Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
| ||||||||||||
ECOSOC and ASOPAZCO - NGOs - Global policy Forum ECOSOC and the Suspension Case
of ASOPAZCO
ASOPAZCO (Asociación por la Paz Continental - International Council of the Associations for Peace in the Continents) is a human rights NGO whose consultative status with ECOSOC has been suspended for three years. The Government of Cuba had lodged the complaint against ASOPAZCO because of alleged misconduct at the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on Human Rights held in Geneva from 20 March to 27 April 2000. The ECOSOC Committee on NGOs first examined the Cuban complaint in spring 2000 along with other complaints against the Transnational Radical Party and Freedom House. After lengthy debate, the Committee on NGOs decided to recommend the suspension of ASOPAZCO to ECOSOC which then confirmed that decision on October 18, 2000.
ECOSOC Suspends The Consultative Status of ASOPAZCO (October 18, 2000)
Despite the effort of a group of States led by the US, Japan, France and Germany, ECOSOC decided by a tight vote to suspend ASOPAZCO’s status. (UN Press Release)Statement by the US Before the ECOSOC on the Issue of ASOPAZCO( July 28, 2000)
The US stresses the seriousness of NGO suspension, claiming that it results in silencing the NGO voice at the UN. The US Representative also denounces the procedure adopted for the case. (US Mission Press Release)NGO Committee Decides Not To Reconsider The Case of ASOPAZCO
Germany, with support from the US, France and Chile, proposed in vain that the Committee reconsiders the decision on ASOPAZCO’s controversial case. (UN Press Release)NGO Committee Recommends Status Suspension For ASOPAZCO(June 23, 2000)
After lengthy debates, the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs decided to recommend ASOPAZCO’s suspension by a vote of 11 in favor to 5 against, with 2 abstentions.(UN Press Release)NGO Committee Discusses Cuba's Complaint Against ASOPAZCO(June 21, 2000)
Human Rights NGOs are once more subject to political sanction at the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs. Cuba accuses ASOPAZCO of misconduct during the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights held in Geneva in spring 2000. (UN Press Release)
