FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n
UN Human Rights Council Membership Must be Earned by Upholding the Highest\u00a0Standards: Clean Slates Permitted Empty Pledges by Asian States<\/p>\n
(Geneva\/Bangkok, 13 November 2012) – Yesterday’s elections of members\u00a0to the Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly in\u00a0New York has demonstrated the unfortunate continuation of reproachful\u00a0practices in electing Asian member States to the UN’s principal body which is responsible for promoting universal respect for the\u00a0protection of human rights, as only 5 candidates were put forward to\u00a0fill the 5 vacant seats for the Asia group. “The clean-slate practice\u00a0has become the rule rather than the exception. We reiterate time and\u00a0again that it is contrary to the spirit of competitive elections and\u00a0undermines any genuine opportunity for the UN General Assembly to\u00a0select Council members based on their demonstrated commitment to\u00a0uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human\u00a0rights”, stated Yap Swee Seng, Executive Director of the Asian Forum for\u00a0Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights\u00a0organization, representing 49 non-governmental organizations across\u00a0Asia.<\/p>\n
Japan, Pakistan and South Korea have garnered membership at the\u00a0Council for 2013 – 2015, which has followed from their most recent\u00a0Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group sessions of 22nd October – 5th November, 2012. “Civil society expects governments to engage in open\u00a0and inclusive consultative processes with stakeholders, not just\u00a0during the UPR, but also in the process of drafting their voluntary\u00a0pledges when seeking Council membership. Furthermore, pledges and\u00a0commitments made to the Council on international contributions to\u00a0human rights should be based on structured and principled positions which are inclusive of the views and expectations of civil society”,\u00a0stressed Kazuko Ito, Secretary General of Human Rights Now (HRN),\u00a0Japan.<\/p>\n
Civil society in South Korea also expressed their deep disappointment\u00a0with their government’s responses during the recent UPR, in which the\u00a0government presented a skewed view of the implementation of its human\u00a0rights obligations [1]. “The voluntary pledges made by the government\u00a0for the Council membership are as hollow as those presented during the\u00a0UPR. The government must take further efforts to ensure realistic,\u00a0measurable and time-bound concrete action points which streamline\u00a0recommendations from various UN human rights mechanisms”, urged Taeho\u00a0Lee, Secretary General of People’s Solidarity for Participatory\u00a0Democracy (PSPD), South Korea.<\/p>\n
Pakistan outlined in its voluntary pledges as well as during its UPR,\u00a0the influential role it has played at the Council, particularly as the\u00a0coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).\u00a0“Pakistan’s redirection at the Council towards forging consensus on\u00a0contentious issues such as the incitement to hatred and the right to\u00a0freedom of expression must be strengthened further through principled\u00a0approaches that do not undermine existing universal human right norms\u00a0and standards. Such developments at the Council should also be applied\u00a0at the national level, particularly as the government is increasingly\u00a0adopting a strategy of digital censorship and surveillance in the name\u00a0of safeguarding national security, religious values and morality [2]”,\u00a0expressed Shahzad Ahmad, country director of Bytes for All, Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, highlighting the joint letter of 35 human rights\u00a0organizations dated 9th November 2012, [3] which was addressed to all\u00a0candidates of the 12th November elections to the Council membership,\u00a0FORUM-ASIA once more urged that member States of the Council fully\u00a0cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms, particularly Special\u00a0Procedures, and ensure free and safe engagement of all human rights\u00a0defenders and NGOs with these mechanisms without the fear of\u00a0reprisals. [END]<\/p>\n
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For further inquiries, please contact:<\/p>\n
\u30fb \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In Bangkok, Giyoun Kim, FORUM-ASIA, Deputy Executive Notes to editors:<\/p>\n \u30fb \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Member States of the UN Human Rights Council are elected\u00a0directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the\u00a0members of the UN General Assembly. The 47 seats to the Council are\u00a0distributed as follows among regional groups: Asian States (13);\u00a0African States (13); Latin American and Caribbean States (8); Eastern\u00a0European States (6); and Western European and other States (7). The\u00a0members of the Council serve for a period of three years and shall not\u00a0be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.<\/p>\n \u30fb \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The elections for 18 new members, including 5 Asian States,\u00a0to the Council membership for 2013-2015 took place in New York\u00a0yesterday on 12 November 2012. With the yesterday’s election results –\u00a0United Arab Emirates (184 votes), Kazakhstan (183 votes), Japan (182\u00a0votes), Republic of Korea (176 votes) and Pakistan (171 votes), Asian\u00a0member States sitting in the Council from 1 January 2013 will be\u00a0India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives,\u00a0Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Qatar, Thailand and the United\u00a0Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n \u30fb \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 When electing members of the Council, the UN General\u00a0Assembly shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the\u00a0promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges\u00a0and commitments made thereto. For five out of the seven elections\u00a0since 2006, however, Asian States have attempted to put forward “clean\u00a0slates” thereby nullifying the spirit of the competitive elections.\u00a0The pledges made by Asian candidate States for the yesterday’s\u00a0elections are available at:<\/p>\n Japan, http:\/\/www.un.org\/ga\/search\/ ______________________________ [1] \u00a0 Korean NGO Coalition for the 2nd Cycle of the UPR on the\u00a0Republic of Korea, “Republic of Korea: Need to Show More Commitment to\u00a0Improve Its Human Rights”, 31 October 2012,
\nDirector, giyoun@forum-asia.org<\/a>
\n\u30fb \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In Geneva, Pooja Patel, FORUM-ASIA, UN Advocacy Programme
\nOfficer, pooja@forum-asia.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKazakhstan, http:\/\/www.un.org\/ga\/search\/
\nPakistan, http:\/\/www.un.org\/ga\/search\/
\nRepublic of Korea, http:\/\/www.un.org\/ga\/search\/
\nUnited Arab Emirates http:\/\/www.un.org\/ga\/search\/
\nhttp:\/\/www.peoplepower21.org\/
\n[2] \u00a0 Bytes for All Pakistan, “A New Wave of Surveillance in\u00a0Pakistan”, 30 October 2012, http:\/\/content.bytesforall.pk\/
\n[3] \u00a0 Joint NGO Letter to Candidates to the Human Rights Council (on\u00a0the Cooperation with Special Procedures and the Acts of Reprisals), 9\u00a0November 2012, http:\/\/www.forum-asia.org\/?p=