Shaun Benton
30 January 2006
Reform of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights is a key concern for South Africa and was one of the issues discussed with the foreign ministers of Malaysia and Cuba at the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) troika in the Western Cape last week.
South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma met with her Malaysian and Cuban counterparts, Syed Hamid Albar and Felipe Perez Roque, in Hermanus last week as part of the NAM troika, which comprises the former, current and incoming chairs of the multilateral organisation.
Speaking at a press conference in Hermanus on Friday, Dlamini-Zuma said it was important that the Non-Aligned Movement made its voice heard over the issue of the reform of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
South Africa is a former chair of the NAM, Malaysia is the current chair, and Cuba will take over the chair later this year, after a summit to be held in Havana in September.
Last week's talks were in preparation for a key meeting to be hosted by Malaysia in May, and for the Havana summit.
Developing consensus
Discussions also centred around the necessity to make sure the movement "was engaged in all the processes internationally," Dlamini-Zuma told reporters, adding that if the movement acted collectively it would be much stronger.
The multilateral organisation, with 114 members, is the largest grouping of countries outside of the UN itself.
The grouping of mostly developing countries of the southern hemisphere will also be looking at ways of coordinating positions with members of the Group of 77 countries, a similar grouping of developing nations modelled along the lines of the powerful Group of 8 (previously the Group of 7, before Russia joined) industrialised nations.
UN reform
In terms of the reform of the United Nations, Dlamini-Zuma said that SA's permanent representative to
the UN in New York, Dumisani Khumalo, would be working out the common NAM position on these reforms, in conjunction with other NAM members.
Dlamini-Zuma later told BuaNews that reform of the UN Human Rights Commission into the more elevated status of a Human Rights Council was a key issue discussed by the NAM troika.
The proposed reform, initiated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has already been discussed in New York but has yet to be finalised.
Outstanding issues regarding the creation of a more powerful Human Rights Council within the UN included how it would work, and what was needed to make it more effective, Dlamini-Zuma said.
International impact
"The Human Rights Commission ended up being weak because instead of a true human rights commission it became an extension of the foreign policy of certain countries," she said.
It had applied its mandate selectively, and that what was needed was a stronger, more effective Human Rights Council that would apply its mandate fairly and evenly across the board, without glossing over violations committed in certain countries while focusing on others, the minister said.
"Countries of the south need to work collectively to ensure that they can make an impact internationally," she added.
Source: BuaNews
