Archive for the 'Human Rights Council (UNHRC)' Category

UN chief “rejects” Falk remarks, which “undermine credibility and work” of UN

Statement read out at today’s daily UN press briefing by Martin Nesisky, spokesman of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

We were asked yesterday about Professor Richard Falk’s latest commentary. I can tell you the Secretary-General has seen the commentary and he has been briefed on it. The Secretary-General rejects Mr. Falk’s comments. The Secretary-General immediately condemned the Boston Marathon bombing and he strongly believes that nothing can justify such an attack. Professor Falk is appointed by the Member States of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, not by the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General is hopeful that Special Rapporteurs such as Mr. Falk understand that – while they have independent status – their public comments can undermine the credibility and the workof the United Nations.

Exclusive: UN official blames America for Boston Marathon terror attacks

Richard Falk warns of “worse blowbacks,” says “Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”

GENEVA, April 22, 2013 – In an exclusive report, UN Watch has revealed that top UN Human Rights Council official Richard Falk is blaming the Boston terrorist attacks on U.S. foreign policy and “Tel Aviv.”

In a letter sent today to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice (see below), UN Watch demanded that Falk be condemned.

For more on Falk, who was recently expelled by the Human Rights Watch organization yet retains his UN position, click here. Continue reading ‘Exclusive: UN official blames America for Boston Marathon terror attacks’

Times of London: Hamas razes historic site for ‘terror training camp’

EU is asked to act as ancient ruins in the Gaza Strip proposed as World Heritage Site are bulldozed by militants, writes Sheera Frenkel

By Sheera Frenkel

Times of London, April 18, National Edition, pg. 36,

Palestinian militants in Gaza have started to bulldoze part of a complex of ancient ruins, including the remains of a Roman temple, to build what a UN agency described as “a terrorist training ground”.

Part of the 3,000-year-old Anthedon harbour was seized last month by the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip in defiance of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. Last year the mainstream Palestinian administration nominated the ruins as a Unesco World Heritage site. Continue reading ‘Times of London: Hamas razes historic site for ‘terror training camp’’

U.S. condemns Syrian membership on U.N. human rights committee as it meets in Paris

GENEVA, April 10 – UN Watch welcomed U.S. condemnation today of Syria’s membership on a 30-country United Nations human rights committee that is meeting in Paris this week, part of a two-week UNESCO Executive Board session that opened today.

UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights NGO, heads a global campaign of more than 50 parliamentarians,human rights and religious groups that has repeatedly called for Syria’s expulsion and urged action by US, the EU and the UN.

“Having the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad as a global judge of human rights is like appointing a pyromaniac to be a firefighter,” said Neuer. “UNESCO is allowing the Assad regime to strut in Paris as a U.N. human rights arbiter — it’s immoral, indefensible and an insult to Syria’s victims.” Continue reading ‘U.S. condemns Syrian membership on U.N. human rights committee as it meets in Paris’

Rwandan genocide commemorated, Who is taking care of the Syrian people?

This week the UN commemorates the horrific Rwandan Genocide. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message is clear: “Collectively, we must go beyond words and effectively safeguard people at risk.”  Furthermore, he took the opportunity to commend the “all too few” who defended their fellow humans.  Which begs the question, who is defending the Syrian people?

Continue reading ‘Rwandan genocide commemorated, Who is taking care of the Syrian people?’

Hightlights, Resolutions & Voting Results of HRC 22nd Session

On March 22 and 23, 2013, the UN Human Rights Council votes on the draft resolutions. Below are the session’s highlights as well as the vote on important resolutions.

Positive developments

  • Creation of Commission of Inquiry for North Korea for 1 year by consensus.
  • Extension of mandates for Syria, Iran, North Korea and Myanmar.
  • Condemnation of Syria.
  • Resolution on Sri Lanka to promote accountability and reconciliation.
  • Resolutions on Mali, Libya and Haiti.
  • Resolutions on human rights defenders, torture, freedom of religion.
  • The US and the EU decried item 7.

