UN Removes U.S. From Rights Panel

Brian Knowlton International Herald Tribune 4may01

[Defeat at UN Stirs Outcry in the U.S. below]

Unpopular Policies Are Blamed for Loss of Seat Held Since 1947

WASHINGTON - In an unexpected slap by a 53-nation council at the United Nations, the United States on Thursday was voted off the UN Human Rights Commission for the first time since it was established in 1947.

Singapore's delegate, Kishore Mahbubani, called the vote, taken by the Economic and Social Council, the umbrella group for the rights commission, "a stunning development," Reuters reported from New York.

The embarrassing setback for the United States, which has long considered itself a leading defender of global human rights, apparently came partly at the hands of countries that have been frequent targets of U.S. rights criticism, such as China and Cuba.

But the balance apparently was tipped by European allies, in a first angry backlash against what some consider high-handed and unilateral actions by the administration of President George W. Bush and its predecessor.

The U.S. candidacy might also have been hurt by the absence of a permanent U.S. representative to the United Nations, a post that has been vacant since Richard Holbrooke stepped down in January.

"The American campaign started late," said Per Nordstrom, deputy head of the Swedish delegation to the UN. "It could have been helpful in the UN if they had a PR," or permanent representative, "in place."

"Understandably, we are very disappointed," said James Cunningham, the chief U.S. delegate.

But Mr. Cunningham said the decision would not affect Washington's commitment to human rights.

It appears likely, however, to leave the rights commission without its most enthusiastic supporter of resolutions condemning the rights records of countries such as China.

Some diplomats said that Mr. Bush's opposition to the Kyoto treaty on climate change, and his failure to consult with allies before announcing that opposition, contributed to the vote, as did his calls for a missile defense system.

"The foes alone would not have done the trick," Joanna Weschler, the UN representative of Human Rights Watch, said in a telephone interview. "It's been a cumulative effect of U.S. positions on several important human rights issues over years."

Those issues, raised in speeches before the Economic and Social Council, include U.S. opposition to a treaty to abolish land mines; the Bush administration opposition to ratifying a treaty, signed by the Clinton administration, to create an International Criminal Court, and its recent abstention, despite 52 votes in favor of, on a resolution to make AIDS drugs available to all in need.

France, Austria and Sweden were selected for the three open seats on the commission allocated to Western countries. The United States placed fourth. Voting is secret.

Opposition to the U.S. seat on the commission had been brewing for some time, however. Austria and Sweden had been asked by the Netherlands, on behalf of the United States, to withdraw their candidacies and declined, a UN source said. Ambassador Nordstrom would not confirm that report.

The commission, with 53 members, on April 27 completed its annual six-week session in Geneva to review human rights violations around the world.

It was established in 1947, and the United States, Russia and India had served on the commission since then.

Also elected to the commission were Bahrain, South Korea, Pakistan, Croatia and Armenia. Chile, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Uganda received uncontested seats.

Countries whose candidates failed to obtain seats were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Latvia and Azerbaijan, in addition to the United States.

Relations between the United States and the United Nations have been strained for years, notably in the administration of President Ronald Reagan, over American complaints that the United States carried too large a burden of the budget for what it considered a poorly managed, and often unfriendly, organization.

But in what Secretary of State Colin Powell called his first trip "outside" the United States, he said the United Nations was told that it had the strong support of the new administration.

Mr. Holbrooke, chief U.S. delegate to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton, negotiated an end to the dispute over dues shortly before leaving his post on Jan. 19.

In exchange for a U.S. promise to pay back dues, the United Nations agreed to lower U.S. contributions to 22 percent from 25 percent of its regular budget.

The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com

Defeat at UN Stirs Outcry in the U.S.

International Herald Tribune 5may01

WASHINGTON -  President George W. Bush and members of Congress reacted Friday with disappointment and outrage to the removal of the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Ideological foes reacted with glee to the humiliation of their enemy.

The White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, said that despite Mr. Bush's disappointment, the United States would "push forward and continue to make the case about the importance of human rights."

