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Special Issue Commission on Human Rights, 15 March 2004

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Special Issue Commission on Human Rights, 15 March 2004 Special Issue Commission on Human Rights, 15 March 2004 A Year of Birthdays... From the Editors In this issue The past year has seen a num- Secretary-General Dag Ham- munity some of the work that ber of important dates in the marksjold in 1961: the killing we do. Louise Arbour Named human rights calendar. We of High Commissioner Sergio In each issue, we will try to High Commissioner have marked the 55th anniver- Vieira de Mello, along with 21 give an overview of the most For Human Rights 1 sary of the Universal Declara- other colleagues and civilians, important activities and events tion, the 10th anniversary of the in the despicable attack in Ten Years of OHCHR 2 our Office is working on and Vienna Declaration and Pro- Baghdad on 19 August. listen to the “voices from the gramme of Action and the 10th Commission Our resolve to carry on with field”, colleagues confronted on Human Rights anniversary of the resolution our work in defense of human on a daily basis with some very Turns 60 3 creating this Office, among rights, as Sergio would have harsh realities and who can tell other events. wished, convinced us to put us what is being done to make “Modernizing” These auspicious occasions the Arab Charter pen to paper and start this fo- our maxim – “all human rights were reason enough to spur us on Human Rights 5 rum, Respect, as a way of ex- for all people” – come true. to start a regular publication. changing ideas and sharing We look forward to your feed- But last year our Office also The Pain with our colleagues and part- back as we work to make Res- of Reconciliation : faced the most tragic event to ners in the human rights com- pect a useful tool for all of us. Forgiving the hit the UN since the death of Unforgivable 6 Transitional Justice 7 Justice Louise Arbour Named High Commissioner Committee on the Rights for Human Rights of Migrants Holds First Meeting 7 Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Canadian Mrs. Arbour, who has served on Cana- Tribute to Sergio Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour as the next High Com- da’s Supreme Court since 1999, distin- Vieira de Mello : missioner for Human Rights. The General Assembly confir- guished herself as chief prosecutor of the International Human med the appointment on 25 February. The High Commissio- International Criminal Tribunals for the Rights Film Festival 8 ner-designate is expected in Geneva in the summer. former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda from ConectaSur 1996 to 1999 in The Hague. Newsletter for Rights Before leaving the Dutch capital, she in the South 8 issued the first-ever indictment of a still- Louise serving Head of State, Slobodan Milose- Lessons from Arbour the Iraq Human and Kofi vic. Rights Operation 9 Annan in Mrs. Arbour gained widespread reco- Ottawa, gnition in Canada for her work at the March Publications 10 2004. head of an investigation into the opera- (UN Photo) tion of the correctional service, based on allegations by female inmates at a wo- men’s prison in Kingston, Ontario. Page 2 Newsletter Title Special Issue, 15 March 2004 Page 2 Making Rights Work —Ten Years Since Vienna By José Luis Díaz Anniversaries only have the establishing the post and office the situation of human rights significance we give them. of High Commissioner. around the world ten years They are extremely useful as The new Office quickly after the Vienna conference, occasions for reflection. The made its mark. The first High acting High Commissioner tenth year of the institution we Commissioner, José Ayala- Bertrand Ramcharan told a now know as OHCHR is such Lasso, took up his post on 5 New York audience earlier this an opportunity. Looking back April 1994, one day before the year that despite much pro- at the last decade, it is plain genocide in Rwanda began. gress since the end of the Se- that after a difficult birth, the He visited the country as the cond World War, “[F]or mil- Office has achieved considera- killings were still taking place, lions of people the world over Palais Wilson, Geneva ble stability, even though it is and went on to set up there the the basic human rights of the (OHCHR Photo) still operating in a most chal- first stand-alone human-rights Universal Declaration remain lenging environment. field office. He also establis- illusory”. The formal creation of the hed an office in Burundi to This reality is probably the Office is easy enough to date. help avert mass killings like greatest challenge before the Delegates at the World Confe- those in Rwanda next-door. Office. To meet it, OHCHR is rence on Human