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Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Ecosoc, the United Nations’s Economic and Social Council in Geneva, has taken two controversial decisions: to suspend the Paris-based  Arab Commission for Human Rights, at the request of Algeria, and to approve the Brazilian Association of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals. One of the main jobs of Ecosoc is to take decisions on the consultative status at the UN of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), with over 3,000 of them currently approved.

The Arab group, better known under its French name, Commission Arabe des Droits Humains, provoked the Algerian protest when it named as its new spokesperson Rachid Mesli, a lawyer who defended the leaders of the Front islamique du salut (FIS), Abbassi Madani and Ali Belhadj. Mesli is considered a terrorist by Algeria. Algeria obtained a  recommendation to suspend the group, from the NGOs committee at the UN, and Monday afternoon 27 July Ecosoc adopted the resolution by consensus, according to France’s Figaro.

The Council overturned another recommendation from the committee which, AP notes in an article published by Boston.com on the Council’s decisions, is the target of criticism for being overly political. The committee had recommended that the Brazilian NGO, a national network of 203 organizations, be banned. It works closely with the government on Aids programmes. This is the third year that the committee of 19 country representatives has recommended that gay groups not be approved and the Council refused to accept the recommendation, AP points out.