Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 7th December 2008

Sixty years after they were adopted by the United Nations in a universal declaration, human rights are not what they used to be, and are generally in poorer constitution than they have been for a number of years. That is one line of thinking in a recent debate, arranged by the liberal think-tank Cepos, about the status of human rights today. The United Nations should no longer be the primary forum for Denmark’s human rights policies because of politicisation, says Cepos. Other experts are not as pessimistic.

United Nations (UN) organs such as the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly are undermining the fundamental human rights that the UN was created to protect, according to Cepos, a liberal think-tank in Denmark.

An alliance of non-western states sets the agenda, where freedom of speech is undermined in favour of religion, where breaches of human rights are criticised on political grounds and where collective rights are given the same weight as classic rights to freedom, the think-tank says.

It adds that the Human Rights Council is the worst example of politicisation of human rights in the UN, while the Durban II conference – which threatens the freedom of expression – and the west’s falling influence in the General Assembly are other examples of the worrying practices of the UN.

“Together with the other EU countries, Denmark should realise to a greater extent that this development is unacceptable, and that continued unconditional support legitimises the steps that the UN has taken in the wrong direction,” says Cepos.

“Against this background, the human rights policies of Denmark and Europe should be re-oriented so that the UN is no longer the primary forum,” Cepos adds. “In this connection, the EU can stop its participation in and financing of initiatives such as the Human Rights Council and the Durban II conference. Finally, Denmark and the EU countries should seek to build up alternative forums comprising democratic states.”

A number of politicians agree that human rights could be in a better shape and that much work is needed to rectify the situation. But they were more optimistic than Cepos and do not see the same problems as the think-tank.