Negative developments

  • The Council failed to address in its resolutions the violations by the worst abusers such as Cuba, China, Russia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Click here for NGO resolutions on these countries.
  • Six one-sided resolutions against Israel.
  • Minutes of silence for Hugo Chavez and Stéphane Hessel.
  • The speech by Cuba democracy activist Rosa Maria Paya was interrupted by 6 countries; only the  US supported her right to speak. The Cuban comments of “mercenaries” and “fake NGOs” were not rejected by the Ambassadors of Ecuador and Switzerland who were presiding over the sessions.
  • The Council’s historic resolution on LBGT rights (A/HRC/RES/17/19 of the June 2011 session), which led to a panel during on 7 March 2012 session, has had no follow-up. It is common practice that such thematic resolutions are adopted once a year.
  • Pakistan’s UPR adoption contained only praise.
  • Resolutions on OHCHR staffing, Durban follow-up.

Condemnatory Country-Specific Resolutions:

Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (A/HRC/22/L.19)
Submitted by Japan and Ireland on behalf of the EU.
Adopted March 21, 2013 without a vote.

Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar (A/HRC/22/L.20/Rev.1)
Submitted by: Ireland on behalf of the EU.
Adopted March 21, 2013 without a vote.

Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (A/HRC/22/L.22)
Submitted by: Sweden, USA, Panama, Moldova, and Macedonia.
Vote Result: Adopted March 22, 2013 by a vote of 26 in favor, 2 against (Pakistan, Venezuela), 17 abstentions (African countries, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, UAE), 2 absent (Kazakhstan, Qatar).

Situation of Human Rights in the Syrian Arab Republic (A/HRC/22/L.31/Rev.1)
Submitted by: Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE.
Vote Result: Adopted March 22, 2013 by a vote of 41 in favor, 1 against (Venezuela), 5 abstentions (Ecuador, India, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Uganda)
The resolution included some stronger language but also reference to accountability by “all parties.”

Continue reading ‘Hightlights, Resolutions & Voting Results of HRC 22nd Session’

Born in Sin: The Hidden Origin of the U.N. Human Rights Council

With the New York Times and other high-minded critics slamming Israel for allegedly violating the principles of the UN Human Rights Council, it is worth recalling how, in June 2007,  the council itself acted with flagrant illegality and dishonesty — flouting its its own basic procedures, and then rewriting history to cover it up — in order to falsely claim the “consensus” adoption of its permanent agenda, which unfairly singles out Israel for selective treatment.

To block Canada from calling a vote and registering its objection to this gross form of anti-Israel bias, the council falsely claimed the decision was already taken.

UN Watch documented all of the illegality, dishonesty and ensuing cover-up. Canada, the US, and Poland filed official complaints to the UN that further detailed these gross irregularities.  See key links below. Continue reading ‘Born in Sin: The Hidden Origin of the U.N. Human Rights Council’

Resolution on Palestinian Women, Only Situation-Specific Text

Last Friday as the UN Commission on the Status of Women’s 57th session drew to a close, a text on the Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Women, was approved.  Israel and the US were the only two countries to vote against the resolution of the 37 delegations present.

The, now annual, resolution was the only one before the Council that focused on a specific situation, indicating the continued selectivity UN bodies employ with regards to Israel. Thus prompting Israel’s delegate to call it “one-sided”, “biased” and “”unhelpful.”

Continue reading ‘Resolution on Palestinian Women, Only Situation-Specific Text’

This morning: Nobel Peace Laureate addressed UN debate on settlements

Nobel Peace Laureate David Trimble, member of the British House of Lords, took the floor in this morning’s UN Human Rights Council debate on a new report by a fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements, to deliver the following statement on behalf of the Geneva non-governmental organization UN Watch.

_________

Statement by United Nations Watch
to be delivered by The Right Honourable David Trimble
Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey
18 March 2013
Check against delivery

Thank you, Mr. President.

On receiving the Nobel Peace Prize 15 years ago, I cited Edmund Burke. My experience in Northern Ireland underlines his insistence that every idea or proposal derives its merit from circumstance, which carries more weight than abstraction and ideology.

I am a firm believer in a two-state solution, which will require difficult compromises.

