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.