64th UN General Assembly Scorecard: Expansion of support for country resolutions

The Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) has published its annual UNGA Scorecard on the voting record of UN member states on select human rights resolutions put before the 64th session of the General Assembly. The 2009 session saw an expansion of support for resolutions dealing with specific human rights violations. Three recurring resolutions on violations of human rights in Iran, Myanmar, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea saw noticeable increases in cross-regional support from UN member states.  A resolution on the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict also received resounding support, signaling increased resolve and a more even handed approach to prevent impunity on violations in the conflict. 

More states upheld the principle of freedom of expression by withdrawing their support the resolution on “combating defamation of religion,” but during the session, UN special procedure mandate holders, civil society and human rights defenders were subject to increased attacks by select states for speaking out on human rights violations and lending their expertise to UN instruments. 

To read more about the 64th session of the General Assembly, please read DCP's 2009 UNGA Scorecard by clicking here.

To read the report in Spanish, click here.
To read the report in French, click here.

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63rd UN General Assembly Scorecard: Achievements Mark 60th Anniversary of UDHR

The Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) has published its annual voting record of U.N. member states on select human rights resolutions put before the 63rd session of the General Assembly. DCP’s 2008 UNGA scorecard and analysis examines the voting positions taken by all U.N. states on six adopted resolutions that were considered barometers of a country’s approach to key human rights issues before the UN: resolutions on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, and combating defamation of religions, as well as resolutions on the human rights situations in Myanmar, North Korea, and Iran.  This year's scorecard analyzes the change in government positions on these same issues as addressed at the 61st and 62nd sessions of the General Assembly.

For copies of the UNGA scorecard in French, click here. In Spanish, click here.

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UN General Assembly approves landmark text on death penalty, affirms practice of censuring human rights violators

The Democracy Coalition Project (DCP) has published its annual voting record of U.N. member states on select human rights resolutions put before the 62nd session of the General Assembly. DCP’s 2007 UNGA scorecard and analysis examines the voting positions taken by all U.N. states on five adopted resolutions that were considered barometers of a country’s approach to key human rights issues before the UN: a landmark resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty and resolutions on the human rights situations in Myanmar, North Korea, Iran and Belarus. This year, all “no action motions” were rejected, and a broad cross-regional group of states pushed through the groundbreaking death penalty measure after two failed attempts in 1994 and 1999.

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Community of Democracies Convening Group Calls on the UN General Assembly to favor states with better human rights records in Council elections

On May 15, 2007, the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies released a statement regarding the UN Human Rights Council elections which called on the membership of the United Nations to "favor those States which have demonstrated a genuine commitment to human rights, both in practice and in their pledges." The statement reiterates the commitment made by Community of Democracy governments at the III Ministerial Meeting in Santiago to consider the candidacy of countries contributing effectively to the promotion and protection of human rights. Further, the 16-member Convening Group also recognizes that the resolution establishing the Council "intended for UN member states to have a real choice in selecting its members."

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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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Community of Democracies issues statement on elections to the UN Human Rights Council

On 5th May 2006, the Community of Democracies issued a statement encouraging members of the United Nations to vote for states that have demonstrated a genuine commitment to human rights in the forthcoming elections to the new Human Rights Council. The statement reiterated the Community of Democracies' 2005 Santiago Ministerial Commitment to support "the candidancy of countries contributing effectively to the promotion and protection of democracy and human rights worldwide in bodies which focus on elements of democratic governance."

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Democracy Coalition Project Releases Scorecard of Voting Patterns on Human Rights abuses by UN Member States at 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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UN Democracy Caucus Recommends Positive Consideration To Four UN General Assembly Resolutions

After the first meeting of the UN Democracy Caucus on November 1, 2004 Chile, which chaired the meeting, issued a press communiqué announcing the Democracy Caucus recommends that all members of the Community of Democracies give positive consideration to four draft resolutions when they are up for vote at this year's UN General Assembly. The four draft resolutions are: “Torture and other inhuman or other degrading treatment or punishment” submitted by Denmark; “Promotion and cooperation among religions,” submitted by the Philippines; “Enhancing the role of regional and subregional and other organizations and arrangements in promoting and consolidating democracy,” submitted by Romania, United States, Peru and Timor-Leste; and “Improvement of the status of women in the UN system,” submitted by Australia.

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DCP Releases Scorecard of Voting Patterns of UN Democracy Caucus Countries At 59th UNGA (2004)

On January 10, 2005 DCP released an analysis and scorecard of the voting patterns of members of the UN Democracy Caucus on key country resolutions at the 59th UN General Assembly. The analysis shows that there is little consensus among UN Democracy Caucus 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.

The Democracy Coalition Project’s assessment suggests that democratic regimes are not inclined 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 unarmed civilians.

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Enhancing U.S. Leadership At The United Nations

This report of an Independent Task Force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and Freedom House was chaired by David Dreier and Lee H. Hamilton, with Project Directors Lee Feinstein and Adrian Karatnycky The Independent Task Force endorsed the creation of a UN Democracy Caucus.

To view a copy of the report, please visit the CFR website: www.cfr.org

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