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29 March 2024

UAE calls for open, transparent dialogue on human rights

Published
By Wam

The United Arab Emirates has called for an open, transparent and constructive dialogue between nations and the Human Rights Council (HRC), that takes into consideration the noble goals the council is striving to achieve and the interests of the nations.

This was said during a statement today by the UAE's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and other international organisations in Geneva, Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, before the council's general debate on the oral update given by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, held as part of the HRC's 33rd session.

The UAE shares the high commissioner’s concerns about several human rights issues in different parts of the world and appreciates the efforts made by his office in these areas, Al Zaabi said.

"The current experience shows that there is still a misunderstanding in the areas related to enhancing human rights at the national levels, which led the nations to deem them as interference in their respective internal affairs and a violation of their sovereignty," Al Zaabi added.

He regretted that the high commissioner ignored in his update the efforts made by the Kingdom of Bahrain to provide a rapprochement ground for all parties to overcome this difficult stage.

"Concentrating only on the negative aspects can create a wrong impression that others may exploit to further complicate the situation in Bahrain," Al Zaabi noted.

In this context, the only way to resolve the situation in Bahrain is through objective and constructive dialogue, not confrontational and tense language.

He also said that the high commissioner's update failed to mention the difficult conditions in which Yemen's National Human Rights Committee worked.

On the situation in Palestine, the high commissioner just expressed concern, while he could have gone further and given more details on the Israeli occupation authorities' denying visits by different HRC groups to the occupied territories and the impact of this on the Palestinian people, Al Zaabi pointed out.

He concluded his statement by renewing UAE's readiness to co-operate with the high commissioner, through its continuous contributions to the relevant UN funds.