“Developed Democracies” Abandon Human Rights Responsibility: Secret on the margins of the UN General Assembly

The human rights dimension of the UN needs a serious change in approaches so that cooperation on human rights is carried out on the principles laid down in the UN Charter. Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Igor Secreta said this on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus explained:

- This reform should address the long-standing problem of biased assessments and disregard by OHCHR and other human rights mechanisms of serious human rights problems in a number of countries of so-called “developed democracy”. Is it normal for OHCHR to lightningly criticize any action by the authorities in some countries, but remain silent on gross violations in a number of other countries?

As an example, Igor Secreta cited violent measures to disperse peaceful youth protests in France, as well as legitimizing discriminatory practices against migrants in EU countries. He added:

- We would like to hear answers to the following questions. What measures have been taken over the past four years to address the problem of “double standards”, which severely affects the quality of international cooperation on human rights? What concrete steps will the High Commissioner take to ensure that the human rights situation in all States is assessed on the basis of universality and impartiality?

Another paradoxical problem, he said, is that the U.N. human rights bloc is pressing for more funding. However, the use of its funds raises serious questions.

- The annual resumption of extremely expensive and overlapping country mechanisms, the work of which is additionally supported by a special unit of OHCHR, is an unforgivable waste. At the same time, less than one-fourth of the funds requested for country mandates are allocated for technical assistance to states.

Igor Secreta also drew attention to how the work of the Global Alliance for Human Rights, launched this year, will relate to the functioning of the UN human rights mechanisms:

- This union should not become a competitor, including in matters of financing, in those areas of cooperation in which all states are interested, and not a group of countries that unreasonably promotes only their own approaches and values as universal.