(Geneva) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, announced on Monday that she would not run for a second term in her very exposed post, to spend time with her family and in her country, Chile.
Posted yesterday at 4:29 p.m.
Two of the largest human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), took the opportunity to reiterate their severe criticism of his attitude towards China.
The High Commissioner created a surprise at the opening of the 50e session of the Human Rights Council.
“As my mandate as High Commissioner comes to an end, this fiftieth session of the Council will be the last at which I will speak,” said the 70-year-old former President of Chile.
The secret had been well kept. Mme Bachelet informed his “boss” Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, of his decision two months ago.
“He wanted me to stay but […] I am no longer a young woman and after a long and rich career, I want to return to my country, to my family,” she explained during a press briefing.
Mr. Guterres greeted Mr.me Bachelet, who “lives and breathes human rights” and who has “moved things forward in an extremely difficult political context. »
Chile’s first female president and victim of torture, Ms.me Bachelet was appointed High Commissioner in 2018, a post where she sought dialogue.
“Continue to seek dialogue”, she told the Council, before insisting: “Be ready to listen to the other, to understand the respective points of view and to work actively to find common ground. »
chinese thorn
The former president has been severely criticized in recent months by the United States but also by major NGOs, who accuse her of a lack of firmness in the face of human rights violations in China.
“There are only two and a half months left for Michelle Bachelet to rectify her shortcomings on China”, underlined Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty in a press release, calling on the High Commissioner “to end her mandate with the courage and adherence to the principles required by this post.
Mme Bachelet promised that the UN report on human rights violations in Xinjiang – where the Uighurs live persecuted by Beijing – demanded loudly by many countries and NGOs – including Monday by Amnesty and HRW — would be released ahead of his August 31 departure.
She indicated that she would first share it with the Chinese authorities, as is tradition.
Detention and torture
Born September 29, 1951 in Santiago, Michelle Bachelet spent her childhood criss-crossing Chile following the transfers of her father, an air force pilot.
On September 11, 1973, the date of Augusto Pinochet’s coup, his father was arrested. He will die six months later in detention, tortured by his peers – an untimely death that will mark his daughter forever.
In January 1975, then a young socialist activist, she was arrested with her mother by the secret services. Both women are tortured.
Mme Bachelet will then be twice president of Chile.
After a first term (2006-2010) completed with record popularity, she will do a second (2014-2018) before taking up her post in Geneva.
Next
The High Commissioner for Human Rights is usually subject to strong political pressure and the position is often described as the most difficult of all in the UN. Almost all predecessors of Mme Bachelet avoided serving a second term.
It is therefore now up to Antonio Guterres to appoint a successor to Mr.me Bachelet.
Agnès Callamard immediately weighed in on the debate by calling on Mr. Guterres “to ensure that the appointment of the next High Commissioner is done in an open and transparent manner, on the basis of clear criteria”.
“This important position requires a person who is principled and independent, and who has demonstrated a deep commitment to human rights,” she insisted.
The example of M.me Bachelet demonstrates to Kenneth Roth, HRW’s executive director, “the importance of appointing a successor who is comfortable with the position’s most effective tool for improving human rights: the will to criticize even the most powerful among those who violate human rights”.