Additionally, any Human Rights Council reform that allows countries with despicable human rights records to remain as members, such as China and Saudi Arabia, is not real reform.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Any Human Rights Council reform that allows countries that sponsor terrorism to remain as members, such as Cuba, is not real reform. And in the past, countries such as Libya, Iran and Syria have participated on this council.
The UN Commission on Human Rights, whose membership in recent years has included countries - such as Libya and Sudan - which have deplorable human rights records, and the recent Oil-for-Food scandal, are just a few examples of why reform is so imperative.
The respect for human rights is nowadays not so much a matter of having international standards, but rather questions of compliance with those standards.
Iran has a dismal record on human rights.
We need a reform of the Security Council. It must be perceived as truly representative by all the 191 member states, to uphold the credibility and legitimacy of the UN as the main political arena.
It may surprise people to know that I advocate the reform of the United Nations, not its abolishment.
The first piece of advice I would have from my experience is that governments need to be vocal about human rights.
All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights.
I don't have any doubts either about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps some more should be added to the list, but I don't have the slightest doubt about human rights.
I'm rooting for Saudi Arabia getting a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.