UN Creates New Human Rights Council

|TOP|Wednesday saw another victory for humanity as the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to create a new U.N. human rights council, despite the U.S. giving a firm “no” vote.

The U.S. was one of just four countries to vote against the creation of the new council, alongside Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau, against the 170 countries to vote in favour. Belarus, Iran and Venezuela abstained.

The new U.N. Human Rights Council will become the leading international rights watchdog and work to ensure human rights abusers are exposed and that the rights of vulnerable people across the world are safeguarded and respected.

Elections to the new council will be held on May 9. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Bush administration would cooperate with the new watchdog although he added later to reporters that it was still undecided as to whether Washington would also run for a seat in the May elections, reports Reuters.

|AD|"We did not have sufficient confidence in this text to be able to say that the Human Rights Council will be better than its predecessor,” Bolton told a packed General Assembly.

"That said, the United States will work cooperatively with other member states to make the council as strong and effective as it can be."

The “yes” vote did not come without criticisms. The U.S. fears the rules of the new council will not go far enough in preventing rogue states from gaining seats.

The U.S. also pressed for selection to the council to be decided by a two-thirds majority in the general assembly. The new outline of the council agreed upon yesterday, however, made provisions for a simple majority of countries voting.

Meanwhile, developing nations worry that the council will focus on the human rights abuses in poor countries and ignore human rights abuses that result from economic inequality.

The U.N. Human Rights Council, which replaces the Human Rights Commission, is the result of a proposal for a reformed council put forward by U.N. general secretary Kofi Annan last year which was later endorsed by the UN’s 60th anniversary summit in September.

The council will convene for the first time June 16.