The United Nations on Monday named a Peruvian diplomat to chair this year's session of the Human Rights Commission, perhaps the last time the widely criticized rights watchdog will meet, according to the Associated Press. Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros, Peru's ambassador to the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva, was elected by consensus to head the 53-nation commission. The commission's chair rotates between the U.N.'s different geographical groupings, who decide among themselves who to nominate for the position responsible for maintaining order and procedures during the body's hearings. The body has been criticized as powerless to stamp out human rights abuses around the world because its members include some of the worst offenders and it has no mandate to dole out punishments. In April, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the commission should be replaced with a new, strengthened body, and countries are currently negotiating on a future Human Rights Council, which would meet permanently throughout the year. Even formal censure by the Geneva-based commission, which convenes regularly for only six weeks each spring, involves no penalties _ but countries hate being singled out.