This report, however, does not help. By urging the removal of all settlers living beyond the green line, the report is inconsistent with Security Council Resolution 242, endorsed by the Council decision establishing this commission.

It could lead to the utterly grotesque consequence that the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem should be returned to the desolate condition that existed between 1948 and 1967.
Continue reading ‘This morning: Nobel Peace Laureate addressed UN debate on settlements’

UN marks International Remembrance Day of Victims of Slavery, whilst Mauritania continues to sit on the body’s Human Rights Council.

Today, activities kick-off at the UN in the lead up to International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, marked on March 25th. Events will include an exhibition, a film screening, a book signing, a culinary evening and a concert, as well as briefings and a “Solemn Commemorative Meeting.”

Yet, whilst the UN marks this day in the most respectable fashion, it does not show this same respect for the real victims of slavery, who continue to suffer whilst the international community ignores their cries. Continue reading ‘UN marks International Remembrance Day of Victims of Slavery, whilst Mauritania continues to sit on the body’s Human Rights Council.’

Monday is Hate Israel Day at the UN

GENEVA, March 17- Tomorrow is Hate Israel Day at the UN. In the dystopian universe of George Orwell’s 1984, everyone was forced to undergo a daily “Two Minute of Hate.” In the the dystopian universe of the UN Human Rights Council — where slave-holding Mauritania chaired the debates last week, where Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Venezuela are newly elected members, and where a Cuban-led declaration says war is peace — the built-in schedule of every session includes one day dedicated solely to spewing hate against the Jewish state.

Headlining the program this time will be the presentation of a report by a “Fact Finding Mission” on how Israeli settlements are the direct cause of all Palestinian ills. As we explained here, the probe was a sham, its verdict having been declared in advance. Continue reading ‘Monday is Hate Israel Day at the UN’

Declaración de United Nations Watch, Dado por Rosa María Payá

Declaración de United Nations Watch, Consejo de Derechos Humanos, 22 ª reunión, el tema 4, Dado por Rosa María Payá, 12 de marzo 2013

Gracias, señor presidente.

Mi nombre es Rosa María Payá, del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación e hija su coordinador nacional Oswaldo Payá, líder opositor y Premio Sajarov del Parlamento Europeo.

Mi padre dedicó su vida a trabajar por los cambios pacíficos legales para que los cubanos disfrutaran de todos los derechos.

Promovió el Proyecto Varela, demanda de referéndum apoyada por más de 25 000 ciudadanos, que han desafiado la represión para exigir cambios en las leyes que garanticen la libertad de expresión, asociación, elecciones libres, libertad de los presos políticos  pacíficos y la posibilidad de tener empresas privadas. Hasta hoy el gobierno se niega a realizar este plebiscito y encarceló a la mayoría de sus líderes. Continue reading ‘Declaración de United Nations Watch, Dado por Rosa María Payá’

New York Times: “Palestinians are not a people”

Did the New York Times really say the Palestinians are not a people? Well, no, and, of course, never.

But one week after world leaders condemned the Turkish prime minister for calling Zionism a crime against humanity, the Times apparently had no trouble giving coveted space from its online Opinion page to a manifesto by an unknown college teacher arguing that Israel has no right to exist, and that the very idea of a Jewish people — “scattered across the globe, speaking many different languages and defined largely by religion” — present a “difficult case.”

We had thought the League of Nations and the United Nations long ago settled this question within the tribunals of international law. But apparently not for Amhert professor Joseph Levine, nor for the New York Times.

Levine takes it as a given that the Palestinian Arabs have a natural claim to the same right of self-determination that he is so quick to deny to Israel and Jewish people. Indeed he argues that the very idea of Israel as a Jewish state “is in fact a violation of the right to self-determination” of its Palestinian inhabitants. (By the way, the UN resolution of 29 November 1947 embracing the creation of a “Jewish state” mentions that term no less than 30 times.)

The poorly argued article is replete with other such glaring self-contradictions, is poorly written, and offers so little of value in originality, creativity or timeliness, that one has to wonder why the world’s top newspaper decided to publish it.

