FAC Ministerial evidence session on ARHR,
7 February 2007: additional advance information
"What use the Government has made of UN procedures
to raise human rights issues since its response to the Committee's
previous Report"
INTRODUCTION
We have continued to raise human rights issues
through relevant procedures and at relevant bodies in the UN.
The main focus of these efforts has inevitably been on the UN
Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly Third Committee
(which deals with human rights and social development). However,
human rights issues form an integral part of much of the UN's
work, eg on conflict resolution and prevention, and development
issues. They have therefore remained a key element in the full
range of the UK's work at the UN. This has gone well beyond our
activities in the bodies specifically dedicated to human rights.
For example, we have also continued to raise human rights issues
in the Security Council, the General Assembly plenary, the Economic
and Social Council, and in other ad hoc UN fora.
ISSUES
Darfur
The UK co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution
1672, adopted on 25 April 2006, which imposed targeted sanctions
on four individuals from all sides of the conflict. We worked
hard for the subsequent adoption on 16 May of Resolution 1679,
which expressed concern over the dire consequences of a prolonged
conflict for the civilian population, strongly reiterated the
need to put an immediate end to violence and atrocities, and called
on the parties to the Darfur Peace Agreement to respect their
commitments and implement the Agreement without delay.
The UK has played a leading role in international
efforts to strengthen peacekeeping for Darfur. UN Security Council
resolution 1706, co-sponsored by the UK and adopted on 31 August,
called for a UN force for Darfur to take over from the African
Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), with the support of the African
Union. We have not, though, secured Sudanese agreement to the
mission.
The UK has also played a key role supporting
the UN develop and gain international support for a package of
assistance for AMIS. This includes both a light and heavy support
package, leading to a hybrid UN/AU force, as set out in the conclusions
of the high-level international meeting chaired by UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2006.
The UK has been particularly active in raising
the issue of Darfur at the Human Rights Council. We and other
UN partners have repeatedly stressed the urgency and seriousness
of the situation in our contributions to Council debates, and
urged the Council to take action. Building on this, the EU tabled
a draft text on Darfur at the Council's second regular session
(18 September—6 October), expressing grave concern at the
situation and calling on all parties to the conflict to end the
violence and take further steps to protect the human rights of
its victims. After trying and failing to agree the content of
this text with the African Group at the HRC, the EU then tabled
amendments to an African Group resolution on the situation in
Darfur. We lost a vote on those amendments. The African Group
text, subsequently adopted by the HRC on 29 November, therefore
fell short of our wish to see provision for concrete follow-up
at the Council on this situation.
The UK then joined Finland and 31 other HRC
members in calling for a Special Session of the Council to discuss
Darfur. This session convened from 12-13 December. Addressing
the Session by video message, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
reported the recent escalation in violence by armed militia directed
at civilians. He stressed the urgency of taking action to prevent
further violations, including by bringing to account those responsible
for the numerous crimes already committed. UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, called for the Council to respond
credibly to clear evidence of continuing attacks on civilians
from the air and on the ground, mass forced displacement, deliberate
hindrance of humanitarian aid, widespread rape and sexual violence,
arbitrary arrests and detention as well as torture.
In our national intervention in the Session's
debate, the UK, amongst other things: called for a consensus approach
to tackling violations in Darfur, which must lead to effective
action for the people of Darfur; called for an expert human rights
mission to Darfur; and condemned gender based violence in the
area.
The Council agreed a short, operationally-focused
decision to dispatch a high-level expert mission to assess the
human rights situation in Darfur. The mission will report back
to the Council's fourth session in March 2007. The UK played an
active role in helping to prepare the Special Session and agree
its outcome. We welcome the dispatching of the assessment mission,
and will continue to work actively to make sure that its recommendations
are followed up.
Burma
On 20 November, UNGA Third Committee adopted
a highly critical resolution on the human rights situation in
Burma. The UK played an active part in drafting and negotiating
this resolution. The text called on the Burmese government to
take concrete steps to end the systematic violation of human rights
and fundamental freedoms; to implement the recommendations of
the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UN Special
Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar; and to allow human
rights defenders to pursue their activities unhindered.