Mr. Fleischer declined to speculate on why the United States was voted off the panel.

"Look, I'm not in the position to speak for the states that voted the way they did and I won't presume to do so but this will not stop this president or this country from speaking out strongly on matters of human rights," he said.

Still, added Mr. Fleischer, "it's a disappointment."

The United States had been a member of the commission since it was created in 1947. Analysts offered several factors that contributed to the U.S. defeat Thursday, including a campaign by rights-abusing nations to avoid scrutiny, resentment toward the Bush administration for unilateral stances on issues like global warming and missile defense, the growing independence of the European Union and a failure by U.S. diplomats to do proper legwork before the vote.

Governments that have long been the target of American criticism of their rights policies reacted joyfully.

Cuba said the United States was paying the price for "its coercive methods to achieve its aims in international bodies."

China, which continues as a member of the commission, struck a similar note by accusing the United States of attempting to use rights issues as a political weapon.

The official press agency Xinhua said the vote was "a strong rejection of the U.S. attempt to use so-called human rights issues as a tool to pursue its power politics and hegemonism in the world."

Official Iran radio called the decision a "blow to the country's international prestige," adding that it was an indication "of the United States' waning influence in international affairs."

In the U.S. Congress, leaders from both parties expressed outrage that nations whose records have long been criticized by the United States apparently banded together with European nations to quell Washington's voice.

A spokesman for the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, said the action might force lawmakers to reconsider a carefully wrought agreement worked out between the Senate and the Clinton administration to pay outstanding American dues to the United Nations.

The House is expected to take up the issue for the first time next week as part of the State Department authorization bill.

"This really hurts the credibility of the UN in the Congress," said Mr. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery.

Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asserted that "a few European countries maneuvered, in a secret vote, to eliminate the United States."

With the exclusion of the United States, he said, "the victims of human rights abuses will no longer have a spokesman to defend their hopes for liberty and freedom."

Although the vote of the Economic and Social Council, which has authority over the human rights commission, was carried out by secret ballot, lawmakers speculated that nations like Cuba and China had conducted behind-the-scenes lobbying against Washington. Others pointed to the unraveling of an understanding with Europe that the United States would retain one of the three seats reserved for Western nations.

"This is a deliberate attempt to punish the United States for its insistence that the commission tell the truth about human rights abuses wherever they occur," said Henry Hyde, Republican of Illinois and chairman of the International Relations Committee in the House of Representatives.

"This commission includes some of the world's premier human rights violators," Mr. Hyde said.

Four nations competed Thursday to fill three Western vacancies for three-year terms on the 53-member commission. France had 52 votes out of a possible 54, Austria got 41 and Sweden 32, although there can be some overlap, as there is now. The United States trailed with 29 and was eliminated.

The Economic and Social Council is made up of entirely different members than the commission.

In Geneva, the world body's Palais des Nations was abuzz Friday with diplomats speculating on whether the United States had lost its seat because of irritation over its positions or because it just did not campaign hard enough for its seat.

"People are very surprised, very shocked," said a diplomat who attended the commission, whose annual six-week session ended a week ago. "People are saying the commission will not be the same."

The United States has been a member of the commission ever since it was founded in 1947 at the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt, a sculpture of whom, alongside that of her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, holds a place of honor at the formal entrance to the Palais des Nations.

The United States will still be able to address the commission as an observer and will even by able to sponsor resolutions and lobby for support, but some diplomats said the loss of the vote will affect the whole institution.

"The major democracy in the world is outside the commission," a diplomat said. "The major protector of human rights, the champion of human rights is out, so what kind of commission is this?"

At times, the United States even stood against its allies in the European Union. It refused to support the right to cheap AIDS drugs in poor countries or to criticize Israel's settlement policy.

Israel, however, appreciated the support. "I praise the United States for its role in the recent session on human rights, especially regarding the Middle East issues and the stand on Israel," said the Israeli ambassador, Yaakov Levy. (AP, Reuters, NYT, AFP)