In other writings, Levine’s bitter hatred for Israel and his native-born Judaism are more overtly stated:

Let’s be clear what founding the Jewish State of Israel involved, and continues to involve. We came into another people’s land — admittedly, after enduring centuries of oppression ourselves — kicked them out brutally, and treated those who remained like dirt. We continue to oppress Palestinians horribly, and shamelessly exploit our own history of oppression and guilt-trip the rest of the world into letting us get away with it. This is how God’s people act? Not any God I wanted to have anything to do with.

Qatari First Lady attacks Israel when speaking on Education

On Friday, March 1, 2013, the Human Rights Council held a “High-Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered opening remarks.

UN Photo: "Secretary-General Meets Qatari First Lady and MDG Advocate," Geneva, March 1, 2013

One of the keynote speakers was Sheika Moza bint Nazer, Consort of the Emir of the State of Qatar, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education. In a panel that was meant to discuss education and MDGs, she used the opportunity to make politicized and biased arguments against Israel.

In the beginning of her speech, refering to Israel’s no show at the UPR, she argued:

We must not allow the legitimacy of the Human Rights Council to be jeopardized by one country. I urge council to use all appropriate measures to ensure that this review continues to be an equal process.

Further on, the only example she offered when discussing education during conflict was Gaza:

It is unacceptable that education continues to be a victim of conflict. Take the example of Gaza, where the impact of the blockage continues to have a crippling effect, especially on education. Schools have been damaged. Supplies, from chairs to textbooks and pencils, cannot get in.

Since 2009, the Al Fakhoora program has been working with UNDP to enable young people to pursue higher education. Helping to reconstruct buildings. Providing psycho-social support

It is seeking to address some of the damage caused by same country that is trying now to escape scrutiny of its human rights record through the Universal Periodic Review.

It is morally wrong and sad when people misuse the UN podium and UN titles, both meant to address universal issues, in repeating short-sighted political arguments of their national governments.

Turkey’s Erdogan Calls Zionism A “Crime Against Humanity” at UN Conference

GENEVA, February 28, 2013 – UN Watch expressed shock over anti-Jewish remarks delivered by Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan at a UN summit for tolerance, and urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon — who was present on the stage yet stayed silent — to speak out and condemn the speech. The Geneva-based human rights group also called on Erdogan to apologize, and hoped US President Obama would press him to do so.

Speaking yesterday before a Vienna forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, a UN framework for West-Islam dialogue, Erdogan called Zionism, the movement founded in 1897 for Jewish self-determination, a “crime against humanity,” likening it with anti-Semitism, fascism, and Islamophobia. click here for Turkish news report. Continue reading ‘Turkey’s Erdogan Calls Zionism A “Crime Against Humanity” at UN Conference’

UN researcher reports UN session on Israel that never happened

Nicola Perugini, a UN researcher in the Palestinian territories for UNESCO and UNIFEM (the UN women’s fund), and who has academic positions at Bard College’s Al Quds program and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, should be removed from his UN and scholarly posts on grounds of utter incompetence.

His Feb. 22 Al Jazaeera article on the latest UNHRC report on Israeli settlements tells us all about a session in January which, in fact, never took place:

Continue reading ‘UN researcher reports UN session on Israel that never happened’

UN: Sudan to Chair ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs

When Sudan was elected at the end of January as Vice-President of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UN Watch, together with film star Mia Farrow rightly objected.

ECOSOC is a top U.N. body that regulated human rights groups, shapes the composition of key U.N. women’s rights bodies, and adopts resolutions on subjects ranging from Internet freedom to female genital mutilation. Genocidal Sudan, therefore, seemed a highly inappropriate choice.

Yet UN Watch’s calls to condemn this appointment fell on deaf ears, with neither UN chief Ban Ki-moon nor human rights commissioner Navi Pillay making a statement against this absurdity.

Last week, however, Sudan’s appointment became even more outrageous when ECOSOC President Néstor Osorio of Columbia informed delegations that Sudan would be chairing the humanitarian affairs segment of the Council’s work.

