Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Members of the Commission,

The 60th session of the Commission on Human Rights began in a world in turmoil. It ends in a world in turmoil. Thanks to your steadying hand, the support of the Bureau and the cooperation of the members and observers, the Commission is ending with many achievements to its credit at the 60th session. Allow me, on behalf of my colleagues in the secretariat, to thank you Mr. Chairman, the Expanded Bureau and everyone who has helped to make this a constructive session. You have been a superb Chairman.

The High-Level segment is turning out to be a useful innovation, raising the profile of human rights in international relations and promoting international cooperation. The participation of national human rights institutions brings added value to the Commission. Some 3,000 NGO representatives participate in your sessions making this Commission the United Nations body that is closest to the Peoples of the United Nations. Your work is characterised by greater transparency and a spirit of cooperation. The inter-sessional of consultations and meetings are giving your work more and more the character of a de facto all year round forum. The Commission is without a doubt one of the leading United Nations organs alongside the General Assembly and the Security Council. Justice is its mission.

A highlight of the session was undoubtedly the address of the Secretary-General on 7th April. The Secretary-General sought to rally this Commission and the international community to more determined efforts for the prevention of gross violations of human rights. The Secretary-General's decision to establish the position of Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide will take its place in the history books as an important moment in the establishment of a preventive mechanism alongside that of the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Allow me to express my personal gratitude to the members of the Commission for their decision to establish the position of Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings especially women and girls. This problem has given me cause for deep concern – which led to my appeal to the Commission to act on it. It is my hope that this position will turn out to be a protective building block for the hundreds of thousands of young women trafficked into prostitution and slavery annually.

In the report I submitted to you on human rights and terrorism I had, at your request, identified two options for consideration in future activities to reinforce respect for human rights in counter-terrorism strategies: the idea of an Independent Expert or the idea of a Special Rapporteur. You have opted for the option of the Independent Expert working closely with the High Commissioner. We shall do our utmost to assure cooperation with the Independent Expert.

In his proposals for strengthening the United Nations and its programmes, the Secretary-General laid emphasis on support to Member States for the strengthening of their national protection systems. I am grateful that you have commended our Office for the priority accorded to the establishment and strengthening of national human rights institutions and that you have called upon us to continue to strengthen our coordinating role in this field. You have also welcomed the practice of independent national institutions participating in their own right in meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies. This is an important new area of cooperation that can be further developed.

The Secretary-General has also placed emphasis on enhancing the work of the human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures. You have requested the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a comprehensive and regularly updated electronic compilation of special procedures' and treaty bodies' recommendations by country, including the relevant comments of States thereto as published within the United Nations system. We shall give priority to this because it is directly related to the strengthening of national protection systems.

I note that you have requested the special procedures to make recommendations, within their respective mandates, for the prevention and protection from human rights violations, including through urgent appeals and their follow up when necessary. I thank you for this important policy emphasis.

Allow me to thank you also for the new courses you have charted for the development of human rights education. You have stressed the importance of education for tolerance, for respect, and for non discrimination. Human rights education must, without a doubt, be a foundation building block of the future. In my address to you on 19 March I had urged that there be teaching materials, in local languages, for every teacher in primary schools and likewise for secondary schools. In calling for a plan of action for the future you have emphasised the importance of focusing on the primary and secondary school systems. I am grateful to you for this. You have also stressed the role of national human rights institutions in supporting human rights education.

Without doubt, the role of the courts in the protection of human rights must be emphasized in the human rights strategies of the future. In presenting my Annual Report on 19 March I had urged that attention be given to providing judges and legal personnel with materials in local languages on the human rights norms and jurisprudence. I had also urged more exchanges among judges regionally and internationally on these matters. I welcome your call to reinforce advisory services and technical assistance in the field of administration of justice and for "an action programme to facilitate the exchange of experience among judges as regards their role in the protection and promotion of human rights, inter alia, through the compilation of key decisions of international human rights jurisprudence and the organization of periodic consultation among judges at the international, regional and sub regional levels." We shall put this policy to work.

You have, at this session adopted positions that, I believe, will influence the policy architecture of the future. I was struck that in one of your resolutions you stressed that "the deep fault line that divides human society between the rich and the poor and the ever-increasing gap between the developed and developing world pose a major threat to global prosperity, security and stability." You have underlined the inextricable link between full respect for the rights contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the process of development "the central purpose of which is the realization of the potentialities of the human person with the effective participation of all members of society… as agents and beneficiaries of development, as well as with a fair distribution of its benefits."

In your resolution on racism and racial discrimination you have noted that no derogation from the prohibition of racial discrimination, genocide, slavery, is permitted. You have stressed that States and International Organizations have a responsibility that measures taken in the struggle against terrorism do not result in discrimination. You have emphasized the cross-cutting thematic issues of poverty eradication and education.

