EU Presidency Statement - United Nations 3rd Committee: Motion to adjourn debate on Situation of Human Rights in Belarus

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

Mr. Chairman,

If delegations put proposals on the table, especially on issues concerning grave violations of human rights, this Committee ought to take action on those proposals. If other delegations have concerns about the political motivation behind a resolution, the appropriate response is to vote against it, or to abstain.

The systematic and repeated call of motions to adjourn debates sine die represents an attempt to prevent the consideration of a resolution on procedural grounds. The calling of such a motion aims at denying the Members States of the United Nations their sovereign right to bring before the General Assembly any concern that they themselves deem to merit its attention, and limiting the agenda of the General Assembly. This runs not only contrary to the good practice of the General Assembly but also to the spirit of dialogue to which we are all attached.

We regret the accusations of selectivity and double standards against country resolutions, and the inaccurate assertion that western countries seek to avoid international scrutiny. Like many others, European Union Member States have opened themselves up to such scrutiny by cooperating fully with treaty bodies, special procedures and the Universal Periodic Review of the HRC. We are happy to discuss our records with others.

This Committee has a mandate to look at human rights situations, and has passed resolutions expressing its concern about the worst human rights situations for more than thirty years. In many cases, international condemnation has helped increase the pressure on countries that have since turned into strong or emerging democracies.

Mr Chairman,

For these reasons, we believe that action should be taken here, to address the concerns of the international community and to urge the Government of Belarus to comply with decisions taken in this and other UN fora. Failure to do so, would only represent the indifference of the international community concerning the human rights of the people of Belarus.

The EU strongly urges delegations to vote against this motion to adjourn the debate for reasons of principle, regardless of their voting intentions on the draft resolution contained in document L.51. we reaffirm once more that each proposal presented in this Committee deserves consideration on its own merits.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

| Haut |

• EU General Statement - United Nations 3rd Committee: Situation of Human Rights in Belarus and Human Rights situations and reports of Special Rapporteurs (21/11/2007)
• Belarus: EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner on arrests of civil society members  (27/9/2007)