Continue reading ‘UN: Sudan to Chair ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs’

Moynihan’s Moment: the historic 1975 U.N. speech in response to “Zionism is Racism”

On the occasion of the acclaimed new book “Moynihan’s Moment” by McGill University historian Gil Troy, we feature the historic 1975 speech delivered right after the U.N. declared that “Zionism is racism.” The resolution was repealed in 1991, but its spirit tragically lives on in the form of the U.N.’s enduring obsession with condemning Israel.

________

Speech to the United Nations General Assembly, by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, November 10, 1975. Source: U.S. Congressional Record.

The United States rises to declare before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and before the world, that it does not acknowledge, it will not abide by, it will never acquiesce in this infamous act. Continue reading ‘Moynihan’s Moment: the historic 1975 U.N. speech in response to “Zionism is Racism”’

UNGA to ratify 2012 Human Rights Council decisions tomorrow

Through the resolution below, set for adoption on Dec. 20, the U.N. General Assembly will formally ratify all of the 2012 resolutions and decisions — many of them despicable — of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The Report of the Human Rights Council incorporates by reference the decisions referenced in A/HRC/19/2 (including the appointment of Alfred De Zayas, a hero to Holocaust deniers; see p. 316), A/HRC/20/21 and A/HRC/S-19/2, while the Addendum incorporates decisions referenced in A/HRC/21/2.

Draft resolution A/C.3/67/L.59

Report of the Human Rights Council

The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 60/251 of 15 March 2006, by which it established the Human Rights Council, and 65/281 of 17 June 2011, by which it reviewed the Council,
Recalling also its resolutions 62/219 of 22 December 2007, 63/160 of 18 December 2008, 64/143 of 18 December 2009, 65/195 of 21 December 2010 and 66/136 of 19 December 2011,
Having considered the recommendations contained in the report of the Human Rights Council (*)
1.  Takes note of the report of the Human Rights Council, including the addendum thereto, and its recommendations.
____________
*  Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 53 and corrigendum (A/67/53 and Corr.1) and Supplement No. 53A (A/67/53/Add.1).

Hypocrisy: UN adopts 9 resolutions on Palestinians & Golan, yet silent on Syrian massacre of Palestinians

See list of today’s resolutions below

GENEVA, December 18 – The U.N. General Assembly today adopted nine resolutions on Palestinian rights and the Golan, sharply criticizing Israel yet making no mention of Sunday’s massacre of Palestinians by Syrian warplanes firing missiles into a mosque in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus. Nor did the texts mention the tens of thousands of Palestinians who continue to flee the camp.

By the end of this week, the current 2012 UNGA session will have adopted 22 country-specific resolutions on Israel – and only four on the rest of the world combined, one each for Syria, Iran, North Korea and Burma, noted UN Watch.

Today’s resolutions criticized Israel for “the continuing systematic violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people,” and focused on “the extremely difficult socioeconomic conditions being faced by the Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

One resolution condemned Israel for holding on to the Golan Heights, demanding Israel hand the land and its people to Syria.

“It’s astonishing,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “At a time when the Syrian regime is massacring its own people, how can the U.N. call for more people to be subject to Assad’s rule? The timing of today’s text is morally galling and logically absurd.”

“What is also outrageous is that these resolutions claim to care about Palestinians, yet the U.N. proves itself completely oblivious to the actual suffering on the ground, happening right now: Palestinians slaughtered, maimed and expelled by Assad’s forces.”

“Today’s farce at the General Assembly underscores a simple fact: the U.N.’s automatic majority has no interest in truly helping Palestinians, nor in protecting anyone’s human rights; the goal of these ritual, one-sided condemnations remains the scapegoating of Israel,” said Neuer.

“The U.N.’s disproportionate assault against the Jewish state undermines the credibility of what is supposed to be an impartial and respected international body, and exposes the sores of politicisation and selectivity that eat away at its founding mission, eroding the U.N. Charter promise of equal treatment to all nations large and small,” Neuer added.

“With more than 40,000 killed in Syria, and millions of Syrian refugees suffering now in the cold of winter, it ought to shock the conscience of mankind that the U.N. will devoting more than 80 percent of this session’s resolutions to Israel, and just one, on Thursday, to Syria.”

