Lost: Human Rights Perspective at WSSD

By Hilmi Toros

Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, levelled sharp criticism at governments yesterday for downgrading human rights at the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development.

In an interview with TerraViva during her last days in office, she said “It’s a terrible pity that human rights is being left out here,” as governments are reported to be against any strong human rights language in the final documents still being negotiated.

Robinson is stepping down in 12 days after five years in one of the U.N.’s most crucial and delicate posts. Her four-year term expired last September, but she agreed to stay on for a year. It is reliably reported that she would have stayed even longer, had it not been for U.S. opposition to the continuation of her mandate.

As time runs out with more than half of the summit over, she said she will continue her efforts for explicit acceptance by the summit that human rights and sustainable development are inextricable linked.

“I’m still trying,” Robinson remarked.

On Thursday evening, she told the summit that both the Earth Summit in Rio 10 years ago and the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna a year later had flaws in the linkage between human rights and environment. Rio failed to make explicit reference to human rights and Vienna paid too little attention to environment.

Robinson had praise for the United Nations and its agencies for pushing human rights issues in their areas of competence such as food and clean water, health, shelter and access to work opportunity.

But, displaying her usual calm and charm, she made no secret of her views that human rights is being let down by governments, although she abstained from naming any country. Robinson also said the private sector is getting “too much emphasis without accountability”.

Instead, she is pinning her hopes on civil society, which, she claims, has taken off and is on its way to a bigger role in human rights and development. “Civil society will champion the cause,” she remarked. “Civil society is getting very sophisticated. It can’t be stopped.”

Meanwhile, representatives of civil society from all regions of the world issued a statement, saying “No sustainable development without human rights.”

“We are deeply concerned that our governments are deleting references to human rights in the documents under consideration. Governments have a legal and moral obligation not to bargain away, barter or backtrack on their commitment to human rights. Human rights are not negotiable.”

A few days before returning to private life most likely to be involved on human rights issues, but without any public office, Robinson said there has been slow, but steady progress in increased awareness in human rights issues, as well as improved implementation of agreed rights.

For one thing, she said, human rights is being broadened beyond just civil liberties and becoming a “practical tool”, as well as being incorporated in development on health, food and others.

A future challenge would be the question of funds to states willing to implement human rights provisions, but lack finances to do so. “This is something the international community will have to think about seriously,” she noted.

Her tenure as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has been characterised by her outspoken views on a subject that had existed only on paper and her determination not to cave in to government pressure.

Robinson, a former President of Ireland, said she found her U.N. post both challenging and enjoyable. She has no qualms about leaving what is considered one of the toughest and most controversial U.N. posts, her decision made easier after the U.S. objected to a second term for her.