„Human rights are universal“
The new President of the UN Human Rights Council Joachim Ruecker places great emphasis on efficiency and civil society.
In his inaugural speech, Ambassador Joachim Ruecker, the new President of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, emphasised that he seeks to enhance the body’s efficiency because the Council’s work is “important to so many people, in particular the many victims of human rights violations and abuses, the many oppressed, the many poor and the many suffering from conflict, crisis and terror”. At the same time, Ruecker pointed to the importance of civil society for the work of the Human Rights Council, which currently comprises 47 member states. “It is in our common interest to promote a culture of non-reprisals, free from fear of intimidation, when it comes to civil society.”
Ambassador Ruecker will be in office as President of the Human Rights Council until the end of 2015. Over the course of his career, the German diplomat has, among other things, been Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. In a newspaper interview on his new position, he made it clear that he relies on binding values when attempting to achieve an international consensus: “Human rights are universal.”