Below are the draft texts that were endorsed today by the UN General Assembly. In total, by the end of this week the UNGA will have  adopted 22 resolutions on Israel — and 4 on the rest of the world combined. Continue reading ‘Hypocrisy: UN adopts 9 resolutions on Palestinians & Golan, yet silent on Syrian massacre of Palestinians’

Human Rights Watch Expels Top U.N. Official Richard Falk

GENEVA, Dec. 18 – Human Rights Watch has just expelled top U.N. official Richard Falk from one of its committees, where he helped played a key role in the organization’s global work.

UN Watch, an unrelated non-governmental organization based in Geneva, had called for HRW to sack Falk from the post, noting he has been condemned for spreading antisemitism and 9/11 conspiracies by British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

“We commend Human Rights Watch and its director Kenneth Roth for doing the right thing, and finally removing this enemy of human rights from their important organization,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. Continue reading ‘Human Rights Watch Expels Top U.N. Official Richard Falk’

Hypocrisy at the UN: dictatorships reject “country-specific” resolutions, then adopt 22 country-specific resolutions on Israel

In an astonishing display of hypocrisy even by U.N. standards, numerous country delegates gave impassioned speeches last week objecting to the adoption of resolutions criticizing the murderous regimes of IranNorth Korea and Syria, saying they rejected the practice of singling out specific countries; and then proceeded, only moments later, to vote for a resolution — which most of them also co-sponsored — singling out democratic Israel.

There will be a total of 22 one-sided resolutions targeting the Jewish state in this session of the U.N. General Assembly, and only 4 on the rest of the world combined. Continue reading ‘Hypocrisy at the UN: dictatorships reject “country-specific” resolutions, then adopt 22 country-specific resolutions on Israel’

U.N. slams Iran human rights violations in Canadian-led resolution

Today’s resolution on “the Situation of Human Rights in Iran” passed the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee by a vote of 83 to 31, with 68 abstaining.

This is the 10th year that Canada led this now-annual resolution, along with 42 other state co-sponsors. The resolution will proceed to the UN General Assembly Plenary for consideration, where it typically receives a similar voting result.

Here is the full text: UNGA Iran res Nov 2012; at bottom are selected quotes.

Canada’s leading position today in fighting Iranian abuses is partly due to the work in that country of Iranian-born human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam, whose compelling 2009 U.N. testimony follows below.

A/C.3/67/L.51

Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Continue reading ‘U.N. slams Iran human rights violations in Canadian-led resolution’

U.N. blacks out memo admitting Human Rights Council failure on Sri Lanka accountability

The U.N. censored an internal memo showing how top officials recognized the failure of the world body’s Human Rights Council when it came to seeking accountability for Sri Lanka’s killing of an estimated 40,000 civilians in 2009.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had established a Panel of Experts to look into the conflict and its aftermath. One of the recommendations of its 2011 report was for the Human Rights Council “to reconsider its May 2009 Special Session resolution regarding Sri Lanka, in light of this report.”

That session, called by the European Union, had been hijacked by Sri Lanka’s allies, and ended up praising the Sri Lankan government, rather than condemning its atrocities.

A second recommendation asked for the U.N. to conduct “a comprehensive review of action by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates.” Ban Ki-moon established a follow-up panel to do just that.

The second panel’s conclusions were released on 14 November 2012. The panel found that “the United Nations system failed to meet its responsibilities, highlighting, in particular, the roles played by the Secretariat, the agencies and programmes of the United Nations country team, and the members of the Security Council and Human Rights Council.”

The published report included several parts that were blacked out. Inner City Press published the same document, noting how the blacked-out parts are readable by a simple copy-paste. Continue reading ‘U.N. blacks out memo admitting Human Rights Council failure on Sri Lanka accountability’

Unqualified countries celebrate election to UN rights bodies

In the last few days, the General Assembly elected members to the Economic and Social Council and to the Human Rights Council. Both bodies deal with human rights issues around the world. UN Watch objected to the election of Sudan to ECOSOC and also found 7 candidates for the Human Rights to be unqualified. To add insult to injury, many of the unqualified countries trumpeted their election as international recognition of the high level of respect of human rights domestically. Examples abound:

