Credibility of UN rights body tested

GENEVA, March 14 (AFP) — The United Nations’ human rights chief, weathering heavy criticism of a body that itself contains many rights abusers, acknowledged the world has “fallen short” in protecting civil liberties.

A Sudanese girl is embraced by her sister at Abushouk camp near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, November 23, 2004.(Reuters).

Opening the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission, Louise Arbour added that UN member countries were too selective in responding to rights abuses.

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the meeting of the 53-nation forum, which was scheduled to continue until April 22, was a “do or die” test of the credibility of the commission.

They said half the members of the commission, which is meant to scrutinize respect for fundamental freedoms and condemn abuse such as torture and disappearances, were themselves human rights abusers.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez-Cuadros said the commission should be scrapped and replaced by independent experts. At present, he said, member states were both judges and parties to disputes leading to “the selectiveness or the political use of human rights.”

Peru, however, is lambasted by Human Rights Watch in its 2005 world report for abuses, such as unjustifiable use of lethal force by police, torture and inhumane prison conditions, and physical attacks on journalists.

On the issue of torture, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the practice could not be justified under any circumstances, including the fight against terrorism.

“Our societies based on law should not lower their standards to combat evil with evil,” he said.

In a perceived reference to the United States, Arbour said that she was “particularly concerned to see that certain long established rights, such as the right not be tortured, are now the subject of unprecedented reinterpretation”.

The United States has been accused by human rights groups of the torture of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and at a US military base in Cuba.

Asselborn also appealed for “at least” a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its eventual total abolition.

Sudan, which was re-elected to the human rights commission this year, warned countries against criticism of its actions in the Darfur region of western Sudan, where many gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity have been reported.

“Unmeasured, uneven and unbalanced pressure and signals have exacerbated the already volatile situation in Darfur,” Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Yassine said, urging other countries to “give peace in the Sudan a positive environment in which to take root.”

But Arbour begged to differ, saying the international community had failed in Darfur, where “mass violations of human rights” were being perpetrated.

“Our response to that human rights crisis falls very short (…) of our responsibility to the most vulnerable,” she added.

In general, Arbour said, “Our approach to human rights diplomacy remains unsatisfactory. It is sporadic and selective. The commission must take the lead in developing more effective approaches.

“So far, we have fallen short in the task of implementing human rights. We readily give the impression of viewing declarations as our final destination.”

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said “Clearly one of the major problems of the commission has been the fact that many of its members act not to promote the purposes of the commission, but to undermine sincere efforts to promote human rights.”