1 December 2006
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) has welcomed a call by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan to hold a special session of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council devoted to the human rights crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The request was submitted by Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union, and supported by 19 other council members. This initiative follows the direct appeal by Annan, who had called on the council to broaden its scope beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or risk failing in its mission. The 20 governments recommend convening the special session on Darfur 12 December, immediately following the council's third regular session. "Darfur should have been the first item on the agenda of the new Human Rights Council," noted Shai Franklin, the WJC's director of international organizations. "Instead, the council has spent its first six months with two regular sessions and three special sessions all focusing on allegations against Israel. There is no justification for ignoring the suffering of millions around the world."
