November 1, 2005

H.E. Mr. Jan Eliasson

President of the 60^th Session of the U.N. General Assembly

Office of the President of the General Assembly
United Nations

New York, N.Y. 10017

 

 

Dear President Eliasson,

 

At the September 2005 World Summit, heads of state and government took a historic step towards strengthening the protection of human rights worldwide by agreeing to establish a Human Rights Council. The challenging task of implementing that decision through negotiations at this year’s General Assembly was placed in your capable hands. At this crucial moment in the negotiations process, the undersigned organizations and individuals, all deeply committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, would like to emphasize our shared view regarding the key elements of a new Human Rights Council that we would consider indispensable to a credible outcome.

We start from the premise that the result of this reform must be substantially more than a change in name.  The Human Rights Council must significantly enhance the U.N.’s existing capacity to protect and promote human rights. We would also stress that the key elements of the council should be adopted by the end of this year in order to allow it to begin its work in early 2006.

We believe that the following essential points must be included in the resolution creating the Human Rights Council:

 

Status:  The HRC should be elevated to principal organ status within five years and should have transitional status as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly in the meantime.

 

Mandate:  The HRC should address any matters relating to the protection and promotion of all human rights in any country, including specific situations of gross, systematic, continuing or urgent violations. The HRC should be empowered to make recommendations and report on all such matters to member states and bodies within the United Nations system, including to the Security Council and the General Assembly.

 

Composition:  At a minimum, states seeking election to the Human Rights Council must commit to abide by the highest standards of human rights and to cooperate fully with the HRC and its mechanisms, and should put forward a platform that describes what they seek to accomplish during their term of membership.

 

Elections and Voting:  Members of the HRC should be elected by an individual and direct vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly. Regional groups should be required to put forward more candidates than the number of seats allocated to their region.  When voting, member states should give due regard to the positive contribution which the member state seeking election has made to the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as to the pledges it makes.

 

Working Methods:  The HRC should be a standing body which meets regularly throughout the year and is able to respond in a timely fashion to any matters involving the protection and promotion of human rights. Meetings of the HRC in addition to the regular sessions could be called by one-third of HRC members, the HRC chair, the Secretary-General, or the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

 

Special Procedures:  The system of special procedures should be transferred to the HRC with enhanced coherence and support, as well as greater participation in HRC meetings.

 

NGO Participation:   The HRC should ensure a level of participation by NGOs at least as high as that at the Commission on Human Rights by retaining the existing rules and practices for participation by NGOs.

 

We believe that by incorporating each of the above elements the Human Rights Council will be able to fulfill the promise that engendered this reform. Given the inter-relationship of many of these issues, failure to secure any of these key points would compromise the entire effort.

We look forward to continuing to work with you and the co-chairs to support the establishment of an effective, credible, and authoritative Human Rights Council.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director

Access Info Europe (Spain)

 

Yvonne Terlingen, AI Representative at the United Nations

Amnesty International

 

Albert Musliu, Executive Director
Association for Democratic Initiatives (Macedonia)

 

Roberto P. Saba, Executive Director

Association for Civil Rights (Argentina)

 

Bani Dugal, Principal Representative

Bahá'í International Community, UN Office

 

 

Dr. Wajeeha S. Albaharna, President

Bahrain Women's Society

 

Emma Bonino, Member of the European Parliament (Italy)

 

Karin D. Ryan. Senior Advisor for Human Rights

The Carter Center

 

Denis Caillaux, Secretary General

CARE International

 

Lene Schumacher, Director of Programs

Center for Development of International Law

 

Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director

Center for Women's Global Leadership

 

Charles J. Brown, President and CEO

Citizens for Global Solutions

 

Richard C. Rowson, President

Council for a Community of Democracies

 

Réné Plaetevoet, Chair of the Board of Directors and Coordinator

www.December18.Net

 

Ted Piccone, Executive Director

Democracy Coalition Project

 

Ilona Mihaies, Executive President

Euroregional Center for Democracy (Romania)

 

Sidiki Kaba, Président

Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme

 

Marie-Jo Cocher, Executive Secretary
FIACAT (International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition
of Torture)

 

John Quigley, Executive Director

Franciscans International

 

Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director

Freedom House

 

 

Gay McDougall, Executive Director

Global Rights

 

Layla Rajab Zayed, Chairperson, Board of Trustees

Gulf Centre for Democratic Development

 

Sergio D'elia, Secretary General

Hands Off Cain (Italy)

 

Tolekan Ismailova, Director

Human Rights Centre "Citizens Against Corruption" (Kyrgyzstan)

 

Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs

Human Rights First

 

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director

Human Rights Watch

 

Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General

International Commission of Jurists  

 

Gareth Evans, President and CEO

International Crisis Group

 

Bob Arsenault, President

International League for Human Rights

 

Gorel Bogarde, UN Representative

International Save the Children Alliance

 

Chris Sidoti, Director

International Service for Human Rights

 

Hussain Sinjari, President

Iraq Institute for Democracy

 

Daniela Colombo, President

Italian Association for Women in Development, AIDOS

 

Felice D. Gaer, Director

Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights

 

Thach Thach, President

Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation, Vietnam

 

Walid Salem, Coordinator

MECA (Middle East Citizen Assembly)

 

Kok Ksor, President

Montagnard Foundation, Vietnam

 

Robin Phillips, Executive Director

Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights

 

Nader Nadery, Commissioner

Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

 

Sergio Stanzani

No Peace Without Justice (Italy)

 

Morton H. Halperin, Director of U.S. Advocacy

Open Society Institute

 

Marco Pannella, Member of the European Parliament (Italy)

 

Leonard Rubenstein, Executive Director

Physicians for Human Rights

 

Liz Scurfield, Joint Representative

Quaker Council for European Affairs

 

Kenneth H. Bacon, President

Refugees International

 

Jan Mortier, Executive Director

Researchers without Borders

 

Matteo Mecacci, UN Representative

Transnational Radical Party

 

Vina Nadjibulla, UN Representative

United Methodist UN Office

 

Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary, The Netherlands

 

Vo Van Ai

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Vietnam

 

Joy Olson, Executive Director

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

 

William R. Pace, Executive Director

World Federalist Movement

 

Eric Sottas, Director

World Organisation against Torture

 

cc: H.E. Mr. Ricardo Alberto Arias, Co-Chair, Human Rights Council negotiations

      H.E. Mr. Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo, Co-Chair, Human Rights Council negotiations

      Mr. Kofi Annan, U.N. Secretary-General

      Ms. Louise Arbour, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights