The Working Group on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Mechanisms of the UN Commission on Human Rights has just wrapped up its final session in Geneva. The results do not bode well for either reform or the tenor of the upcoming Commission on Human Rights.
Analysis: Efforts to reform the UN’s human rights machinery are winding down. A sense of disappointment exists among those states that had hoped for a genuine strengthening of the mechanisms.
Last year’s Commission on Human Rights did not achieve consensus on a package to reform its mechanisms. Therefore, over the past year, a working group has met to hammer out a series of reforms, but by and large its efforts have not been a success. After the final meeting, it would seem that states opposed to reform have prevailed. The original package has been seriously watered down.
For example, the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, recognized as fulfilling “an important role as a subsidiary expert mechanism of the Commission,” was to be changed by the addition of safeguards to protect the independence and impartiality of its membership. The traditionally “negotiated” resolutions were to be replaced by an analytical report. But none of these proposals made it into the final recommendations.
A fascinating aspect of the exercise was the ability of the Like-Minded-Group to stymie reform efforts. The power of this Group – which includes such states as Sudan, Myanmar, Egypt, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Cuba – was evident at last year’s Commission, when it prevented decisive action on the original proposals for reform.
Now, almost a year later, the new package that will go to the Commission fails to seriously strengthen UN human rights mechanisms. The process has been acrimonious. One Western diplomat said that “some states’ behavior belongs in a Jurassic park,” while another compared the process to the sinking of the Titanic.
The chances of a deeper rift between the Like-Minded-Group and the others is now probable. The Commission will likely become more politicized and further entrenched positions may develop. The impact this will have on debates on the resolutions on China, Cuba and other situations remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, those whose rights are abused on a daily basis will have to continue to wait for a more effective UN human rights system.
