UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has confirmed that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will serve another year. The former Irish President announced last month that she would be leaving her post when her term of office ended in September. Reports that Ms Robinson had reversed her decision to step down emerged last night. UN sources said that a number of world leaders had urged her to stay on.
Mary Robinson shocked the diplomatic world a fortnight ago when she announced her resignation in a speech opening the Human Rights Commissions latest session. She said then that she believed she could achieve more outside the constraints of the multilateral organisation and she was critical of the budget her Commission received to investigate human rights abuses worldwide.
Human rights campaigners expressed their disappointment when they learned that the former Irish President was stepping down. She had, they said, been an outstanding crusader. She personally visited 60 countries including the most dangerous, such as Sierra Leone, Kosovo and East Timor. There was also concern at the resignation among UN leadership. Kofi Annan called her a staunch and fearless spokesperson who had given human rights a central role in the UN system.
In a separate development, the body that promotes human rights throughout Europe has sharply criticised Britain over its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. In a report published today, the Council of Europe says that racist attitudes towards refugees are encouraged by xenophobic coverage in the print media. The report also accuses the authorities of adopting what it calls "increasingly restrictive" asylum and immigration laws. The British government says that the report is misleading and inaccurate.
