Reporters Without Borders calls on new Human Rights Council to quickly prove its good will

Reporters Without Borders calls on new Human Rights Council to quickly
prove its good will

19.06.2006

"The UN human rights council got off on the wrong foot - we have said
this before and we say it again today," says Reporters Without Borders,
urging the council to do everything possible to quickly abandon the
former human rights commission’s deplorable practices.

Reporters Without Borders today called on the new United Nations Human
Rights Council to quickly prove its good will, saying it had serious
concerns about press freedom in some of the Council’s member-states.

"The Council has got off to a bad start because its members includes
Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia,
Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and we have grave doubts about how effective it
will be,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

“But we do not want to be over-pessimistic, so we urge it to quickly
show its good intentions, especially its member-states that most respect
human rights, from the day it starts work on 19 June.”

"It should immediately promise to make every effort to reject the
disgraceful practices of the human rights commission that preceded it
and see that any country systematically abusing human rights is
criticised, especially those belonging to the Council.

“We also hope the rule suspending members deemed to have ‘flagrantly and
systematically’ violated human rights will not remain just a line in an
official document but will be suitably applied. How will the UN ensure
this is done?” it asked.

China and Cuba are the world’s two biggest prisons for journalists.
Censorship is the rule in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and journalists there
who dare to cross the red lines marked out by the regime face harsh
punishment.

The Russian government already controls the country’s major news
organisations, starting with main TV networks. Violence against
journalists and media workers is almost daily in Bangladesh, Nigeria and
Pakistan. Dozens of journalists in Algeria risk being thrown in prison
at any time and the government is stepping up prosecutions of the most
critical media. In Azerbaijan, the killers of two journalists murdered
last year have not been punished.

The Council will hold its first session from 19 to 30 June in Geneva.
Three other sessions will be held this year and early next.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18056