Watchdogs Criticize U.N. Rights Council

AP via SFGate ^ | 5/7/7 | LILY HINDY

[SmithL]

UNITED NATIONS, (AP) --

The U.N. Human Rights Council has failed to criticize egregious human rights violations since it replaced a discredited U.N. rights body last year, two watchdog groups said Monday.

The two groups, U.N. Watch and Freedom House, released reports charging that rights violators such as Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China have shielded themselves — and countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe — from criticism as members of the new group.

The groups said the U.N. General Assembly is also expected to select several other countries with poor rights records to become new members of the body this month. The groups named Angola, Belarus, Egypt and Qatar as candidate nations that were unqualified for membership because of their poor rights records. There are only 15 candidates for the 14 open seats in the 47-member council.

U.N. Watch, based in Geneva, described the council's first year as "profoundly disappointing."

"Members are supposed to be elected based on their human rights records, yet the council includes persistent violators, and after the upcoming elections is expected to include several more," the U.N. Watch report said. "The council's record so far is profoundly disappointing."

U.N. Watch, which monitors the U.N.'s compliance with its charter, is associated with the American Jewish Committee. Freedom House is a New-York based democracy watchdog.

The Human Rights Council, which began its work last June and has no power beyond drawing international attention to rights issues, was meant to replace the highly politicized Human Rights Commission with a new body that could keep some of the worst offenders out of its membership.

Instead, critics say, it has been dominated by African and Muslim countries that have sided with China, Cuba and other countries in preventing criticism of any government but Israel.

[SmithL]

The United States has also not sought a seat on the council,

But your tax dollars pay for it.

[Cornpone]

The human rights movement is the way to destroy the Islamists if anyone has the will to live up to the agenda. All the countries that have failed to ratify and/or enforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be expelled from the U.N. That would be the start...

[denydenydeny]

Freedom House is the real deal, but Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which apparently have nothing to say on this matter, are frauds and have been for a long time.

[Prokopton]

All the countries that have failed to ratify and/or enforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be expelled from the U.N. That would be the start...

Or just give them the worthless UN and everyone else leave.