A target for tyrants

Press, 2 June 1986, Page 12

A target for tyrants

From “The Economist,” London

Even on paper, only half of the world’s 160-odd States have ratified the United Nations covenants on human rights. In practice, only one State in five is taking those convenants seriously, even though they came into force ten years ago.

— such as United Nations work on human rights. A particular target for repressive regimes is the sub-commis-sion concerned with protecting minorities and preventing discrimination. Unusually, this small group’s ground rules (which date from 1947) allow members to sit there as individuals, not as State representatives; and it has developed a healty degree of independence.

In the United Nations General Assembly there is, behind the lip-service to basic human rights, a large majority inherently hostile to them. Military, communist and other repressive regimes often forget their proclaimed ideological enmities and gang up in human-rights debates to shield each other from awkward questioning. They now see a new chance of avoiding some of these embarrassments. Although the United Nations is in deep financial trouble, the Secretary-General’s plea for a three-week cut in this year’s assembly session has been rebuffed.

It has offended both reevolutionary and reactionary Governments by its persistent probes into matters ranging from the use of torture to mass “disappearances” and the continuing existence of slavery. One of its working groups has even been bold enough to hear complaints of persecution made by private persons against their own rulers.

It is not surprising that a proposal has been made — purely as an economy measure, of course — to cancel this summr’s meeting of the subcommission. A number of unofficial groups working in the human rights field have both protested and offered, if need be, to meet the cost of the meeting themselves.

A reduction of the assembly’s repetitive verbosity would mean pure gain for the United Nations: a saving of money, an improved public image, more impact for its pronouncements. Many delegates, however, cannot bear to think of shortening their annual ego trip. Some of them would much prefer to cut down on things their governments dislike

This ought to shame the United Nations member states. It

ought to make them agreee that the financial shears must at least trim the assembly’s wasteful talking before they fall on one small part of the United Nations which has indisputably done humanity good service. Copyright, "The Economist.”