UN Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari visited
Burma from 9-12 November. He emphasised to Burma's leaders that
the UN and international community expected concrete actions on
specific issues, namely: the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all
other political prisoners; a credible and inclusive political
process; an end to hostilities in Karen state; the lifting of
restrictions on humanitarian aid agencies, and agreement with
the ILO on forced labour. Ian McCartney met Mr Gambari at the
FCO on his way back from Burma to New York. Mr Gambari subsequently
briefed the UN Security Council on 27 November. The UK played
an active part in this discussion, as the Minister had told Mr
Gambari we would. We are now supporting US efforts to secure a
UN Security Council resolution on Burma. As part of this effort,
Ian McCartney has lobbied ASEAN ambassadors in London on the issue,
as well as summoning the Burmese ambassador in person to make
our views clear. The Minister has also disussed the situation
in Burma with counterparts in China, India and South Korea, as
well as with the governments of Japan and Thailand.
With our support, the ILO has been working to
eradicate forced labour in Burma. But relations between the ILO
and the Burmese government are approaching breaking point. On
17 November, the ILO Governing Body concluded that it should consider
the possibility of seeking an advisory opinion from the International
Court of Justice and that this issue should be brought to the
attention of the UN Security Council.
The EU also participated in dialogue at the
Human Rights Council with the Special Rapporteur for Burma/Myanmar
on 27 September. The EU in particular raised questions about harassment,
arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of members of political parties
and human rights defenders, counter-insurgency operations in Northern
Karen State and Eastern Pegu Division, and forced labour and forced
recruitment involving children. The EU returned to its concerns
on these issues in its intervention in the Human Rights Council's
general debate on 1 December. On that occasion it focused on the
plight of child soldiers in Burma. It expressed alarm at the intensive
military campaigns in eastern Burma, and associated human rights
violations against those belonging to ethnic groups, which had
further exacerbated the situation and resulted in increasing numbers
of internally displaced persons and refugees. In its statement,
the EU also deeply deplored the closure of International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) field offices in Burma; and called on
the Burmese government to re-establish its dialogue with the ICRC.
Iran
We have continued to raise our concerns over
human rights in Iran through the UN procedures. At the Human Rights
Council, the EU raised the situation in Iran at the Council's
second session in interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteurs
on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and intolerance; and torture. The UK and other EU members of the
HRC also joined the Council's consensus decision to keep a case
relating to human rights violations in Iran under the Council's
confidential complaints procedure.
The UK actively supported and, along with all
other EU members, co-sponsored a resolution on human rights in
Iran run by Canada at UNGA Third Committee.
The resolution highlighted the international
community's concern at the situation of human rights in Iran.
It expressed specific concern at the discrimination faced by religious
and ethnic minorities, as well as Iran's failure to uphold international
standards in the administration of justice. The resolution also
identified actions the Iranian government should take to address
these concerns. UNGA Third Committee adopted the resolution on
21 November by 70 votes in favour to 48 against, with 55 abstentions,
after a No Action Motion was unsuccessfully moved against it.
The EU also issued a statement expressing its concern at the situation
of homosexuals in Iran, and raised the situation of Iran's Baha'i
population with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion
or Belief, in the course of UNGA Third Committee.
Uzbekistan
The UK through the EU has raised concerns with
the situation of human rights in Uzbekistan in various dialogues
at the Human Rights Council, including on 20 September with the
Special Rapporteur on Torture. The UK and other EU members of
the HRC also joined the Council's consensus decision to keep a
case relating to human rights violations in Uzbekistan under the
Council's confidential complaints procedure.
The US tabled a resolution at UNGA Third Committee
setting out the international community's concerns with the human
rights situation in Uzbekistan and calling for action. The UK
was one of the first EU member states to co-sponsor this resolution.
However, Uzbekistan tabled a No Action Motion proposing that no
action be taken on the resolution itself. This was the only No
Action Motion against a country resolution at UNGA Third Committee
to be successfully carried, by 74 votes in favour to 69 against,
with 24 abstentions. The EU and US made strong statements stressing
our opposition to the use of no action motions, and making clear
that Third Committee should be given the opportunity to consider
every resolution on its own merits.
DPRK
Again, the UK and EU have raised specific concerns
with the human rights situation in the DPRK at the Human Rights
Council. For example, in the Council's dialogue on 27 September
with the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the DPRK, the
EU raised a number of issues including concern at the DPRK's continued
lack of cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, and limitations
on the distribution of food aid.
