During intergovernmental consultations held in Minsk, diplomats from the CIS member states noted the need to develop a coordinated strategy to combat the politicization of the work of human rights structures and mechanisms of the UN. They also emphasized the importance of constructive and mutually respectful cooperation among states in the field of human rights.
Representatives from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as the CIS Executive Committee participated in the discussions.
As reported by the meeting participants, it is important to jointly counter attempts to reform the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) from a structural unit of the secretariat into an independent organization or agency that is not accountable to states. Diplomats agree that one of the reasons for the difficult financial situation of the OHCHR is the inappropriate filling of its agenda with unsuitable topics.
In addition, an agreement was reached on joint efforts to combat attempts to rewrite the history of World War II, as well as to support each other's candidacies in elections to limited human rights bodies of the UN.
