HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 GENEVA 001638

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STATE FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM UNHRC
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT


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Summary
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1. UN General Assembly President and Swedish Foreign
Minister Jan Eliasson opened the inaugural session of the
Human Rights Council (June 19-23) with a speech recalling why
the Council was created and the challenges it faced. UN
Secretary General Annan endorsed the adoption of the

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Convention on Enforced Disappearances and the Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The election by
acclamation of the Council's Bureau followed with Mexican
PermRep Luis Alfonso de Alba elected President and the
PermReps of Morocco, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and
Jordan elected Vice Presidents. Jordan was double-hatted as
the Bureau's rapporteur. The High-Level Segment featured
over 100 speakers. Most speeches were noteworthy for their
conciliatory messages of working in a spirit of dialogue and
cooperation. Interspersed with positive messages were,
however, direct calls for the elimination of country
situations from the Council's agenda and greater emphasis on
economic rights. While a number of NAM and Like-Minded Group
(LMG) countries made veiled references to the United States
and other Western countries as hegemonic, wealthy powers that
sought to control the human rights agenda to the disadvantage
of developing or poor countries, only a handful directly
attacked the United States. Cuba was the most belligerent.
Several countries, including Japan, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan,
lashed out against human rights violations of specific
countries, prompting immediate calls for rights of reply.
Ambassador Tichenor addressed the Council during the General
Segment June 21 (U.S. statement may be found on U.S. Mission
Geneva's website). End Summary.

Human Rights Council Bureau
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2. As expected, the election of the Bureau took place by
acclamation. Although officers are required to act in their
individual capacities, each one was selected by his regional
group. Mexico's Permanent Representative in Geneva, Luis
Alfonso de Alba, was elected president, though he had been
acting in that capacity for the past month. The Asian Group
Vice President is Jordanian Permanent Representative Musa
Burayzat, also the Bureau's rapporteur. The African Group
Vice President is Moroccan Permanent Representative Mohammed
Loulichki. The Eastern Group selected Czech Permanent
Representative Tomas Husak. The Western Group Vice President
is Swiss Permanent Representative Blaise Godet.

Secretary General Annan Endorses New Instruments

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3. In his June 19 keynote address, UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan recalled the decisions that led to the formation of the
Human Rights Council. He expressed hope that in five years
the Council would become a principal organ of the UN. Annan
called for the adoption of the Convention on Enforced
Disappearances and the Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (DRIP) as proof of a "tangible
achievement" for the Council. He also urged Member States to
reach agreement to make the right to development "clear and
specific enough to be effectively enforced and upheld" and on

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an optional protocol "for lodging complaints" under the
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Many
speakers later echoed these sentiments in their respective
speeches. Australia and New Zealand said there should be
consensus on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, while Canada said more time was needed "to make
progress."

HRC President's Statement
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4. In his opening remarks, HRC President de Alba called on
the Council to build on the achievements of the Commission on
Human Rights (CHR). He argued that the Council should turn
its attention to developing new instruments and working
methods to protect and prevent human rights violations. It
should also have the ability to respond quickly to emergency
situations. The Council needed to agree on a balanced agenda
reflecting all countries' concerns, identify gaps, and avoid
duplications to strengthen existing mechanisms. Civil
society and national human rights institutions must be
permitted to participate fully, and the Council must improve
coordination with bodies and agencies within and outside the
UN system.

