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Annan urges human rights action
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sought to drum up support for his reforms of the world body by warning member states that human rights had entered a "new era" focusing on their implementation and respect of fundamental freedoms.Mr Annan told the UN Human Rights Commission that his controversial plans to revamp the 53-member body marked the end of a 60-year period dominated by the establishment of international human rights standards and obligations. "The cause of human rights has entered a new era," he said in a keynote speech. "The era of declaration is now giving way as it should, to an era of implementation." Mr Annan urged countries to rally around his attempt to bolster and sharpen the pillars of the UN human rights effort, giving them more authority to ensure that all countries fulfill their human rights obligations. "Nobody has a monopoly on human rights virtue. Abuses are found in rich countries as well as poor," Mr Annan said. The international communityââ¬s commitment still faced a test in Sudanââ¬s strife-torn region of Darfur, he said, despite recent progress with an agreement to bring abuse there before the International Criminal Court. Although welcome, the African Union peacekeeping force was "clearly not sufficient" to maintain security throughout the region and there was "hardly any progress towards political settlement," Mr Annan said. "For all of us, as individuals and as an institution, this situation is a test. For thousands of men, women, and children, our response is already too late." An estimated 300,000 people have died in Darfur and more than two million forced to flee their homes after being targeted in two years of violence involving government forces, allied militia and rebels. A parliamentarian from Darfur said in Sudan yesterday that his passport had been confiscated and he had been barred from travelling to the meeting of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Sudan is a member of the Commission until 2007. Mr Annan admitted his proposals, unveiled last month as part of broader reform of the world body, were "dramatic". They include reducing the size of the Commission and setting up a membership test on human rights merit, following accusations that the current forum is dominated by countries with a record of abuse. Posted by: tipper 2005-04-07 |
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