15-03-2006 - Human Rights Council - Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

New York

Permanent Mission address: 150 East 42 Street, Level 33, New York, New York 10017 - Telephone: 1 212 351 6600 - Fax: 1 212 351 6610

Plenary
15 March 2006

Statement by H.E. Ms Rosemary Banks, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand, on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Human Rights Council

Check against delivery

The establishment today of the Human Rights Council represents a renewed commitment by member states of the United Nations to international human rights standards.

CANZ supported this resolution because we believe that its key elements provide for a more effective international human rights body than the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). These include:

• enhanced status as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly

• a higher threshold for membership, notably through direct and individual election by an absolute majority of members of the General Assembly through secret ballot (rather than unopposed group slates), and a commitment by Council members to uphold the highest standards in the protection and promotion of human rights and submit themselves first to the periodic review that will be conducted of all member states

• a new suspension provision for members of the Council that commit gross and systematic violations of human rights

• the ability to address in either regular or special sessions human rights emergencies when they occur

• the maintenance of the key strengths of the Commission on Human Rights, notably through continued strong engagement of civil society and the use of innovative mechanisms such as the special procedures and national human rights institutions to help translate the rhetorical commitments of members into genuine improvements in human rights on the ground

• the ability of the Council to adjust and improve its operations through a review after five years.

When we set out on these negotiations, we had many hopes for the Council. It has not been possible to reach agreement on all of them.

The Council must avoid the shortcomings of the Commission on Human Rights: the fact that some member states responsible for gross and systematic human rights abuses were elected unopposed on group slates; a stale, repetitive work program that, together with the inherent problems of membership, has too often resulted in weak responses to human rights and humanitarian crises when they occurred; and a lack of flexibility to address issues as they arise through the year.

In light of this, we would have liked the resolution establishing the Council to have contained even stronger thresholds for membership through a two-thirds majority vote and tougher provisions for preventing gross and systematic abusers of human rights being elected to the Council.

To help strengthen the Council’s capacity in this respect, each of the Governments of Canada, Australia and New Zealand individually pledges that, consistent with each Government’s long-standing national policy, it will not vote on to the Council countries where there is objective evidence of gross and systematic violations of human rights, including those that are subject to UN Security Council sanctions for such abuses. We also pledge our efforts to ensure a more robust and balanced agenda and program of work for the new body.

To make a success of the Council will require a conscious commitment to bringing practical improvements to the lives of people far removed from the Council’s location in Geneva. Together we must cultivate a new culture. One which is inclusive, operationally focused and in which there is no place for double standards. The Human Rights Council will be effective if it retains the respect of UN member states and civil society, adopts an equitable and robust program of work, involves the active participation of all UN members and if it has the authority to ensure its voice is heard and listened to by human rights violators. It will be effective if its voice gives hope to those whose rights have been violated.

Negotiations over the past months have been skillfully facilitated by our co-chairs Ambassador Ricardo Arias and Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, and drawn to a successful conclusion by the President of the General Assembly. We thank you for your personal commitment and dedication to this historic task.

We look forward to working with the Council as it embarks on the critically important mission with which it has been entrusted.