Madam, - Your editorial of June 20th reflects the fact that much of the energy being invested in reform of the United Nations is being spent (or wasted) on the extension of the Security Council membership.
There are many other elements to this overdue reform package, many of them far more important to people suffering devastation, deprivation and despair.
For example, the current draft Outcome Document fails to deal with the unacceptable fact that permanent members of the Security Council can use the veto in cases of genocide and large-scale human rights violations.
Amnesty International calls on all governments to substantially strengthen the vague and non-committal human rights provisions in the draft text.
Heads of state, including Bertie Ahern, meeting in New York next September must seize this historic opportunity to ensure that human rights become the UN centrepiece.
Amnesty International is deeply disappointed that the draft does not make distinct commitments to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights.
It would be shameful if this reform process did not reaffirm and build upon the international community's achievements in creating human rights standards and in the promotion and protection of human rights.
The proposal to elevate the Commission on Human Rights into a standing Human Rights Council could simply be window dressing, unless the outcomes emphasise that human rights are legal obligations firmly grounded in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the core human rights treaties and other legal instruments, and that the rule of law requires that member-states take effective steps to implement all their human rights obligations.
Amnesty welcomes the commitment to strengthen the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights through increased resourcing, but there must be a more active role for the High Commissioner in the deliberations of the Security Council and the proposed Peace-building Commission. - Yours, etc,
COLM Ó CUANACHÁIN, Secretary General, Amnesty International, Irish Section, Fleet St Dublin 2.