Quand Sarkozy l'avocat ne méprisait pas les paradis fiscaux

Par David Servenay | Rue89 | 02/04/2009

Lorsqu'il exerçait comme avocat, Nicolas Sarkozy accompagnait ses clients fortunés pour gérer leurs affaires en Suisse.

Il y a à peine dix ans, un avocat français accompagnait parfois ses fortunés clients en Suisse, au bord du lac Léman. Nicolas Sarkozy traversait son désert politique, il avait alors repris sa robe d'avocat. Une autre vie, où le président français trouvait bien des avantages au paradis fiscal helvétique. Certains banquiers de Genève n'ont pas oublié.

La carrière d'avocat de Nicolas Sarkozy reste méconnue. Elle mérite pourtant quelques détours, pour comprendre les idées du politique. Après une année à Sciences Po et un DEA à Nanterre, l'étudiant entre au cabinet du bâtonnier Guy Danet, comme stagiaire, puis collaborateur après sa prestation de serment en 1981.

Un jeune avocat au « plan de carrière » bien défini

Jacques Copper-Royer, associé de Danet, se souvent parfaitement de ce garçon très intelligent, volontaire, « bon juriste » et surtout, très ambitieux :

« La volonté de Nicolas Sarkozy était, dès le départ, de faire une carrière politique. Je dirais même qu'il avait une ambition : devenir président de la République. Il avait donc un “plan de carrière”. Etre avocat, cela lui permettait d'avoir des relations dans le milieu des affaires. »

Pendant six ans, rue Georges Berger, près du parc Montceau, maître Sarkozy apprend son métier avec talent. A l'école de Guy Danet, l'un des grands bâtonniers de l'époque, qui est, entre autres, l'avocat de Paris Match et a des correspondants en Suisse. Droit des affaires, contrats avec les grands groupes : l'avocat Sarkozy n'est pas un « civiliste » ordinaire, mais un avocat d'affaires. Il cultive son réseau, aidé par son élection à la mairie de Neuilly-sur-Seine en 1983, où il commence à côtoyer le gotha du show-business.

Il bâtit alors une vraie clientèle, composée aussi de people comme on ne les appelle pas encore ainsi. Jacques Copper-Royer :

« Ce sont des contrats de sponsoring, pour défendre de grands chanteurs, de grands sportifs. Ce sont aussi les négociations pour de grandes sociétés. Très vite, Nicolas a ses entrées dans ce monde. Cela correspond à l'évolution du métier où, de plus en plus, on discute avant de plaider. L'avocat devient un intermédiaire, pour éviter le contentieux. »

En 1987, profitant du déménagement du cabinet Danet, Nicolas Sarkozy créé son propre cabinet avec deux associés : Michel Leibovici et Arnaud Claude. Ce dernier s'est spécialisé dans le droit immobilier. Il a notamment récupéré dans sa clientèle la ville de Levallois-Perret, dont il règle tous les contentieux d'expropriation.

Les tribulations de l'ami Henri Leconte à Genève

Elu député en 1988, Nicolas Sarkozy continue sa carrière d'avocat. En accompagnant parfois ses riches clients vers des cieux fiscalement plus cléments. C'est le cas d'Henri Leconte. Le joueur de tennis fait partie des amis du jeune loup du RPR. Comme la plupart des sportifs professionnels, il décide de s'exiler en Suisse.

A Genève, Leconte va jouer de malchance. Nicolas Sarkozy l'introduit chez Jacques Heyer, gestionnaire de fortune qui va escroquer quelques-uns des deux cents « happy few » lui ayant confié leurs économies. Si les pertes sont difficiles à évaluer, l'un de ses proches évoque le chiffre de 23 millions de dollars évanouis dans des placements bidons aux Etats-Unis. Le site Bakchich a raconté le mécanisme de la carambouille.

