Wednesday, June 20, 2007

UN Human Rights: China's proposals on country-specific resolutions make headway, says FM spokesman

June 20, 2007

China on Tuesday said its proposals on country-specific resolutions would help avoid political confrontation among countries on the UN Human Rights Council.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks at a regular press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The UN Human Rights Council was formally inaugurated on June 19, 2006, to replace the Human Rights Commission.

China has made proposals to "prevent the abuse" of country-specific resolutions, saying that this will help ensure the justice and solemnity of the council's work.

Qin said that China has taken a constructive attitude to ensuring the council handles human rights issues in a fair and objective manner.

Qin expressed his appreciation of the efforts made by Luis Alfonso de Alba, president of the council. The final compromise text states that any future country-specific resolution should gain "broad support" from the 47 member states and requires the signatures of at least 15 member states.

The UN Human Rights Council on Monday agreed on new working rules that oblige all member states to submit to periodic scrutiny of their human rights records.

Source: Xinhua

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