Rights in Views still differ on the first focusing increasingly to action Vienna agreed in June 1993 to High Commissioner’s legacy, where it matters most, on the recommend to the General but these initiatives provided ground. This thinking is behind Assembly the establishment of reason for hope about how the the emphasis OHCHR places on Looking back at a High Commissioner for Hu- role of the High Commissioner the way countries protect their the last decade, it man Rights”. The complete could evolve. citizens from breaches of hu- story goes much farther back Mr. Ayala-Lasso’s succes- man rights (« national protec- is plain that after than 1993, however. In 1947 sor, Mary Robinson, raised the tion systems ») and reinforce- a difficult birth, René Cassin put forward the profile of the Office and of the ment of the rule of law. OH- idea of an Attorney-General human rights discourse gene- CHR’s field activities seek, the Office has for Human Rights. And in rally, making well known her among other objectives, to inte- become a 1967 and 1977 there were intention to be a voice for grate in a better way human relatively stable more formal proposals for a victims of violations. She rights into the activities on the “High Commissioner”. made a groundbreaking visit to ground of all United Nations institution, but With the end of the Cold China and put the international agencies and country teams, as one that is still War, things finally got mo- spotlight on a number of se- reflected in the Secretary- ving. The optimism and op- rious situations, from Sierra General’s reform plan. operating in a portunities engendered by Leone to Chechnya. How the Office responds to most challenging those events created a more The appointment as High increasing demands and a favorable climate which, Commissioner in June 2002 of generally dire human rights environment. among other things, led Mo- Sergio Vieira de Mello, widely situation in many parts of the rocco and the then Under Se- recognized as one of the Orga- world will be crucial. It was cretary-General for Human nization’s best assets, confir- very present in the late High Rights Jan Martenson to pro- med the status the Office had Commissioner’s mind when he pose, in 1989, the holding of a achieved. Sergio, as he was addressed a symposium on world conference on human known to practically everyone, OHCHR early last year : “As rights. Much hard work lay served in some of the toughest High Commissioner, I am ahead -- and a lot of the initial UN missions, constantly co- trying to emphasize […] how optimism about the supposed ming face to face with the the presence of the OHCHR in promise the end of the cold reality of human rights viola- the field can affect the situa- war held for a new human- tions. This experience forged tion on the ground. […] This rights era waned in the mean- his vision for the Office. has been the bulk of my own time -- but the formal process A big part of Sergio’s brief experience. ‘How can I make set in motion by General As- was to give the institution a this work now,’ is the very sembly resolution 45/155 sharper focus and continue to difficult question I am trying culminated in another GA text, strengthen it. For enormous to answer”. 48/141 of 20 December 1993, challenges remain. Assessing Page 3 Page 3 Special Issue, 15 March 2004 Trying to Make a Difference : Human Rights Commission Meets for 60th Session The most important global sioner, Bertrand Ramcharan, of human rights and rapid annual event on human rights will be presenting one flagship intercession to protect poten- is upon us again, along with all report to the Commission tial and actual victims. “The the hopes, controversies and (document E/CN.4/2004/12) Commission on Human Rights excitement it generates. It has in which he paints a grim pic- has the primary role in preven- become predictable to hear it ture of the current human righ- tion”, the acting High Com- said this time of year that the ts situation. Bertrand Ramcha- missioner writes. Commission on Human Rights ran writes that, “Since the On specific questions, the is meeting at a critical juncture World Conference on Human acting High Commissioner Acting High Commissioner in international affairs. That Rights was held in Vienna in makes a strong appeal to the Bertrand Ramcharan does not make it less true that 1993, human rights have conti- Commission to act on the pro- (OHCHR Photo) the issues on its agenda for this nued to be violated. Poverty blem of trafficking in young 60th session are likely to focus has not declined; civilians are women, which he calls “the international attention with targeted in violation of interna- negation of every basic human unusual intensity (for back- tional law; violence continues right”.
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