COLEMAN INTRODUCES SENATE RESOLUTION TO URGE STRONG HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL AT U.N. MN Senator calls for strong reform, strong council to ensure appropriate membership for U.N. body, as well as strong mandate for action
March 3rd, 2006 - Washington, D.C.— - Senator Norm Coleman on Thursday introduced a Senate Resolution with Senators Smith, Voinovich, Coburn, Isakson and Kyl to call for the creation of a strong Human Rights Council at the United Nations. The resolution comes on the heels of a UN plan unveiled last week for the new Human Rights Council to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. Coleman noted that the initial proposal lacks explicit criteria for membership to the Council, would allow the world’s worst human rights violators to serve on it, would reduce U.S. participation, would not address the continuing exclusion of Israel, and overall would arguably result in an even worse human rights entity at the UN. The resolution calls on the U.S. to continue negotiations with the purpose of including provisions in the final proposal that will improve Council membership and a strong mandate for action.
“I introduced the resolution because I believe that we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform this organization - we need to use it wisely instead of squandering it by creating another sham of a human rights entity,” said Coleman. “I support Ambassador Bolton’s efforts to reopen the negotiations and his work to fix the deficiencies in the text of the resolution. The proposal currently on the table cannot be endorsed. Reform needs to be meaningful, not reform for reform’s sake to merely meet a timeline.”
Coleman’s Resolution on the Human Rights Council states the following:
1) The U.S. remains strongly committed to the creation of a new Human Rights Council to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. The proposal for such a Council should work to assure the integrity of its membership as well as provide a strong mandate for action.
2) The U.S. Congress urges the Administration to refrain from supporting any proposal for a Human Rights Council that would result either in only cosmetic changes or changes which would even further degrade the membership and mandate of the current Human Rights Commission. The acceptance of a weak proposal would squander the opportunity that has been generated by the international recognition of the need to replace the current Commission.
3) The U.S. Congress urges our government and other member states to continue with negotiations for the Human Rights Council until an acceptable proposal is arrived at by UN member states. The overall objective of member states should be to create a credible human rights institution and not meet an arbitrary deadline.
“The UN plan unveiled last week for the new Human Rights Council is extremely weak, and arguably will result in an even worse human rights entity at the UN, with a membership consisting of abusers of human rights and potentially no U.S. presence,” continued Coleman. “Such an organization by definition could never fulfill a mandate of promoting human rights and freedom throughout the world.”
Coleman believes a credible Human Rights Council would establish criteria for membership that would serve to exclude the worst human rights abusers; include a provision allowing Israel’s full participation in all operations associated with the Council; establish a human rights review requirement that is tied to a mandatory outcome and takes place prior to elections for membership; exclude any provision that prevents the consecutive election of member states to the Council; and utilize a formula for the distribution of membership among UN member states that gives priority to rights-respecting criteria.