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Pakistan on Wednesday suggested that the proposed Human Rights Council should automatically authorise the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to areas of armed conflict, specially of foreign occupation and suppression of self-determination, to assess the situation.
"Pakistan does not exclude consideration of situations of serious violations of human rights," Ambassador Munir Akram said during a discussion in the UN General Assembly to develop the possible mandate and functions of the Human Rights Council.
But, the Pakistan ambassador said, there should be a clear reason and criteria for taking up a country situation a clear evidence of "gross and systematic" violations of human rights."
"Such gross and 'consistent violations' mostly occur in situations of armed conflict particularly where armies are in occupation of foreign lands and where the right of peoples' to self-determination and freedom is suppressed by the use of force and repression," he said, adding that a fact-finding mission to such situations should be the first step.
The decision to create the Human Rights Council was taken last month by world leaders when they met in New York in an effort to strengthen the UN's human rights machinery. The council will replace the existing, but discredited Human Rights Commission. The Pakistan ambassador said the new Human Rights Council should adopt a "promotional and co-operative" approach to human rights.
"Its major recommendations should focus on promoting development, co-operation, capacity-building, technical assistance, wider acceptance of norms, development of new norms, especially economic and social rights".
At the same time, Ambassador Akram said a more cautious approach was required in addressing individual country situations, which should be addressed on a confidential basis within an expert body and only when there was "credible and reliable" information of "gross and consistent" violations perpetrated by or with the complicity of the Government.
Most country situations, he said, should be resolved through such a confidential and expert process involving dialogue. Only when it was established that a country was not willing or able to address the human rights violations, should the expert body recommend that the Human Rights Council bring it to public consideration.
Decisions on such resolutions should be adopted by a two-thirds majority to prevent "mischievous or partisan moves against political adversaries".
Ambassador Akram also called for the review of the composition and functioning of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights where the developing and Islamic countries were inadequately represented.
The issue of establishing field presence in countries should be only upon the consent of the concerned State. The financing of the office largely determines its areas of focus, he said.
While core funding for human rights activities faces the usual budgetary constraints, voluntary funding had significantly expanded, which is largely tied to specific programmes not related to the mandates approved by the Commission on Human Rights or other inter-governmental bodies. "This needs to be rectified by enhancing the regular budget through additional funding and gradual shifting of voluntary funding into the regular budget".

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2005

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