UN Human Rights Commission
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, a commission supervised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is composed of representatives from 53 member states, and meets each year in regular session in March/April for six weeks in Geneva. In January 2003, Libya was elected as chair. In January 2004, Australia took over.
Criticism
The Commission has been repeatedly criticized for its membership. In particular, several of its member countries have dubious human rights records, including some elected as chairs of that body. In May 2001, the United States which had been a member since the establishment of the body in 1947, was ousted from the commission due to unwillingness to recognize the International Court of Justice, but readmitted in 2003.
On May 4, 2004, United States ambassador Sichan Siv walked out of the commission following the uncontested election of Sudan to the commission, calling it an "absurdity", pointing out Sudan's apparent problems with ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region.
"A government that engages in wholesale abuses of its citizens should not be eligible for a seat at the table, especially a country just criticized by the commission," said Joanna Weschler, U.N. delegate for Human Rights Watch, one of 10 advocacy groups that issued a protest statement.
Activist groups have long expressed a concern for the memberships of China, Cuba, and Pakistan, and the past memberships of Algeria, Syria, Lybia, and Vietnam on the commision. These countries have variously been accused of human rights violations, and the concern is that they will work against resolutions on the commission condemning human rights, thus indirectly promoting despotism and domestic repression. Sudanense deputy U.N. ambassador Omar Bashir Manis countered by citing American "atrocities" against Iraqi civilians and the Abu Ghraib scandal in particular. While evidence is clear that some violations occurred, the USA has due process of law to prosecute such violations, which does not exist in many of these countries.
One major consequence of the election of Sudan to the commission is the lack of willingness for some countries to work through the commission. Indeed, on July 30, 2004 it was the United Nations Security Council, not the commission, that passed a resolution threatening Sudan with unspecified sanctions if the situation in the Darfur region did not improve within the next 30 days. The council passed the resolution 13-0, with China and Pakistan abstaining.
