NZ Scores Brownie Points In Washington
April 2nd, 2009
NZ might have scored some brownie points with the Obama administration in advance of Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton next Tuesday. McCully has announced NZ is withdrawing its candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council following the Obama administration’s decision to seek a seat on the Council. The US move reversed a Bush decision to shun the UN premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states. Now the Obama administration says human rights are an essential element of US global foreign policy.
NZ which has been working hard to become a member of the Council with the intention of supporting improvement in the organisation, says US membership of the Council is more likely to create positive changes more quickly. The Obama administration concedes the Council has failed to emerge as a powerful champion of human rights, saying it has devoted excessive attention to alleged abuses by Israel and too little to abuses in places such as Darfur, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice says working from within the US can make the Council more effective.
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Duncan Cotterill