Mixed reaction to UN's new Human Rights Council

May 10, 2006, 15:03 GMT

Geneva - The international community offered a mixed reaction Wednesday to the election of the United Nations' new Human Rights Council.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, said all those elected to the 47-strong body had pledged to promote and protect human rights.

'There is good reason to believe we are putting aside some of the difficulties we saw with the commission on human rights,' she said, described it as a 'new beginning.'

The council members were elected by the UN General Assembly in a ballot on Tuesday. The council replaces the Human Rights Commission, often criticized for its inefficiency, and is part of UN plans to overhaul its organization.

Others responded more cautiously to the new council. One diplomatic source in Geneva told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa, while it was a 'new opportunity' change would not happen overnight. It would take at least a year for the council to be fully up and running, the source said.

UN Watch, an organisation which monitors UN activity and which was deeply critical of the former Human Rights Commission, expressed disappointment. Executive director, Hillel Neuer, said: 'This is a small step forward, but hardly cause for any cheer.'

He criticised the election of 'human rights violators,' Cuba, China, and Saudi Arabia, as members, suggesting it could cast a shadow over the new council.

The Human Rights Council is due to meet for the first on June 19 in Geneva.