UN movea to introduce defender for rights activists

UN movea to introduce defender for rights activists

GENEVA (AFP): The United Nations rights body voted
overwhelmingly on Wednesday to give human rights defenders their
own defender.

Fifty of the 53 members of the UN Human Rights Commission
voted at the body's annual session here to appoint a special
representative whose job will be to protect the rights of
defenders of human rights.

Three countries abstained in the vote -- China, Rwanda and
Cuba -- saying a new mandate for a special representative
overlapped with existing mechanisms within the commission.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will appoint the first
representative for a three-year period. The nomination could be
made within weeks, officials said.

Antoine Bernard of the International Federation of Human
Rights said the decision set up "the most important mechanism
created by the commission for decades."

"It's the first time a group of countries has dared to take
the initiative for such a mechanism. Until now they were
hesitating for fear that it would not pass," he told AFP.

The Moroccan representative presented the resolution, which
was supported by the European Union, Canada, the United States,
several eastern European countries, as well as Australia and some
African and Latin American nations.

The resolution outlined the main principles for the role of
the special representative, who is tasked with obtaining
information concerning the situation of human rights defenders
worldwide, holding direct contacts with governments and
recommending effective strategies for better protecting human
rights.