April 26, 2002

GENEVA- The U.N. Human Rights Commission ended its annual session Friday amid criticism that its reluctance to act on China, Chechnya, Iran and Zimbabwe showed it was protecting oppressors and not the oppressed.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said the six-week meeting of the world body's top rights watchdog was "very difficult" and "very worrying." Robinson said she was concerned by trends to weaken the commission's role as a defender of liberties.

During its session, the 53-member commission did not discuss China's reported repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Muslim minorities, dropped its criticism of Russian abuses in Chechnya, ended a decades-long investigation into Iran's alleged abuses and blocked moves to examine alleged abuses in Zimbabwe.

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"This is a time to remind ourselves of the essential role of the Commission on Human Rights in protecting human beings against gross violations through highlighting and publicizing those violations; providing a forum for victims to raise their grievances; heeding the voice of conscience from different parts of the world," Robinson said.

Non-governmental groups denounced the outcome of the meeting and criticized the fact that independent experts who monitor abuses were given only five minutes each to speak.

Evening sessions also were canceled, supposedly because of budget shortages.

"The Commission on Human Rights has become hostage to human rights abusers," said Rory Mungoven of Human Rights Watch. "The Commission's most important tool - its capacity to name and shame human rights violators - is being eroded."

He said the European Union spent more time trying to find consensus among its 15 members and the United States kept a lower profile because it was not a member this year.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Federation of Human Rights said they were dismayed that Mexico withdrew a resolution urging that counterterrorist measures be compatible with international humanitarian law.

The U.N. human rights commissioner would have been responsible for monitoring and analyzing those measures, according to the resolution.

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"This could have been one of the most important outcomes from this Commission, but instead has become one of its lowest points," the advocacy groups said in a statement.

"From Illinois in the United States to Xinjiang in China, counterterrorist measures have placed human rights at risk," they said. "The Commission's silence on this critical issue sends a dangerous signal that in the fight against terrorism anything goes."

Commission membership rotates, with this year's rotation including many countries accused of violations, such as China, Cuba, Congo, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

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