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20 March 2000
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Monday 20 March, 2000
Chairperson,
Members of the Commission,
Excellencies,
Colleagues from sister organizations
and NGOs, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen,
The first session in a new century is a good time to reflect and take stock. It is a good time to recognise that the central role human rights now plays in international and national life is no accident. It is a good time to appreciate what has been built up over more than half a century and to assess the key challenges that face us.
Let us recall that at the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco, in 1945, the Commission on Human Rights was the only functional Commission of the Economic and Social Council to be named in Article 68 of the Charter. The founders thus sent a message that the future world organization would be anchored in an undying belief in human rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights would run through everything it did.
When the Commission on Human Rights began its endeavours, it committed itself to the establishment and implementation of an International Bill of Human Rights which would consist of three parts: A declaration, one or more covenants, and measures of implementation. The result was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which remains a shining star in the human rights firmament. The result was also the Covenants and treaties elaborated with the assistance of the Commission. The challenge remains: measures of implementation.
This Commission on Human Rights has been the central architect of the work of the United Nations in the field of human rights. Though consisting of representatives of Governments, it is meant to embody the conscience of humanity for a world of peace and development grounded in respect for human rights. There is no other United Nations body where Governments, international and regional organizations, and non-governmental organizations come together in such large numbers to speak candidly about problems, to register good practices, and to set the human rights agenda for the year to follow.
It is important that we recall the Commission’s historic place in the United Nations; and that we remember that humanity expects of the Commission that it will be an organ of conscience.
What I urge is that we recapture the spirit when the Commission first began under the Chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt with the commitment of prestigious representatives from every region of the world. If they were sitting here with us now, what human rights issues might they want to raise? I believe they would be shocked by the inequalities of our world, where a thousand million people lack access to clean water and where thousands of children die each day from preventable diseases. Eradicating extreme poverty is the greatest human rights challenge we face, and this Commission has the responsibility to develop the human rights framework within which it must be achieved.
Though we have made great strides in developing international norms, the tasks at hand are still as great as they were in 1945: to secure peace throughout the world on the foundation of human rights, and to cooperate for accelerated economic and social progress so that every person, every country can prosper in dignity, equality, and enjoyment of the right to development.
Allow me to touch on each of these aspects in turn. First there is the quest for peace. In my opening address to the Commission last year I urged reflection on how the Commission can contribute to defending human rights during conflicts. This year, I invite the Commission to give attention to how human rights strategies can help prevent conflicts, and to how we can help prevent gross violations of human rights through national, regional and international endeavours. We need to develop our collective capacity for conflict prevention; we need to bridge the gap between early warning and response by gearing ourselves for early action.
War, internal conflicts, displacement of populations within and across borders and wanton breaches of human rights and humanitarian norms remain a feature of our times.
The 55th session of the Commission on Human Rights coincided with the height of the conflict in Kosovo. I submitted a series of reports to the Commission, my concern being that the conflict was victimising people on all sides, Serbs as well as Kosovar Albanians, and other ethnic groups too. I urged that a peaceful solution be reached which would respect human rights precepts. It is depressing to admit that, as my latest report to the Commission shows, sustainable peace and respect for human rights have not yet come to Kosovo, in spite of the best efforts of the United Nations team there.
In June I visited Sierra Leone to bear witness to the terrible suffering of the people of that country. The atrocities which have been perpetrated, including the killing and maiming of children, are an affront to the conscience of the world. Yet, as was clear from the Secretary General’s Report to the Security Council on Civilians in Armed Conflict, the gross human rights violations committed in Sierra Leone are far from unique. Civilians have indeed come to be regarded as legitimate instruments of terror, in blatant denial of the most fundamental human rights.
In recent months there have been allegations of serious human rights abuses in Chechnya in the Russian Federation, a number of which have been documented by responsible organizations. Because of restrictions on access it has been very difficult to verify these allegations. When the first reports were received, I offered to send a personal envoy to the region. I regret that this offer was not taken up. I welcome the fact that the authorities of the Russian Federation have now agreed to allow me to make a visit. It is clear that the civilian population is facing a catastrophic situation as a result of the conflict. I would propose to report to the Commission when I return.
