BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/05/2007

Analysis: Belarus loses U.N. rights bid

By SUZANNE BATES

UPI Correspondent

UNITED NATIONS May 17 (UPI) -- Human-rights groups applauded Belarus's defeat for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council after member states voted for late-entry Bosnia and Herzegovina instead.

Bosnia received 112 votes to Belarus' 72 votes in the second round of balloting at U.N. World Headquarters in New York Thursday.

"I'm delighted. I think it's a really important moment," said Steve Crawshaw, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "It sends a message that the world's leading human rights body is not a place where rights abusers are welcome. Until just recently Belarus thought it could simply glide onto the council. That didn't happen."

Belarus has been listed as one of the world's most repressive regimes. Human-rights group U.N. Watch said Belarus has not cooperated with U.N. human-rights inspections. It also criticized Belarus for the imprisonment of Alexander Kozulin, a candidate for president in the 2006 elections who is serving a five-and-a-half year prison term for protesting unfair election results.

Rights groups had warned the election of Belarus to the council would be a sign reforms had done little to change the direction of the council, despite attempts to make the new council different from the Human Rights Commission it replaced.

Years of criticism of the commission led to its dismantling in 2006. There were charges the commission had been hijacked by countries that abused human rights so they could turn the spotlight off their countries. There were also charges that the commission spent too much of its time focusing on one country -- Israel.

In 2005 U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan admitted the Human Rights Commission was a public-relations problem for the United Nations, saying it had a "credibility deficit."

So the United Nations too was a winner after Thursday's vote, receiving a boost in its authority to speak on human-rights issues. Just last week there was incredulity over the election of Zimbabwe as chair of the Commission on Sustainable Development, despite its dismal political and social record.

The election of Bosnia was also a victory for U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who has only been on the job since the last week of April. The United States actively promoted Bosnia over Belarus.

"This bodes well for the reform of the Human Rights Council that is very much needed," Khalilzad said after the vote. "We were particularly concerned about Belarus. Some have called it the last dictatorship in Europe."

Bosnia decided to enter the fray for a seat on the council only 10 days ago, around the same time voices calling for Belarus's defeat grew louder.

"It's a huge achievement, especially for Bosnia Herzegovina," said Bosnian Ambassador Milos Prica, referring to the war that tore his country apart. "It's an opportunity for our country to share lessons learned through what we have passed."

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett released a statement after the vote saying she was pleased to learn of Bosnia's election to the council.

"The Human Rights Council has a unique and important mandate to improve the promotion and protection of human rights for all people, everywhere," the statement said. "Its members carry a heavy responsibility to lead the U.N.'s human rights work around the world, and must have shown themselves worthy of the task entrusted to them."

But others were not pleased by Belarus' defeat.

Sudan's Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad said he came personally to the General Assembly Thursday so he could cast his vote for Belarus. Sudan has been the target of human-rights groups because of the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

"We think that cooperation rather than confrontation (is best), because if you confront this country this will not help human rights at all," he said.

U.N. Watch also criticized the candidacies of Angola, Egypt and Qatar for the council.

A report released a few weeks ago by the group says the council still has a ways to go before it can be considered a big improvement from the commission it replaced. Serial human-rights violators continue to have a prominent role on the council, and Israel is still the focus of many of its resolutions. It has also been criticized for not doing enough for the people of Sudan's embattled Darfur region.

Also elected to the council Thursday were Angola, Bolivia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Madagascar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Qatar, Slovenia and South Africa.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/International_Intelligence/Analysis/2007/05/17/analysis_belarus_loses_un_rights_bid/8717/