(Genebra) - Quando o Presidente do Brasil Lula da Silva do se pronunciar perante o Conselho de Direitos Humanos da ONU hoje, deveria explicar porque o Brasil faz uso do seu voto no conselho para proteger países com péssimos registros de abuso aos direitos humanos, declarou hoje a Human Rights Watch.

(Geneva) - When President Lula da Silva of Brazil addresses the UN Human Rights Council on June 15, 2009, he should explain why Brazil is using its vote in the council to protect countries with appalling human rights records, Human Rights Watch said today.

Muchas gracias.

Thank you.

Racism has been a stain on human history, from slavery to the Holocaust to the genocide in Rwanda, yet it continues all over the world, from the silencing of religious minorities and indigenous peoples, to ethnic war, discrimination and xenophobia against migrants.

Human Rights Watch deeply regrets that the shift of the mandate of the Independent Expert on Sudan from Item 4 to Item 10 was used by the Sudanese authorities to restrict the ability of the mandate holder to monitor the human rights situation in the country and to prevent the identification of human rights violations and abuses.

In Yemen, the transitional government has taken several bold and positive steps. Nevertheless, human rights violations continue and efforts to implement a United Nations-facilitated blueprint for the two-year political transition period have at times met with violent resistance from supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The reports on Somalia presented to this session by the Independent Expert and the Secretary-General highlight the urgent need for a significant reinforcement of the presence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its activities, notably its monitoring work, on Somalia.

Human Rights Watch deeply regrets that the shift of the mandate of the Independent Expert on Sudan from Item 4 to Item 10 was used by the Sudanese authorities to restrict the ability of the mandate holder to monitor the human rights situation in the country and to prevent the identification of human rights violations and abuses.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the UPR report on South Africa, which includes important recommendations concerning South Africa’s full compliance with international human rights law, the progressive realization of economic and social rights, protecting freedom of expression, and upholding women’s rights and the rights o