The appropriate response to all allegations of gross violations - wherever in the world they are reported - is that they be rigorously and independently investigated. Where proven to be well founded, those responsible have to be pursued and brought to justice. There must be no selectivity, no sanctuary, no impunity for those guilty of gross human rights violations.
Dealing with the aftermath of serious and widespread human rights violations is not only essential to future peace in the societies concerned, but also can have an important deterrent effect elsewhere; impunity in one country can be a very bad lesson for others.
In September a Special Session of the Commission was held to consider the situation in East Timor. I had visited the region to assess the situation for myself and to show solidarity with the thousands of East Timorese who had family members killed and injured and who had been driven from their homes. Let us not forget the context: that they were exercising their right to vote under United Nations auspices. The report of the Commission of Inquiry set up at the recommendation of the Special Session has been submitted and is before the Commission. Efforts are being made in East Timor and in Indonesia to bring to justice those responsible for the serious human rights violations and to deal with the very real need for reconciliation within the framework of justice and truth. I would like to stress one thing: credible and effective procedures are essential. We have been asked to assist both Indonesia and East Timor in this and I am giving that assistance high priority. I will submit further information to the Commission on developments relating to the situation in East Timor.
The Commission has before it, in the reports of some three dozen rapporteurs, representatives, working groups and similar special procedures, a veritable global survey of shocking violations of human rights taking place across the globe. These include violations of economic, social and cultural rights. It is a healthy development in the Commission that it now examines violations of economic, social and cultural rights alongside violations of civil and political rights.
In focussing on the prevention of gross violations of human rights in my annual report, my reasoning is simple: whatever can be done must be done nationally, regionally, and internationally, to prevent gross violations of the kinds that are being reported to the Commission. It is my hope that as it considers the reports before it the Commission might indicate approaches and strategies for concrete action to prevent such violations in each of the areas drawn to its attention.
Only if we can prevent such gross violations, will we have secured our universal culture of human rights.
Of one thing I am sure: a universal culture of human rights cannot flower in the midst of rampant global poverty. This also is an issue of deep conscience. It is one about which the United Nations at large, its specialized agencies, other international and regional organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations are preoccupied. This Commission in its early days drafted the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights alongside the civil and political rights covenant. It initiated and drafted the declaration on the right to development.
Now you have the opportunity to give leadership in making this human rights framework relevant to the forthcoming series of high level meetings: the five year review of the Beijing commitment to women’s rights as human rights; the Social Summit to be held here in Geneva in June, and the Millennium Assembly in September.
As the Commission charts a course for dealing with the right to development and with the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights, it will need to go beyond mere exhortations and identify the specificity of its contribution in this area. Some salient concepts will need to be borne in mind. In the first place, the reasoning of the international human rights movement, and the explicit affirmation of the declaration on the right to development, is that it is primarily the responsibility of governments to act for the realisation of the right to development and of economic, social and cultural rights.
This remains valid in a rapidly globalising society. Even if other actors, such as corporations, have an increasing role to play - and they do- we must retain the starting point that the primary responsibility is with national governments.
The second concept is that governments should pursue national plans and strategies aimed at the implementation of each of the rights in the economic and social covenant as well as the civil and political covenant.
The third concept is that of non-discrimination. The covenant on economic, social and cultural rights prescribes that a government must use its best endeavours to achieve realisation of each economic, social and cultural right by progressive measures. But what it insists upon is that there shall be no discrimination and this is an obligation that is immediate and peremptory. If there are parts of the population that are being discriminated against by commission or omission then immediate corrective measures must be put in place.
The fourth concept is that of international cooperation. The covenant further prescribes that, alongside national efforts, the Economic and Social Council should lead efforts for international cooperation, including technical cooperation, and the contribution of the United Nations specialized agencies. It was partly for this reason that I devoted my report to the Economic and Social Council last year to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.
The fifth concept is provided in Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for a social and international order in which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be achieved. From this perspective, the Commission has the responsibility of drawing attention to the impact of the prevailing international economic system on the realisation of human rights. The widening gap between the richest and poorest countries, aggravated by the digital gap in access to the information technologies, is a fundamental human rights issue.