Sur les bords du lac Léman, un proche du banquier Heyer se souvient de cet « homme sympathique » :

« Il venait régulièrement, c'étaient des visites professionnelles en tant qu'avocat. C'était surtout un ami d'Henri Leconte. Il l'accompagnait lors de ses visites chez Jacques Heyer. »

En 1997, le scandale éclate : Heyer Management SA est liquidée. Son gérant inculpé de « gestion déloyale aggravée ». L'indélicat a grugé de nombreux clients, dont une brochette de VIP. Certains s'en tirent bien : Johnny Halyday ou Jean-Claude Killy. D'autres perdent beaucoup, beaucoup d'argent. Comme le racontait Libération pendant la campagne présidentielle de 2007, Leconte est sorti lessivé de l'histoire. Il l'a d'ailleurs évoqué dans un livre :

« Un sale jour, j'ai reçu un coup de fil d'un avocat. Il a été clair : “Henri, tu n'as plus rien !” Non seulement, l'ami arnaqueur était parti avec des millions, mais [...] il m'escroquait tranquillement, façon petite fourmi, depuis des années. »

Ruiné, Henri Leconte aura même droit à un appartement dans les HLM de Levallois-Perret, grâce aux bons soins du maire RPR Patrick Balkany, qui a aussi fréquenté les bureaux de Jacques Heyer à Genève. Condamné à deux ans de prison ferme en première instance, la peine de Jacques Heyer a été réduite à deux ans avec sursis par le tribunal fédéral suisse. Depuis, l'homme vit sous le soleil de Saint-Tropez où il joue au golf.

A Genève, l'actuel discours anti-Suisse de Sarkozy énerve

Dans les cabinets d'avocats de Genève ou au palais de justice, le discours de Nicolas Sarkozy sur les paradis fiscaux est jugé au mieux moralisateur, au pire franchement hypocrite. Le 25 mars à l'Elysée, devant des députés UMP, le président tempête :

« Je veux une liste des paradis fiscaux et je veux les sanctionner ! »

Puis, il menace :

« Je veux que les banques ne travaillent plus avec les îles Caïman, Hongkong et Macao. Je démissionnerai de mon poste de co-prince d'Andorre (si les choses n'avancent pas). Monaco doit aussi s'aligner : j'en parlerai au prince Albert. Même la Suisse a cédé. »

A Genève, on s'amuse de ces foucades. Comme de nombreux avocats d'affaires, Nicolas Sarkozy n'a jamais hésité à user au mieux des failles du système financier. L'affaire Heyer en offre un bon exemple. Derrière la Banque financière de la Cité, sur laquelle s'appuyait le gestionnaire de fortune, il y avait la BFC... Caïman, discrète succursale gérée par de non moins discrets administrateurs helvètes. Comme l'indique un enquêteur ayant travaillé sur le dossier :

« Les recherches ont buté sur la coopération avec les îles Caïman. Les banquiers suisses disaient : “ça, on ne peut pas vous en parler car ça concerne les îles Caïman.” »

Les enquêteurs suisses n'arriveront jamais à identifier les flux et tous les ayant-droits des comptes gérés par Jacques Heyer. Refus des îles Caïman. Et si la rumeur a souvent couru les bords du lac, personne n'a jamais prouvé que Nicolas Sarkozy avait aussi un compte en Suisse chez Jacques Heyer. Comme ses amis des Hauts-de-Seine, des « proches de Charles Pasqua », rappelle-t-on là-bas...

Photo : Cécilia et Nicolas Sarkozy à Roland Garros le 5 juin 1998 (Jacky Naegelen/Reuters).

A lire aussi sur Rue89 et sur Eco89

• ► Nos articles sur les paradis fiscaux
• ► Ces petits paradis fiscaux qu'on laisse prospérer
• ► Madame Bachelot, quid des sportifs des paradis fiscaux ?

Ailleurs sur le Web

• ► L'article de Libération sur l'affaire Heyer
• ► Le mécanisme de l'affaire expliqué par Bakchich

HOMMAGE AU GÉNÉRAL DUMAS : tous pour un !

Grand rassemblement républicain place du général Catroux à Paris, (17e arrondissement, métro Malesherbes).

samedi 4 avril 2009 à partir de 11 heures

Inauguration officielle du monument dédié au Général Alexandre Dumas, par le plasticien Driss Sans-Arcidet (Musée Khômbol) en présence du maire de Paris, M. Bertrand Delanoë, et de nombreuses personnalités.

