US joins UN rights body, urges cooperative spirit
By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press Writer
GENEVA -- The United States joined the U.N. Human Rights Council on
Friday, a body widely criticized for failing to confront abuses around
the world and for acting primarily to condemn Israel, one of
Washington's closest allies.
U.S. officials pledged to work constructively in the 47-member council,
which has frequently been hampered by ideological differences between
rich and poor countries.
"The United States assumes its seat on the council with gratitude, with
humility, and in the spirit of cooperation," said Mark C. Storella, who
is for the moment the top diplomat at the U.S. Mission to U.N.
organizations in Geneva.
The decision in May to seek a seat on the Geneva-based body after three
years of giving it the cold shoulder represented a major shift in line
with President Barack Obama's aim of showing that "a new era of
engagement has begun."
Council members, U.N. officials and independent pressure groups
applauded the move as a sign the only remaining superpower is prepared
to debate human rights with the rest of the world.
Observers say the U.S. may succeed in breaking diplomatic deadlocks
where European countries have failed because of grievances held by their
former colonies in Africa and Asia.
"The U.S. has a unique capacity to counter some of the negative trends
in the council," said Felice Gaer, an independent human rights expert
from the United States.
She cited the tendency in the council to eliminate the appointments of
some human rights experts assigned to check on countries such as Cuba
and Belarus. A vote to scrap the expert on Sudan, who has criticized the
government for abusing human rights in Darfur, was narrowly averted,
thanks in part to heavy lobbying by the U.S., diplomats said.
Gaer, a member of the U.N. Committee against Torture, said Washington
will have to move swiftly if it wants to counterbalance Russia, Cuba,
Sri Lanka, Egypt, China and Pakistan, who between them dominate the council.
But Geneva is still waiting for a U.S. ambassador, the main person on
the ground to push U.S. positions; the post of assistant secretary of
state for human rights remains vacant; and foreign diplomats and U.N.
officials in Geneva report little contact with the State Department so
far, though the council doesn't return from its summer recess until
September.
"The U.S. has diplomatic and economic levers it can pull more
efficiently than the European Union can," said Andrew Clapham, professor
of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
The U.S. is also nimbler when it comes to pressuring other governments
than the 27-nation EU, which often operates as quickly as its slowest
member, Clapham said.
Although the council is virtually powerless compared to the U.N.
Security Council, its decisions carry considerable symbolic weight,
particularly in the developing world, to which the Obama administration
wants to reach out.
The U.S. made clear Friday that it considers human rights to be
universal and urged other countries to pledge that they, like the U.S.,
won't flinch from having their own records scrutinized.
US joins UN rights body, urges cooperative spirit - World AP -
MiamiHerald.com (19 June 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1104793.html
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