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Frouville, Olivier de --- "Domesticating Civil Society at the United Nations" [2008] ELECD 146; in Dupuy, Pierre-Marie; Vierucci, Luisa (eds), "NGOs in International Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: NGOs in International Law

Editor(s): Dupuy, Pierre-Marie; Vierucci, Luisa

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847205605

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Domesticating Civil Society at the United Nations

Author(s): Frouville, Olivier de

Number of pages: 45

Extract:

2. Domesticating civil society at the
United Nations
Olivier de Frouville*
For a number of years, the actors and the observers of the United Nations'
Human Rights Protection System have confirmed the ever-increasing pres-
ence of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with similar views to
those of the States. These organizations are often referred to as GONGOs ­
that stands for Governmental Non Governmental Organizations or
Government Orientated NGOs1 ­ a term that expresses well the ambiguity of
the phenomenon. The aim of this study is not to lead an inquiry or to expose
anybody. Based on a factual assessment of the situation, it will define and
identify a non-legal category of NGOs. This factual assessment results from
a careful reading of the summary records from the sessions of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights and of the new Human Rights


* The author would like to thank Eric Goldstein, who kindly reviewed
the English translation of the text.
1 See N. Ravi (2000), `Le problème des organisations pro-gouvernementales',
Moniteur des droits de l'homme, 49(50), 8­9. The author relates the fact that at the
Committee's 56th session, he `noticed pro-governmental organizations from the US,
China, Cuba, Egypt, Algeria, Iran, Bangladesh and even from Nepal'. In this study, we
will not be looking into the other categories of `problematic' NGOs such as the
`BINGOs', Business Initiated NGOs, run by businesses and which are particularly
present at the World Trade Organization (cf. FIDH (2001), L'OMC ...