Cette manifestation est placée sous le patronage de l’UNESCO
Programme « La route de l’esclave ».

Il s'agit d'une oeuvre particulièrement spectaculaire, financée par la ville de Paris et réalisée par le plasticien Driss Sans Arcidet, représentant des fers d’esclaves brisés de plus de cinq mètres de haut, pesant plusieurs tonnes – une première en Europe pour un monument à l’esclavage de cette importance - le monument sera mis en lumières de nuit.

La journée exceptionnelle d’inauguration de cette œuvre est organisée par l’association des amis du général Dumas (www.general-dumas.com), avec le soutien du Conseil régional de la Guadeloupe, du Conseil régional de la Martinique, en coordination avec la mairie de Paris et avec la participation de toutes les associations de l’Outre-mer et de la diversité.

Un détachement de la Garde républicaine et la musique des gardiens de la paix de Paris, interviendront durant la partie officielle de la cérémonie qui sera prolongée par une partie festive avec les groupes de tambours MIYO et CHOUKAJ.

U.S., Russia Work to Reduce Nuclear Warheads

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; 12:01 PM

LONDON, April 1 -- President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev launched negotiations on a new nuclear arms treaty today, even as they agreed to pursue new and broader cooperation across a wide range of policy areas.

In a statement after a closed-door meeting, the two leaders pledged to begin work immediately on a new treaty on offensive nuclear weapons to replace the 2002 Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which expires at the end of this year. They committed to reducing their nuclear arsenals to levels lower that those mandated by the START treaty, which calls for both nations to have between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads by Dec. 31, 2012.

"The Presidents decided to begin bilateral intergovernmental negotiations to work out a new, comprehensive, legally binding agreement on reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms," the statement says. Obama told reporters that he will travel to Moscow in July, the date by which the two leaders said their negotiators should report progress on the new arms reduction treaty.

Obama, who like Medvedev is in London for the G-20 summit that begins with a dinner Wednesday night, also met Wednesday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The closed-door sessions focused on the global economic crisis, and Obama announced plans to visit China during the second half of this year.

At a joint news conference with Brown, Obama said the United States accepts its share of the blame for the economic problems that are spiraling around the globe but said recovery will depend on the world's nations acting together to spark growth and revamp banking and financial regulations.

"The United States does not intend to act alone, and we are not," Obama said.

After meeting for the first time, Obama and Medvedev also issued a broader statement that outlines new areas of planned cooperation while skirting some of the most contentious issues that have soured relations during the past several years.

Senior U.S. officials said the meeting turned around what had been a dramatically deteriorating relationship and set the two countries on a fundamentally new course. But they also characterized Obama as frank with his counterpart about American disagreements with Russia. They said he challenged Medvedev about his country's military incursion into Georgia last year and its claim of a broad sphere of influence over the countries of Eastern Europe.

In their joint statement, the two leaders pledged to cooperate on trying to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, contain the proliferation of nuclear technology and fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And they jointly expressed concern about North Korea's expected launch of a ballistic missile sometime soon.

"We, the leaders of Russia and the United States, are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries," the statement reads. "In just a few months we have worked hard to establish a new tone in our relations. Now it is time to get down to business and translate our warm words into actual achievements of benefit to Russia, the United States, and all those around the world interested in peace and prosperity."

The statement reflects a desire by both nations to put more pressure on Iran to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons. While giving a nod toward Iran's claim that it is developing a civilian nuclear program, the document puts the Russians on the record calling on Iran to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding the confirmation of its nuclear capabilities and intentions.

"Iran needs to restore confidence in its exclusively peaceful nature," the document says.

It acknowledges that "differences remain over the purposes of deployment of missile defense assets in Europe," but adds that the two leaders discussed the possibility of international cooperation in the missile defense field.

The statement does not attempt to resolve some of the stickiest issues that divide Washington and Moscow, in particular the disagreement over Russia's aggressive actions in the nation of Georgia and the deployment of missile defense equipment in Poland.

