New UN Human Rights Council elected
Some of the 'baddies' still there - but not so many
It's not just been election week here in the UK - the UN has been running one too, for 47 countries to form the new Human Rights Council.
You might have thought that the worst abusers would keep their heads down while that was going on, but in the wonderful world of diplomacy it pays to be brass-necked. Many of them had their names down as candidates, and not a few got in. Algeria, Cuba, Russia, China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia all won seats on the Council. They may be able to avoid discussion of their own cases, or apply pressure on other council members when that fails ("You vote against us and we'll vote against you"!) - that's what happened far too much in the old, discredited, UN Commission for Human Rights.
Nevertheless, not all observers have been wholly negative. The number of serial abusers may be uncomfortably high, but there are still fewer of them than there used to be - and which country can claim a perfect record, anyway? Human Rights Watch called it 'a step in the right direction', and there was general relief that Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan and Sudan decided not to apply, while Iran and Iraq(!) were defeated.
Now it remains to be seen whether the countries with relatively clean records will assert their authority and vote to condemn at least the most flagrant abuses. That didn't always happen on the Human Rights Commission. Human rights have been just another playing piece in the great game of diplomacy, to be traded off for some imagined gain elsewhere, while the poor humans whose rights they should be continue to suffer and sometimes die. Will it be any different now? Probably not much, but progress in international affairs is rarely if ever in giant leaps, so maybe a 'step in the right direction' is all we can hope for. On the other hand, if yet another UN Council proves to be a toothless talking-shop, the dispossessed and unheard millions may continue to take matters into their own hands. If justice is forever denied, there remains the possibility of revenge through the bomb or the Kalashnikov.
Click here for the voting figures and the names of the winners and losers, or here for the UN's own take on the election. Or read the FT's story.
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