Pat Buckley from SPUC on Final UN Human Rights Commission

Hello, this is Katie Sofio reporting with NGO Voice from the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.

I'm here today with Patrick Buckley, a representative from SPUC, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

My first question is, how long have you been here in Geneva following this Commission on the Status of Human Rights?

I have been here on this occasion for the last two weeks.

However, I have also been at previous Commissions on a number of years.

Generally speaking, this will be the last of the Commissions as we know them

because the whole Commission system is being wound up and will be replaced by a new Council for Human Rights.

So we understand that the Commission was scheduled for a six-week period from mid-March all the way through April.

And now, as you stated before, it appears that it's winding up.

Why is this and why did this happen?

The entire system of human rights has been under review in the UN

and the actual Commission has become or come into a level of disrepute

because some of the members who have been admitted to the Commission

have been guilty of human rights abuses in their own countries.

Therefore, the Commission, per se, lost credibility

and is now being replaced by the new Council.

Is it true that there's a voting occurring today in New York

that will decide whether the Commission will wind up or not?

The Economic and Social Council of the UN is meeting in New York over the next few days.

And yes, the meeting should commence today, but I understand the vote may be taken on Friday.

And essentially, this vote...

should be to wind up the business of the Commission

or to instruct the Commission to wind up its business.

What was the purpose of this Commission on Human Rights

and do you think it achieved the reason for which it was founded?

The purpose of the Commission was to uphold human rights globally.

And in some ways, it certainly has lived up to expectation.

However, there have been a number of problems, some of which I've referred to earlier.

The other thing that I would say is that the earlier perception

was that human rights were based on natural law.

There has been a move over now to an understanding of positive law, human rights.

And this has moved away in some areas from the natural law.

And this has caused many problems for us in the whole pro-life area,

particularly in the area of abortion.

And also...

in the area of parental rights and other similar parallel issues.

Thank you, Mr. Buckley, for joining us.

This has been Katie Sofio with NGO Voice,

bringing you the truth about the final Commission on the Status of Human Rights

here in Geneva, Switzerland.