2005 COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS MEETING A MIX OF WELL-KNOWN FAILINGS AND A FEW MODEST ACHIEVEMENTS

With all of its structural problems and past failures, expectations for this year’s United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) meeting were extremely low. The situation in Darfur, Sudan – the most serious ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world today—was not even on the UNCHR’s agenda. The UNCHR has never debated the human rights situations in Chechnya and the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in China. Finally, this year’s election of highly-oppressive Zimbabwe (following last year's election of Sudan) was widely viewed as a significant blow to the UNCHR’s reputation and standing.

However, the meeting brought some modest achievements. The UNCHR managed to pass country-specific resolutions examining the human rights situations in Burma, North Korea, Cuba, Nepal and Belarus. The Commission also adopted a resolution about the crisis in Darfur.

While the situation in Darfur had not originally been on the agenda for the meeting, the European Union championed a draft resolution condemning indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Darfur and blaming the Sudanese government for being directly responsible for the attacks. There was significant opposition from African members, who are generally reluctant to criticize other African countries by name. Eventually, members agreed upon a compromise resolution that condemns the violence in Darfur, but disappointingly avoids attributing responsibility for the violence to the Sudanese government.

The adopted resolution calls upon the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militias and cooperate with the International Criminal Court. The resolution also appoints an investigator to monitor the human rights situation in Sudan. The resolution is a significant step back from recent Security Council resolutions that acknowledge the Sudanese government's role in the atrocities in Darfur, but it is certainly more than was expected before the meeting began.
 

Updated May 26, 2005

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