Hello, thank you Ambassador Dr. Peter Wittig from Germany for your introductory words,  and thank you all for having us here today. We are honored sponsoring this event organized by Amnesty International and the Service for Human Rights and moderated by Kristen Saloomey from Al Jazeera. I believe this is the perfect example of the new dynamic that the United Nations in trying to establish  a more open approach to the debates about human rights. As many of you already know, one clear change established with the creation of the Human Rights Council in 2006 in relation to the previous Human Rights Commission, was to recognize, from its very creation, the role of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of human rights at the national, regional and international level. This is what we experience every day nationally, with hundreds of active NGOs making sure that human rights are respected, violators prosecuted and victims’ rights guaranteed. And it is also what Amnesty International is doing today here in an international dimension—that’s why we are thrilled to be part of the initiative.

This event is designed to listen to the candidates, so let me just say the principles that we observed as members of the Council and that we think should be a guide for any prospective member. We usually repeat the idea of ensuring universality, objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues. Those are important new foundations of the Council as stated in the resolution that creates it (A/6/251), a multinational attempt to amend the problems that eroded the legitimacy of the precedent Commission. But as you know, this is easier said than done. It involves not only political integrity and a commitment with the values of human rights, and the respect and enforcement of human rights as a country. It involves not only what any given country is doing domestically in terms of human rights. Equally important in this case, it also involves the commitment and the skills to align the country’s foreign policy with these ideas of universality, objectivity and non-selectivity, instead of subordinated them to other political priorities. The double standard and politization of international human rights that weakened the mandate of the precedent Commission are obstacles to a decisive international action that we as a country have suffered in the past. It is what we have to avoid at all costs in this Council.

We take our participation at the Human Rights Council in the way that the Secretary-General has described it, as a forum that all victims of human rights abuses can see as a springboard of action. Those victims are our horizon. And in order to see that our actions are meaningful for the victims of human rights violations, we have also worked hard at the Council and at the United Nations in order to make human rights a more inclusive category, a protective umbrella in which, for example, migrants or victims of human trafficking can see that there are being considered.

Those are not only guiding principles for those of us who have been active members of the Council, but also what we have to bear in mind during the selection process of the candidates. Again, thank you for organizing this event and we hope it will be productive and will serve the purpose of turning the debates on human rights at the United Nations a more transparent and public one. Thank you very much.