U.S. WILL SUPPORT SECRETARY-GENERAL'S PLAN TO REFORM THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The Bush Administration recently endorsed the Secretary-General’s plan for reforming the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In the UN report, “In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights For All,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) “suffers from declining credibility and professionalism, and is in need of major reform.” In recent testimony before the House International Relations Committee, Mark Lagon, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, agreed: “the UN’s human rights mechanisms are broken and must be fixed.”

The UNCHR suffers from several well-known structural problems, including inadequate time or resources to address urgent humanitarian crises and the election of members more concerned with protecting themselves from scrutiny than promoting human rights. The most recent meeting of the Commission, which occurred in March 2005, exhibited many of the problems that have plagued the UNCHR in recent years.

The UN Secretary-General proposed replacing the Commission on Human Rights with a Human Rights Council. In response to criticism that the current UNCHR is too large and unwieldy to be effective, the Human Rights Council would be considerably smaller than the existing Commission. Its members would be elected by a two-thirds vote of the UN General Assembly, and the members would have to agree to abide by international human rights standards. These criteria should prevent countries from seeking membership on the Council simply to avoid scrutiny of their own human rights abuses. The proposed Council would also operate as a standing body that meets year-round, rather than just six weeks a year as the UNCHR does.

In his testimony, Mr. Lagon described the proposed changes to the UNCHR and said that Bush Administration “support[s] the Secretary-General’s recommendations.” The United States is one of the most vocal critics of the UNCHR and has long called for reforming it. The U.S. and the Secretary-General should now work together to build a broad coalition in support of his plan. Collaboration by the US and the Secretary-General on this issue will greatly increase the likelihood of successfully reforming the Commission.
 

Updated May 26, 2005

Click the links below for further information about the Commission on Human Rights.

A Brief Overview of the CHR

History of the CHR

Membership in the CHR

Participation by Civil Society

Agenda and Resolutions

The Use of Special Procedures

Other UN Human Rights Bodies

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