If one keeps these perspectives in mind - and I am sure there are others- they will help sharpen the human rights dimension in strategies of poverty alleviation. They will help make the efforts of the Working Group on the Right to Development, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, relevant and practical. This is vital; for we need to mainstream human rights in the development process, and we need to keep human rights at the forefront of strategies of governance.
This brings me to the third part of my remarks today: the pressing human rights issues which need practical attention. The phenomenon of trafficking in women and children goes against the grain of any concept of human dignity or of rights. Work is currently underway in the United Nations to strengthen protection against trafficking in human beings. I should like to appeal to this Commission to help raise the profile on this issue and to contribute to the stamping out of trafficking.
On children, welcome breakthroughs have been made in the agreement on the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict and substantial progress on the Optional Protocol on sale of Children. Alas, however, slavery and slavery-like practices persist in many parts of the world and are documented yearly by the Sub-Commission's Working Group on Slavery. The struggle against slavery was bequeathed by the eighteenth century to the nineteenth, to the twentieth, and now the twenty-first. I make an appeal today to the conscience of the Commission against this dreadful phenomenon.
Racism, racial discrimination, anti-semitism, and similar discriminatory practices still abound in our world. Three Decades and two World Conferences have not stamped out the evils of xenophobia and discrimination. Next year we will have the third World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances. As Secretary-General of the World Conference, I look forward to your support to make this, as one of the first world conferences of the century, a truly outstanding and effective occasion.
In the same spirit, I call attention to the plight of minorities, indigenous peoples and migrant workers. These groups suffer discrimination and degradation and are in need of special protection. I appeal that we speed up the consideration and adoption of the draft declaration on the rights of indigenous populations. I also make a particular appeal for additional ratifications of the Convention on the rights of migrant workers so that by coming into force it can strengthen the international legal regime for the protection of migrant workers and their families. There are compelling questions of justice involved here.
And there is a compelling need to take further measures to protect human rights defenders. I still recall the emotion when the Declaration on human rights defenders was adopted by the Commission two years ago. Sadly, every week since then, I have been made aware by broken hearted family members or colleagues of the deaths, disappearances, or imprisonment of lawyers, trade unionists, journalists or community activists for their principled defence of the human rights of others. The human rights community looks to you now to implement the Declaration with practical measures.
Finally, I should like to touch briefly on our developing strategies in the Office of the High Commissioner. They proceed from the premise that we should be supportive of governments in their national strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights. This is why we are placing emphasis on support to governments for ratifications, national plans of action, national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, regional and international exchanges of experience, technical cooperation at the request of governments, and the development of field presences where governments find them helpful.
These themes are highlighted in the first annual appeal I launched at the beginning of this year. They also take centre stage in the regional and sub-regional activities we are organizing and plan to increase in different parts of the world. We currently have in place substantial field offices in several countries and field programmes or officers in a number of others. We are working closely with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs in the design, staffing, strategies and operations of human rights components of peacekeeping and peace-building operations. We are participating in early-warning committees at United Nations headquarters, are cooperating with the Office of the Secretary-General on early warning and prevention, and are working closely with OCHA in responding to emergencies.
We are also working closely with UNDP, and we particularly welcome the fact that the Human Development Report for this year will focus on human rights. Our relationship with specialized agencies such as ILO, UNESCO, FAO, WHO, and with the World Bank, has intensified and we link with regional organizations on main-streaming human rights in conflict prevention and the development process. The Commission has been active on many of these fronts and provides us with guidance.
Chairperson, excellencies: I hope you will have sensed from what I have said that I believe that the responsibility of this Commission is of the highest order; that you have a tradition of constructive contribution that we must build upon; that this is and must be a Commission of conscience and justice; that there are many urgent problems to be addressed; and that main-streaming of human rights is of prime importance.
To conclude, I should like to congratulate and thank the outgoing Chairperson, Ambassador Anne Anderson. Taking on your responsibilities at a time when the Commission was reviewing its mechanisms and procedures, you displayed patience, independence and conscience, and gave moral leadership throughout the past year. To the incoming Chair and Bureau I say that I am confident that your work will live up to the high standards displayed by the last Bureau and I look forward to working with you. To the Members of the Commission, I encourage you to provide the strong leadership in human rights which the world looks to you for, and which is more needed than ever.
