The vote marked a break from the practice of agreeing to appointments by consensus and underscored US opposition to Tripoli's candidacy, mostly over the 1988 bombing of a PanAm jetliner over Lockerbie. "Libya's government continues to commit serious human rights violations," US Ambassador Kevin Moley told reporters after the meeting, adding that Libya did not deserve "a leadership role in the UN system". In Tripoli, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassuna al-Shawsh hailed the outcome of the vote as a "shining victory" adding that it showed that "Libya has a clean sheet with regard to human rights."
Libya, the sole candidate, was proposed by South Africa on behalf of the African group, whose turn it was to make the nomination under a system of annual rotation among the five main geographical regions. The ambassador from Israel, which is not a commission member, condemned the selection of a country "which has ordered the downing of two passenger airlines and the bombing of a discotheque in Europe". Ambassador Yaakov Levy was referring to the Lockerbie bombing that killed 259 people onboard and 11 on the ground, as well as the 1989 downing of a UTA plane over Niger in which 170 people died, and an attack on a West Berlin disco in 1986. Levy said the selection "marks a new low in the cynical manipulation of UN bodies by parties who preach human rights to others but refrain from practising them at home". The US ambassador also said it was time to "begin rebuilding the UN Commission on Human Rights into a body that fulfills its original mandate to champion democracy, freedom and the human rights of all people". Other than the United States, Canada voted against Libya's candidacy, according to the US ambassador.
THE third country was not immediately known. Diplomatic sources had hinted ahead of Monday's meeting that Libya was likely to survive the vote, indicating that the European Union states were likely to abstain. Seven EU states are currently members of the Commission. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) had also opposed Libya's candidacy and lobbied South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria to select a country that "respects the Commission and its rapporteurs," said HRW spokeswoman Loubna Freih. She added that the procedure could hardly be called an election since there had been just one candidate. HRW and the Paris-based Federation of International Human Rights Groups (FIDH) have questioned the credibility of the way the Commission's members and leading positions are appointed.
Established in 1946, the world's highest human rights body meets annually for six weeks here to shed light on abuses worldwide. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello cut short a visit to Africa, his first field mission since taking over the job last September, to return to Geneva for the meeting. In his opening speech, the UN official told members that the session offered "a unique opportunity for the Commission to demonstrate that it can manage with wisdom, speed and restraint its procedural business". Washington has itself only just returned to the UN Commission's fold after losing its seat in 2001, in a move widely regarded at the time as punishment to the United States for its perceived unilateralism in foreign policy.
Absent in 2002, and after intense lobbying, the US managed to win re-election for 2003. The UN Commission will hold its annual meeting from March 17 to April 25, during which it will examine reports on human rights in several countries. [End]