On Georgia, the statement says: "Although we disagree about the causes and sequence of the military actions of last August, we agreed that we must continue efforts toward a peaceful and lasting solution to the unstable situation today."

According to a senior U.S. official, Obama told Medvedev bluntly in their meeting that "we are not going to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states." Moscow recognized the two breakaway regions of Georgia as independent republics last year, but few other countries have followed suit. Obama "said very categorically, too, we don't recognize spheres of influence as a useful concept in the 21st century," the official said.

The launching of new arms-reduction talks is aimed at producing a treaty that contains aggressive techniques to verify warhead and missile levels, something that U.S. officials said the two countries have not attempted for almost 20 years since the START negotiations. They dismissed more recent treaties negotiated by President George W. Bush on the subject as "arms control lite" and said they have no intention of hosting frequent but brief meetings like those favored by Bush, calling them "drive-by summits" that produced little.

"This meeting in and of itself shows you we don't do drive-by summits; we have meetings of substance," one senior official told reporters. "Frankly, neither president, most certainly not our president, has the time to have 30 meetings."

On Iran, U.S. officials said Medvedev agreed to play a more substantial role than ever before in attempting to contain Iranian nuclear ambitions and to prevent the spread of nuclear technology around the globe.

The meeting between Obama and Medvedev lasted 70 minutes and began with a cordial exchange by the two men about their families and their shared background as lawyers, according to participants.

After the meeting, the pair spoke to reporters from a sitting area overlooking the rolling lawn of Obama's guest house. They were seated in arm chairs side by side, with a bowl of bright pink camellias between them and a bank of Russian and American flags behind them.

Senior U.S. officials described several weeks of intense negotiation leading up to the meeting. They said agreement on launching a new arms reduction treaty and many of the broader agreements were far from certain only three weeks ago.

The officials credited an earlier, private letter from Medvedev to Obama, and Obama's response to his Russian counterpart, for providing an opening to a broader statement today.

"Several weeks ago, the agenda was very narrow," said one top U.S. official. "Our president most certainly said to us, 'we don't want to have just a get-together meeting.' I get the sense that Medvedev seized the moment, too."

But the official said: "We are not being naive about this. The relationship with Russia is a complicated, big, difficult one."

Obama's meeting with Medvedev was followed a short time later by his first session with Hu, the Chinese president. Both meetings were held at Winfield House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador in London.

A joint statement from Obama and Hu after their session said the two nations were launching new strategic and economic dialogues as part of an effort to pursue closer relations. The strategic dialogue will be led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for the United States and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, the statement said. The economic effort will be led by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan.

The statement commits the United States and China to better military-to-military relations and to a resumption of consultation on nuclear nonproliferation and international security. Obama and Hu also pledged to work together to help rescue the world economy and reform the financial regulatory system.

At the news conference with Brown, Obama said the United States "has some accounting to do," because of a financial regulatory system that proved inadequate to oversee the growth of banks and hedge funds.

But he added that there has been an equal "mismatch between regulatory reforms and the highly integrated global markets" and said he expects a concerted approach to be announced at the G-20 summit.

"The world has become accustomed to the United States being a voracious consumer market and the engine that drives a lot of economic growth worldwide," Obama said. "If there's going to be renewed growth, it can't just be the United States as the engine. Everybody is going to have to pick up the pace."

Both Obama and Brown dismissed talk of dissension among the governments gathered here about how best to proceed with economic recovery and whether to spend more money to spark growth. Obama called reports of those disagreements "vastly overstated."

To reports that French President Nicholas Sarkozy might pull out of the summit if the negotiations don't go his way, Brown joked that he was "confident that he will still be sitting as we complete our dinner this evening."

Speaking before his meeting with Medvedev, Obama said he has no interest in "papering over" the "very real differences between the United States and Russia."

But he said that there are "broad interests" that can form the basis of a cooperative relationship, and that he detects "great potential" for working together on a broad range of topics.

"Both the United States and Russia and other nuclear powers will be in a much stronger position to strengthen what has become a somewhat fragile, threadbare nonproliferation treaty if we are leading by example," Obama said.