At the invitation of Ian McCartney MP, Professor
Vitit Muntarbhorn visited the UK on 16 November to talk to a group
of parliamentarians, academics and government officials about
DPRK human rights and his role as UN Special Rapporteur. The talk
closely followed his statement to UNGA Third Committee on 20 October,
which drew particular attention to an impending food crisis in
North Korea, and the need for humanitarian aid to be unconditional.
UNGA Third Committee adopted an EU-sponsored
resolution on 17 November for the second consecutive year. We
were particularly pleased that the Republic of Korea voted in
favour for the first time. The resolution urges the DPRK government
fully to respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
requests the government to grant free and unimpeded access to
the UN Special Rapporteur.
Ian McCartney has complemented our efforts at
the UN by speaking directly to regional governments about the
situation in DPRK, and the need for UN actio on the issue. He
has raised DPRK with counterparts in China, Japan and South Korea.
The Minister has also summoned the North Korean ambassador in
London to record our views directly.
Belarus
The UK, with the EU, has played an active role
at both the Human Rights Council and UNGA Third Committee in expressing
concerns about Belarus' human rights record. In the HRC, the EU
raised issues in dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus
on 27 September, including the further weakening of the independence
of the judiciary, intimidation of civil society activists, detention
of political prisoners, and the situation of minority groups in
Belarus.
All EU members co-sponsored a resolution on
Belarus tabled by the US at UNGA Third Committee. The resolution
expressed deep concern at several elements of the deteriorating
situation, including: Belarus' failure to cooperate with the UN
human rights mechanisms; its failure to conduct free and fair
elections, including the detention and arrest of political and
civil society activists; and persistent reports of harassment
and closure of NGOs, national minority groups, independent media
outlets, religious groups, opposition political parties and independent
trade unions. The resolution was adopted on 22 November by 70
votes to 31, with 67 abstentions, after the defeat of a No Action
Motion moved against it.
Zimbabwe
With UK support, the EU has repeatedly raised
concerns about Zimbabwe at the Human Rights Council. Questions
on Zimbabwe's poor human rights record were directed specifically
to the Special Rapporteurs on Internally Displaced Persons and
on Adequate Housing at the Council's second session. In both cases
the Rapporterus expressed deep concerns about the mass forced
evictions carried out by the government of Zimbabwe during Operation
Murambatsvina.
In addition, again at UK request, the EU's statement
to UNGA Third Committee's general debate contained strong language
on the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe. It expressed
the EU's deep concern at the violent suppression of demonstrations
in Zimbabwe; and said that this infringement of human rights,
as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions, forced mass evictions
and the blockage of humanitarian assistance, underscored the alarming
nature of the human rights situation. The EU urged the government
of Zimbabwe to stop intimidation and assault, and to respect the
human rights of its citizens. The EU further pledged to continue
to support all those in Zimbabwe working for peaceful change,
restoration of democratic standards, human rights and the rule
of law.
Ian McCartney has raised our concerns directly
with the Zimbabwe ambassador. He has also met with the leadership
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU), who had recently
been subjected to severe beatings at the hands of the Zimbabwe
authorities.
Sri Lanka
The UK and our EU partners continue to be very
concerned by the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka. The EU
therefore tabled a draft resolution on 3 October at the HRC's
second regular session that expressed concern at the escalation
of violence following resumption of hostilities. It called for
the respect of human rights and for all parties to put an immediate
end to violations of humanitarian law. It welcomed Sri Lanka's
constructive cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms;
the announcement of appointment of a Commission of Inquiry; and
the involvement of the International Independent Group of Eminent
Persons (IIGEP) to act as observers of investigations into human
rights violations. The EU held extensive discussions with the
Sri Lankan mission in Geneva, and the Government of Sri Lanka
in Colombo, in an attempt to agree this text. This proved impossible;
consideration of the text by the HRC has been deferred to its
fourth session in March 2007.
The UK and EU subsequently welcomed the establishment
of the IIGEP, announced after detailed consultations between the
Government of Sri Lanka and the Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights. Both the UK and the EU have nominated experts
to serve on this Group. We will continue to monitor the situation
closely. Notwithstanding the IIGEP, international partners and
we will continue to raise human rights issues directly with the
Sri Lankan Government. Most recently, Ian McCartney raised the
issue when he met with the Sri Lankan Trade Minister on 10 January.
