The United Nations Human Rights Council is broken and increased U.S. influence is necessary to repair the body, said U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) who chaired a hearing today aimed at bringing reform to the UN’s human rights agenda.
“The UN’s human rights machinery remains broken and in need of serious repair and fundamental reform. Victims of abuse throughout the world deserve better than what the UN Human Rights Council has given them and we have an obligation to correct this injustice. It is critical that the US and other human rights defenders act, as quickly as possible, to reverse the direction in which the Council is heading,” said Smith, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations.
“Since the Council’s creation, there has been no condemnation of the systematic use of torture by the People’s Republic of China, no special session on Cuba’s abuse of political prisoners, and no actions against the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. The Council hasn’t even addressed the genocide in Sudan – which if ever a situation called for international intervention – it would be the tragedy in Darfur. Instead, in their inaugural session – and its only two special sessions since – the Council has unfairly and myopically targeted Israel, most recently placing the blame on Israel for the increased violence in the Middle East, with nary a mention of the egregious actions by Hezbollah or Hamas and the role of Iran and Syria in the conflict,” said Smith.
The UN Human Rights Council was created in March of 2006 in response to the generally-recognized failure of the UN’s previous human rights body, the UN Commission on Human Rights. The new Human Rights Council was given the mandate of promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and addressing violations of human rights – including and especially – gross and systematic violations. However, the Council has failed to exercise its mandate in a fair and equal manner, instead allowing itself to follow the biased and narrow agenda of some of the nations that serve on the Council.
The Council initially offered to address one of the leading factors of the previous commission’s downfall, by agreeing to elect members to the body who have proven track record of promoting and protecting human rights. However, in May, the General Assembly proceeded to elect such notorious human rights violators as China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia to seats on the Council.
“The Council could have alleviated some of the skepticism about its ability to promote human rights and address international violations, and do so in a fair and equal manner. However, the election of its members and subsequent activity has only increased cynicism and doubts about their ability to carry out their mandate. We must promote change within the Council to change its course as its current path will render it obsolete, just like its predecessor,” said Smith.
