New UN rights body kicks off

Opening the two-week inaugural session of the 47-nation panel, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the world was watching -- particularly the victims of human rights violations.

"I trust that all members of the Council are fully aware of the hopes that have thus been raised, and are determined not to disappoint them," he said in the presence of ministers and senior representatives from 100 countries.

The new Council replaces the former UN Commission on Human Rights which was widely regarded as discredited due to the dominant presence of countries with poor human rights records and pervasive behind-the-scenes political bargaining that helped states duck criticism.

"The Council's work must mark a clean break from the past," Annan said.

"Never allow this Council to become caught up in political point-scoring or petty manoeuvre," Annan cautioned.

"Human rights are an inherently sensitive topic. But that does not mean they are inherently intrusive, or antithetical to state interests. Nor should we accept the widely parroted notion that there is a built-in tension, or a necessary trade-off, between freedom and security."

The Council will seek to avoid a charge levelled at the 53-nation Commission that it was selective in the cases it treated, by carrying out systematic human rights reviews for each of the UN's 191 member states.

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the new Council was "uniquely positioned to redress the shortcomings of the past."

"It is empowered to devise the means that will prevent abuses, protect the most vulnerable, and expose perpetrators," she told the session.

The Council, however, is already beset by criticism and lacks the support of the United States.