UN Criticised for Indecisive Action against World’s Human Rights Abuses

The six-week annual United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) closed on Friday 22nd April amid a widespread criticism from human rights watchdogs of its effectiveness in resolving some of the world’s major human rights abuses.

The largest human rights organisation based in the US, Human Rights Watch (HRW), expressed its disappointment with the outcome of the UNCHR. Joanna Weschler, UN advocacy director for HRW said, "This year's commission was hugely disappointing from its outset."

The last minute resolution regarding the human rights abuses in Sudan passed on Thursday has failed to condemn the Sudanese Khartoum government and its Arab militias by name for atrocities committed in the embattled Darfur region.

The European Union (EU) and the US have compromised in negotiations with the African nations. Instead of identifying the specific government for the continued, widespread and systematic violations in Darfur, the resolution wrote "violations by all parties". In fact, the situation in war-torn Darfur has been called by the UN the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

In addition, several governments, including the European Union, United States, and Canada, announced their intention not to introduce resolutions on some of the world's key human rights violators, such as China, Iran, the Russian Federation in Chechnya, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.

The decisions of the UNCHR has once again sparked the call for a complete reform of the UN body so that it acquires a greater authority to combat the appalling abuses around the world, which was even suggested by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, according to the Associated Press.

Many of the UNCHR’s 53 member states have been criticised for their poor human right records, however these countries have received no penalties even though many other governments have been pushing the agenda hard. Some examples of these countries include China, Cuba, Nepal, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of the HRW sharply pointed out the problem, "The commission has become a refuge for governments like Sudan, which should be in the dock rather than on the top U.N. rights body. The commission must focus on protecting human rights, instead of blocking criticism of members that commit serious rights abuses."

"The selectivity and double standards that characterise the commission's approach to addressing country situations ... have once again shielded from scrutiny and condemnation serious widespread human rights abuses in many other countries," Amnesty International's Peter Splinter echoed, citing Chechnya, China, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Zimbabwe.

Despite the efficiency in implementing proper sanctions on major human rights violator countries, a very important step has been made in this year’s Commission, which is the appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism. The special rapporteur's mandate, to monitor states' compliance with human rights in the way they battle terrorism, was backed by nearly 80 countries, including the US and Russia.

"Even though the commission took some positive steps, overall it was even more timid than in preceding years," Weschler, UN advocacy director for HRW said. "This only confirms the need to replace the commission with a body that would take more decisive action against human rights violations wherever they occur, respond to human rights crises, and be ready to follow up on commitments made by violating countries."

Currently, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to report back by 20th May on possible reforms of the UN body.