Thank you.
Chairperson,
Members of the Commission,
Excellencies,
Colleagues from sister organizations
and NGOs, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen,
The first session in a new century is a good time to reflect and take stock. It is a good time to recognise that the central role human rights now plays in international and national life is no accident. It is a good time to appreciate what has been built up over more than half a century and to assess the key challenges that face us.
Let us recall that at the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco, in 1945, the Commission on Human Rights was the only functional Commission of the Economic and Social Council to be named in Article 68 of the Charter. The founders thus sent a message that the future world organization would be anchored in an undying belief in human rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights would run through everything it did.
When the Commission on Human Rights began its endeavours, it committed itself to the establishment and implementation of an International Bill of Human Rights which would consist of three parts: A declaration, one or more covenants, and measures of implementation. The result was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which remains a shining star in the human rights firmament. The result was also the Covenants and treaties elaborated with the assistance of the Commission. The challenge remains: measures of implementation.
This Commission on Human Rights has been the central architect of the work of the United Nations in the field of human rights. Though consisting of representatives of Governments, it is meant to embody the conscience of humanity for a world of peace and development grounded in respect for human rights. There is no other United Nations body where Governments, international and regional organizations, and non-governmental organizations come together in such large numbers to speak candidly about problems, to register good practices, and to set the human rights agenda for the year to follow.
It is important that we recall the Commission’s historic place in the United Nations; and that we remember that humanity expects of the Commission that it will be an organ of conscience.
What I urge is that we recapture the spirit when the Commission first began under the Chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt with the commitment of prestigious representatives from every region of the world. If they were sitting here with us now, what human rights issues might they want to raise? I believe they would be shocked by the inequalities of our world, where a thousand million people lack access to clean water and where thousands of children die each day from preventable diseases. Eradicating extreme poverty is the greatest human rights challenge we face, and this Commission has the responsibility to develop the human rights framework within which it must be achieved.
Though we have made great strides in developing international norms, the tasks at hand are still as great as they were in 1945: to secure peace throughout the world on the foundation of human rights, and to cooperate for accelerated economic and social progress so that every person, every country can prosper in dignity, equality, and enjoyment of the right to development.
Allow me to touch on each of these aspects in turn. First there is the quest for peace. In my opening address to the Commission last year I urged reflection on how the Commission can contribute to defending human rights during conflicts. This year, I invite the Commission to give attention to how human rights strategies can help prevent conflicts, and to how we can help prevent gross violations of human rights through national, regional and international endeavours. We need to develop our collective capacity for conflict prevention; we need to bridge the gap between early warning and response by gearing ourselves for early action.
War, internal conflicts, displacement of populations within and across borders and wanton breaches of human rights and humanitarian norms remain a feature of our times.
The 55th session of the Commission on Human Rights coincided with the height of the conflict in Kosovo. I submitted a series of reports to the Commission, my concern being that the conflict was victimising people on all sides, Serbs as well as Kosovar Albanians, and other ethnic groups too. I urged that a peaceful solution be reached which would respect human rights precepts. It is depressing to admit that, as my latest report to the Commission shows, sustainable peace and respect for human rights have not yet come to Kosovo, in spite of the best efforts of the United Nations team there.
In June I visited Sierra Leone to bear witness to the terrible suffering of the people of that country. The atrocities which have been perpetrated, including the killing and maiming of children, are an affront to the conscience of the world. Yet, as was clear from the Secretary General’s Report to the Security Council on Civilians in Armed Conflict, the gross human rights violations committed in Sierra Leone are far from unique. Civilians have indeed come to be regarded as legitimate instruments of terror, in blatant denial of the most fundamental human rights.
In recent months there have been allegations of serious human rights abuses in Chechnya in the Russian Federation, a number of which have been documented by responsible organizations. Because of restrictions on access it has been very difficult to verify these allegations. When the first reports were received, I offered to send a personal envoy to the region. I regret that this offer was not taken up. I welcome the fact that the authorities of the Russian Federation have now agreed to allow me to make a visit. It is clear that the civilian population is facing a catastrophic situation as a result of the conflict. I would propose to report to the Commission when I return.
