Rights body lauds UN chief, urges to emulate Annan

New York, Oct 4: The incoming UN Secretary General must be prepared to speak out publicly against human rights abusers, wherever they are and however powerful they are, Human Rights Watch has urged.

The Security Council conducted the last informal straw poll which made it almost clear that it would recommend South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly for election to the post of Secretary-General. Traditionally the General Assembly has approved of such a recommendation.

''Kofi Annan has been more supportive of human rights than any secretary general in UN history, so the new secretary general will have a tough act to follow,'' said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based rights body. ''A key task for Annan's successor will be to show he has the political courage to challenge powerful governments that abuse human rights.'' As an outspoken advocate for victims of human rights, Annan pressed governments to live up to the UN Charter's commitment to human rights for all. He recognised that while quiet diplomacy and technical assistance have their place, some situations are so urgent and some governments so unresponsive that public pressure must be brought to bear by the UN chief.

The incoming secretary general must be similarly willing to take on those responsible for human rights abuses and to push the UN system to be stronger in the defense of human rights and civil society. To demonstrate the universal basis of human rights, he must be willing to speak out even when the offender is a powerful government, the rights body said.

As the crisis in Darfur continues, it is clear that the next secretary general will be judged in important part by his ability to make the 'responsibility to protect' people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity a reality.

World leaders agreed to this principle at last year's summit, but the deteriorating situation in Darfur illustrates the gap between stating a principle and having the political will and resources to act upon it. Ban's challenge will be to close that gap.

''There is no more pressing issue for the new secretary-general's attention than Darfur,'' Roth said yesterday.

Through his reform efforts, including the creation of the new Human Rights Council, Annan also forced a rethinking of the UN's human rights role. Yet his vision of rights as the third pillar of the UN system, along with security and development, is far from realised.

The Human Rights Council has so far stumbled because of its relative fixation on Israel, while failing to take concrete steps to address other serious human rights situations as well. It has yet to show that it is willing to take firm, collective action against intransigent governments engaged in systemic rights violations.

The incoming Secretary-General must work to ensure that the Human Rights Council is both more credible and more effective than its predecessor. He should also support the ongoing expansion of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and continue Annan's effort to bring human rights into the mainstream of other parts of the UN.

UNI