Madam High Commissioner, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) very much appreciates your annual report and the emphasis you have put on death penalty, economic and social rights, business and human rights, as well as standard setting. We also take note of your greater country engagement. And we look forward to increased cooperation between your field offices and national human rights defenders.
Madam High Commissioner, we would like to congratulate your office in Colombia for its impressive work. The challenges ahead include the failures of the demobilisation of paramilitaries, the ongoing attacks against and recent murders of human rights defenders, the ongoing impunity of perpetrators of the massive human rights violations. We welcome the trials of military members. We however regret the Colombian’s government repeated reluctance to implement your offices’ recommendations, as well as those of the inter-american human rights institutions.
FIDH very much supports your interventions following the repression of trade union demonstrations in Guinea Conakry, and in particular your call for an international investigation mission. We welcome the international mobilisation to condemn the summary executions and arbitrary detentions, in particular those of the African Union and ECOWAS. However, today, the international mission is yet to be deployed. We thus call upon the Council to echo your condemnation of the excessive use of force, your demand to release detainees, and your request for an international investigation. Also, the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
With regard to your future office in the Russian Federation, there are ongoing grave violations in Chechnya, in particular extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture. Human rights defenders are under threat, as witnessed with the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, and death threats against well known human rights activists, all happening in total impunity. We regret it was not possible to set-up a monitoring component within your office and call upon the Council to request the Russian Federation, a member of this Council, to invite the Special Procedures ’ whose request for visits have not been met.
Madame High Commissioner, we appreciate your efforts in these areas.