Civil society speaks out against brazil’s election to the UN

In a joint declaration presented to the United Nations, around 200 institutions reject the country’s application to the Human Rights Council

On the eve of elections for the UN Human Rights Council to be held on the 17th, around 200 Brazilian organisations published a joint manifesto against Brazil’s application for re-election to the body. The country is currently a member of the Council for the GRULAC (Group of Latin America and the Caribbean) and is competing with Venezuela and Costa Rica for one of the two seats available in the group for the three-year mandate 2020-2022.

In the joint manifesto, the signatory organisations state that the country does not have the minimum conditions needed to make a plea to renew its mandate on the Council. “The Brazilian government’s statements in which it provides reasons for its application are an affront to the Brazilian tradition, accumulated over decades in multi-lateral relations, that has always aimed at defending universal human rights.” They highlight.

According to the document, the Brazilian state “is guided by the belief that there are ‘good human beings’ and ‘honest human beings’ for whom human rights are reasonable and that there are other human beings who are ‘villains’ and their supporters and that human rights are not for them.” 

In August, Conectas sent a letter to members of the GRULAC encouraging the group to nominate other candidates for the two seats, in order to make the election competitive and more democratic. Until then the only countries in the running were Brazil and Venezuela. The following week, Costa Rica announced its would also stand. 

 

See here the full manifesto.