender perspectives in its work. This session provides an important opportunity to help ensure that gender is integrated into the council's work, and provides a foundation for additional discussions of gender integration and the human rights of women at future council sessions.

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Last updated:Mon Sep 10 17:22:10 2007