Chinese Ambassador Sha Zukang said in Geneva Friday that national and regional particularities should be fully considered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) when it carries out its activities for strengthening national human rights protection mechanism.  

Sha made the remarks on behalf of developing countries in response to High Commissioner Louise Arbour's annual report submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights, the main UN human rights body.

"In her report, the High Commissioner highlighted the importance of strengthening national human rights protection mechanism," Sha said at the 61st annual session of the commission.

"Though human rights are universal, the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind. It is hardly possible to have a uniform human rights protection system," he added.

As to economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development, the Chinese ambassador said that although the OHCHR has done a lot to advocate and promote these rights during past years, even today they are still not universally accepted as basic human rights.

Many countries, especially developing countries, are still faced with impediments in realizing these rights, especially the right to development, and their reasonable requests have not been met with satisfaction, he said.

"There still lacks an international environment conducive to their realization," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2005)