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Mr President,
New Zealand expresses its appreciation to the High Commissioner for once again producing a comprehensive annual report and for the impressive amount of work she and her office have completed in the past year, both in support of the work of the Human Rights Council and in her independent field activities.
We also express our gratitude and admiration to the High Commissioner herself for the strong leadership, integrity and objectivity she has shown throughout her tenure, including during the difficult transition to the Human Rights Council. We look forward to hearing her reflection on her tenure at our June session.
Mr President,
The Human Rights Commissioner’s report touches upon a range of issues of importance to New Zealand, including efforts to strengthen country engagement in the Asia-Pacific, support for the human rights instruments and national human rights institutions, and the potential role of the universal periodic review.
Many delegations have already posed questions today relevant to these issues and accordingly we look forward to the High Commissioner’s response. We therefore limit ourselves to mentioning several points on which we would appreciate the High Commissioner’s comments.
In her report entitled ‘Progress on reports and studies relevant to cooperation with representatives of UN human rights bodies’, the High Commissioner records that following the military coup in Fiji in 2006, four Special Procedures sent urgent appeals to the interim government of Fiji in response to communications.
As a close neighbour, New Zealand remains concerned about the human rights situation in Fiji and regrets that Fiji is yet to be returned to constitutional government. Much of its governmental machinery, including institutions crucial to the protection of human rights, remains under military control, such as agencies with responsibility for justice and policing. Despite the United Nations’ repeated attempts to engage with Fiji’s interim government, the recent refusal by Fiji’s interim government to allow entry to a delegation from the international bar association further demonstrates a worrying trend in Fiji to shun independent scrutiny of organs of state, in particular those charged with responsibility for the protection of human rights and liberties.
Madame High Commissioner, New Zealand would be interested to know how your Office plans to interact with the UN system and with the Pacific Islands Forum to contribute to an improvement in the human rights situation in Fiji.
New Zealand was saddened by the outbreaks of communal and ethnic violence following elections in December in Kenya- a country we value as a fellow member of the Commonwealth and for its traditions of human rights and democratic governance. We applaud the exhaustive efforts of Mr Kofi Annan and Mr Jakay Kikwete to broker a solution to the dispute over the elections. We look forward to seeing the parties work together to successfully implement the recently concluded agreement.
We thank the High Commissioner for her update today and urge her to continue to monitor the human rights situation in Kenya and report on developments.
New Zealand would like to thank the High Commissioner for the extensive efforts she and her staff have made to increase the transparency of her Office, to address gender inequalities and to ensure the distribution of staff reflects an appropriate geographic balance.
We too expect to see the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enter into force this summer and we share the High Commissioner’s hope that the Council will give this Convention a proper place in its programme of work and that the rights of persons with disabilities are maintained in our work.
In response to several of the comments made today regarding the OHCHR’s Strategic Management Plan, which we note is distinct from the OHCHR’s Strategic Framework, we retain the firm view that the programmatic aspects of the work of the OHCHR should continue to be negotiated in New York through existing channels, which are already open to all Member States. As others have already said today, it is fundamental to respect the independence and autonomy of the OHCHR as a component of the UN secretariat.
At the same time, we would encourage further information exchange between the OHCHR and all Member States, on an equal basis, through information meetings in Geneva, and as required, in New York, on activities in which the OHCHR is engaged. Such briefings can increase the opportunities for States’ views to be heard and contribute to greater transparency.
Madame High Commissioner, in this regard we would be interested to know what briefings and outreach activities your Office has planned for 2008.
