The Netherlands is one of the last countries in Europe to set up a national human rights council. It’s been 18 years since the United Nations called on every member state to establish such a body. Will this new council be a lion or a lamb? The Dutch political world still seems undecided.

The Human Rights Council of the Netherlands: the name has been decided on, but the institute itself has yet to take shape. Perhaps that’s because the Netherlands is home to all kinds of organisations that concern themselves with human rights issues, says legal expert Jan-Peter Loof of Leiden University:

“Successive governments have argued that we already had plenty of organisations dealing with human rights. Not only do we have an equal rights commission, but we also have a privacy watchdog and a national ombudsman. They’re all related to human rights, but they don’t cover all aspects. These gaps can be filled by a national council.”

In dozens of countries around the world, such an institute already exists. In Europe, eight countries are still playing catch-up, including Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and the Netherlands. A total of 171 countries have signed the Vienna Declaration, promising to establish a national institute to ensure compliance with human rights and to combat discrimination.

Lion or lamb
Dutch opposition MP Gerard Schouw of the D66 Democrats has three main objections to the proposal as it stands. In addition to budget and manpower worries, he is concerned about the institute’s remit: he believes the emphasis should not be on informing the public but on presenting well-founded, uncompromising advisory reports to the government and parliament:

“In short, there are major questions about whether this body will be a lion or a lamb. We want a lion: critical, substantial, strong in scientific knowledge. We can do without a lamb that skips around handing out leaflets without taking fundamental action on human rights.” 

An A status
A special UN watchdog oversees the quality of national human rights institutes. Many countries are doing so well, that they have received an A status. One of them is Egypt, which until recently was a semi-dictatorship, but this elite group also contains other authoritarian regimes. The Netherlands only has B status.

The Dutch Lower House has not yet processed the draft legislation on the new institute, and once that’s ready it still has to be given Senate approval. MP Gerard Schouw concludes:

“For a few years now, the Netherlands has only had B status when it comes to human rights and that doesn’t do much for our image abroad. This new institute can enable us to take our place at the forefront of international human rights discussions.”

But Professor Loof and Gerard Schouw both insist that can only happen if the Netherlands Human Rights Council has genuine muscle. It needs to be a lion, not a lamb.

(dd/js)