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Fifth Session of the Human Rights Council Statement delivered by Velia DePirro Geneva, Thank you, Mr. President. We thank the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers for his report. The United States is deeply concerned about the very real and substantial threats to lawyers and judges that Mr. Despouy highlights in his report. In particular, those who work in judicial systems are often targets, particularly if they work in the defense of human rights. While we deeply appreciate the Special Rapporteur’s effort to highlight these issues, we would welcome more specific detail about the violations that have occurred, and the countries in which they have occurred, in the next reporting cycle. For example, lawyers in Zimbabwe have been subject to violent attacks and arrest on multiple occasions in recent months, as part of the government’s assault on the rule of law designed to suppress all opposition in advance of next year’s election. In assessing the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations for future work we would suggest that he focus in the future on development of his core mandate related to the independence of judges and lawyers. We agree entirely with his suggestion to broaden contacts with national and international associations of jurists, for example. However, we find his academic analysis of states of emergency at best only tangentially related to his mandate, and we do not agree with many of his legal conclusions. We do not think he should branch off into new activities in the broad subject of administration of justice, or be involved with new academic initiatives related to states of emergency. His own mandate is quite full. Thank you.
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