Support of the Nomination by the South African Government to Professor Jean Ziegler of Switzerland as Advisor to the United Nations Human Rights Committee

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO: 582

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 11 OF 28 OF MARCH 2008

Mr A J Leon (DA) to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs:
I. Whether the Government of South African will support the nomination of a certain person (Professor Jean Ziegler of Switzerland) for the position of advisor to the United Nations Human Rights Committee; if not, why not; if so, why? NW1267E.

REPLY:

In reply to the question posed by the Honourable Member of the Democratic Alliance, Mr Leon, I wish to confirm that indeed the Government of South Africa supported the candidature of Professor Jean Ziegler (a citizen of Switzerland) as one of the first members of the newly-created Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

Finally, may I take this opportunity to point to the factual inaccuracies in the question posed by Honourable Member of the Democratic Alliance. Professor Ziegler is not the sole individual serving in this body as purported in the question raised by the Honourable Member. Professor Ziegler will be one of the eighteen experts serving in the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. The composition of the Committee is as follows;

- Five members from the African region,
- Five members from the Asian region,
- Three members from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States,
- Three members from the Western European and Other States, and
- Two from the Eastern European States.

The Committee is officially referred to as the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

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