He has also written to the Sri Lankan Minister for Human Rights
about a range of issues, including the protection of human rights
in Sri Lanka.
In its statement on 1 December to the Human
Rights Council's third session general debate, the EU expressed
deep concern about the situation of children affected by armed
conflict in Sri Lanka. It is encouraging that, according to UN
reporting, Colonel Karuna, former LTTE commander and now leader
of a breakaway faction, has recently contacted the UN Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conflict regarding the listing
of his group in the UN Secretary-General's recent report on Children
and Armed Conflict. Colonel Karuna, with his faction, has offered
to work with UNICEF on a formalised four-point action plan to
prevent recruitment and use of children.
Middle East Peace Process
The Human Rights Council met in three Special
Sessions to discuss the situation in the Middle East over the
summer and autumn: on 5-6 July, at the initiative of the Organisation
of the Islamic Conference (OIC), to discuss the human rights situation
in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; on 11 August, again at
OIC initiative, to discuss the human rights situation in Lebanon;
and on 15 November, on the initiative of the Arab Group, to discuss
human rights issues in Gaza, specifically focused on Beit Hanoun.
The UK and EU have repeatedly stressed our grave
concern at the human rights implications of the tragic events
in Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel.
However, we have been disappointed at the disproportionate focus
on the situation through the convening of three Special Sessions
in four months, while other situations meriting attention were
comparatively neglected by the Council. UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan expressed a similar opinion on 8 December when he said:
"I am worried by [the HRC's] disproportionate focus on violations
by Israel. Not that Israel should be given a free pass. Absolutely
not. But the Council should give the same attention to grave violations
committed by other states as well."
We were further disappointed that the resolutions
variously tabled by the Arab Group and OIC at the Special Sessions
were unbalanced and failed fully to reflect the complexity of
the situations in addressing only one party to the conflicts.
The EU stated its concerns at the Special Sessions regarding the
human rights situations, and called on all parties to act to remedy
them, but was unable to support the Special Sessions' resolutions.
At the 5-6 July session, a resolution was nevertheless passed
mandating an urgent fact-finding mission to Gaza. EU members of
the Council voted against this.
At the 11 August Special Session, a resolution
was passed establishing a Commission of Inquiry to investigate
the effects of Israeli actions in Lebanon. EU members of the Council
again voted against this text. The Commission delivered its report
on 1 December to the third regular Council session. Despite the
report's intrinsic imbalance, stemming from its mandate to investigate
the actions of only one party to the conflict, the EU was nevertheless
able to join consensus on a resolution of 8 December noting the
report and requesting the High Commission for Human Rights to
consult the Lebanese Government on its follow-up.
A resolution passed at the 15 November Special
Session mandated a high-level fact-finding mission to look into
the situation in Beit Hanoun. Again concerned by the one-sidedness
of this exercise, the UK and most EU members of the Council voted
against this resolution (France abstained).
On 17 November, the Palestinians convened an
Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the situation
in the Middle East. The UK voted in favour of a resolution tabled
at that session. The text was critical of Israeli action at Beit
Hanoun, and condemned Palestinian rocket attacks.
Among the ways in which the UK aims to promote
human rights in Israel and the Occupied Territories at the UN
is through ensuring that draft resolutions on these situations
are balanced. It is essential that both sides take action to ensure
that the situation improves. The UK has voted against resolutions
that are unbalanced or that do not fully reflect the complexity
of the issues. The UK supports resolutions that take account of
these points. We were therefore able to support adoption of a
sufficiently balanced resolution at the Council's third regular
session on the construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
For a similar reason, however, the UK was unable
to support, and abstained on, a resolution tabled in November
in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly concerning "the
human rights situation arising from the recent Israeli military
operations in Lebanon". The sponsors of this resolution were
prepared to accommodate some changes proposed by the EU to remove
some of the more tendentious text. But it remained one-sided,
for example through its failure to acknowledge the targeting of
Israeli civilians by Hizbollah rocket-fire during the summer conflict.
RESPONSIBILITY TO
PROTECT
The UK was the main sponsor of Security Council
Resolution 1674 on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.
