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The Campaign for a UN Democracy Caucus monitors
the voting records of governments before various bodies within
the UN system, with special attention to resolutions before
the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Economic and Social
Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council. An
examination of recent voting records of both democracies and
non-democracies demonstrates that on key resolutions in these
bodies, non-democracies exhibit much greater solidarity against
country specific resolutions than democratic governments.
The analysis graphically illustrates the need for a Democracy
Caucus as a coalition to coordinate common positions on resolutions
and other activities to protect democracy and human rights.
Democracy Coalition Project releases Human
Rights Council Report Card: Government Positions on Key Issues
2006-2007
The Democracy Coalition Project has released
an independent analysis of government performance during the
first year of the new UN Human Rights Council entitled “Human
Rights Council Report Card: Government Positions on Key Issues
2006-2007.” The analysis charts the positions of governments
on key proposals related to insititutional reforms and country
specific situations of major concern to the human rights community.
The conclusions of the report underscore the need to develop
cross-regional coalitions in order to build a credible and
vigorous UN human rights system. The report is designed to
help human rights advocates as they pursue strategies to strengthen
the Council's attention to serious human rights issues; it
will also help them evaluate how governments measure up as
candidates for election of new Council members. DCP plans
to publish these report cards on an ongoing basis.
For information on the methodology used and
an anlysis of the findings, click
here.
To view the full chart on Government Positions
on Key Issues 2006-2007, click
here.
To view the chart on Establishing a credible
Universal Periodic Review mechanism, click
here.
To view the chart on Protecting the Independence
of the Special Procedures, click
here.
To view the chart on Addressing Country
Human Rights Situations, click
here.
To view the chart on Addressing Country-Specific
Human Rights Situations:
Darfur, click
here.
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Democracies Secure UN Censure of Worst Human
Rights Violators
The UN General Assembly's Third Committee adopted
four key country resolutions despite efforts by spoiler states
to end the practice of naming and shaming the worst violators,
according to a new survey by the Democracy Coalition Project.
The survey, released on 11th December 2006 to commemorate
the 58th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration
on Human Rights, analyzes the voting patterns of UN Member
States at the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations.
The analysis
is based on a scorecard
that records the voting on five country resolutions condemning
human rights abuses in selected states; it also covers a sixth
resolution introduced by Belarus and Uzbekistan which sought
to undermine the importance of country-specific resolutions.
The study showed that efforts to block UN censure of human
rights violators had failed, with members of the UN Democracy
Caucus voting overwhelmingly for the four country resolutions
that succeeded. The scorecards also showed a poor record by
leading members of the Community of Democracies, including
members of its Convening Group.
To view an op-ed on Commonweath countries' voting
patterns based on DCP's scorecard, click
here. The op-ed ran in printed and online media in Zimbabwe,
Jamaica, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Grenada, Sri Lanka and Caribbean
states.
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Democracy Coalition Project releases Scorecard
of Voting Patterns at the 3rd Committee of the 60th General
Assembly of the United Nations
The Democracy Coalition Project has carried
out a study on the voting patterns of UN Member States at
the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations. The analysis
is based on a scorecard
that records the voting on the seven country resolutions condeming
Human Rights abuses in specific states that were presented
to the General Assembly's 3rd Committee in the Fall of 2005.
Six of the seven resolutions were approved, a trend that shows
an increase in censure of Human Rights violations by the international
community.
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Democracy Coalition Project releases Scorecard
of Voting Patterns at the 2005 UN Commission on Human Rights
Following the 2005 UN Commission on Human Rights
the Democracy Coalition
Project prepared a scorecard
on the voting patterns of Community of Democracies and non-Community
of Democracies countries. The scorecard was released with
the NGO Coalition's latest appeal and
was sent to the Permanent Representatives to the UN of Community
of Democracies countries to further illustrate the need for
their support of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal
to reform the UN Human Rights System.
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Analysis Of Voting Patterns Of UNDC Countries
Shows Mixed Results At 59th UNGA
On January 10, 2005 the Democracy Coalition
Project (DCP) released an analysis
and scorecard
of the voting patterns of members of the UN Democracy Caucus
(UNDC) on key country resolutions at the 59th UN General Assembly.
The results of the analysis show that there is little consensus
among UNDC members to condemn even some of the worst violators
of human rights, as some democratic governments continue to
prioritize regional or north/south alliances when casting
votes.
DCP’s assessment illustrates the inclination
among democratic regimes not to vote as a unified bloc for
resolutions critical of human rights violations, but instead
to continue to vote along regional and sub-regional lines.
Non-democratic regimes, on the other hand, remain united against
any move to erode the principle of “non-intervention
in sovereign affairs,” regardless of the severity of
the documented abuses against innocent civilians.
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Transnational Radical Party Successfully
Stops Vietnamese Campaign To Suspend Consultative Status
The Economic and Social Council of the UN rejected
20–22 with 11 abstentions the Vietnamese proposal to
suspend the Transnational Radical Party’s consultative
status. This vote successful stopped a coalition of non-democracies,
including China, Cuba, Libya and Zimbabwe, that have come
together in an attempt to stop Western human rights groups
from maintaining their accreditation.
To read an analysis of the voting pattern prepared
by the Democracy Coalition Project, click
here.
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Survey Of UN Human Rights Commission Voting Shows Mixed Results
For UN Democracy Caucus As India And South Africa Veto Efforts
To Censure Zimbabwe, Cuba
On May 10, 2004 the Democracy Coalition Project
(DCP) released a comparison of the voting records of the 53
governments represented on the UN’s top human rights
body this year reveals that non-democratic regimes were united
in opposing strong resolutions critical of the human rights
situation in countries like Sudan, China and Zimbabwe. In
striking contrast, democratic countries were inconsistent
in their support of more critical resolutions. Notably, South
Africa and India, which serve on the Community of Democracies
steering committee, repeatedly chose to align themselves with
non-democratic regimes in blocking censure motions.
To read the entire press release and see the
survey, click
here.
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Voting Pattern In Geneva Underscores Need
For Democracy Group At UN
(June 2003) In its June
2003 newsletter, the Democracy Coalition Project (DCP)
offers a comprehensive analysis of the voting patterns of
members of the Community of Democracies as well as non-members.
The trend is clear: democratic countries are more likely to
vote for resolutions supporting democracy. There were, however,
some exceptions, most notably from convening group members
India and South Africa.
To read the full analysis click
here. |
