Blaustein Institute Urges U.S. to Serve on UN Human Rights Council
January 29, 2007 - New York - The human rights arm of the American Jewish Committee is urging the United States to seek membership on the UN Human Rights Council. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and in a new briefing paper, 'Why the United States should seek membership on the UN Human Rights Council in 2007,' the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights offers compelling arguments in favor of U.S. membership. Elections are scheduled for April.
"In light of the Council's very troubled initial year, U.S. presence and leadership in the Council is plainly indispensable," wrote Robert Rifkind, chair, and Felice Gaer, director, of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute, in the letter to Secretary Rice. "The UN's central role and universal reach in human rights is why the U.S. must be engaged as a member of the new Council."
When the UN General Assembly established a new Human Rights Council in March 2006, the U.S. did not seek election to it, viewing the new body as flawed as it predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights. The U.S. had served as the first chair of the Commission and was a member of that body for all but one of its 60 years.
Criticizing the new Council's obsessive condemnation of Israel, the JBI leaders wrote, "Engagement with the Council is not endorsement of its actions any more than is the case with General Assembly. It is a means of bringing our ideas, actors, proposals and resources more effectively into play on the matters that truly matter."
The JBI briefing paper assesses the strengths and disadvantages of current U.S. policy of not serving on the Council. "Membership in the UN's new Human Rights Council will promote America's credibility as a vocal defender of human rights," JBI concludes.
The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, founded in 1971, strives to narrow the gap between the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the realization of those rights in practice.
Ari M. Gordon Assistant Director Department of Interreligious Affairs American Jewish Committee 165 E56th St. New York, NY 10022 (212) 891-6768 (212) 751-4000 x266 www.ajc.org www.engagingamerica.org