The resolution was adopted in April 2006, and reaffirmed the concept
of the Responsibility to Protect as outlined in the 2005 World
Summit Outcome Document. Responsibility to Protect was also included
in Resolution 1706, adopted by the Security Council on 31 August
on the situation in Sudan/Darfur.
The UK also leads on the wider protection of
civilians agenda in the Council. We participated fully in the
Security Council's open debates on this on 28 June and 4 December
2006. Those debates covered: the importance of the rule of law
and respect for international humanitarian law, human rights law
and the Geneva Conventions; the need for an end to impunity and
the role of the International Criminal Court in achieving this;
the extent and gravity of sexual and gender-based violence; the
importance of unimpeded humanitarian access where it is needed;
and concern about the increasing number of internally displaced
persons. Sudan featured heavily in both debates. Where appropriate,
we have also raised protection concerns in the Council's consideration
of country-specific issues (for example Northern Uganda, and Chad).
Rights of the Child
The EU engaged closely in dialogues on 25 September
at the Human Rights Council with the Special Rapporteurs on the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and
on the right to education. In particular, the EU used these dialogues
to draw attention to issues such as the need for increased protection
for children against sale and pornography, and the lack of education
for children affected by armed conflict. The EU also raised concerns
relating to children in questions to the Special Rapporteurs on
Burma and the DPRK, and to the Independent Expert on Somalia.
During the third regular session of the Council,
the UK gave its support to a Call for Action from the NGO Group
on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, launched on 29 November
at an NGO side-event. The Call aimed to raise the profile of child
rights issues on the Council's agenda, and to promote their mainstreaming
within the work of the Council and its Special Procedures. Ian
McCartney MP, in a message sent to the launch event, stressed
the importance of child rights issues within the UN's human rights
work: "The UK supports the aims of this Call for Action.
Working to improve the lives of those denied the full enjoyment
of their human rights—not least children, who are so often
left vulnerable—is a profound responsibility for us all".
At UNGA Third Committee, all EU members welcomed
the report and recommendations of the UN Secretary-General's Special
Representative on Violence Against Children, Paulo Pinheiro. The
report was launched on 11 October. It provides a global picture
of violence against children in the family, schools, alternative
care institutions and detention facilities, places where children
work and communities. It grounds its recommendations in the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the outcome document of the UNGA
Special Session on Children, `A World Fit for Children'.
Also at UNGA Third Committee, the UK participated
actively in negotiations on a joint EU-Latin American sponsored
resolution on the Rights of the Child. The UK was among the first
EU member states to co-sponsor this resolution. The resolution,
which was eventually adopted at Third Committee on 22 November
by 174 votes to 1, welcomed the Pinheiro study on violence against
children and mandated Professor Pinheiro to consider over the
next year methods for following up the study. It urged states
to take steps across a range of child rights issues including:
equal access to education for both boys and girls, the effect
of armed conflict on children, protection of children against
HIV/AIDS infection, the use of child labour, the death penalty
for juveniles, and child pornography and prostitution.
CHILDREN IN
ARMED CONFLICT
The UK has continued to support the UN's increased
focus on this issue. A Working Group has been established following
the adoption last year of Security Council Resolution 1612, which
asked the Secretary-General to implement a mechanism for monitoring
and reporting on the situation of children affected by armed conflict.
The UK supports, and is actively involved in, the Working Group's
activities, for example the negotiation in recent months of concrete
recommendations for action by the Group and the Council on violations
in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. The UK similarly
supported the Security Council's stocktaking of this area of work
in a Security Council debate on children and armed conflict on
24 July 2006.
Following the publication of the UN Secretary-General's
report on children and armed conflict, we actively participated
in the "Arria" formula meeting with NGOs on 27 November,
and the Security Council's open debate on 28 November. At this
debate, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the Council to
consolidate the gains made so far, and to move forward to cover
all situations of concern and all grave violations. Many participants
were positive about progress so far, while recognising there was
still much to be done. There was broad agreement in the debate
that impunity for crimes against children was unacceptable, and
that the International Criminal Court has a role to play in this
respect. In our intervention, the UK: welcomed the Secretary-General's
report; expressed concern about the increasing "migration"
of child soldiers across borders; and stressed the need to find
ways to refine existing strategies for demobilising, rehabilitating
and reintegrating children associated with armed groups, particularly
girls. We also drew attention to the situation of pressing concern
in Sri Lanka.
