U.S. Statement as delivered by Jason Mack
Human Rights Council 36th Session
Geneva, September 29, 2017
Thank you, Mr. President.
The United States is deeply disappointed with the oral revisions to this resolution on advisory services and technical assistance for Cambodia. We believe that the co-sponsors of the tabled resolution made a good faith effort to draft a balanced resolution which addresses the need for the Council’s engagement on the current situation in Cambodia before its national elections in July 2018.
We are gravely concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Cambodia and believe discussion in the Human Rights Council before the July elections may help prevent this downward trend. We are therefore proposing an amendment to operative paragraph 30 in the resolution as orally revised that requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide an oral update followed by an interactive dialogue at the next Council session in March.
Our amendment for Operative Paragraph 30 reads as follows:
- Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide an oral update, followed by an interactive dialogue, to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session and to report to the Council at its thirty-ninth session and forty-second sessions on the implementation of the present resolution and on the role and achievements of the Office of the High Commissioner in assisting the Government and the people of Cambodia in the promotion and protection of human rights;
We urge all other delegations to vote in favor of the amendment.
Thank you, Mr. President.