the big question...

in recent days, stuart, aedan and i have all received an email from DFAT saying that there is a decent chance that the Commission will be either shortened significantly, or cancelled. this would obviously be a huge shame! the negotiations in new york still haven't yielded a definitive response, and so it seems possible that things will not be going ahead as anticipated from 13 march. it's been suggested that a way forward may be to hold the commission (sort of), but shorten it to 2-3 weeks, and just discuss procedural issues. so instead of actually getting into good, gutsy, substantive stuff, we'd be on hand to witness further negotiations on the future of the UN's Human Rights monitoring framework. i can't help feeling a little bit sad for the global future of human rights if the Commission is discontinued. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see if anything else pops up in its place, but I'm fairly sure I won't be holding my breath...

Anyway, I'm getting on a plane tomorrow....!

j xxx