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Human Rights Council webpage.
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22 June 2006
United States Will Work with New U.N. Human Rights Council, June 21, 2006 (U.S. official encourages member countries to work with existing institutions)
By Michelle Austein
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States is committed to protecting human rights and will work with the new U.N. Human Rights Council to advance its causes, Ambassador Warren W. Tichenor told the council June 21.
"The Human Rights Council gives us all an opportunity to make a positive change in the world for people who are oppressed and are denied freedom," said Tichenor, the U.S. representative to the U.N. in Geneva.
The council is holding its first session from June 19 to June 30 in Geneva.
Forty-seven countries are members of the council. The United States elected not to join, citing concerns about criteria for membership not being strong enough to keep human rights abusers off the council. (See related article.)
The United States is committed to supporting the council, Tichenor said. "The United States wants this council to succeed and we will work hard to make that happen."
By cooperating with existing international institutions, the council can help build human rights protections and promote the rule of law, Tichenor said.
The United States encourages the council to fight human rights abuses and to "speak for those patriots who have had their voices silenced," Tichenor said. The ambassador cited the case of Burma's democracy activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently spent her 61st birthday under house arrest. (See related article.)
The full transcript of Tichenor's speech is available at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva Web site. More information about the U.N. Human Rights Council is available on the United Nations Web site.
