We are writing to register our concern over United Nations Ambassador John Bolton’s recent public criticism of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour.
In a statement for Human Rights Day, Ms. Arbour expressed serious and legitimate concerns that the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment had become a casualty of the “war on terror.” She highlighted the United States’ use of secret prisons and reliance on diplomatic assurances of proper treatment of suspects from governments that routinely torture detainees as two practices that violate international human rights law and the Convention against Torture. Ambassador Bolton is reported to have said that it was “inappropriate and illegitimate for an international civil servant to second-guess the conduct that we’re engaged in [within] the war on terror, with nothing more as evidence than what she reads in the newspapers.”
The United States government has every right to disagree with the substance of Ms. Arbour’s comments. But Ambassador Bolton’s decision to move from substance to a personal attack on Ms. Arbour and her ability to speak publicly about human rights abuses is both misguided and ill timed.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights is no mere international civil servant; she is the leading voice of the U.N. system on human rights issues. To do her job effectively, she must operate entirely independently of governments and have the ability to raise concerns about the human rights conduct of any government. Victims of oppression worldwide have reason to be grateful for her independence and her ability and courage to raise human rights concerns wherever and whenever they occur.
Until now, the United States has been a strong supporter of the Office of the High Commissioner and has recognized the High Commissioner’s inherent power to criticize governments. Ambassador Bolton’s comments, however, send an extremely unfortunate signal to abusive governments subject to her criticism that it is appropriate to attack Ms. Arbour rather than address the human rights violations that she challenges. Is that really the message the United States wants to send to the ethnic cleansers in Darfur, the torturers and murderers in Tashkent, the dictators in Pyongyang, Havana, Tehran, or Rangoon?
In addition, Ambassador Bolton’s comments come at an extremely inopportune moment. Negotiations on a new Human Rights Council are very contentious, with a group of “spoiler” states seeking to gut proposed reforms and create a body that would be even weaker than the existing Commission on Human Rights. One such proposal would subject the Office of the High Commissioner to review or supervision by the new Council. Supporters of a strengthened Human Rights Council, including the United States, have strongly opposed this step. Ambassador Bolton’s criticism of Ms. Arbour will no doubt provide additional fodder for those seeking to undermine the Office of the High Commissioner through the Human Rights Council reform.
Ambassador Bolton’s assertion that the High Commissioner’s comments were based solely on news reports is obviously false. The High Commissioner’s statement relied on a wide array of direct, reliable sources, including not only the detailed testimony and evidence collected by organizations such as Human Rights Watch, but also repeated statements by administration officials conceding that detainees are being held in undisclosed locations without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross and that suspects are being transferred to countries with a record of systematic torture.
Rather than attacking the messenger, Ambassador Bolton and the U.S. government should be responding to the important message that Ms. Arbour delivered. As Ms. Arbour highlighted, the United States’ operation of secret prison facilities and reliance on diplomatic assurances of proper treatment of suspects from governments that systematically torture violate international human rights standards and the United States’ obligations under the Convention against Torture. The United States should abolish the practice of “disappearing” individuals, grant the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross for access to detainees held by the United States in undisclosed locations and end its practices of handing individuals over to countries with a record of torture.
We urge you to take immediate steps to reiterate the U.S. government’s confidence in the High Commissioner and its commitment to the independent operation of her office. We also request that Ambassador Bolton find ways to publicly express his support for Ms. Arbour and her work.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director
