New UN Human Rights Commissioner calls for expansion of co-operation with OSCE

VIENNA, 21 November 2002 - Speaking for the first time at a meeting of the OSCE's 55-nation Permanent Council, the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, called for expanded co-operation between his office and the OSCE.

"Four years ago our Office signed an agreement on co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), committing our organizations to exchanging information, developing joint projects and providing mutual support in a range of areas", Mr Vieira de Mello said. "Such co-operation must not only continue, it must be significantly and substantially expanded".

In his address, the High Commissioner acknowledged the "OSCE's pioneering role in placing human rights - all human rights - very much at the core of the concept of security". He also urged all OSCE participating States to ratify the six core human rights instruments, as part of the UN's efforts to achieve a universal ratification of human rights treaties.

"To give effect to these international standards and to the rich body of commitments that has taken shape in the area of the Human Dimension of the OSCE process, we need to move beyond declarations and rhetoric, and seek to implement them in the most practical sense", Mr Vieira de Mello said.

With regard to the already existing co-operation between his office and the OSCE, the High Commissioner stressed the important work done by the two agencies in Central Asia, south-eastern Europe and the southern Caucasus. "I would like to see an expansion of our co-operation in those and other areas", he said. "I am thinking here about regular policy consultations and assessment of needs, not only between the ODIHR and my Office, but also at the level of the political leadership and with such units as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of Media and the Conflict Prevention Centre."