The appropriate response to all allegations of gross violations - wherever in the world they are reported - is that they be rigorously and independently investigated. Where proven to be well founded, those responsible have to be pursued and brought to justice. There must be no selectivity, no sanctuary, no impunity for those guilty of gross human rights violations.
Dealing with the aftermath of serious and widespread human rights violations is not only essential to future peace in the societies concerned, but also can have an important deterrent effect elsewhere; impunity in one country can be a very bad lesson for others.
In September a Special Session of the Commission was held to consider the situation in East Timor. I had visited the region to assess the situation for myself and to show solidarity with the thousands of East Timorese who had family members killed and injured and who had been driven from their homes. Let us not forget the context: that they were exercising their right to vote under United Nations auspices. The report of the Commission of Inquiry set up at the recommendation of the Special Session has been submitted and is before the Commission. Efforts are being made in East Timor and in Indonesia to bring to justice those responsible for the serious human rights violations and to deal with the very real need for reconciliation within the framework of justice and truth. I would like to stress one thing: credible and effective procedures are essential. We have been asked to assist both Indonesia and East Timor in this and I am giving that assistance high priority. I will submit further information to the Commission on developments relating to the situation in East Timor.
The Commission has before it, in the reports of some three dozen rapporteurs, representatives, working groups and similar special procedures, a veritable global survey of shocking violations of human rights taking place across the globe. These include violations of economic, social and cultural rights. It is a healthy development in the Commission that it now examines violations of economic, social and cultural rights alongside violations of civil and political rights.
In focussing on the prevention of gross violations of human rights in my annual report, my reasoning is simple: whatever can be done must be done nationally, regionally, and internationally, to prevent gross violations of the kinds that are being reported to the Commission. It is my hope that as it considers the reports before it the Commission might indicate approaches and strategies for concrete action to prevent such violations in each of the areas drawn to its attention.
Only if we can prevent such gross violations, will we have secured our universal culture of human rights.
Of one thing I am sure: a universal culture of human rights cannot flower in the midst of rampant global poverty. This also is an issue of deep conscience. It is one about which the United Nations at large, its specialized agencies, other international and regional organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations are preoccupied. This Commission in its early days drafted the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights alongside the civil and political rights covenant. It initiated and drafted the declaration on the right to development.
Now you have the opportunity to give leadership in making this human rights framework relevant to the forthcoming series of high level meetings: the five year review of the Beijing commitment to women’s rights as human rights; the Social Summit to be held here in Geneva in June, and the Millennium Assembly in September.
As the Commission charts a course for dealing with the right to development and with the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights, it will need to go beyond mere exhortations and identify the specificity of its contribution in this area. Some salient concepts will need to be borne in mind. In the first place, the reasoning of the international human rights movement, and the explicit affirmation of the declaration on the right to development, is that it is primarily the responsibility of governments to act for the realisation of the right to development and of economic, social and cultural rights.
This remains valid in a rapidly globalising society. Even if other actors, such as corporations, have an increasing role to play - and they do- we must retain the starting point that the primary responsibility is with national governments.
The second concept is that governments should pursue national plans and strategies aimed at the implementation of each of the rights in the economic and social covenant as well as the civil and political covenant.
The third concept is that of non-discrimination. The covenant on economic, social and cultural rights prescribes that a government must use its best endeavours to achieve realisation of each economic, social and cultural right by progressive measures. But what it insists upon is that there shall be no discrimination and this is an obligation that is immediate and peremptory. If there are parts of the population that are being discriminated against by commission or omission then immediate corrective measures must be put in place.
The fourth concept is that of international cooperation. The covenant further prescribes that, alongside national efforts, the Economic and Social Council should lead efforts for international cooperation, including technical cooperation, and the contribution of the United Nations specialized agencies. It was partly for this reason that I devoted my report to the Economic and Social Council last year to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.
The fifth concept is provided in Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for a social and international order in which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be achieved. From this perspective, the Commission has the responsibility of drawing attention to the impact of the prevailing international economic system on the realisation of human rights. The widening gap between the richest and poorest countries, aggravated by the digital gap in access to the information technologies, is a fundamental human rights issue.
