(Eagle News) — The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is not an international court which can impose sanctions on countries, says former presidential spokesperson and human rights lawyer Harry Roque.
Roque, in an interview with Eagle News Service’s “Radyo Agila” even described the UNHRC as a “toothless tiger” since the UN human rights body cannot even enforce its own ruling as it is a political body, and not a court.
“Ang UN human rights council, dahil hindi siya isang hukuman, hindi ito maaaring magpataw ng kahit na anong parusa (The UN human rights council, because it is not a court, cannot mete out any penalty),” Roque said in the interview on Saturday, July 13.
The UNHRC’s situation as a toothless tiger is further highlighted by the “voting record” on the Iceland resolution seeking a comprehensive written report on the Philippine drug war, where only 18 member nations of the 47-member council voted for it, he said.
“Ang toothless tiger na ito, lalo pang humina dahil nga sa voting record,” Roque said of the UNHRC.
In the voting last week, 18 member nations voted against the Iceland resolution, while 14 member states decided to abstain.
“Has this resolution shamed our country in any way? Certainly not,” Roque also said in his Facebook post on Monday, July 15.
He explained that the 18 countries which voted for the Iceland resolution did not even represent the majority of the 47-member UNHRC.
“Look at the list of the 18 states and you will see that they are mostly countries that have always been critical of the Duterte administration,” he observed.
-No cause for UN probe-
Roque noted that many countries still believe that there is no cause for the UN to investigate the Philippine government’s war against illegal drugs, as the government was just doing this to protect citizens from the ill-effects of illegal drugs.
“Ang buong daigdig ay hindi naniniwala talaga na kinakailangang imbestigahan dahil malabnaw nga po ang resulta ng botohan,” he said in the interview.
“Wala pong unipormeng paningin na lumalabag ang Pilipinas para imbestigahan at ito po’y pinatutunayan ng malabnaw na voting record dyan sa UN human rights council (There is no uniform view that the Philippines should be investigated, and this can be seen in the weak voting record there in the UN human rights council)” the human rights lawyer and former lawmaker said.
Roque also posted in his Facebook page on Monday, July 15, his views on the issue.
He said critics of the President should hold for now their rejoicing as the UNHCR resolution does not really amount to anything.
“One, the UNHRC, much like its predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission, is a toothless tiger,” he said.
Roque said that the UNHRC “amounts to a sort of shaming machinery” at most to “prod UN member countries into complying with their treaty obligations to protect and promote human rights.”
“It cannot pass sentence on anyone, cannot impose sanctions, and, as a political organ, has subjected the enforcement of human rights norms to political horse trading. It’s that last item on the list that is of particular importance, because being a shaming mechanism requires having the moral authority to call for the enforcement of fundamental human rights.”
-UNHRC, only limited to periodic review of countries’ compliance on HR-
He also noted that the “the HRC’s mandate is limited to periodic review of individual states’ compliance with their treaty obligations through thematic and country-specific rapporteurs.”
“Unfortunately, the periodic reviews have proven largely ineffective in ensuring treaty compliance, while the rapporteurs can only perform their functions if they are invited by UN member countries. States have the ultimate prerogative as to whether they will invite rapporteurs into their jurisdiction,” he said.
-UN existence premised on respect for sovereignty of states-
Roque also explained that the UNHRC’s system and existence, just like the UN’s, is “premised on the respect for sovereignty of states.”
“States joined and created it freely, believing that membership to the UN is to their own interest. As such, the UN cannot operate in a manner that would disregard the very sovereignty of states that is the basis for its existence,” he said.
-Duterte critics “making much ado about nothing,” says Roque-
“Finally, if you really read the resolution (and you really should), all it calls for is a complete report on the killings. It has not found our country guilty of breaching any of its treaty obligations or assigning blame,” Roque said.
“I tell the President’s most single-minded critics again: you are making much ado about nothing.”
