20 March 2013
Item 10: Technical assistance and capacity-building.

General Debate on Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building

Full text of the statement:

While we welcome the technical assistance and capacity-building of the OHCHR to governments, we must sometimes question its utility. The OHCHR contributed to training of persons working at the Special Tribunal in Iraq and other judicial authorities in that country, that have been labelled some of the most significant human rights abusers in that country by this council's own special mechanisms. The OHCHR seems to be replicating the same types of efforts in Lybia with similar results. The trial of Saif Al-Islam is one such examples. While we encourage technical assistance, we hope it wil lead to the protection of human rights and not their violations. When the later occurs we hope that the OHCHR will rethink its strategy.