If one keeps these perspectives in mind - and I am sure there are others- they will help sharpen the human rights dimension in strategies of poverty alleviation. They will help make the efforts of the Working Group on the Right to Development, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, relevant and practical. This is vital; for we need to mainstream human rights in the development process, and we need to keep human rights at the forefront of strategies of governance.
This brings me to the third part of my remarks today: the pressing human rights issues which need practical attention. The phenomenon of trafficking in women and children goes against the grain of any concept of human dignity or of rights. Work is currently underway in the United Nations to strengthen protection against trafficking in human beings. I should like to appeal to this Commission to help raise the profile on this issue and to contribute to the stamping out of trafficking.
On children, welcome breakthroughs have been made in the agreement on the Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict and substantial progress on the Optional Protocol on sale of Children. Alas, however, slavery and slavery-like practices persist in many parts of the world and are documented yearly by the Sub-Commission's Working Group on Slavery. The struggle against slavery was bequeathed by the eighteenth century to the nineteenth, to the twentieth, and now the twenty-first. I make an appeal today to the conscience of the Commission against this dreadful phenomenon.
Racism, racial discrimination, anti-semitism, and similar discriminatory practices still abound in our world. Three Decades and two World Conferences have not stamped out the evils of xenophobia and discrimination. Next year we will have the third World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances. As Secretary-General of the World Conference, I look forward to your support to make this, as one of the first world conferences of the century, a truly outstanding and effective occasion.
In the same spirit, I call attention to the plight of minorities, indigenous peoples and migrant workers. These groups suffer discrimination and degradation and are in need of special protection. I appeal that we speed up the consideration and adoption of the draft declaration on the rights of indigenous populations. I also make a particular appeal for additional ratifications of the Convention on the rights of migrant workers so that by coming into force it can strengthen the international legal regime for the protection of migrant workers and their families. There are compelling questions of justice involved here.
And there is a compelling need to take further measures to protect human rights defenders. I still recall the emotion when the Declaration on human rights defenders was adopted by the Commission two years ago. Sadly, every week since then, I have been made aware by broken hearted family members or colleagues of the deaths, disappearances, or imprisonment of lawyers, trade unionists, journalists or community activists for their principled defence of the human rights of others. The human rights community looks to you now to implement the Declaration with practical measures.
Finally, I should like to touch briefly on our developing strategies in the Office of the High Commissioner. They proceed from the premise that we should be supportive of governments in their national strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights. This is why we are placing emphasis on support to governments for ratifications, national plans of action, national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, regional and international exchanges of experience, technical cooperation at the request of governments, and the development of field presences where governments find them helpful.
These themes are highlighted in the first annual appeal I launched at the beginning of this year. They also take centre stage in the regional and sub-regional activities we are organizing and plan to increase in different parts of the world. We currently have in place substantial field offices in several countries and field programmes or officers in a number of others. We are working closely with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs in the design, staffing, strategies and operations of human rights components of peacekeeping and peace-building operations. We are participating in early-warning committees at United Nations headquarters, are cooperating with the Office of the Secretary-General on early warning and prevention, and are working closely with OCHA in responding to emergencies.
We are also working closely with UNDP, and we particularly welcome the fact that the Human Development Report for this year will focus on human rights. Our relationship with specialized agencies such as ILO, UNESCO, FAO, WHO, and with the World Bank, has intensified and we link with regional organizations on main-streaming human rights in conflict prevention and the development process. The Commission has been active on many of these fronts and provides us with guidance.
Chairperson, excellencies: I hope you will have sensed from what I have said that I believe that the responsibility of this Commission is of the highest order; that you have a tradition of constructive contribution that we must build upon; that this is and must be a Commission of conscience and justice; that there are many urgent problems to be addressed; and that main-streaming of human rights is of prime importance.
To conclude, I should like to congratulate and thank the outgoing Chairperson, Ambassador Anne Anderson. Taking on your responsibilities at a time when the Commission was reviewing its mechanisms and procedures, you displayed patience, independence and conscience, and gave moral leadership throughout the past year. To the incoming Chair and Bureau I say that I am confident that your work will live up to the high standards displayed by the last Bureau and I look forward to working with you. To the Members of the Commission, I encourage you to provide the strong leadership in human rights which the world looks to you for, and which is more needed than ever.
Thank you.