U.S. Fumes Over Cuba's Re-Election to U.N. Rights Panel

FNC ^ | 04/30/03 | Jim Angle

[m1-lightning]

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday expressed outrage that Cuba has been re-elected to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, only three weeks after rounding up dozens of dissidents and sending them to prison.

"This is a setback for the cause of human rights. Cuba does not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Commission. Cuba deserves to be investigated by the Human Rights Commission," said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.

While the United States was preoccupied with the Iraq war, Cuban leader Fidel Castro arrested 78 dissidents, journalists and librarians and "tried" them for treason, giving them varying prison sentences of as long as 28 years.

The same commission that by acclamation Tuesday allowed Cuba to remain a member, earlier this month voted to investigate the mass arrests. It was treated with resistance.

"The Human Rights Commission wanted to send investigators into Cuba and Cuba said 'no.' And yet, today, Cuba gets re-elected to the Human Rights Commission. It raises troubling issues, and that's why the United States is speaking out about it," Fleischer said.

The Bush administration lobbied against the vote to keep Cuba on the panel, but in the end threw up its hands, suggesting the commission is a lost cause.

"You have to keep in mind that Libya is the chairman of this committee. There are some things that happen at the United Nations that it's very hard for anybody to explain," Fleischer said.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Economic Social Council Sichan Siv, who served as the U.S. representative at Tuesday's commission meeting, got up and walked out when it became clear Cuba was going to win the vote.

"It was an outrage for us because we view Cuba as the worst violator of human rights in this hemisphere," he said.

Siv said the arrests aren't the only travesties committed by Castro. Cubans trying to escape Castro's regime have mounted several hijackings recently, including a plane flown to Key West and a ferryboat also headed to Florida. While hijackings are illegal, Castro didn't bother with anything like a trial, Siv said.

"They arrested three hijackers. After one week of incarceration, they shot them — no trial no justice or nothing," he said.

Castro's summary executions surprised and dismayed even his longtime defenders. It also riled longtime critics in the U.S. Congress.

"Allowing Cuba to stay on the Human Rights Commission is like honoring Saddam Hussein with the Nobel Peace Prize," said Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley.

Foley is introducing a congressional resolution calling on the United Nations to reverse its decision.

Fox News' Jim Angle contributed to this report.

[Mo1]

The White House on Tuesday expressed outrage that Cuba has been re-elected to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, only three weeks after rounding up dozens of dissidents and sending them to prison.

And this is one of the reasons that the UN is a complete and total joke

[Redleg Duke]

Any doubt of the irrelevance of the UN can now be safely discarded!

[pianomikey]

Absolutely, completely and in all ways unacceptable. Why don't we just vote in France for the international humility commission? Colombia to the U.N. compassion comission? Why stop there? Let's vote in Amsterdam for morality and decency police, China for the pro-life commission, France for the abstinence commission (can they be on two?), and Switzerland as commander in chief of the UN "peacekeeping forces". And what panel would be complete without raising Stalin from the dead, ressurrecting USSR, and slapping him right on that free speech commission? Hitler for on the International Diversity League? Where does this end?

[pianomikey]

Absolutely, completely and in all ways unacceptable. Why don't we just vote in France for the international humility commission? Colombia to the U.N. compassion comission? Why stop there? Let's vote in Amsterdam for morality and decency police, China for the pro-life commission, France for the abstinence commission (can they be on two?), and Switzerland as commander in chief of the UN "peacekeeping forces". And what panel would be complete without raising Stalin from the dead, ressurrecting USSR, and slapping him right on that free speech commission? Hitler for on the International Diversity League? Where does this end?

[chantal7]

Ok, how much did Castro and Chavez pay Kofi and the U.N.?

[Warren]

RIGHT! This is just the excuse we need to get out of the damn place.

[m1-lightning]

It ends with HR 1146

[JustPiper]

Thanx for the Ping! This is so not right. The UN is a horrific plight against mankind!!!

[pianomikey]

True, but HR 1146 only ends it for the US. The UN is, unfortunately, appearing pretty popular outside the US because it makes all the little 3rd-rate powers with LOUD VOICES (France, Switzerland, to a lesser extent Poland) feel like "Big Men." They need to read Mailer for a white male ego boost!

Alas, I think we're stuck with the UN tumor for a while, even after the US withdraws. Maybe sometime down the road, America will start working on the chemotherapy of dismantling the UN before it goes malignant, if it's not too late. In any case, HR-1146 is the first step.

[Ugly Truth]

Stick in the fork, the UN is....wait a minute. Forget the fork, there's not any meat left in the UN. Let's leave the table before others realize it and beat us to it.

[unixfox]

Here is the link for in-Human Rights

[ohmage]

Getting out of the UN is going to be like backing out of a maze.

Have a look at some of our congressional handiwork. It's called GLOBE USA.

It's stated concern is the environment and though they appear to be playing down their coziness with the UN, in the past they were upfront with their UN affiliation.

And Al Gore really was a founder.

No better place to start exploring than their Members page

http://www.globeusa.org/globeusa/members/members108.html

Don't try to read it all at once, it may affect your health. But do try to read as much as you can

[ohmage]

Here's another site. They have issues already defined, and congressional voting strategies lined up. Step right up and contact your congressman. Let him know you support a UN civilian police force.

I'm not kidding.

http://www.cunr.org

[ohmage]

How could I forget?

http://www.cunr.org has a handy congressional voting guide to see just how global your favorite congress person's outlook is.

It's down the left center portion of the page.

[Jorge]

The UN couldn't be more of a joke if it tried.
These idiots need to have their butts kicked for this fiasco.