Cuba Leads Charge to End U.N. Human Rights Investigations
The newly formed U.N. Human Rights Council is debating whether to do away with the special rapporteurs whose job is to investigate global human rights abuses. A group of countries typically subjected to such scrutiny, with Cuba and China at the helm, argues that domestic reports should be sufficient.The newly formed U.N. Human Rights Council is debating whether to do away with the special rapporteurs whose job is to investigate global human rights abuses. A group of countries typically subjected to such scrutiny, with Cuba and China at the helm, argues that domestic reports should be sufficient.
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GENEVA — Cuba is leading a bid by a number of countries to strip the Human Rights Council of its power to investigate and condemn violations, a move some activists warn could jeopardize the whole U.N.’s credibility.
The 47 member states of the new U.N. watchdog, set up last year to replace its largely discredited predecessor, are quietly negotiating a package of measures which will define its role.
At stake is the fate of “special procedures” — independent investigators appointed to report on countries where abuses are suspected. The former Secretary-General Kofi Annan described these rapporteurs as the “crown jewels” of the U.N. human rights machinery.
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