By Matthew Russell Lee, Review
UNITED NATIONS, September 4 -- Switzerland joined the
UN ten years ago, and its UN Mission website presents it as an unmitigated
success. But closer examination finds that some of its claimed impacted, on and
of the UN, are more ambiguous than
presented.
Switzerland makes much of the
Geneva-based Human Rights Council. But just this month, Sudan's candidacy for
the HRC while its president has been indicted for genocide by the ICC has drawn
fire. Word has been, for Sudan to drop out, it will get a quiet commitment for
lighter treatment by the
HRC.
Last week on August 30, Inner City
Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq
about the efficacy of any challenge to the Secretariat to Sudan's
candidacy:
Inner City Press: there's a letter that was sent to
Patricia O’Brien about Sudan’s candidacy for the Human Rights Council. It’s been
publicly announced; I don’t know if the UN has received it. And also, does the
Secretariat have any role in ruling on the eligibility of countries to run in
elections for the Human Rights
Council?
Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq: Well, certainly,
Member States can request our expertise, our legal expertise, on points of order
if they choose to do so. In this case, though, the question of membership in the
Human Rights Council is up to the Member States, as it properly is, and we will
leave it in their hands how to handle this
issue.
Now, amid claims by some it
vindicates the HRC, Sudan is backing out. But in exchange for what? Sudan's
National Congress Party's secretary of organizations Adil Awad on September 2
said he now expects Sudan to be relieved of monitoring by a special
rapporteur...
On the positive side, Switzerland's (increasingly
leadership, and lonely) role in the so-called Small Five for reform
of the Security Council's working methods stands out.
Their draft resolution was withdrawn, but
Ambassador Seger seems committed to press forward, bringing a legal approach too
rare in the UN. Seger insists,
correctly, on more participation in the Security Council as head of a
Peacebuilding Commission configuration. Seger's predecessor Peter Maurer now
heads the ICRC and is headed to Syia.
On the other hand it was unfortunate
that Nicolas Michel, while serving at the UN's top lawyer, also accepted Swiss
payments for his housing, in violation of the UN charter and rules, as
exposed by Inner City Press.
And Joseph Deiss, while he was PGA, was only halting
in disclosing who paid for his housing and travel. For a PGA, it is legal to
take from one's country. But Deiss appeared to deny
it, when Inner City Press first raised it.
The ombudsperson of the Al Qaeda
Sanctions committee was something of a good reform. But recently, for example,
the reform proved illusory. A person removed from the Al
Qaeda list, businessman Jim'ale, was then just put on the Somalia / Eritrea
sanctions list.
Switzerland
is in the position to critique and even reform these
things. We'll be
watching.
