In 2009, the UNHRC passed a resolution praising Sri Lanka, took no action on Iran and passed 18 resolutions counterproductive to human rights The UNHRC fails to achieve its main goal - fostering and promoting human rights, due to its politicized decision-making. Despite the fact that the UNHRC resolution stated that “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”, this body serves mostly as a tool used to cover up HR violations, thanks to the principle of bloc voting. Some countries are not willing to have their HR violation stories exposed, therefore they cooperate with other countries which have these intentions as well, in order to create saliency of new public issues, thereby leaving serious violations unresolved. The phenomenon of bloc voting is confirmed by General Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary, who criticized them for not dropping rhetoric and bloc voting, instead of defending the citizens from getting abused. [[reut.rs/hKltAd]] Numerous NGO’s and human rights organizations claim that the council is under control of a bloc of Islamic and African states, usually backed by China, Cuba and Russia (due to overwhelming majority), to achieve mutual protection from criticism.[[bit.ly/cKtJmr]] This results in cover ups of the violations in the countries, which never get to the specific procedures within the UNHRC. The citizens voices cannot be heard because of the governments protecting their reputation, and serious violations are neglected. The UNHRC cannot respond to individual complaints, conduct studies, provide advice, and engage in promotional activities if they do not pass the vote acknowledging HR violations in first place. The impact of the voting-based decision-making, and absence of an objectively determined criteria when defining HR violation, is that the members are able to block HR violation, to achieve their interests.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:20:29 +0000
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