False starts, prizes and little bits of history

The second week of the September Human Rights Council session was a typically frantic affair, as delegations scrambled to finalise the resolutions that they would present before Thursday’s deadline. Getting resolutions in tends to be a quite scrappy business, more like a school sports day three-legged race than a gracious Olympic sprint.

Countries have quite different negotiating styles at the UN. At one extreme are Switzerland and Argentina who have consulted extensively and in good faith over many months on their proposal for a new UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice and Reparation. Their approach is commendable and has been rewarded with one of the highest ever number of countries signing up in support of a new Council mandate. And then there is the other approach, by which delegations attempt to bounce their resolutions through and expect their traditional allies to back them. Without any consultation Cuba has come up with its own proposal for a new Special Rapporteur to look at what they call a ‘democratic international order’. I’ve always been quite dubious about whether they’re the best placed delegation to be running a resolution with democracy in the title and it really isn’t clear what the point of the mandate is. Let’s hope Council members see sense on this one.

Canada responded to the UN Secretary General’s Sri Lanka report by proposing a debate on Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve accountability and reconciliation. Given that the report includes claims of up to 40,000 civilian deaths, the idea of holding a debate next March was a rather modest proposal. During the negotiating meeting organised by Canada, only a small number of Sri Lanka’s Council allies spoke up in their support so it seemed that Canada had the votes to get this through. But Canada then unexpectedly decided to suspend their draft giving more time for Sri Lanka’s domestic commission for reconciliation which will report in November. Many states were left confused by Canada’s false start.

But this has at least reminded Council members that Sri Lanka still needs the Council’s attention and increased the international spotlight on Sri Lanka’s domestic process in the build up to the next session.

Human Rights Watch launched a report looking at Council members’ performance, which highlighted the good, the bad and the less than beautiful during the Council’s 2011 cycle. There was a unusually high amount of interest by countries who were keen to see if they’d got a mention and what rating they’d received by one of the Council’s most active and credible NGOs. 7 countries were singled out as gold medal performers so well done to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Maldives, Mexico, the United States, and Zambia. The UK narrowly missed out but at least managed a podium finish, and was only one of 2 European countries singled out for praise. For those interested in the inner workings of the Council, the report is a fascinating read.

Inside the Council chamber there was plenty going on this week. Monday saw an action-packed day with separate debates on Yemen, Libya, Syria and Sudan. This time last year even the idea of having a day in the Council focused on these countries would have been unthinkable and it highlighted how far we’ve come in recent months. In a moment of history, the new Libya took up its speaking rights in the Council, with a powerful statement by the new Justice Minister. Council eyes are now on New York to see when the UN General Assembly will return Libya’s voting rights which were stripped from the Qadhafi regime 6 months ago.

In another historic moment the Council heard its first ever statement from a representative of South Sudan, the newest member of the UN family. In a previous existence I spent some time working with southern Sudanese refugees and visited their harsh and unsafe refugee settlements on the border with northern Uganda. Back then the civil war between north and south Sudan seemed interminable and the presence in the Council of South Sudanese Minister was a poignant symbol of how much things have changed. But its clear the new country will need a huge amount of international assistance and with violence and displacement continuing in the border areas, there’s clearly a way to go before the region is at peace. It will be important for the Council to stay engaged.

The session will go into overdrive next week, with voting on over 30 resolutions due in the closing stages including the UK resolution on promoting awareness on human rights through sport and the Olympics. Council delegates are summoning up the energy for the final lap and then we’ll all probably have a little lie down. I’ll let you know how it goes and in the meantime, I’d be grateful, as ever, for your comments.