01 April 2009
United States to Seek Membership on U.N. Human Rights Council
U.S. Ambassador Rice says Human Rights Council must be balanced
Washington — The United States believes that working within the U.N. Human Rights Council is the best way to improve the council’s goal of thwarting global human rights abuses, says the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice announced March 31 that the United States will seek a seat on the council this year.
The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 elected members. Its mission is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights globally, State Department acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid said in a prepared statement.
“Human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy,” Clinton said. “With others, we will engage in the work of improving the U.N. human rights system to advance the vision of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.”
The next round of elections to the council will be May 15 in the U.N. General Assembly, and members will be elected to three-year terms. The council, created in March 2006 to replace the largely dysfunctional U.N. Commission on Human Rights, is scheduled to undergo a formal review of its structure and procedures in 2011.
The United States chose not to join the council at its inception in 2006. It began participating as an observer in March to begin addressing violations of human rights worldwide.
“The United States helped to found the United Nations and retains a vital stake in advancing that organization’s genuine commitment to the human rights values that we share with other member nations,” Clinton said.
Rice said working within the council is a more effective way to promote and protect human rights. “Those who suffer from abuse and oppression around the world, as well as those who dedicate their lives to advancing human rights, need the council to be balanced and credible,” she said.
The Obama administration’s decision was welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In a statement released April 1, Ban said it marked “a concrete embodiment of the US commitment to a ‘new era of engagement.’”
“Full U.S. engagement on human rights issues is an important step toward realizing the goal of an inclusive and vibrant intergovernmental process to protect human rights around the globe,” Ban said.
In a conference call with journalists, Rice said the United States sees no inherent benefit from being critical of the council from the outside without having significant influence on its decisions.
Duguid said the decision to rejoin the Human Rights Council is in keeping with the Obama administration’s “new era of engagement” with other nations.
Nigerian Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, the current president of the Human Rights Council, issued a statement in Geneva, where the council is based, saying, “I warmly welcome the engagement.”
“Should the U.S. become a full-fledged member of the council, I am confident they would continue to provide valuable input,” Uhomoibhi said.
The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman, said the United States has stayed on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council for too long.
“I strongly support the administration’s decision to engage with the United Nations Human Rights Council by running for a seat this year. The global forum has become increasingly dysfunctional and politicized, with virtually no guidance from the United States,” Berman said in a prepared statement.
Berman said the council’s “pathological focus on demonizing Israel” has prevented it from examining human rights crises in Zimbabwe, Sudan and other countries that have essentially escaped scrutiny.
The full text of Duguid's statement is available on America.gov.
