Thursday, April 01, 2004

State Of U.N. Rights Commission Debated At Washington Forum

WASHINGTON - By the time Libya chaired the U.N. Human Rights Commission a year ago, the commission had turned from a family restaurant, where members could discuss issues civilly, into a "biker bar," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner said yesterday at an American Enterprise Institute forum.

"We are trying to turn it into a nice family restaurant where you could discuss the issues," Craner said at the panel session, "The U.N. Human Rights Commission: Can It Be Rescued?," part of the AEI-hosted series "United No More?"

"Libya . is a state that is not among the most punctilious in its respect for human rights," said event moderator and AEI resident scholar Joshua Muravchik. This year, "things are much better . the chairmanship having passed from Libya to Australia," he said.

Australian envoy Mike Smith is at the helm of the 60th session of the commission currently being held in Geneva. According to Jeannie Henderson, first secretary at the Australian Embassy in Washington, Smith is "running a tight ship" to ensure that this year's commission is productive.

The commission was least productive in 2002, according to an article by Muravchik, after the U.S. lost its seat on the body the previous May during regional group voting. The United States is in the "Western Europe and others" regional group. It was the first time since the commission's creation in 1947 that the United States was not on the commission. After the commission's 2002 session, the United States was voted back on the panel.

Muravchik said the European Union orchestrated the ouster of the United States from the commission to punish the U.S. government for its "unilateralism" following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and for its refusal to endorse the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court. Many U.S. officials at the time believed the commission had descended so low that it was not worthwhile for the United States to rejoin, Craner said.

This paints the "stark reality of what happens when democracies fail to stick together," noted Human Rights Watch Advocacy Director Tom Malinowski. "Then the Iraqs win . the Sudans win . the Libyas win," he said.

The commission matters to the "bad guys," according to Malinowski. If the United States decided to give up on the commission, "there would be champagne toast in Libya and China," he said.

The election of Libyan Ambassador Najat al-Hajjaji to chair the 2003 commission was hotly contested by Human Rights Watch, Canada and the United States. This year al-Hajjaji criticized the commission's Cold War legacy of "naming and shaming" human rights violators. "The world has changed, we really have to make some reform . and try to help countries to promote human rights, not to deal with them through naming and shaming," she said.

Yet "naming and shaming" human rights violators is the definitive work of the commission, according to Malinowski. Even dictatorships care about their reputation, and the commission shines a light on them, he said.

Malinowski recommended the commission membership be limited to those countries that cooperate with the "instruments" of the commission. He urged democratic nations in places like Africa to push for membership to the commission and form "like-minded groups" among democracies, in order to counter alliances between non-democratic nations.

Craner accused the anti-Israel blocks within the commission of ganging up on Israel by proposing as many as eight resolutions against the nation every year. "North Korea, which has the worst human rights record in the world, didn't get its own resolution until last year . there is obviously something wrong with that," he said.

Since there are more democracies around the world now than at any other time, there should be more potential for cooperation among democratic states, said Alison Kelly, political counselor at Ireland's Embassy in Washington. However, "we should not assume in our view that all democracies share the same priorities, nor that they approach the issue of human rights the same way," she said, urging the commission to recognize the "diversity of approaches."

Craner insisted he was not "one of those who think that the commission should be made purely of democracies." The commission's descent into its present sad state, however, happened when countries like China, Cuba and Iran were voted onto the commission, he said. "Right now those types of countries occupy about 40 percent of the seats [in the commission]," he said.

The 2003 Freedom House global survey, Freedom in the World, gave Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tibet, which is controlled by China, some of the lowest ratings among 49 nations considered "Not Free." Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and China are currently among the commission's 53 members.

Returning to Craner's earlier analogy, Malinowski said, "If it's 40 percent hell's angels, then it's 60 percent family values. If 60 percent of those countries voted and then worked together, we wouldn't have this problem."

Originally published in U.N. Wire.