A/RES/61/166 GA

United Nations A/RES/61/166 General Assembly Distr.: General 23 February 2007 Sixty-first session Agenda item 67 (b) 06-50439 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2006 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/61/443/Add.2 and Corr.1)] 61/166. Promotion of equitable and mutually respectful dialogue on human rights The General Assembly, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 2 the International Covenants on Human Rights 3 and other relevant human rights instruments, Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis, and that the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, Stressing the importance of developing friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and achieving international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, Emphasizing the responsibilities of all States, in conformity with the Charter, to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language or religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, Bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 entitled “Human Rights Council”, in particular the decision of the Assembly that the Council should undertake a universal periodic review, in a manner that ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States, and the decision of the Council on the establishment of an intersessional open-ended intergovernmental _______________ 1 Resolution 217 A (III). 2 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III. 3 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. A/RES/61/166 2 working group to develop the modalities of the universal periodic review mechanism, based on an interactive dialogue as well as on objective and reliable information,4 Recalling that the General Assembly shall make recommendations for the purpose of promoting international cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, education and health fields, and of assisting in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, Recognizing that politically motivated and biased country-specific resolutions on the situation of human rights severely undermine the principles of objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues and are counterproductive to the cause of promoting human rights, 1. Urges Member States to further strengthen international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights in order to enhance dialogue and broaden understanding among civilizations, cultures and religions; 2. Calls upon Member States to base their approaches towards development of international dialogue on human rights on the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action2 and other relevant international human rights instruments and to refrain from approaches that are inconsistent with that international framework; 3. Reaffirms that the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as a legitimate concern of the world community, and the development of international dialogue on human rights should be guided by the principles of universality, non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity and should not be used for political purposes; 4. Stresses the need to avoid politically motivated and biased country- specific resolutions on the situation of human rights, confrontational approaches, exploitation of human rights for political purposes, selective targeting of individual countries for extraneous considerations and double standards in the work of the United Nations on human rights issues; 5. Affirms that respect for political, economic and cultural diversity for all contributes to the development of stable and friendly relations among countries and equitable and mutually respectful international dialogue on human rights; 6. Stresses the continuing need for unbiased and objective information on the situation of human rights in all countries and the need to present this information in an impartial manner, including through the reports of the special rapporteurs and representatives, independent experts and working groups; 7. Decides to consider the matter at its sixty-second session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of human rights”. 81st plenary meeting 19 December 2006 _______________ 4 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/61/53), part one, chap. II, sect. B, decision 1/103.

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