Monday, February 27, 2012 The Foreign Affairs Council meeting held on 27 of February adopted its conclusions on the EU priorities at the UN Human Rights Council. The EU reaffirms its strong support to the Human Rights Council and states its intention to present a resolution on the situation of human rights in Burma/Myanmar.
European Ministers on Foreign Affairs agreed into the latest Council meeting held in Brussels, the conclusions regarding the EU priorities at the UN Human Rights Council. Among the decisions adopted, the EU is determined to continue contributing strongly to the important work of the Human Rights Council, in cooperation with all other stakeholders, and stands ready to engage and cooperate with countries from all regions to work together to this end.
On the other hand, the Council also appreciate the readiness of the Human Rights Council to address urgent cases of human rights violations. In this respect, the EU welcomes and supports the leading role of the Human Rights Council in addressing over the last year developments and human rights concerns in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular Libya, Syria and Iran, but also in the case of Belarus. In August 2011, the EU already called for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to resign.
In addition, the Council announced that the EU will work closely with Japan in order to secure the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Democratic People’s Republic of Koreato address the continued critical human rights situation in the country. The EU also announced that it will present a resolution on the situation of human rights in Burma/Myanmar, which will fully reflect the important recent developments in the country and also recognize that serious human rights concerns, particularly in ethnic areas, remain. Furthermore, the EU will support efforts aimed at keeping the issue of accountability in Sri Lanka on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), as announced by the Ministers. The EU will encourage the Government of Sri Lanka to fully implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as a first step.
