The United Nations' human rights chief chided the international community Monday about its record on protecting civil liberties, saying it was too selective in responding to abuses around the world. Opening the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission, Louise Arbour said the international community had fallen short of its human rights goals.
Her remarks came as the world body's 53-member top rights forum meeting in Geneva comes under close scrutiny by human rights groups, who charge that the assembly represents a "do or die" test of its credibility.
The gathering, which continues to April 22, is meant to scrutinise respect for fundamental freedoms and highlight instances of abuse such as torture and disappearances.
But pressure groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch estimate that about half its current membership are rights abusers, and their political bargaining undermines the commission to the extent that it fails to protect basic rights.
"Our approach to human rights diplomacy remains unsatisfactory," Arbour, a Canadian, said in her opening speech.
"It is sporadic and selective. The commission must take the lead in developing more effective approaches.
"So far, we have fallen short in the task of implementing human rights. We readily give the impression of viewing declarations as our final destination (...) and we readily settle for selective and sporadic implementation of rights of convenience."
Arbour said the international community had failed in particular in Darfur in western Sudan, where there are "mass violations of human rights being perpetrated".
"Our response to that human rights crisis falls very short (...) of our responsibility to the most vulnerable," she added. Sudan was reelected to the human rights commission this year.
Rights campaigners also warn that countries like Cuba and Zimbabwe, where abuse was frequently reported, are able to claim "double standards" because the United States is rarely taken to task for human rights problems at the international level.
"Clearly one of the major problems of the commission has been the fact that many of its members act not to promote the purposes of the commission, but to undermine sincere efforts to promote human rights," Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said earlier.
"This is a do or die moment for the commission. Either it begins to reform itself or the matter may well be taken out of its hands."
In a perceived reference to the United States, Arbour said that she was "particularly concerned to see that certain long established rights, such as the right not be tortured, are now the subject of unprecedented reinterpretation".
The United States has been accused by human rights groups of the torture of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and at a US military base in Cuba.
The question of torture could be raised in a resolution supported by the European Union, according to diplomats.
Some 120 resolutions have listed for this year's commission meeting in which 5,000 delegates will participate including 3,000 non-government organisations.
The Commission on Human Rights was created in 1946. After initially concentrating on standard-setting and reviewing particular themes, it gained additional powers to examine alleged abuse in specific countries in 1970.
The body can vote by a simple majority to place a country under scrutiny for a year, or more if the term is renewed.
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