The UK through the EU has also focused on this
issue in the Human Rights Council. On 29 September, during the
Council's second regular session, the EU raised concerns in dialogue
with the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
about impunity for atrocities committed against children during
armed conflict. In its general statement to the third session
of the HRC on 1 December, the EU Presidency stressed the particular
importance of protecting children during armed conflict and drew
attention to the effect on children of conflicts in Sri Lanka,
Darfur and Burma. In the same debate, the UK condemned the violence
and violations that continue to be committed against children.
In this context, we raised the terrible impact of hostilities
between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army
on the lives of millions, particularly children. We also expressed
support for the government of Colombia in its search for a negotiated
solution to the armed conflict there, which had led to widespread
human rights abuses, often against the most vulnerable.
ELIMINATION OF
RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
The UK has continued actively to raise this
important issue in both the Human Rights Council and UNGA Third
Committee. We contributed to efforts at the Council's inaugural
session to reach agreement on a common statement on the issue.
These efforts, led by the President of the Council, were ultimately
unsuccessful. Pakistan, on behalf of the OIC, then tabled a short
resolution on "incitement to racial and religious hatred
and the promotion of tolerance". We and other EU members
voted against this text, as it implied that religions are entitled
to those human rights that, we believe, only individuals can possess.
However, we again engaged actively in negotiations at the HRC's
second regular session in September-October on a follow-up text
that sought to ensure consideration of the issue at the HRC's
third and subsequent sessions. Consideration of this text has
been deferred to the Council's fourth regular session in March
2007.
At UNGA Third Committee, the EU again tabled
and led negotiations on a resolution, "Elimination of all
forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or
belief". The final text, amongst other things: noted a rise
in instances of intolerance and violence; condemned the advocacy
of religious hatred; and urged states to do more to combat religious
intolerance and to foster dialogue, including with NGOs. The resolution
was adopted by consensus on 16 November. We were particularly
pleased to be able to reach such broad agreement on this issue
at the UN for a second time. This builds on the consensus established
in 2005 after negotiations led by the UK Presidency of the EU.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS
COUNCIL
Since our response to the Committee's previous
Report, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has met in regular session
for a total of 7 weeks, and in 4 Special Sessions for a total
of 6 days. In all of these sessions, the UK has actively participated
in the Council's debates, both formal and informal; negotiations
on Council resolutions; and in its other decision-making on a
range of human rights issues.
Ian McCartney represented the UK at the Council's
inaugural session in June 2006. As well as delivering a speech
urging all countries to work towards a successful Council, able
to address common human rights challenges constructively, he held
a series of bilateral meetings with counterparts from across the
world. In these meetings he set out the UK's vision of a strong
and effective Council, and exchanged ideas on how to achieve it.
In terms of discussions/debates, the UK has
taken part both nationally and through the EU in the Council's
three interactive dialogues with the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights. In these dialogues the EU drew attention to issues
including the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights in Uganda, Colombia, Nepal, Afghanistan and Timor
Leste. The UK also raised the issue of human rights and HIV and
AIDS on World AIDS Day (1 December), highlighting the stigma and
discrimination that people living with HIV and AIDS routinely
experience.
At the Council's second regular session, the
UK—again both nationally and through the EU—actively
participated in interactive dialogues with more than 40 UN Special
Procedures on the basis of their annual reports. In particular,
we drew attention to the situations in Sudan, Burma, DPRK, Burundi,
DRC, Liberia and Cuba. We also highlighted issues with the thematic
Special Procedures such as: the particular challenges confronting
women human rights defenders; protection of human rights while
countering terrorism; the elimination of gender disparity in access
to education; and human rights issues around migrant workers.
The Council's second session adopted a number
of texts on a range of human rights issues such as racism, extreme
poverty, access to water and the right to health. The UK engaged
fully in consultations on these texts, and was able to support
the eventual adoption of many of them. In addition, the EU tabled
a short text on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, and
closely supported a Swiss-tabled text on the situation in Nepal.
Both of these texts were agreed with the countries concerned.
They note the positive progress made to date by the governments
of Nepal and Afghanistan, urge further efforts in specific areas,
and encourage continued and intensified cooperation with the UN.