As Obama began his string of meetings -- in addition to Brown, Hu and Medvedev, Wednesday's lineup included British opposition leader David Cameron -- thousands of protesters lined the streets in anticipation of the economic summit. Besides demonstrations on economic conditions and climate change, large antiwar protests were planned by the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other groups.

On a lighter note, Obama declined during the news conference with Brown to be drawn into predictions about England's World Cup qualifying match Wednesday night, citing controversy in the United States over the teams he picked his NCAA tournament bracket.

"The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European football. . . . I didn't get a briefing on that, but I sense that would be a mistake," he said to laughter, undoubtedly scoring points with Europeans for not using the American term "soccer" to describe the game.

The new U.S. president was also careful to meet the protocol requirements that go with carefully scripted overseas trips.

In the first moments at the microphone, Obama mentioned the "special relationship" that the United States has with Britain, a pet phrase that his spokesman failed to use several weeks ago, prompting mocking headlines in the British tabloid press.

Obama also made certain to articulate his anticipation about the audience he and first lady Michelle Obama will have with Queen Elizabeth II later Wednesday.

"As you might imagine, Michelle has really been thinking that through," Obama said. "In the imagination of people throughout America, what the queen stands for and her decency and her civility and what she stands for, that's very important."

Correspondent Mary Jordan contributed to this report.

On Packed Day, Obama Finds Time to Talk Dinosaurs

By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; 11:18 AM

LONDON, April 1 -- It's hard to pinpoint why President Obama sounded a bit hoarse and congested during his news conference Wednesday morning with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

It wasn't the weather -- Britain's skies were unusually glorious and sunny. Could have been the long flight from Washington, but he wasn't exactly flying in germ-filled coach class. Maybe it was something Malia or Sasha brought home from school.

Or, maybe, the president was simply a bit weary from preparing for a staggering day where nuclear weapons stockpiles seemed to be about third on his to-do list.

After arriving here Tuesday night from Washington, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were up early for the short drive to 10 Downing Street, where they were greeted by Brown and his wife, Sarah.

There has been endless fascination with the president's limousine in the British press, focusing on some of the particularly cool aspects -- it is sealed to withstand a chemical attack! It carries bags of the president's own blood! So, after "The Beast," as the big black Cadillac with D.C. license plates is known, was flown over the Atlantic to meet the First Passenger, the BBC posted a 90-second video showing the president's driver executing a three-point turn in Downing Street's tiny front courtyard.

The video stayed on the network's Web site all morning, and was among the most viewed items.

Obama and Brown sat for a chat, then walked across to the Foreign Office for a news conference, where both men spoke in now-familiar language of the economic meltdown: "global problems . . . global solutions . . . shadow banking system . . . Great Depression . . . sense of common purpose . . . era of profound irresponsibility."

The breadth of the leaders' discussions was mind-bending, ranging from saving the global economy to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Russia and keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists hands (which Obama called the "gravest threat to humanity") to China and even England's chances in its World Cup qualifier against Ukraine tonight.

Intent on dismissing talk of cool interpersonal relations, they offered each other big verbal bear hugs. Obama called Brown "Gordon" so many times that a beaming and normally hyper-formal Brown finally took the plunge and tossed out a few genial "Baracks."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat in the first row of seats, just in front of the journalists, wearing a broad smile as her former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination spoke. She and a large contingent of U.S. officials are accompanying Obama on this, his first overseas trip as president.

Being a "Buddy of Barack" in Europe these days is pure political gold dust, and Brown was visibly tickled when Obama said that not only was he enjoying his hang-time with Gordon, but he had also gotten a kick out of Brown's young sons.

Undoubtedly missing the nightly dinners with Malia and Sasha in the White House family quarters that have become a staple of his post-campaign life, Obama said he "talked about dinosaurs" with the Brown boys between discussions with their Dad about Afghanistan and Iraq.

While the dads parried questions from journalists, their wives visited Maggie's Center, a facility for cancer patients and their families to gather for support, comfort and practical advice. Michelle Obama was dressed in a bright green pencil skirt, a cream-colored, sequined cardigan, very high heels and pearls. She was expected to change her clothes, aides said, before her meeting with the queen later Wednesday afternoon.

