Good riddance to you, Mrs. Robinson

Washington Times ^ | September 15, 2002

[sarcasm]

As she prepared to leave office on September 11, U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Mary Robinson waxed indignant over the fallout from the atrocities that took place on American soil one year earlier. But Mrs. Robinson's primary displeasure wasn't directed at Osama bin Laden or the terrorists he sent to kill approximately 3,000 Americans. She was upset with U.S. efforts to prevent terrorists from committing future acts of mass murder.

[Free_at_last_-2001]

For a complete victory over terror robinson and scum like her will have to be defeated also!

[Diogenesis]

"This just in. The Imperial UN's Chief has affirmed the UN's
dedication to slavery, piracy, and terrorism.
The UN is PROUD of its history creating, sponsoring,
and S@C&ing up to terrorists and murderers of Americans."

[joesnuffy]

Americans arent "aware" enough to voluntarily give up their disposable (all) income to support "Whirled Peas" Once Americans have been relieved of their income and it has been fairly distributed to those who need it more... (from those according to their ability ..to those according to their need) then the world will finally be free of terrorism..and terrorists...murderers and rapists...and all the bad guys will be gone ...pooof....
We just need everyone to be equal... (except the elite of course whose mere existance gives us hope and a reason to live)
hey lady blow it out your arse..please (dont wanna be rude)

[kcvl]

November 21, 2000 Mary Robinson, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, left, and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya share a toast Monday in Beijing after signing an agreement on human rights cooperation

[kcvl]

The 57-year-old had announced last March that she would not seek a renewal of her four-year mandate when it expired last September but then agreed to extend it by one year on the request of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Robinson's departure followed pressure from the United States and others for her to leave because she had spoken out on issues such as the death penalty.

"She has paid a price for her willingness to confront publicly big governments like the United States when they violate human rights," HRW's Reed Brody said.

"Mary Robinson has set a standard of candor and energy for future high commissioners. We will be sad to lose her as an ally," he said.

Asked to comment at a press conference, Robinson said she did not want to comment on the positions of individual countries but said she was aware many supporters wanted her to stay on.

She was focussed on an "intensive and very constructive" coming six months, she said, adding she had no plans except to stay in the area of international human rights.

Robinson said the acts of September 11 had also been an attack on the "very system of international relations on which this commission and the entire work of the United Nations is based."

"I have a sense that respect for the international human rights norms and standards is at some risk," she told reporters.

"It's an important opportunity for the commission, as the lead body in human rights, to reassert very vigorously and firmly the importance of adhering to international human rights standards, while combating terrorism particularly in the aftermath of the 11th of September," she said.

The high commissioner has already warned that the war on the terrorism is taking a heavy toll on civil liberties and urged countries to redouble efforts to safeguard citizens basic rights.

For the first time in the commission's 56-year history, it opened without the US on its members' list after it was voted off last year under a system to ensure a rotation of members.

Washington will however have observer status at the talks due to examine violations around the world, including Israel and the Palestinian territories, China, Chechnya, African countries and Colombia.

[csvset]

What country does this wench hail from? Where does she live? Who pays her salary? What's her next gig?

[kcvl]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson won plaudits for her successful seven year presidency of Ireland. Developments weighs up her chances of reaching the same balance between modernisation and reconciliation in her new job.
When she became the first woman president of Ireland in 1990, the 45-year-old mother of three acknowledged the shock at her surprise victory. "The hand that rocks the cradle has rocked the system," she told the audience at her inauguration address. Yet far from adding to the divisions within Ireland, the former civil liberties lawyer became a force for reconciliation and modernity within this emerging 'Celtic Tiger'.

Over her seven-year tenure, her quiet passion for reconciliation was most evocatively symbolised by the light she lit in the window of her residence, Aras Un Uachtararain, as a sign to the Irish diasporo that the mother country remembered them. Practical evidence could be found in her efforts to help bring peace to Northern Ireland which won the respect of communities on both side of the divide. Whether taking tea with the Queen, ending a 70-year stand-off between the two heads of state, or sporting a red ribbon for those with HIV, Mrs Robinson was never afraid to break with tradition in pursuit of her beliefs. When she announced her decision to quit the presidency the-Irish prime minister John Bruton described her as "the best ever." He added: "She symbolised the modernisation of Ireland."

In September Mrs Robinson left Ireland to take up her new role as UN Human Rights Commissioner, A high-profile post which will see her dividing her time between New York and Geneva, juggling the internal politics of the UN with a resolute response to the very changing international situation as part of her responsibility for the human rights activities of the organisation.

While human right groups have welcomed the new commissioner, it will be interesting to see how long she will remain in their good books. One of her main task will be to marry the expectations of the West with what a number of developing world governments see as unfair demands. Another will be to broaden the rights agenda to include the basic needs such as health, education, and clean water, as well as promoting democracy and the rights to freedom of association and speech.

However, Mrs Robinson has built her career on getting things done. She has an impressive humanitarian affairs background, both desk bound, such as an in-depth knowledge of human rights law, or on-the-ground: she was the first head of state to visit Rwanda after the genocide. She also comes from the nation with a recent history of the very human rights crises her organisation will find itself touching upon: civil war, displacement, poverty, starvation. This in itself must surely add to the "fire in the belly" that Secretary General Kofi Annan described as one of her best qualifications for the job.

"I think I have a way of being in touch with what really matters," Mrs Robinson said before she left Switzerland. "I have a sense because of that, I moving but not leaving. I am moving out of Ireland, but all my focus points will relate to my last seven years as president."

This sense of continuity has served Mrs Robinson well. Each stage of her career seems to have been built firmly on the foundation of its predecessor. Who knows..... if she makes a success of the Human Rights post, at 52 she could not be ruled out as future contender for Secretary General. Certainly Mr Annan seems to think she's up to her new job: "I was going to use the word 'superstar', But I didn't want to embarrass her," he told reporters after her appointment.

[sarcasm]

She was President of Ireland before she took this gig.

[csvset]

Here's her bio.

Source

She's the President of Ireland. What a shame.

[The Raven]

The hand wringers never have a plan.....just whining and intellectual laziness.

[kcvl]

Shouldn't she be worrying about her own country instead of trying to tell the rest of us how to behave?

[ovrtaxt]

Well, I hear I reland is a pretty happening place to live, with business friendly policies and low taxes. All that happened very recently, I think, probably about the same time that this control freak left for the UN.

[Happygal]

She's the President of Ireland.

Was the president of Ireland. Was...past tense. Thank God.

[WaterDragon]

In federal bureaucracies, incompetents and morons rise to "leadership" in the same way tht turds float to the surface in sewers.

[WaterDragon]

The same is true of international bureaucracies.

[Bernard]

Reality precedes perception. I now perceive that the UN is completely irrelevant.

[SamAdams76]

For a moment, I thought this might be yet another opus! Then my eyes cleared up and I saw Mrs Robinson.

[SkyPilot]

Tell you what:

We place Maggie Thatcher and her on opposite sides of a debate table, roll the cameras, and see who wins after one hour.

I'll wager a month's salary that Thatcher would have this socialist weeping for "fairness" in about 5 minutes.

[Consort]

Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson,
Your Irish spring has sprung.