New President of UN Human Rights Council

Thailand’s Ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva was today named as the newest President of the UN Human Rights Council, the panel established in 2006 to tackle human rights violations worldwide.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow becomes the fifth president of the 47-member Council, which replaced the earlier UN Commission on Human Rights that was scrapped amid concerns about its effectiveness. He was the candidate of the panel’s Asian members.

Mr. Phuangketkeow told the Council today in Geneva that he wanted to concentrate over the next year on how members can use their “rich diversity” to forge a more united agenda on key human rights issues.  Council members “need to draw synergy from such diversity, recognizing that human rights are indeed universal, indivisible and interdependent, and recognizing… that we all share a common stake in the credibility and effectiveness of the Council as a whole,” he said.

Mr. Phuangketkeow succeeds Alex van Meeuwen of Belgium as the Council’s President.

(from a UN Press Release)