United States Mission Geneva

The United States is pleased to participate in this panel on the Right to Truth and to make this statement in support of the work on the right to truth by this panel, the Human Rights Council, Governments, the Office of the High Commissioner, and civil society. We thank in particular the Delegation of Argentina for first putting this important matter before the Commission on Human Rights in 2005.

While we may have disagreements on substantive issues, such substantive disagreements should not be misinterpreted as attacks on the independence of Special Procedures. We strongly support their work, and we recognize that these Special Mechanisms are often able to achieve results where others, including States, cannot.

Thank you, Madame High Commissioner, for your report to this 13th Session of the Human Rights Council. I am pleased to take the floor of the Council for the first time in the context of a dialogue with you. The United States deeply appreciates your and your staff’s dedication to better implementation of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, of California, was confirmed March 3 by the United States senate for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as the United States Representative to the UN Human Rights. Ambassador Donahoe’s most recent post was as an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for international Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Her research has focused on norms on use of force, UN reform, and the international rule of law.