Geneva/New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour on Friday for carrying out her difficult tasks regardless of criticisms from governments and groups that abuse human rights. Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice, announced in Geneva that she would not seek a second four-year term when her contract expires at the end of June. She delivered her last speech to the annual session of the UN Human Rights Council Friday in Geneva.
Ban said that Arbour fulfilled her mandate "with immense dedication, and I have been most impressed by her extraordinary courage, energy and integrity in speaking out forcefully on human rights, which is among the UN's most difficult mandates."
Arbour has spoken in defence of victims of human-rights abuses regardless of attacks from the perpetrators, Ban said.
"On behalf of the UN and personally, too, I thank her for her outstanding service and wish all the best in her future endeavours," Ban said.
Arbour said in Geneva, "I have informed the secretary general that I will not seek a second term when my mandate expires at the end of June 2008."
She has been facing mounting attacks and criticism for defending the independence of her office against powerful groups of Islamic and African countries as well as other states that dominate the 47-member council.
After presenting her final report Friday to the Human Rights Council, Arbour was accused of "some gaps" in her statement such as failing to mention the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories, recent incidents of defamation of religions and efforts by the governments of Sudan and Sri Lanka to improve human rights in their countries.
There were further calls for greater scrutiny by the council over the activities in the commissioner's office, which is supposed to be independent of the council.
The executive director of the non-governmental organization UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
