Treatment of Libya Illustrates the Fatuousness of the Human Rights Council

Brett Schaefer / March 01, 2011

On March 18, the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to consider its final report of Libya’s human rights record that was conducted under the body’s Universal Periodic Review. The first part of the human rights review of the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, conducted on November 9, 2010, was an all too typical dog and pony show. Libya’s submission to the Council asserted that the regime observed and protected a host of basic human rights including freedoms of expression, religion, and association. During the review, governments lined up to commend Libya on its observance of human rights. The UPR report for Libya scheduled for adoption by the Council duly notes the praise heaped upon Libya during the review by the members of the Council and made 66 recommendations for Libya to adopt to improve its human rights practices.

By contrast, the United States’ UPR report recommended that the U.S. adopt 228 changes to improve its human rights practices. So, in the eyes of the Human Rights Council, it seems that the U.S. has much further to go in terms of its observance of human rights than Libya.

Farce has long been a feature of the UPR. Human rights activists held out hope that the UPR would be the saving grace of the gravely disappointing HRC. Unfortunately, while the UPR offers an unprecedented opportunity to hold the human rights practices of every country open for public examination and criticism, it has proven to be a flawed process hijacked by countries seeking to shield themselves from criticism—a flaw that the HRC shares with the broader human rights efforts in the UN system. (more…)