Guest Column

Is the work of the United Nations still relevant? Now that there is a war against Iraq in spite of the actions of the United Nations, many ask that question. Yet Canadians from many human rights organizations continue to lobby at the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Each year, advocates from around the globe flock to Geneva, Switzerland in April to speak to the Commission, a UN body composed of representatives from 53 countries. Its purpose is to set standards for human rights and encourage member countries to live up to those standards. The Commission monitors all the international human rights treaties.

Human rights advocates come to Geneva because the Commission is the only UN body where NGOs, non-governmental organizations, have the right to speak directly to the member countries of the Commission.

Many Canadians make the long trip to Geneva to lobby the Commission for a variety of reasons. Groups like Amnesty International lobby on a wide range of human rights issues. The Mennonite Central Committee is concerned about refugees. World Vision highlights the rights of children. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada works with its international organization, the World Evangelical Alliance, on issues of religious persecution.

Christians come from all over the world to the Commission to raise their voices against human rights abuse. One group of Catholic priests from Pakistan came solely to highlight the abuse of the blasphemy law in their country, an offence that carries the death penalty for defaming the name of the prophet Mohammed.

Human rights violators abound. Religious freedom, for example, is protected under every general human rights treaty. But we know that millions of Christians are persecuted for their faith. What is going wrong?

This year the Commission is facing even greater challenges than in previous years. Several countries with terrible human rights records are members of the Commission. Even worse, it is chaired by Libya. It is clear that countries that abuse human rights take the Commission seriously because they are vying for membership. If they are members they have a chance to block the Commission from passing any resolutions against them.

But veteran Commission-goer Tim Wichert, refugee coordinator for the Mennonite Central Committee, says one must take a long-term perspective on the work of the Commission. “Progress has been made over the 50 years of human rights work in protecting vulnerable people.”

Wichert teamed up with David Matas, another veteran Commission-goer representing B’nai Brith, to host a consultation on refugees and human rights. Matas explained the purpose of the meeting, “Canada is sponsoring the resolution on the mass exodus of people this year. They are looking for input from the NGO community that works with refugees.”

This highlights another reason groups go to Geneva, to network with like-minded groups.

Wichert comments, “A lot can be attributed to what religious groups have done.”

“It is the only thing we have as human rights organizations,” Loubna Freith, Associate UN Representative of Human Rights Watch argues.

People who are being persecuted do not have a voice. Human rights advocates are their voice at the highest level. It is at least one way to hold governments accountable.

Even in times like these when it appears that the Commission has so many problems that they cannot achieve much, countries like Sudan, China and Pakistan must sit in a large room packed with diplomats from almost every country in the world and listen to NGO after NGO list specific cases where people have been unjustly treated by their government.

“We are working together to find ways to make life better for vulnerable people,” concludes Wichert.

Janet Epp Buckingham is the General Legal Counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.