U.N. Rights Body Admits Abusive Members

(New York, May 3, 2001) Several countries with poor human rights records
should not have been voted onto the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

Joining the 53-member commission today were Sudan, Uganda, Sierra
Leone, and Togo, among others, to
a three-year rotating membership.
These countries will join Syria, Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and
Vietnam, all countries
with very poor human rights records elected to
the commission last year.

"This is a rogues' gallery of human rights abusers," said Joanna
Weschler, U.N. representative for Human Rights Watch. "A country's human
rights record should be the single most important factor in whether or
not it joins the commission. An abusive country cannot honestly pass
judgment on other abusive countries."

Sudan is responsible for massive human rights abuses committed by forces
loyal to the government in the course of its 18-year civil war, as well
as for the widespread torture, harassment, and persecution of opponents
of the regime. Sierra Leone has also suffered massive human rights
violations in its 10-year civil war, some of them committed by forces
loyal to the government.

Togo has been the target of a recent U.N. investigation on human rights
abuse, while the Ugandan government has restricted political opposition
in its single-party system.

The United States was also voted off the U.N. human rights commission
today, for the first time in the commission's history.

"In recent years, the United States often failed to support important
human rights initiatives at the commission, or found itself voting
alone, on the wrong side of important issues," said Weschler. "It's not
surprising that the U.S. was voted off. But to punish the United States
and reward Sudan is clearly absurd."

For further information on the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, please see:

U.N.: Progress On "Disappearances" Pact Hailed (HRW Press Release, April
26, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/04/un-0426.htm

U.N. Human Rights Commission Membership Questioned (HRW Letter, April
26, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/04/uncomlet.htm

57th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (HRW Campaign Page,
last updated May 3, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/un/