| Press Statement Sean McCormack, Spokesman Washington, DC April 6, 2006 The United States Will Not Seek Election to the UN Human Rights CouncilThe United States will not run for a United Nations Human Rights Council seat in the Council’s first election, scheduled for May 9, 2006. There are strong candidates in our regional group, with long records of support for human rights, that voted in favor of the resolution creating the Council. They should have the opportunity to run. Since the drafting of the United Nations Charter, the United States has led the effort to promote human rights at the UN. From Eleanor Roosevelt’s championing of the cause of human rights to the present day, our nation has led and must continue to lead at the UN and around the world. We will continue to do so. As we said when voting on the Human Rights Council resolution March 15, the United States will work cooperatively with other Member States to make the Council as strong and effective as possible. We will support the Council and we will continue to fund it. We will work closely with partners in the international community to encourage the Council to address serious cases of human rights abuse in countries such as Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Burma, Sudan, and North Korea. Since the credibility of the Council depends on its membership, the United States will actively campaign on behalf of candidates genuinely committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, and which will act as responsible members of this new body. We will also actively campaign against states that systematically abuse human rights. With a strong collective effort in the coming months to make the new Council effective, the United States will likely run for the Council next year. 2006/349
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