UN's al-Hussein is welcome breath of fresh air

In the staid, and often sterile, world of international diplomacy, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, is a thoroughly welcome breath of fresh air. A life-long diplomat, Mr al-Hussein was approved for this position by the UN General Assembly in June 2014, and is the first Muslim, Asian and Arab to hold this crucial position.

Partly because of his career in diplomacy and especially on behalf of Jordan as the UN permanent representative, there was some apprehension whether Mr al-Hussein would be able to speak truth to power openly and publicly, particularly because he was part of the power himself.

But at a time when the world needs clarity, vision and purpose to restore the role of human rights as a value system for human dignity, Mr al-Hussein has more than surpassed expectations. Never before in the post-World War II world has the very concept of human rights been so assailed, and from as many angles: the autocrats and dictators; the authoritarians who think that economic development trumps freedom and civil rights; and from within the very countries that trumpet human rights as part of their core values, but act differently all too often when it comes to “terrorism” or refugee issues.

And to all these challenges, he has been phenomenal, consistent, blunt and fair. He has condemned little Burundi where the President decided that he was more important than the people there and forcibly and brutally extended his term of office.

FLOUTING LAW

And he has condemned the powerful and rich EU for flouting international law in its desperate efforts to avoid hosting refugees.

He has criticised the far right in Europe and USA, calling them out by name publicly, as he criticised Arab and Muslim majority countries for denying rights to the LGBTI community.

The role and job of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights can be a thankless job. Though human rights is officially touted as one of the three “pillars” of the United Nations (the other two being peace and development), none is under-resourced as the Office of the High Commissioner, attracting between three and six percent of the UN budget.

It has no police force to arrest and sanction those who violate human rights; nor has it got sufficient funds to incentivise member states to respect human rights.

And it retains the incessant internal wrangling, intrigues, politicking, careerism, diversity challenges and back-stabbing that comes with every UN agency. But what it does have is the moral megaphone to shame or cajole member states to do the right thing. Mr al-Hussein has come up with some gems in this regard.

Sample this: Speaking at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September, he said: “It is abhorrent that desperate women, men and children can be branded as criminals, and detained for months, even years, incurring further damage to their physical and mental health.

'BEING OUTFLANKED'

“We can change this... But not when the defenders of what is good and right are being outflanked, in too many countries, by race-baiting bigots, who seek to gain, or retain, power by wielding prejudice and deceit, at the expense of those most vulnerable — and, ultimately, even those who support them initially.

“….Many seem to have forgotten the two world wars — what happens when fear and anger are stoked by half-truths and outright lies. A density of hatred builds up. The pin is pulled. The timer, released. And humanity’s rendezvous with the ‘demon of world history’ beckons again.

“The bigots and deceivers, in opposing greater responsibility-sharing, promote rupture. Some of them may well be in this hall this morning. If you are here, we say to you: We will continue to name you publicly. You may soon walk away from this hall. But not from the broader judgment of “we the people”, all the world’s people – not from us.”

But more important than the moral megaphone is the inadvertent role that the High Commissioner takes on as a motivator for human rights activists, organisations, victims and survivors, who need assurances and comfort that their often lonely work is not forgotten, and is, in fact, cherished and uplifted. And in this role, Mr al-Hussein has been exemplary.

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