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IHTFRNAIIUJH/.L AMNISTIE

EXECUTIVE CF-'iCt OF THE SECBETAriY-GENEHAI

UN/NYt/077/05 Mr -General of the Room S-3800 United Nations, New York 2 November 2005 Dear Secretary-General,

I have the pleasure to enclose a£opy_af the Jetter we have written today to the President of the Qejieral_As,sjgrjbly_eji^ the Creation of an Authoritative and Effective Human Council, which will form the basis for a world- wide campaign.

Amnesty International greatly appreciates your efforts for the creation of a strong Council.

With best wishes,

A/a Yvonne Terlingen Amnesty International Representative at the United Nations

L L

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL I

United Nations Office - 777 United Nations Plaza, 6th Floor - New York, NY 10017 of America - Tel: 1 (212) 867-8878 ~ Fax 1 (212) 370-0183

Amnesty International, International Secretariat - 1 Easton Street, WC1X ODW, United Kingdom Tel: Int. Code: 44 (20) 7413 5500. UK Code: 020 7413 5500. Fax: Int. Code 44 (20) 7956 1157. UK Code: 020 7956 1157 E-Mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.amnestv.org AMNESTY lUTCDNATIOHAL

AMNISTIE IhTEP.NAIIONAlE

UN/NYt/075/05 Mr Jan Eliasson President of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly United Nations New York 2 November 2005

Dear Ambassador Eliasson,

Further to our letter of 28 September, Amnesty International expresses its full support for your efforts to conduct and pursue an open, transparent and inclusive process to establish the Human Rights Council, as you were requested to do in the Outcome Document adopted by the 2005 World Summit. In support of your efforts, Amnesty International joined with and a broad range of NGO's in outlining essential points for the creation of the Human Rights Council in a letter sent to you on 1 November 2005.

Amnesty International is campaigning vigorously for a strong Human Rights Council. Our organization has developed a Ten-point Program for the creation of an Authoritative and Effective Human Rights Council which will form the basis for a world-wide campaign. It complements issues outlined in the joint letter.

As you are preparing an Options Paper for the General Assembly, I have the pleasure to enclose the Ten-point Program for your information and that of your Co-Chairs, Ambassadors Dumisani S. Kumalo and Ricardo Alberto Arias.

Amnesty International wishes you, and your co-chairs, every success in your work.

Yours

V/ U4U* I Yvonne Terlingen / AAmnestm y International Representative at the United Nations

cc. Ambassador Dumisani S. Kumalo Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General Ms Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ' United Nations Office - 777 United Nations Plaza, 6m Floor - New York, NY 10017 United States of America ~ Tel: 1 (212) 867-8878 - Fax 1 (212) 370-0183

Amnesty International, International Secretariat - 1 Easton Street, London WC1X ODW, United Kingdom Tel: Int. Code: 44 (20) 7413 5500. UK Code: 020 7413 5500. Fax: Int. Code 44 (20) 7956 1 157. UK Code: 020 7956 1 157 E-Mail: amnestvis(5>amnestv.org Web: http://www.amnesty.org AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

UN: Ten-point Program for the Creation of an Authoritative and Effective Human Rights Council 1 November 2005

Heads of State and Government, convening in New York at the September 2005 World Summit, decided to strengthen the United Nations human rights machinery and create a Human Rights Council (HRC). This decision requires that the new Council be a substantive improvement on the UN's current capacity to protect and promote human rights. The Council must address full respect for all human rights in all countries without any . It must have, and be seen to have, legitimacy in the eyes of governments, civil society and the victims of human rights violations. The following ten objectives must be met in the creation of the new Council:

• The HRC must be a principal organ of the United Nations, if not immediately then within five years. Such status will acknowledge the prominence of human rights as one of the three pillars of the United Nations.

• The HRC's mandate must allow the Council to address any matters relating to the protection and promotion of any human rights in any country, including situations of gross, systematic, or continuing violations as well as crisis situations.

• The HRC must be a standing body with regular meetings scheduled throughout the year to allow the Council to address all the above situations promptly and effectively.

• The HRC must be able to provide information and make recommendations to Member States and other UN bodies, including the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.

• The HRC's electoral system must encourage membership from states committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, and candidate states should make public human rights commitments well in advance of the election date. Measures must be adopted to ensure genuine, contested elections. For example, there should be no regional "clean slates" (there must be more candidates than seats for each regional group), and successful candidate states must obtain the votes of a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly.

• Membership of the HRC must be effectively open to all members of the United Nations, and elections must take into account the need for due regional representation. If the use of regional "clean slates" is not precluded, membership terms of the HRC should be limited, with a break in membership of at least one year at the end of each term.

• The HRC must retain the existing independent experts known as the Special Procedures, and fully integrate their information and analysis into its deliberations and decision-making.

• The HRC must retain the rules for participation by NGOs based on Article 71 of the UN Charter and the practices applied by the Commission on Human Rights.

• The creation of the HRC must be accompanied by the dedicated resources necessary for the Council to carry out its mandate in full.

• The HRC must be ready to convene by the end of February 2006.