By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) – Russia and China oppose a Fiji candidate who is seen as an ardent defender of human rights to lead the leading UN body, according to diplomats and observers, creating a deadlock point just as Washington may seek to rejoin the forum in which it stopped in 2018.
The presidency of the Human Rights Council varies annually between regions and is usually agreed upon by consensus, with any matches resolved quickly and cordially, diplomats say.
The stalemate means that the council, the only global intergovernmental body that promotes and protects human rights worldwide, will begin resuming next week for the first time in its fifteen-year history in Geneva.
Although its decisions are not legally binding, it carries political weight and can authorize sins to transgressions.
The infighting indicates a game of great interest where powers could fend off the future influence of the United States, which in turn could join under elected President Joe Biden, said Marc Limon of the think tank Universal Rights Group.
“Neither China nor Russia wants a human rights-friendly country to hold the presidency in a year where the US is likely to enter into talks with the council again,” he said.
Russia, China and Saudi Arabia – sometimes acting by proxy – have opposed the choice of Fiji ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan, or dropped their weight on other candidates at the time, observers and two diplomats said.
“It is understood that Saudi Arabia, China and Russia all support a Bahraini candidate and were opposed to a Fijian candidacy,” said Phil Lynch, director of the International Human Rights Service, referring to Fiji’s record. , with Khan investigating abuses in Belarus. and Yemen last year.
The NGO is accredited to the council and participates in debates.
A Chinese diplomat said on Friday he would be “pleased to see one of these candidates as president”.
The diplomatic missions for Fiji, Russia and Saudi Arabia did not respond to requests for comment.
Khan did not step aside and alternative candidates from Bahrain and Uzbekistan, who have been nominated since December, also came up against the opposition, diplomats said.
“This mess may reinforce the voices that claim that the HRC is anti-democratic, dysfunctional, and so on, and that the US should not re-engage (or insist that major reforms are the price to do so),” Richard Gowan said. , International Crisis Group, said.
An overview that could cause forum reforms is not yet available.
At present, members of the 47-member council must be elected to vote in it – but this may be one of the topics considered in any reform. China and Russia return to the council again this year.
The council’s president has limited powers, although some believe the role has become increasingly political.
The president does appoint independent experts, such as the one who led an investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Attempts by Oman, the group coordinator in Asia and the Pacific, to resolve the matter via secret ballot have hit the opposition in Qatar. The diplomat called a mess is a dead end.
One way to resolve the stalemate could be a vote at the council next week, diplomats say.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Alison Williams)