Free Republic

Miloon Kothari, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, briefs reporters on the first report of the Commission. UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré The Commission of Inquiry (COI), a controversial United Nations commission investigating Israel for nearly five years, has collapsed after all three of its members abruptly resigned days after the United States sanctioned a senior UN official over antisemitism. Commission chair Navi Pillay resigned on July 8, citing health concerns and scheduling conflicts. Her fellow commissioners, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, followed suit days later. While...

GENEVA (AFP) - A UN human rights expert sharply criticised major African leaders, saying their failure to condemn President Robert Mugabe's housing demolition campaign in Zimbabwe was tantamount to a "cover-up." The UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, said Zimbabwe was heading towards a disaster if the government failed to change course on the forcible eviction of about 700,000 people from shantytowns. "The silence of major governments in Africa continues to be shocking," Kothari told journalists. "And of influential individuals like Nelson Mandela, I don't understand why they don't speak out," he added, referring to...