Major Developments in 1990 at the UN Commission on Human Rights

Abstract

The forty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights met from 29 January to 9 March 1990. It was the first meeting of the Commission following the democratic changes in Central Europe, the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in China, and the US invasion of Panama. The Commission also met after the General Assembly had called for an enlargement of its membership to remedy the under-representation of third world countries, while asking the Commission to study ways of making its work more effective. The Commission adopted eighty-one resolutions and sixteen decisions, of which sixty-two resolutions and thirteen decisions were adopted by consensus.' Among the principal results of the session, which was marked by a growing north-south split, were resolutions on Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Myanmar (Burma), and the US invasion of Panama. The Commission failed to act, however, on resolutions regarding China and Iraq, or to break new ground on thematic issues. It also failed to reach any decision on enhancing its working methods-a decision later taken by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in May 1990. The outgoing chairman, Marc Bossuyt of Belgium, began the session with a minute of silence to remember the late Andrei Sakharov as well as all those who died during the year in the struggle for human rights. UnderSecretary-General Jan Martenson noted that the past year had seen the