The Declaration adopted by Women Ministers of Foreign Affairs and other Women Ministers and Representatives pointed out that safeguarding women's dignity and liberty, protecting their health and subsistence and promoting their education and empowerment must be at the core of political engagement for a democratic, just and equitable society. The strengthening of women, they added, will also actively and forcefully contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Declaration highlighted the fact that women and children suffer disproportionately during and after wars. They form the majority of refugees and internally displaced persons. They endure rape and sexual abuse. The Declaration expressed the conviction that much more attention must be given to the consequences of conflicts on women and children, and in particular to their protection from gender-based violence. This Declaration was an important outcome of this session, and I applaud it.

You have called upon States to provide transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory government, responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people, in order to achieve the full realization of human rights. You have requested the High Commissioner to continue to work for the promotion and consolidation of democracy.

In a resolution you adopted, you urged states to ensure equal access to education in law and in practice and you have expressed deep concern at programmes and agendas pursued by extremist organizations and groups aimed at the defamation of religions. At the heart of this issue is the principle of mutual respect and friendly relations among nations and peoples.

You have emphasized the importance of combating impunity and in this regard urged States to take appropriate measures to address the question of impunity for threats, attacks and acts of intimidation against human rights defenders. Thank you for this emphasis. You have asked us to compile best practices on combating impunity for human rights violations and on remedies available to victims of such violations and you have decided on the designation of an Independent Expert to update the Principles on this topic.

You have called for a new Fund to assist minorities to participate in human rights meetings. You have asked the secretariat to undertake a number of studies and reports, including one on the human rights responsibilities of transnational corporations. The partnership between the Commission and the secretariat is thus intensified

In your resolution on the strengthening of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights you have encouraged transparency in its activities and operations through a process of dialogue and consultations with Member States. The principle of dialogue is indeed an important one. You have also called upon our Office to assume a larger role in the promotion of human rights through cooperation with Member States and by an enhanced programme of advisory services in the field of human rights. We shall give priority to this.

In your resolution on mercenarism you have recognized that armed conflicts, terrorism, arms trafficking and covert operations encourage the demand for mercenaries on the global market. This issue is related to the political and military landscape of our world and to ways and means of injecting a human rights perspective in the security architecture of the future.

In your resolution on the right to development, you requested the High Commissioner in mainstreaming the right to development to effectively undertake activities aimed at strengthening the global partnership for development between Member States, development agencies and the international development, financial and trade institutions.

You have taken action on a number of country situations and renewed the mandates of several thematic procedures. You have established new special procedures on country situations and on thematic issues.

Our world is one in which conflicts, especially internal conflicts, are prevalent. In a number of decisions you have effectively elaborated a policy on ensuring respect for human rights and humanitarian law during armed conflicts. You have adopted decisions on several country situations where there has been conflict in the recent past. A notable exception is the situation in Iraq. It is a perplexing and troubling omission. There must be accountability in warfare. At this point in time there is no international monitoring of the human rights situation in Iraq, whether it be in respect of terrorism or in respect of the extent of the use of force and the treatment of civilians.

While you have been in session I have established a Commission of Inquiry into the events of 25 and 26 March in Cote d'Ivoire. I also sent a fact-finding mission to Sudan and the neighboring areas in Chad to probe into the serious allegations of criminal violations in Darfur. The mission I established is currently in Sudan. I shall submit its report to you, urgently, after it returns.

It is also my intention to compile a report on the human rights situation in Iraq. I shall do so using the competence of the High Commissioner, whose functions I have been carrying out for the past year. It will be the fourth fact-finding exercise I shall have initiated: on Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Darfur, and now Iraq, I believe it is important to monitor human rights issues in Iraq.


In the early days of the Commission, the great Charles Malik of Lebanon told the Members, during the process of the drafting of the Universal Declaration:

"… We require, I submit, the sensitive insight of the poet, the prophet, the philosopher; and I hope we shall call in these types of minds to aid us in our important enterprise. If only jurists and politicians and diplomats work out this Bill (the International Bill of Rights), I am afraid it will come out a distorted thing: it will lack vision and unity; it will lack sweeping simplicity. Vision and sensitiveness belong pre-eminently to the prophet, unity to the philosopher, simplicity to the poet."

One may ask: where are the prophets, the philosophers, the poets? They are to be found among the non-governmental organizations. We must listen to them more.

To conclude, allow me to thank you all for your endeavors for human rights over the past six weeks. There are those, especially the human rights non-governmental organizations, who would have wished to see stronger action in the face of serious violations of human rights in many parts of the world. You are increasingly emphasizing an "assistance focus" in some situations. It will be important to keep this under review with a view to making sure that the Commission strikes a balance between cooperation and assistance on the one hand, and protection on the other. These two dimensions must go together. If you ever dilute the protection role of the Commission, history's judgment will be harsh. For it is the peoples who suffer when there is silence of the face of atrocities. The call of the peoples of the world is for "No more silence".

Any assessment of this session, nevertheless, must take account of the important building blocks you have put down for the future of international cooperation for the universal realization of human rights for all. For this I thank you. I hope that we shall develop on these building blocks and make this Commission an instrument of justice for the world's peoples.