“Warning that the proposed Human Rights Council could “unravel” if Member States made the wrong moves in the ongoing negotiations over the body, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the Council was of utmost importance to all nations and the stakes in the ongoing debate were “very high.”
Mr. Annan told reporters that he was “chagrined” by reports that Washington opposed the proposed text to set up the Council, aimed at replacing the much-criticized Human Rights Commission, but said that this was not an issue about isolating the United States from the rest of the world and he repeated his call for an agreement as soon as possible.”“If we are not careful and we make the wrong moves that unravel the Council, then we are in a situation where we have a Commission that we all claim is discredited, and the Council that should replace it is being unravelled,” he said.
“So I would urge the Member States to think about this as they move forward with their decision. The bad must always give in to the good, but the better must not be the enemy of the good. That is the advice I would want them to bear in mind as they attempt to settle this issue.” [Read more]
Also see:
EU Backs Proposals for New UN Rights Council
States should transcend national concerns
to agree on Human Rights Council: Eliasson