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Possible new U.N. antagonism toward United States

TOPLINE: In May the United States was voted out of two key U.N. organs, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and the U.N. International Drug Control Board. Both votes shocked U.S. officials in the Bush administration and in Congress, especially because Sudan won a seat on the human rights body, despite U.S. assertions that it is a human rights violator.

IN CONTEXT: The United States had held a seat on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights for more than 50 years, using the Geneva-based forum to target perceived human-rights violators, especially China and Cuba in recent years.

Possible explanations for the United States being ousted from the commission and the board are both parliamentary and issue-oriented.


  • KEY QUESTIONS
  • KEY PLAYERS
  • BOTTOM LINE


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Some observers believed Washington was being punished by Western European nations disappointed with the Bush administration's rejection of a treaty reached in Kyoto, Japan. The Kyoto treaty aimed at reducing gases that contribute to global warming. Other analysts said nations avenged what they perceived as the United States' international preaching about human rights while it remained one of the few countries still advocating the death penalty.

Western European leaders may be unsettled by recent unilateral moves by the Bush administration, such as its intention to pursue a national missile defense program, which some in Europe fear might spark a new arms race.

In addition, the United States continues to owe hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid U.N. contributions.

Parliamentary procedure also may have played a role in the U.S. ouster from the drug control board. In the secret ballot vote for the board seats, 25 nations were competing for just five available positions. Diplomats told CNN U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth that there were too many European countries vying for too few positions on the board. They also said the same factor may have contributed to the United States being ejected from the human rights commission.

A failure by Washington to take part in backroom negotiations and deals in advance of the voting also has been mentioned by diplomats as a possible reason behind the loss of U.S. seats.

That lack of U.S. participation in backroom deals may have something to do with the fact that the relatively new Bush administration has no U.N. ambassador in place. The White House has not yet sent the name of its designate -- veteran diplomat John Negroponte -- to the Senate for approval.


KEY QUESTIONS:
  • Do these developments reflect an increased anti-U.S. mood among some U.N. member states?
  • Will the absence of a U.S. presence on these two U.N. committees result in reduced Washington influence in the world body?
  • What should the United States do to regain its seats on the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the U.N. Drug Control Board?
  • KEY PLAYERS:
  • U.S. Congress: The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to withhold $244 million in unpaid U.N. contributions owed by the United States until Washington is reinstated on the human rights committee. "I think there's an injustice there that ought to be addressed," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois. Hastert noted that Sudan, China and Libya sat on the committee, nations which he described as "some of the greatest perpetrators of human rights abuses in the world."
  • Bush administration: Although the White House has said it is disappointed about losing the human rights commission seat, spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president "feels strongly that this issue should not be linked to payment of our arrears to the U.N. and other international organizations."
  • U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan: The U.N. leader said he was surprised by the outcome of the vote, especially because the United States said it had written commitments from about 11 member states which said they would vote in favor of Washington, but failed to do so. Annan said that if the United States withheld U.N. contributions as punishment it would be "wrong" and "counterproductive." Annan said he was "confident" that the United States would regain its seat on the human rights commission in 2002.
  • Western European nations: Reaction to Bush administration efforts to build a national missile defense system has been mixed and may figure into cooperation with Washington within the United Nations. Great Britain has expressed support for the anti-missile program, while France, Germany and other Western European nations are reacting more cautiously. Since the U.S. rejected the Kyoto anti-pollution treaty this year, the 15-nation European Union has been applying pressure to the Bush administration to reconsider. Even Washington's staunchest European ally, Great Britain has led efforts aimed at a U.S. reversal on the issue.
  • Sudan: The newest member of the U.N. Human Rights Commission has been recently criticized for its human rights record. On April 20, 2001, a resolution by the U.N Human Rights Commission complained about several reports from Sudan, including the "summary or arbitrary execution resulting from armed conflicts between members of the armed forces and their allies and armed insurgent groups within the country, including the Sudanese People's Liberation Army/Movement."
  • BOTTOM LINE: The U.N. votes may signal a new antagonism within the world body against a new U.S. administration, which so far has shown a preference to leading unilaterally rather than by compromising with other nations on international issues.






    RELATED STORIES:
    RELATED SITES:
    United Nations
    United States Mission to the United Nations
    Office of the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights
    Committee on International Relations

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