Their subsequent adoption by consensus shows the Council addressing
specific country situations in a constructive manner, building
on the good cooperation of the countries concerned with the UN
human rights mechanisms. At the Council's third regular session,
all EU members joined a declaration by Norway expressing deep
concern at ongoing human rights violations based on sexual orientation
and gender identity, and urging the Council to discuss the issue
in detail at a future session.
More broadly, the UK has continued to work hard
with EU and other UN partners towards building up the HRC as a
strong and effective institution, and ensuring that its Special
Procedures and reporting mechanisms function uninterrupted in
its first, transitional year. Ian McCartney has so far invited
two of the Special Procedures (Vitit Muntarbhorn, UN Special Rapporteur
on human rights in the DPRK, and Juan Mendez, Special Adviser
to the UN Secretary-General on Genocide) to visit Parliament,
to discuss their work in more detail with Parliamentary colleagues.
He plans to continue this series of invitations in 2007.
As well as raising specific issues, we have
therefore also continued to work on reinforcing the UN framework
itself, within which those issues can be addressed in future.
We are committed to working with partners in the NGO community
towards these shared goals: as well as regular contacts at official
level, Ian McCartney has held a roundtable discussion with NGO
representatives before each regular session of the Human Rights
Council, and will continue to do so.
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(UNGA) THIRD COMMITTEE
The UK was as usual very actively involved,
both within the EU and with the wider UN membership, in discussions
of a wide range of human rights issues at UNGA Third Committee.
On country situations, the EU successfully ran resolutions on
human rights in Burma and DPRK. The EU also co-sponsored a Canadian-run
resolution on Iran, and US-run resolutions on Uzbekistan and Belarus.
With the exception of the resolution on Uzbekistan, these resolutions
were all adopted by majority vote at Third Committee. (More details
on all of these above.)
On thematic issues, as outlined above the EU
played a leading role on the religious intolerance and child rights
resolutions. But the UK and EU were also active in discussions
of a large number of other resolutions, on issues such as: protection
of human rights while countering terrorism; the human rights of
migrants; torture; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;
the right to food; and the enhancement of international cooperation
in the field of human rights.
We were particularly pleased by the adoption
by consensus of a resolution on Violence Against Women, a text
that the UK had actively supported. The resolution takes forward
recommendations from the Secretary-General's study, including
the development of a common set of indicators and the establishment
of a UN database on violence against women. Usefully, the text
also calls for greater co-ordination of UN activities on this
issue, both at headquarters and at country level.
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The UK has continued to support discussions
of human rights at the UN General Assembly itself. The Foreign
Secretary raised human rights concerns in her address to the UN
General Assembly on 22 September, in particular the situation
in Darfur and the Responsibility to Protect.
We were particularly pleased to co-sponsor a
CARICOM (Caribbean group at the UN) resolution on the bicentenary
of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. At
the resolution's adoption, by consensus on 28 November, the UK's
Permanent Representative to the UN stressed the government's commitment
to commemorating this crucial turning point in history through
a range of activities, both at home and overseas, throughout 2007.
We will work with members of the CARICOM and others in preparing
a series of events at the UN that suitably reflect the vital historical
importance of this day.
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
ECOSOC held its substantive session from 3 to
28 July in Geneva. Its focus was principally on economic, social
and development issues. The Ministerial Declaration, agreed for
the first time in three years, dealt largely with employment and
sustainable development; it included references to the fundamental
principles and rights of workers, a priority issue for the UK.
On the humanitarian side, one of the interactive panel discussions
focused on the issue of gender-based violence. In addition, the
UK led for the EU on a resolution on gender mainstreaming, which
this year focused on gender training and capacity-building for
UN staff. The resolution was adopted by consensus.
At the resumed ECOSOC session in New York in
December, the EU successfully overturned the recommendations from
the UN's NGO Committee (a 19-member subsidiary body of ECOSOC
responsible for determining which NGOs can attend and speak at
UN meetings) to deny accreditation to three lesbian and gay NGOs.
UN Security Council (UNSC)
As well as the country situations and thematic
issues mentioned above, the UK has continued to ensure that due
attention is paid to the human rights elements of other issues
and situations considered at the UN Security Council over the
last 9 months. For example:
— The UK-drafted Resolution 1688, adopted
unanimously on 16 June 2006, provided a legal basis for the transfer
of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for trial before the
Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in the Hague.
