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Some of the world's most
repressive countries recycled into new Human
Rights Council
Reporters
Without Borders,
May 10, 2006.
Last night's election of 10 of the world's
worst violators of free expression - Algeria,
Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia
- to be members of the UN's new Human Rights
Council was called a "scandal"
today by Reporters Without Borders.
"It is outrageous that 10 countries
that violate the rights of journalists and
free expression on a massive scale should
have been chosen to ensure that human rights
are protected throughout the world - we
foresee nothing good coming from this council,"
the press freedom organisation said.
"There is no difference between the
composition of the former Human Rights Commission
- whose work was unanimously condemned by
NGOs, and by many countries as well - and
that of the new council," Reporters
Without Borders said. "They have taken
the same countries and started over. What
is more, seven of these 10 countries have
been elected for three-year terms, the longest
envisaged under the council's rules, terms
that can be renewed once. So the reforms
adopted by the United Nations are clearly
insufficient. The UN will not guarantee
respect for human rights in the world in
the future any more than it has in the past."
The organisation said the system of regional
quotas and vote by a simple majority were
responsible for the planet's most repressive
countries being elected to the council,
which will meet for the first time on 19
June.
"What a victory for them, and what
a defeat for the United Nations," the
organisation said. "We are deeply disappointed,
even if the result is not surprising. We
had already voiced our concern last week
about the candidacies of certain countries."
Reporters Without Borders continued: "Our
only hope now is that the other countries
elected to the council that respect free
expression - such as Canada, Czech Republic,
Finland, Germany, Japan, Mali, Mauritius,
Switzerland and United Kingdom - will use
their influence to prevent the council from
discrediting itself as soon as it takes
office."
The organisation added: "On the eve
of the election, UN secretary-general Kofi
Annan had warned that it would depend on
the member countries 'whether the council
really is a spectacular improvement or simply
continues the practices of the old commission
under a new name.' Today we have the answer.
This election was one more lost chance."
The wheeling and dealing customary during
elections for the former commission were
again in evidence yesterday. Kenya, which
was the 14th candidate in the African group,
pulled out at the last moment with the result
that all of the other 13 candidates for
the 13 African seats were elected automatically.
Meanwhile, 17 of the countries elected to
the council are members of the Organisation
of the Islamic Conference.
"Regional, cultural and religious
solidarity and alliances were much more
decisive in the election of the council's
members than their commitment to protect
human rights," Reporters Without Borders
concluded. "And let us add a final,
disturbing figure: about 90 per cent of
the capital punishments carried out worldwide
last year took place in single country that
is a member of the new council."
China and Cuba are the world's two biggest
prisons for the press. Censorship is the
rule in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, where
journalists are exposed to harsh reprisals
if they overstep the mark. In Russia, the
Kremlin has already taken over the leading
news media, starting with the TV stations.
There is almost daily violence against journalists
in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan. Dozens
of journalists are in constant risk of imprisonment
in Algeria, where the most critical media
are repeatedly prosecuted. The murders of
two journalists in Azerbaijan in 2005 remain
unpunished.
The list of countries elected to the Human
Rights Council and the length of their terms
(determined by lottery):
African States: Algeria (1 year), Cameroon
(3 years), Djibouti (3 years), Gabon (2
years), Ghana (2 years), Mali (2 years),
Mauritius (3 years), Morocco (1 year), Nigeria
(3 years), Senegal (3 years), South Africa
(1 year), Tunisia (1 year) and Zambia (2
years).
Asian States: Bahrain (1 year), Bangladesh
(3 years), China (3 years), India (1 year),
Indonesia (1 year), Japan (2 years), Jordan
(3 years), Malaysia (3 years), Pakistan
(2 years), Philippines (1 year), Republic
of Korea (2 years), Saudi Arabia (3 years)
and Sri Lanka (2 years).
Eastern European States: Azerbaijan (3
years), Czech Republic (1 year), Poland
(1 year), Romania (2 years), Russian Federation
(3 years) and Ukraine (2 years).
Latin American & Caribbean States:
Argentina (1 year), Brazil (2 years), Cuba
(3 years), Ecuador (1 year), Guatemala (2
years), Mexico (3 years), Peru (2 years)
and Uruguay (3 years).
Western European & Other States: Canada
(3 years), Finland (1 year), France (2 years),
Germany (3 years), Netherlands (1 year),
Switzerland (3 years) and United Kingdom
(2 years).
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