The international community should ensure that States
responsible for gross human rights violations and that fail to protect human
rights defenders or cooperate with the UN are not elected to the UN's top human
rights body.
A coalition of over 40 leading non-governmental
organisations has today called for States that are candidates for membership to
the UN Human Rights Council to do more to respect human rights at home and at
the international level.
On 12 November, the United Nations General
Assembly will elect 14 new members to the Human Rights Council; it’s top human
rights body.
In a joint
letter signed by 40 signatories from all regions
of the world, NGOs expressed concern about the clear failure of some candidates
to fully comply with the criteria of upholding the highest human rights
standards, and cooperating with the Human Rights Council.
“Failure by
Council members to take effective measures to address violations of human rights
for which they are responsible, particularly of a gross or systematic nature, or
to fully cooperate with the Council and its mechanisms undermines the ability of
the Council to promote and protect human rights and to demand full state
cooperation with its mechanisms”, the letter says.
In the joint letter,
global civil society called on candidates to clearly commit to cooperate with
the Human Rights Council’s human rights experts - the ‘special procedures’ - and
with the newly established senior and UN wide focal point to improve the safety
of those cooperating with the United Nations.
The joint
NGO letter was
sent to all candidates to the Human Rights Council and copied to members of the
UN General Assembly.
List of signatory organisations:
1. Action
Canada for Population and Development
2. Amman Center for Human Rights
Studies
3. Amnesty International
4. ARC International
5. Asian Forum
for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
6. Cairo Institute for Human
Rights Studies (CIHRS)
7. Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
8. Center for
Reproductive Rights
9. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
Participation
10. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
11. East and Horn
of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
12. Egyptian Initiative for Personal
Rights (EIPR)
13. Fondazione Marista per la Solidarieta Internazionale
ONLUS
14. Franciscans International
15. Front Line Defenders
16. GAYa
NUSANTARA
17. Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
18. Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
19. Human Rights
Watch
20. International Association for Catholic Education
21.
International Catholic Child Bureau
22. International Commission of
Jurists
23. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
24.
International Federation of University Women (IFUW)
25. International Lesbian
and Gay Association
26. International Movement Against All Forms of
Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
27. International Service for Human
Rights
28. KIFKIF LGBT GROUP
29. Lutheran World Federation
30. Matrix
Support Group
31. Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders
32. Pax
Christi International
33. Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO
34.
Public Union of Democracy and Human Rights Resource Centre
35.
Rainbow-Ethiopia HIV and Media Initiative (REHMI)
36. Red Nacional de
Promoción de la Mujer, RNPM-Perú
37. Russian Research Center for Human
Rights
38. Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
39. World Federation of
United Nations Associations
40. World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT)
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