— The UK actively supported the Presidential
Statement on Somalia of 13 July 2006, in which the Security Council:
emphasised its support for the process of national reconciliation
in Somalia, welcomed the steps taken by the transitional federal
institutions towards establishing effective national governance;
condemned the continuing flow of weapons into Somalia; and called
on member states to comply with the arms embargo.
— Following a briefing of the Security
Council by the government of Uganda and the Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs on the humanitarian situation in northern
Uganda, the UK Mission to the UN in New York and the Government
of Uganda mission co-hosted a seminar on 6 September on the peace
talks in Juba between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA), and the humanitarian situation in Northern
Uganda.
— The UK subsequently initiated, drafted
and saw through to adoption a Presidential Statement on the situation
in Northern Uganda, adopted on 16 November. This inter alia:
welcomed the cessation of hostilities agreed in Juba between the
Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA); stressed
the importance of both parties respecting that cessation of hostilities;
demanded that the LRA release women, children and other non-combatants;
urged the parties to ensure that those responsible for serious
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law
be brought to justice; and welcomed the Government of Uganda's
efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the north of
Uganda. The Ugandan Permanent Representative to the UN made a
point of thanking the UK for our efforts on this statement.
— When acting Special Representative
for the Secretary-General on Burundi, Nureldin Satti, briefed
the Security Council on 31 October, the UK urged ONUB (the UN
peacekeeping force in Burundi) and members of the Security Council
to encourage the government of Burundi to promote and protect
human rights.
— The UK supported the unanimous adoption
of Security Council Resolution 1721 on 1 November on the situation
in Cote d'Ivoire, which inter alia: reiterated the Council's
serious concern at all violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law in Cote d'Ivoire; and urged the Ivorian authorities
to investigate these violations without delay in order to put
an end to impunity.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS
INSTRUMENTS
The UK has continued its support of three new
UN human rights instruments: the draft UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples; the International Convention for the Protection
of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and the UN Convention
on Disability Rights.
The UK voted for the adoption of the Indigenous
Declaration at the HRC on 29 June. It was adopted there by 30
votes to 2, with 12 abstentions. However, when UNGA Third Committee
then considered a resolution recommending its adoption, the African
Group tabled amendments proposing a further year of negotiation
of the text. Along with other EU members, we voted against these
amendments. But they were successfully adopted; the Declaration
text therefore, disappointingly, returns to the negotiating table.
The draft Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance was adopted by consensus at
the HRC on 29 June, and again by consensus at UNGA Third Committee.
We will continue to support this Convention, and expect its final
adoption by the General Assembly before Christmas.
The final session of the Ad Hoc Committee to
negotiate the Disabilities Convention ended by agreeing a text
on 25 August. The text was subsequently adopted by consensus at
the General Assembly on 13 December. This landmark convention
aims to secure the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms for disabled people everywhere. It guarantees the right
to life, and access to justice, personal mobility, health, education,
work and employment to disabled people. The UK played a full and
active role in negotiations of the Convention. We are now determined
to be among the first states to sign and ratify the Convention,
and are actively encouraging others to do so. On 11 December,
the FCO jointly with the Department for Work and Pensions and
the Department for International Development hosted a panel discussion
to promote the Convention, and to explore with NGO representatives,
Parliamentarians, representatives of the foreign diplomatic community
in London and others, how to take the Convention forward.
The UK has been a committed supporter of the
Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT)
for over 10 years and continues strongly to believe that the OPCAT
offers the best means available to establish an effective international
mechanism to reduce incidences of torture worldwide. When it ratified
OPCAT in 2003, the UK was the third country to do so.
In June 2004, Jack Straw launched a worldwide
lobbying campaign to encourage the further ratifications needed
to bring the OPCAT into force. This campaign bore fruit when,
on 22 June this year, OPCAT came into force. Since its entry into
force, the FCO has launched a further lobbying campaign aimed
primarily at countries that have signed but not ratified the OPCAT.
This includes the provision of practical help and technical advice
where appropriate.
After an open national selection process, the
UK nominated Dr Silvia Casale as a candidate to the new Subcommittee
on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, which will monitor the OPCAT. Elections
to the Sub-Committee will take place on 18 December in Geneva.
11 January 2007
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