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No action at UN commission |
Suhas Chakma |
The UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his address on
International Day of Reflection on 1994 Genocide
in Rwanda at the ongoing 60th session of the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on April 7, urged
the need to address the scale of reported human
rights abuses and at the humanitarian crisis
unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. Both Mr Annan and US
President George Bush called for "continuum of
steps which may include military
action".
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The Rwandan genocide
provides instructive lessons for interventions in such
extreme cases but the CHR does not seem to be concerned.
At the ongoing session, Sudan is likely to obtain
support from Malaysia, China and India given the
involvement of the state-owned oil companies of China's
China National Petroleum Corp., Malaysia's Petronas
(Petrolium Nasional Berhad) and India's Oil and Natural
Gas (ONGC) Videsh Ltd in the exploration of oil in
Sudan.
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These state-owned
oil companies from Asia replaced the Talisman Energy Inc
of Canada and Lundin Oil AB of Sweden, which withdrew in
2002 amidst allegations of complicity in human rights
violations. At the 59th session, both the US and EU
helped Sudan not to be censured under country
resolutions but rewarded it with technical cooperation
programme.
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It is hypocrisy at
its best. As another war unfolds in Iraq, the CHR
remains silent. The situation in Iraq is increasingly
turning akin to neighbouring occupied Arab territories
of West Bank and Gaza. The need to protect the civilians
in Iraq and monitor present violations of human rights
and humanitarian laws by parties in conflict in Iraq is
paramount. But, the focus of many NGOs and government is
on past offences under Saddam's regime.
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The EU, which
sponsored the resolution on the situation of human
rights in Iraq at the height of the conflict in 2003,
has decided not to sponsor a similar resolution. The
Asian block is reportedly examining whether it has the
backbone to spring last minute surprise to sponsor a
resolution on the situation of human rights in Iraq. The
CHR is set to shame itself by its failure to sponsor a
resolution on the situation of human rights in
Iraq.
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When the ongoing UN
Commission on Human Rights votes on country resolutions
on April 15, it will witness many No Action Motions - a
procedural tactic to prevent explanation before the
votes on the resolutions. Though the 60th session of the
CHR has already set a good precedent by adopting a
resolution on human rights situation in Uzbekistan with
overwhelming majority under the 1503 Confidential
Procedure, it is unlikely to have positive effects. The
adoption of the resolution on Uzbekistan with
overwhelming majority has reportedly rattled China which
fears that its "No Action Motion" against the US
sponsored resolution on human rights situation in China
may be defeated.
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Open sessions of the
CHR have also been marked by increasing acrimony over
allegations of politicisation and selectivity. The US's
bias towards Israel and its allies in West Asia and
unilateral coercive measures against Cuba often dilute
genuine concerns about the systemic human rights
violations on the countries on which draft resolutions
are being sponsored: Cuba, China, Zimbabwe, Sudan,
Chechnya of the Russian Federation, Democratic Republic
Congo, Burundi, Myanmar and Turkmenistan.
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As none expects that
resolution on human rights situation in China will be
adopted, the question of human rights situation in China
has been reduced to whether the US will be able to cross
the Chinese "No Action Motion" hurdle. Zimbabwe, which
sustained its "No Action Motion" in 2002 at the height
of oppression by the Mugabe regime, once again will use
the "no-action motion". If the EU is serious about the
resolution on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, it
must address the land reforms while condemning illegal
methods and gross human rights violations by President
Mugabe's regime and the ruling Zanu-PF
militias.
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The country
resolutions are also linked with the resolutions under
agenda item 19 on technical cooperation programmes. The
draft resolution on technical cooperation assistance to
Nepal sponsored by Switzerland has so far failed to make
headway. Most Asian countries opined to support the
resolution only if Nepal agreed. Nepal, which depends
heavily on external aid, does not oppose the technical
cooperation per se but opposes a report to the
commission on its human rights record. It wants the
money without any monitoring.
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A chairman statement
which also acknowledges empty 25-point programme on
human rights announced by Nepal is being negotiated at
present. In all likelihood, Nepal, which is caught in
conflict with the Maoists, will join the post-conflict
countries such as Timor Leste, Somalia, Haiti,
Afghanistan, Cambodia and Sierra Leone to receive
technical cooperation from the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. As the conflict
intensifies in Nepal with no clear sign of Nepal's
acceptance of UN mediation for bringing an end to the
civil war, a Chairman's statement will make a mockery of
the prevailing conflict and human rights situations in
Nepal.
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