Some surprisingly frank words from Kofi Annan about the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) and its near-total lack of credibility.
You can read about it in detail here, but the gist is that:
1) Not acting on legitimate evidence of human rights violations in places like Sudan and then...
2) ...keeping Sudan and other rights violators on the committee...
....both totally derail whatever authority the committee might have. This in turn damages the UN's credibility. There are simply too many nations involved whose leaders believe they have a vested interest in never allowing human rights to become a worldwide standard.
Unfortunately, even if the UN shifts to a much smaller committee whose member nations are beyond reproach, as Mr. Annan recommends, the basic problem remains, both in the Security Council and in the General Assembly. For a host of reasons, too many national leaders don't want human rights to become an internationally enforceable standard.