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The new United Nations Human Rights Council must avoid policies and practices of double standards, stated the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee on Friday as it closed its first gathering since its 9th Assembly held in Brazil earlier this year.

The committee, which met at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute outside Geneva from May 16-19, said that the council was “virtually paralyzed” by the “policies and practices of double standards, en-bloc voting and politicization of the human rights agenda that were so prevalent at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights” before its “ignominious end.”

The statement also affirmed the need to maintain and strengthen the special human rights mechanisms of the UNCHR.

“The system of Special Procedures developed by the UNCHR, of Human Rights Treaty Bodies as well as of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her office, should be actively supported,” respected and enhanced, said the committee.

It encouraged U.N. member states “to recognize and accept the importance of the universality of human rights and to work for it in a spirit of cooperation across regional lines.”

The ecumenical committee also urged U.N. member states to “recognize the increasing interaction between religion and politics in order to address tensions between the right to religious freedom and other fundamental rights.”

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It stated that the new U.N. body should recognize the contribution of churches and civil society organizations in the promotion and defense of human rights, and guarantee them “unhindered access” to its sessions.

At the same time, the executive committee called on WCC member churches to “continue to work closely with the Human Rights Council,” among others, by “monitoring compliance with internationally accepted human rights, norms and standards.”

WCC member churches and ecumenical partners were also asked to “deepen their dialogue with people of other faiths” and to seek common approaches and to develop shared codes of conduct to protect human rights.

As the successor to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the new U.N. Human Rights Council will be formally inaugurated on June 19, 2006.

Daniel Blake contributed reporting from London for this article