Two months after a notably successful sixteenth session, the UN Human Rights Council has reconvened in Geneva for a seventeenth time. The current session is notable for a different reason — at its conclusion, after five years of uninterrupted membership, Pakistan’s tenure will finally end. To those who wish that the Council would live up to its simple mandate to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, Pakistan’s departure cannot come
soon enough.
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) recently released the third report in its Easier Said Than Done series. The report compares pre-election pledges made by Commonwealth countries at the Human Rights Council, with each country’s actual performance at the UN and domestic levels. The report found that from mid-2008 until mid-2010, Pakistan’s performance did not match up to its pre-election commitments to the Council.
As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Pakistan is mandated to adhere to the organisation’s fundamental values, which include the promotion and protection of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Pakistan has been suspended twice from the Commonwealth since 1999 for failing to live up to these benchmarks. Though a disregard for its pre-election pledges to the Human Rights Council will likely not result in Pakistan’s expulsion from the Commonwealth — most other Commonwealth countries are guilty of the same disregard — the country’s record of conduct at the Council is alarming, especially considering its recent democratic transition. Observers of the Human Rights Council had hoped that a post-transition Pakistan would take on a more positive role at international human rights fora, when compared with the negative one embodied by the Musharraf regime. They have been disappointed — even post-Musharraf Pakistan remains an obstacle to the fulfilment of the Human Rights Council’s mandate.
Pakistan committed in its 2006 and 2008 pre-election pledges to support the work of the Council to ensure that it was empowered to fully realise its potential. This did not happen. Instead, the country was regularly at the forefront of efforts to dilute the functioning of the Council. When the Council was deciding how to take action on human rights situations of serious concern in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Sudan, Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan voted against or abstained from voting on strong resolutions, or voted in favour of weak resolutions that shielded the country in question from international scrutiny.
Furthermore, Pakistan regularly acted to reduce the scope and independence of the Council’s Special Procedure mechanisms, which were recently described by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon as the Council’s “eyes and ears”. At one point, Pakistan stated that the independence of the Special Rapporteurs was not an absolute right, as they must respect their mandates and the code of conduct. This is a constant refrain of countries intent on discrediting or muzzling Special Rapporteurs who are critical of their own human rights situation, or those of allies.
Pakistan will become newly eligible for a seat at the Council in May 2012, and will likely run for election. Because of its support from countries belonging to the Non-Aligned Movement, who make up a significant portion of the UN’s membership, Pakistan should have little trouble securing a seat. This is, unfortunately, how the Council works — political alliances tend to guarantee a country’s election more than its human rights record.
Pakistan, however, is not a lost cause. If the country seeks re-election next year and wins, the opportunity will exist for it to break with allied voting blocs who impede positive action at the Council, shed its reputation as a negative player and become a force for positive change. To take on such a laudable role, Pakistan would need to begin immediately. It must spend its year off the Council fulfilling the lofty pre-election pledges to which it committed in previous Human Rights Council elections. Only then will Pakistan be able to re-enter the Council with an eye to truly supporting its work and mandate.
The writer is a Programme Officer, Strategic Initiatives Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative