UN calls for standards in new 45-nation human rights body

UNITED NATIONS - Proposals for a long-awaited UN Human Rights Council call for 45 members and beefed up standards for any nation wanting a seat on the new body, according to a draft resolution circulated today.

World leaders agreed at a UN summit in September to create a new body to replace the 53-member Geneva-based Human Rights Commission, known for giving seats to countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe and blocking criticism of rights abusers.

The aim of the 191-member General Assembly is to approve the document by February 15 so that the new council, which will also sit in Geneva, is ready to take over from the commission that is to have its final session, beginning in mid-March.

The draft, which is subject to revision, was drawn up by UN Ambassadors Ricardo Alberto Arias of Panama and Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, appointed by Assembly President Jan Eliasson to canvass members and produce a compromise document.

US envoys said they were still studying the proposals. US Ambassador John Bolton said he had "opinions" but would not disclose them.

Still undecided is whether a candidate would be elected by a two-thirds or a simple majority. The United States and the Europeans wanted a two-thirds vote, which would make it easier for them to stop a nation from getting a seat in the 191-member General Assembly, dominated by developing countries.

New are criteria for membership in the council. They include "candidates contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights," a ban on nations with gross rights violations and those countries faulted for rights abuses by UN bodies.

But it is still unclear who would make this determination.

Geographic representation is clearly spelled out: 12 from Africa, 13 from Asia, 5 from Eastern Europe, 8 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 7 from Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

But it says nations would not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive three-year terms, a provision the United States is bound to oppose.

All nations elected to the council would be subject to a "universal periodic review mechanism" on their human rights record during their term of membership.

Peggy Hicks, the global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, called the resolution and its insistence on standards a "major advance" and a "real improvement" from previous drafts.

But she told Reuters the New York-based group advocated a two-thirds vote by the General Assembly.

"We need the two-thirds vote for the real improvement we are looking for. What it will do is to ensure that the worst abusers don't gain seats," Hicks said.

The draft also calls for the council to meet regularly throughout the year, schedule at least three sessions, one of them for no less than 10 weeks. The current Geneva commission meets only six weeks a year.

It says the first election should be held on May 9 and the first meeting of the council to be convened on June 16.

- REUTERS