HR Council should be subsidary of General Assembly: India

[Judi Lynn]

13th OCT 12:12 hrs IST
HR Council should be subsidary of General Assembly: India
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United Nations: Rejecting the suggestion by the US and some other western states that the proposed Human Rights Council should be an independent body, India has said it should be a subsidiary of the General Assembly and be "less amenable" to "manipulation" by any power. The United States and its allies want the Council to replace the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission and would like to keep those who, they consider, to be violators of human rights out of the body.

They argue that the Commission has become a body in which those who themselves are worst violators, try to shield one another and thus has outlived its purpose. However, some of the developing countries have expressed the fear that if the US suggestion is accepted, it might lead to increasing interventions on the plea of human rights violations.

"India regards human rights as a shield for protecting ordinary people and not as a sword for intervention," India's Ambassador to the UN Nirupam Sen said, participating in the informal consultation on the issue in the General Assembly on Wednesday. He suggested the Council to have a membership of 50 based on equitable geographical representation. This, he argued, is necessary on the ground of universality as also functionality.
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[Oversea Visitor]

1. Why is there a need for a change

It is not broken hey. Let it be for the people and not a tool of the goverments in this world.