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Human Rights Annual Report 2005

I am sure that it was just a rumour, but I shall nevertheless bear it in mind. Next week, the United Nations Human Rights Council starts its proceedings in Geneva. In his introduction, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee welcomed its establishment and hoped that it would be an improvement on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. As one who has attended many meetings of the Human Rights Commission, I shall not weary the Chamber with all the details of it. Some of its sessions were extraordinarily long and extraordinarily ill focused but there were some advantages to its system. One such advantage was that the commission had standing reports on various world issues, such as the plight of the Palestinian people, the situation in respect of opposing Apartheid, and Cyprus. Above all, there were significant opportunities for civil society and non-governmental organisations to be represented directly in its main plenary sessions. Although a huge number of NGOs and civil society organisations were represented there, it is reasonable to question the NGO status of some of the so-called NGOs. Some were frankly little more than fig leaves for another government organisation. Nevertheless, there was an important principle that civil society should be represented at the highest level within the United Nations system. It is implicit in the charter, the declaration and the system that operated through the Human Rights Commission. I hope that the Minister will be able to give us assurances in that respect. I notice that a Minister—I believe it will be the Minister who is present today, but I am not sure—is to be the 40th speaker to address the Human Rights Council. They will be speaking at 10.30 am on 20 June in Geneva. I hope that their contribution will reflect the view from this country that we strongly support the inclusion of civil society organisations within the Human Rights Council system. I say that for an obvious reason. Where a Government represent a country that has a serious systematic abuse of human rights—for example Burma or, in part, Colombia, or many such places—it is essential that an independent voice is heard and that such Governments are made to answer the allegations that are made against them. I hope that there will not be endless delays and that the British Government will support a regular review of the human rights position in each country of the world. The idea is that every two or three years—I cannot remember the exact details—