Louise Arbour of Canada, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks about the establishment of the Human Rights Council, at the United Nations in Geneva, March 17 (epa)
March 27, 2006 -- The United Nations' Human Rights Commission today held its last session before closing down.
The 60-year-old Commission was a leader in establishing human rights in the years after World War II, but it had recently lost credibility as countries with poor human-rights records joined as members.
The 53 member-states held a brief final session in Geneva before ending the Commission's work.
The Commission is due to be replaced in June by a new 47-member Human Rights Council. The Council is hoped to avoid the mistakes of the Commission by having its members directly elected by the UN General Assembly.