Human rights issues get `sanitized' in Geneva<\/p>\n
Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Geneva<\/p>\n
In Salle XVII, eight languages are simultaneously spoken, or
\nrather translated. Yet here in the main conference room in the
\nPalais des Nations, where the Commission on Human Rights meets
\nevery year, the situation is hushed and orderly. Even the voice
\nof the speaker can barely be heard. Most people tune in to one of
\nthe channels of the eight simultaneous translations through the
\nearphone provided.<\/p>\n
Each year, the round hall with wooden panel walls takes center
\nstage on human rights issues. At the podium sits the chairs of
\nthe 61st session, which this year is headed by Makarim Wibisono,
\nIndonesia's permanent ambassador to the United Nations offices in
\nGeneva. He normally opens and closes the meeting each day, but in
\nbetween, the meetings may be chaired by one of his deputies.<\/p>\n
On the floor, the desks are arranged in half circles, and
\ndelegates sit in areas designated by countries organized
\nalphabetically. On one side, there is a gallery for NGO
\nrepresentatives. It's free seating here, and some NGO activists
\nhave been forced to stand. A smaller section adjacent is the
\npress gallery. Although only few or none of the 16 seats reserved
\nfor journalists are occupied at most times, the light-blue
\nuniformed security officer politely turns away any NGO activists
\nwho try to sit in the press section.<\/p>\n
Delegates and NGO observers may troop in and out of the
\nconference room even as the meeting is under way, others may
\nspeak in hushed tones, and still others take advantage of the
\nwireless Internet connection inside the hall to browse, check e-
\nmails, or send instructions to their staff outside.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere inside the hall is orderly, and the
\ndiscussions, mostly conducted with the help of interpreters, are
\ncordial and proper.<\/p>\n
\"I thank the distinguished representative from Georgia. I now
\ninvite the distinguished representative from Hungary,\" is a
\ntypical remark Makarim would make during the day while chairing a
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
\"I thank Mr. President\/Chairman..,\" is the opening line almost
\nevery speaker uses. In the first days, they would congratulate
\nMr. Makarim for his appointment, and also congratulate Indonesia
\nfor the democratic elections it held last year.<\/p>\n
All this week, virtually all speakers used their precious
\nlimited allotted time to express condolences and pay tribute to
\nPope John Paul II before moving on to make a statement.<\/p>\n
Such cordiality and diplomatic niceties are observed, though
\nperhaps not as strictly, by NGO activists, many of whom during a
\nnormal working day are known to be vocal and often loud in order
\nto be heard, and certainly informal.<\/p>\n
The situation here is very diplomatique.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere in Salle XVII and the adjacent halls where
\ndelegates meet and talk is a far cry from the very brutal and
\nbarbaric nature of the issues they discuss: killings, mutilation,
\nsuppression, discrimination, torture; you name it, they are all
\nhere.<\/p>\n
To say that the 61st Session discusses 1,001 issues is an
\nunderstatement: There are literally thousands of issues to be
\nbrought up in the six weeks between March 14 and April 22 that
\nthe session is being held. The commission annually receives
\n17,000 reports of human rights violations from all parts of the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
The explosion of issues can be explained in part by the
\ngrowing presence of NGOs. While states are represented by their
\nrespective governments, the commission has accommodated the NGOs
\nby allocating them time to speak of their issues and concerns.
\nPerhaps more important to them, the session affords them rare
\nspace and time to lobby and network, not only with fellow NGO
\nactivists, but also with delegates from other countries.<\/p>\n
It is, however, the official delegates rather than the NGOs
\nthat control the agenda of the session. The 53 members of the
\nCommission on Human Rights are also the ones who have the power
\nto initiate, draft, debate and vote on resolutions.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, every one knows that this is still a
\ndiplomatic affair, where protocol and ethics must be observed,
\nand cordiality must always be extended. For the unfamiliar, the
\nGeneva Convention takes on a completely different meaning here.<\/p>\n
\"It's the only time in the year that I wear a suit,\" confesses
\nChoirul Anam, a member of the Human Rights Working Group that is
\ncoordinating the non-governmental organizations in Indonesia at
\nthis session.<\/p>\n
\"We have to play by the rules,\" Rafendy Jamin, Choirul's
\ncolleague, concedes. \"Or else, we will be barred from taking part
\nin the future.\"<\/p>\n
Making his 14th consecutive appearance in Geneva this year,
\nRafendy says his organization and affiliates are using their
\ncombined 12 entitlements to take the floor in plenary meetings to
\nspeak for three minutes at a time. Rafendy and his colleagues
\nalso actively distribute written statements, and have organized
\nmany side meetings during the six weeks to try to get their
\nmessage across.<\/p>\n
The cordiality does not necessarily shield the brutal reality
\nof the issues they discuss in Geneva. And the resolutions do have
\nan impact sometimes on the observation of human rights throughout
\nthe world, albeit indirectly.<\/p>\n
The final two weeks of the session beginning on Monday will be
\nused to discuss, debate and pass various resolutions. While these
\nresolutions are non-binding on the states concerned, they still
\nput tremendous pressure on states to comply or at least
\ncooperate.<\/p>\n
Most important of these resolutions is the appointment of
\nspecial rapporteurs and representatives to look into particular
\nissues in one or more countries, or what many delegate fear most,
\nto look specifically into their country's records.<\/p>\n
This year, 21 countries are under the commission's spotlight:
\nColombia, Sudan including Darfur, Iraq, occupied Palestine,
\noccupied Syrian Golan, Cuba, North Korea, Belarus, Myanmar,
\nCyprus, Cambodia, Somalia, Burundi, Liberia, the Democratic
\nRepublic of Congo, Chad, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Haiti, Nepal
\nand East Timor.<\/p>\n
Indonesia had been a target country for much of the 1990s.
\nToday, Indonesia is no longer one, but that does not mean
\nIndonesia is spared from the wrath of the commission. Indonesia
\nis still mentioned in some thematic reports such as on freedom of
\nexpression and on human rights defenders.<\/p>\n
Rafendy says the whole Geneva exercise may have sanitized the
\nissues because of protocol necessity, but a lot of good does come
\nout of this process. At least as far as the NGOs are concerned,
\nthis is the place to build support and solidarity to add external
\npressure on states, in his case the Indonesian government, to
\ncomply with international norms and to meet their human rights
\nobligations.<\/p>\n
He recalled the establishment of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights by then president Soeharto in 1993 as an example of
\nthe result of pressure that came out Geneva. There have been
\nother measures taken since then, partly though not wholly, in
\nresponse to international pressure, like the appointment of
\nspecial rapporteurs in Geneva.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes it takes outside pressure to force the government
\nto change,\" Rafendy says.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/human-rights-issues-get-sanitized-in-geneva-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}