Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. President, we meet at a moment of enormous historical importance, when people across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond are rising up to demand their fundamental civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. When popular protests began erupting earlier this year in North Africa and the Middle East, it was quickly dubbed "the Arab Spring", a phrase which captured intense optimism and appeared to herald a new era of freedom and hope. People, especially the young, peacefully...