MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
UN calls on Chavez not to withdraw from Americas’ Human rights convention
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay strongly urged Venezuela to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights, warning that it could be a serious setback for human rights protection in Venezuela and the region as a whole.
“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have not only had an extraordinarily positive impact on human rights in the region, but also served as pioneering examples which showed the rest of the world how vital and effective regional human rights bodies can be,” Pillay said.
“There have also been important synergies between the regional bodies and the international human rights machinery, including my office,” she added, pointing out that Venezuela’s move runs directly counter to the resolutions recently adopted by the UN Human Rights Council aiming at the enhancement of cooperation and dialogue between international and regional human rights mechanisms.
“Strong regional mechanisms play a key role in reinforcing the international human rights system,” she said. “However, my concern is less for the bodies themselves than for the people whose human rights will be affected. I fear that a vital layer of human rights protection for Venezuelans – and potentially for other Latin Americans as well – will be stripped away if this decision is carried out, and they will be left far more vulnerable to abuses with fewer remedies available. I therefore urge Venezuela to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights.”
The High Commissioner called on all States in the Americas region to continue to cooperate with regional and international human rights mechanisms and to refrain from taking any steps to weaken one of the oldest and most effective regional human rights protection mechanisms.
“The Inter-American Court and Inter-American Commission have played an important role throughout the region’s democratic history, perhaps now more than ever, in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, such as indigenous peoples, human rights defenders, journalists and others,” she said. “Governments and civil society must continue to be vigilant to ensure that the hard-won human rights gains in the Americas region are not squandered.
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Read all commentsthe mighty UN can call till christmas, who cares,
Sep 13th, 2012 - 11:24 am 0least not hugo the great.
no one has any respect for the UN anymore.
I will personaly only have respect for the UN when all governments who do not have an democraticall elected government which has been done througth a free, open, fair vote in which neither violence nor politcal corruption has been used are booted out. It is inconcevable to me that China is on the Security and that North Korea is in the UN whilst Palestain are not. If a countrys governmental system does not comply with the UN charter it should be thrown out. The UN is staggering from one blunder to another and it no longer fir for purpose.
Sep 13th, 2012 - 11:39 am 0Let's face it. Argieland should have been kicked out of the UN 30 years ago. The moment it refused to comply with UNSC resolution 502. UNSC resolutions ARE binding on all members. Breaching one when you are the guilty party should have been immediate grounds for expulsion. What have we seen instead? A continuation of its previous unacceptable attitudes. Massive debts and defaults affecting other countries. Membership of the G20, even though it's only there so that real G20 countries can get an idea of how their policies might affect poor countries. And it's even got a temporary seat on the Security Council. A more unacceptable member of the Security Council it would be hard to imagine. Can we imagine North Korea or Somalia getting such a seat?
Sep 13th, 2012 - 11:57 am 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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