Global Policy Forum

UNA-USA

Chairman and President of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) Ambassador William H. Luers reacted to today's vote by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) not to reelect the United State to the Commission for Human Rights by stating that it will have inevitably damaging consequences: "ECOSOC's decision not to reelect the United States to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is a devastating blow to the U.S.- U.N. relationship." France, Austria, Sweden and the United States vied for three open seats out of the 10 seats reserved for the Western European and Others Group. The United States received 29 out of a possible 53 votes, the fewest of the four candidates.

"This will be the first time since Eleanor Roosevelt led the charge to create the Human Rights Commission in 1946 that the United States will not have a seat," Ambassador Luers said. "Given America's history of leadership on the Commission and its commitment to the promotion of human rights, its absence is sure to damage the Commission's credibility and effectiveness."

Ambassador Luers is calling on governments to take the extraordinary step of working together to produce a volunteer to step down from the Commission. "A diplomatic solution must be found immediately," he said. "One of the other countries should step down from the Commission so that the United States can continue there. Our friends and allies, especially in Europe, surely understand how urgent this situation is."