‘Kuwait’s policy prioritizes protection of human rights’ – Kuwait reiterates calls for UNSC reforms

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NEW YORK, Oct 31, (KUNA): Diplomatic attache of Kuwait’s permanent mission to UN Alyaa Abdullah Al-Muzaini said Friday Kuwait policy prioritizes protection of human rights due to belief in the interrelation between this issue and sustainable development.

The Kuwaiti constitution and related legislations ensure the highest degree of protection to human rights, she said in a speech to the 70th session of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

The State seeks to deepen awareness about the values and culture of human rights through programs in the various stages of education, Al-Muzaini affirmed.

Kuwait believes deeply in the positive impact of human rights on life, individual and collective; this is why the country joined the relevant international conventions, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In keeping with the UNGA Resolution 48/134 (on the national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights), Kuwait has recently approved launching “the national human rights diwan” to serve as an official human rights watchdog, she went on. The diwan will work for promoting awareness about, and respect for, civil liberties and rights pursuant to the provisions of the constitution and the local and international legal instruments.

It will coordinate the national efforts meant to protect human rights with a view to keeping abreast with the developments on the local and international scales, Al-Mezeini revealed. She noted that the State of Kuwait made great efforts to implement the undertakings stated in its second national report to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in last January.

The Kuwaiti envoy reaffirmed her country’s commitment to promote the culture of human rights and cooperate with the competent UN agencies in order to guarantee better life for humanity. Meanwhile, Kuwait, on part of the Arab group, reiterated late Friday calls for reforms at the UNSC as part of a much needed overhauling of the United Nations’ structures.

Delivering a speech on behalf of the Arab group, Kuwait’s permanent envoy to the UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi said that part of the reforms should include fair representation at the UNSC, a much needed step which is still under consideration since talks on the matter began 20 years ago. It is important to find new mechanisms to expand membership at the council, said Ambassador Al-Otaibi, adding that the UNSC should address regional and international challenges more fairly.

Change within the boundaries of the UN General Assembly, currently at its 70th meeting, is the only way to achieve these reforms, said the Kuwaiti diplomat. He said that a number of UNSC’s permanent members abused their right to use vote, leading to the decrease of credibility of this UN institute. Ambassador Al-Otaibi noted that now it was time to take some necessary measures to ensure that the council will do what is supposed to be doing “overseeing and preserving world peace and security”.

Meanwhile, member of the Kuwaiti delegation at the UN, second secretary Hassan Shaker Abulhassan said that Kuwait had joined the Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency Group (ACT), an initiative to improve working methods of the UNSC. Ending veto against issues pertinent to crimes against humanity is a crucial component of the steps to reform the UNSC, said the Kuwaiti diplomat, affirming that it was time for the council to reflect the true world security issues.

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