The U.S. Is Out With ‘In’ Crowd

The United States has been an active member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission from its founding in 1947. But last week the U.S. suffered a highly publicized defeat when it failed to win one of the three seats allocated to Western countries. Instead, three members of the European Union--France, Austria and Sweden--got the seats.

Various explanations have been offered for this defeat. Many emphasized the disagreement with U.S. policies on the Kyoto treaty on global warming, the International Criminal Court and the land mine treaty. Others pointed out widespread disagreement with the Bush administration’s decision to construct a missile defense and abrogate the Antiballistic Missile Treaty with the now-nonexistent Soviet Union.

None of these discussions took account of the significant fact that, also last week, the U.S. candidate was defeated in his effort to win reelection to a seat on the International Narcotics Control Board. In that election, the 54 member states of the U.N. Economic and Social Council voted among 32 candidates to fill five vacancies. Three EU countries--Austria, the Netherlands and France--were elected, as were Peru and India.

In the case of both the Human Rights Commission and the Narcotics Control Board, the outcome was a surprise because the number of written confirmations of intended support for the U.S. candidate was substantially higher than the number of votes actually cast.

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chair of the House International Relations Committee, described the Human Rights Commission vote as “a deliberate attempt to punish the United States for its insistence that the commission tell the truth about human rights abuses whenever they occur.” I think he’s right. The U.S. habit of truth-telling in the United Nations about human rights violations was surely an important basis of some countries’ decisions. So is the United States’ regular opposition to unfair attacks on other members, such as Israel.

The records of repression matter as more and more governments that are themselves infamous human rights violators have managed to get elected to the Human Rights Commission (thereby acquiring votes). These include Libya, Syria, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Uganda. China and Cuba also are members.

The ambassador of France has attributed the success of his country with the Human Rights Commission to the fact that France’s foreign policy is founded on “dialogue and respect.” By implication, the U.S. failure is based on their absence. China agrees. China has suggested that the time has arrived for the United States to “stop using human rights issues as tools to pursue its power politics and hegemonism.” It will be possible to do that when China stops using its power to violate its citizens’ human rights.

The U.S. has no friends among those countries that regularly repress their citizens. The vote in the Human Rights Commission makes one wonder if the U.S. has reliable friends and allies among the democracies.

There is not much question that the distance between the U.S. and its NATO allies has grown in the last decade. The European press shows its displeasure in a steady stream of articles critical of the United States and the “American way.” The criticism has intensified since the inauguration of President Bush, who undertook to move the United States rightward at a time when all but two of the 15 member EU states have socialist governments.

I think it is clear that the rapid consolidation of the EU already has had a negative impact on U.S. relations with several continental European countries in the United Nations. Traditionally, the United States has had close relations with some, but not all, EU members, but now it has become difficult for a U.S. representative to discuss an issue or make common cause with a representative of an EU country.

There is a widespread belief among informed Americans that our allies played a significant role in the U.S. defeat in the Human Rights Commission. The U.S. will never be able to achieve or even work toward our goals in the U.N. if, in addition to opposing our adversaries, we must also compete with our best friends. Our one vote can never win against the EU’s 15.