Mr President,
Sweden fully aligns itself with the statement made by the Czech Republic on behalf of the European Union.
People at home often ask: What is the Government of Sweden doing to address a range of violations in Burma, in Sri Lanka, in Iran, in Iraq? One part of the answer is that the task of addressing such situations was given to this Council, by the General Assembly, and that the way the Council deals with this task is central to its credibility.
For situations which benefit from dedicated and continued attention, there are the country-specific mandates. By working to discontinue country mandates, some states may conclude that they shield the interests of individual states. But they will not - violations of human rights undermine security and development. The result will only be to have taken away protection of the human rights of individual persons.
For the most serious and pressing situations, we have had productive special sessions on situations like Darfur and Burma/Myanmar. It is essential that such sessions contain mechanisms for follow-up, to ensure that the Council and thus the community of states can retain their attention.
We have work formats provided for by the institution-building agreement, like seminars and panel debates. Greater use can be made of these formats to address situations of violations of human rights.
The confidential complaints procedure will continue to be a crucial mechanism for allowing individuals and groups of individuals to bring situations of concern to the Council’s attention.
The first sessions of the Universal Periodic Review have shown a potential for addressing human rights issues in all countries in a comprehensive manner. For the UPR to succeed, it must be both open, critical and forward-looking. We therefore regret efforts to limit critical views during individual reviews, and hope that we can find modalities to prevent such attempts in the future. Thank you, Mr President.