Statement Highlights
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5. In keeping with de Alba's and Secretary General Kofi
Annan's appeals to avoid confrontation, most countries used
the High-Level and General Segments to express hope that the
Council would become an effective international defender and
protector of human rights. Many speakers, most notably those
from NAM countries, called for the end of politicization,
selectivity, and double standards. They named globalization
and the focus on trade as principal causes leading to poor
human rights situations in developing countries. Indonesia,
Brazil and others called for more technical assistance and
advisory services to enhance the capacity of member states,
adding that additional human, financial, and material
resources could serve as an alternative to political
sanctions or "naming and shaming." Many developing countries
mentioned the right to development and said that developed
countries should be more sensitive to their aspirations.
Venezuela asserted that a job was more important to a person
than "living in a democratic system." Full statements by
delegations can be accessed on the Human Rights Council
Extranet site at http://info.ohchr.org, using log-in "hrc
extranet" and password "1session". The following are
highlights from some of the statements:

European Union: Austrian FM Plassnik, speaking on behalf of
the EU, called on the Council to establish its procedures,
avoid politically divisive issues, and strengthen the system
of UN human rights experts. Plassnik noted that another EU
priority was the adoption of the convention on enforced
disappearances. She highlighted the situation of women as
needing immediate attention. In this context she mentioned
the continued house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. She noted
the EU's belief that "successfully combating terrorism and
respect for human rights are mutually reinforcing."


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United Kingdom: FCO Minister of State Responsible for Human
Rights Ian McCartney delivered a particularly strong
statement emphasizing the need to focus on "real human
beings" and the responsibility of governments to pass and
implement legislation to protect human rights. He called on
the Council to be innovative in the way it addressed
problems, to develop new tools, and to foster trust and
understanding.

Russia: Deputy FM Yakovenko criticized country resolutions,
said Russia had high expectations of the Universal Periodic
Review process, and called the Sub-commission "a necessary
element" of the Council that needed to be preserved. Though
it supported Special Procedures, Russia said a critical
review of its role was needed to make it a more effective
body. Russia also spoke in support of the active
participation of NGOs.

China: Vice FM Yang Jiechi blamed the defunct CHR's lack of
credibility on "the influence of the Cold War mentality."
China urged the Council to focus on human rights violations
caused by conflict. China was willing to maintain
country-specific resolutions in the case of widespread and
gross violations of human rights. China called for the UPR
process to respect countries' historical, cultural, and
religious backgrounds. China also called for rationalizing
Special Procedures mandates and formulating a code of conduct
to make the body more credible.

Egypt: Geneva Permanent Representative Shoukry emphasized
the rights of all peoples to choose their own value systems,
arguing that "efforts aimed at imposing specific value
systems on peoples is tantamount ... to negating the
existence of other cultures and civilizations ..." Shoukry
called for more HRC consideration of economic, social and
cultural rights and the right to development. He called for
immediate consideration of the human rights situation in
Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.

Malaysia: Parliamentary Secretary Ahmad Shabery Cheek said
that as NAM Coordinator, he wanted to highlight the issue of
Right to Development and call for the continued support of
NAM members.

United States Under Fire
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6. The United States was the subject of several antagonistic
statements from countires including Iran, Venezuela, and
Zimbabwe. The most direct attack came, however, from Cuba.
FM Perez Roque's speech was delivered in taunting tones
directed at the U.S., and, to a lesser extent, to the EU,
emphasizing that Cuba had been elected to the Council while
the U.S. had been "afraid" to run for fear of not winning
election. HRC President de Alba seemed annoyed by the
Cuban's remarks, and several delegates later commented that
it tarnished what had up to that point been a dignified
session. USDel responded strongly to the Cuban statement in
a right of reply, the text of which can be found at
http://usmission.ch/press2006/0620RightofRepl y.html. Other
confrontations took place over Japan and North Korea over the
issue of abductees, Armenia and Azerbaijan over

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Nargorno-Karabakh, and India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

U.S. Statement
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7. Newly-arrived U.S. Ambassador Warren Tichenor gave his
first public address in Geneva during the June 21 general
segment of the Council session. His statement -- which has
been posted at
http://usmission.ch/Press2006/0621Tichenor.ht ml -- was
abbreviated to five minutes from seven minutes after HRC
President de Alba requested participants to reduce their
times accordingly to accommodate a long list of general
segment speakers.

TICHENOR