Published: 24th September 2006
BAHRAIN joins other countries on the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council tomorrow to try to establish a system for reviewing each state’s fulfilment of its human rights obligations.
The UN Human Rights Council, which began its second session in Geneva last week, is mandated to carry out a “universal periodic review” of all countries.
The establishment of universal periodic reviews for all countries was a key institutional reform for the UN, which previously came under fire for “double standards” in reviewing countries.
“The council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon,” according to UN resolution 1503. It also calls on states to “contribute, through dialogue and co-operation, towards the prevention of human rights violations and respond promptly to human rights emergencies”. Current work at the council aims at establishing the foundations for how it will function in years to come, Bahrain’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and member of the Bahrain delegation to the council Abdullatif Abdulla told the GDN.
Published: 24th September 2006
BAHRAIN joins other countries on the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council tomorrow to try to establish a system for reviewing each state’s fulfilment of its human rights obligations.
The UN Human Rights Council, which began its second session in Geneva last week, is mandated to carry out a “universal periodic review” of all countries.
The establishment of universal periodic reviews for all countries was a key institutional reform for the UN, which previously came under fire for “double standards” in reviewing countries.
“The council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon,” according to UN resolution 1503. It also calls on states to “contribute, through dialogue and co-operation, towards the prevention of human rights violations and respond promptly to human rights emergencies”. Current work at the council aims at establishing the foundations for how it will function in years to come, Bahrain’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and member of the Bahrain delegation to the council Abdullatif Abdulla told the GDN.
“The first week was mainly devoted to discussions with the special rapporteurs and there has been an international dialogue between member states as a whole,” he said.
“Most member states would not like to have any resolutions in this session otherwise we will be dealing with a lot of resolutions. “We have to have an alternative – so the president suggested we should have an omnibus report, but this was unacceptable after a vote of countries. “On Monday we will start discussing the 1503 procedure in a closed meeting. “This is a new mechanism under which every state will be reviewed. “They ask countries to have special rapporteurs to go there. “There will be a working group of five member states to decide if the report was enough – if not, further steps will be taken.
“It’s a first year, so it’s a really hard year – things are still not clear,” he added.
“There are still some previous bodies – what we are trying to do is two link these.
“What are the treaty bodies and fact commissions linked to the body?
“(We are) working out how to carry out a universal periodic review and link it with other mechanisms without overlapping.”
Bahrain was elected to the UN Human Rights Council by an absolute majority of votes from the General Assembly in May, and will hold one of the 13 seats available to Asian countries for one year.
The council replaces the UN Human Rights Commission, which was abolished last year amid serious allegations of corruption. Important reforms include sitting for an extra four weeks a year, its status has been changed to place it alongside the security and development organs as “subsidiary bodies” of the General Assembly, universal periodic reviews of all states and some criteria for membership based on countries’ contribution and commitment to promoting and protecting human rights.
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