At Maggie's Center, she and Brown were greeted by Richard Rogers, the Pritzker Prize-winning British architect, and his partner, Ivan Habour, who designed the bright orange building.

They visited with three male cancer patients, then went upstairs to a "Look Good, Feel Better," a makeup session with two female patients. The first lady introduced herself simply as "Michelle."

"This is pretty amazing. It's an oasis. An oasis that is necessary for people who are struggling," Obama said of the center, which has served 12,000 families in the year since it opened. "It's a quiet place that makes people feel whole."

Obama and Brown ate slices of a dark chocolate and walnut cake baked by Roger's wife, Ruth Rogers, an American chef, best-selling cook-book author and restaurant owner in London.

Rogers said the two discussed the White House vegetable garden as well as cancer care in the U.S. and Britain.

Asked by staff members if she drinks tea she smiled and said, "I do. I will."

With that, she sipped yet another cup of tea in what will be a marathon of "cuppas" over the next two days.

U.S. to Join U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Bush Policy

By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; 5:46 PM

UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- The Obama administration decided Tuesday to seek a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations' premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states.

"Human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. "With others, we will engage in the work of improving the U.N. human rights system. . . . We believe every nation must live by and help shape global rules that ensure people enjoy the right to live freely and participate fully in their societies."

The United States announced it would participate in elections in May for one of three seats on the 47-member council, joining a slate that includes Belgium and Norway.

New Zealand, which had also been on the ballot, supports the U.S. decision and withdrew its name to make room for the United States, Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced. "Frankly, by any objective measure, membership of the Council by the U.S. is more likely to create positive changes more quickly than we could have hoped to achieve them," he said.

The decision was welcomed by U.N. officials and rights advocates, who had been briefed on the decision. Human rights activists have been advocating U.S. membership in the council since its creation in March 2006.

"This is a welcome step that gives the United States and other defenders of human rights a fighting chance to make the institution more effective," said a human rights advocate familiar with the decision. "I think everybody is just desperate to have the United States and Barack Obama run for the human rights council, and countries are willing to bend over backward to make that happen."

The Geneva-based Human Rights Council was established in March 2006 to replace the 60-year-old Human Rights Commission, which lost international credibility after countries with abysmal rights records, such as Sudan and Zimbabwe, were allowed to join and thwart criticism of their actions.

The Bush administration refused to join the new rights body, saying it was not convinced that it represented much of an improvement over its predecessor. John R. Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when the council was created, said at the time that the United States would have more "leverage in terms of the performance of the new council" by not participating in it and thus signaling a rejection of "business as usual."

Reached Tuesday, Bolton denounced the Obama administration's decision. "This is like getting on board the Titanic after it's hit the iceberg," he said. "This is the theology of engagement at work. There is no concrete American interest served by this, and it legitimizes something that doesn't deserve legitimacy."

The Obama administration and rights advocates concede that the Human Rights Council has failed to emerge as a powerful champion of human rights, saying it has devoted excessive attention to alleged abuses by Israel and too little to abuses in places such as Darfur, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Last week, the rights council adopted a resolution sponsored by Pakistan and other Islamic states that condemns the "defamation of religion" as a violation of human rights, arguing that abuses against Muslims have mounted in the years following the 911 terror attacks. But European states criticized the Islamic resolution, saying it posed a threat to the right of free speech. However, the decision to seek a seat on the council is in keeping with what President Obama has called a "new era of engagement" with other nations to advance U.S. security interests and meet the global challenges of the 21st century.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said: "Those who suffer from abuse and oppression around the world, as well as those who dedicate their lives to advancing human rights, need the council to be balanced and credible." She said the United States seeks election to the body "because we believe that working from within, we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights."

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the U.N. system made up of 47 elected members whose mission is to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights globally. The next round of elections to the council will be held May 15 in the U.N. General Assembly in New York, with members elected to three-year terms. The council is scheduled to undergo a formal review of its structure and procedures in 2011, offering an opportunity for reform.