  • Masood Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UN: “We won the election of the Human Rights Council and it is a strong validation of Pakistan commitment to the promotion and protection of Human Rights.”
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan: “ The success in the election demonstrates Pakistan’s strong commitment to human rights and the international community’s confidence in Pakistan’s substantial contributions at the Human Rights Council and its affiliated bodies.”
  • Jorge Valero, Ambassador of  Venezuela to the UN “rejected criticism of the election. He said the vote result was a “powerful” statement about democracy and human rights in his country.”
  • Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE: “The UAE win of the seat for the next three years will lay on our shoulders additional onus and commitment to stay our course firmly consistent with constitutional principles on which the UAE state is built and which places respect for human rights at the top of national priorities … The achievement highlighted the values and culture of the UAE which are based on tolerance, openness, justice, equality and human dignity.”
  • Altay Abibullayev, spokesperson for Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “We are pleased to have been elected to the UN Human Rights Council. But we do not consider it solely as a badge of honor. We see it as an opportunity to contribute to global efforts for making progress in this crucial field. The Republic of Kazakhstan has been actively supporting the work of the Human Rights Council and human rights generally.”

Likewise, at the ECOSOC elections:

  • Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry: the election “is an important success of the state in its foreign policy, as well as confirmation of the support from the international community to the social, economic, and democratic reforms in the country.”
  • Kuwait news agency: “The General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly elected Kuwait as member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the period 2013-2015, in recognition of its contribution to global development.”

Human Rights Council Elections Results

African Group
Cote d’Ivoire  183
Ethiopia  178
Gabon  187
Kenya  180
Sierra Leone  182

Latin America
Argentina  176
Brazil  184
Venezuela  154

Western Group (only top 3 get elected)
Germany  127
Greece  78
Ireland  124
Sweden  75
USA  131

Asian Group
Japan  182
Kazakhstan  183
Pakistan  171
South Korea  176
UAE  184

Eastern European Group
Estonia  184
Montenergo  182

Germany promises dictatorships “no confrontation” to win UNHRC seat

How’s this for absurd? It seems that for Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Greece and the United States to win one of three allotted Western seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council, our democracies are obliged to prostrate themselves before the world’s worst dictatorships.

Each candidate requires a minimum of 97 affirmative votes in tomorrow’s U.N. General Assembly ballot; the three with the most votes win.  See full details in UN Watch’s new report.

Because there are so many non-democracies and tyrannies among the 193 voting nations, candidates like Germany are effectively promising to give gross violators a free pass, perpetuate the Council’s dysfunctional functioning as a toothless talk shop, and proclaim that Western democracies are no better than anyone else.

Here’s what we learn from AFP:

The Geneva-based council’s new importance could be seen by the stepped up lobbying for spots. Germany sent foreign minister Guido Westerwelle to New York this week to press his country’s case.
“This is really a key issue, human rights, for us,” Westerwelle told a reception for UN ambassadors. Specifically, here is what he promised the voters:
The Human Rights Council should not be a venue for making “sweeping allegations,” the minister added.

Report on 2013-15 UNHRC Candidates (Venezuela, Pakistan, Kazakhstan…)

Here it is: the UN Watch Report on 2013-15 HRC Candidates. Vote is this Monday, Nov. 9, 2012.

Outrage: U.N. Elects Genocidal Sudan to Top Human Rights Body

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2012 — UN Watch, the Geneva-based non-governmental human rights group, called on UN chief Ban Ki-moon, rights commissioner Navi Pillay, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and the EU’s Catherine Ashton to condemn today’s U.N. election of “genocidal, misogynistic and repressive” Sudan to its 54-member Economic and Social Council, a top U.N. body that regulates human rights groups, shapes the composition of key U.N. women’s rights bodies, and adopts resolutions on areas from Internet freedom to female genital mutilation.

“It’s an outrage,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “Electing genocidal Sudan to a global human rights body is like choosing Jack the Ripper to guard a women’s shelter. This diminishes the credibility of the United Nations human rights system and casts a shadow upon the reputation of the organization as a whole.” Continue reading ‘Outrage: U.N. Elects Genocidal Sudan to Top Human Rights Body’

Ken Roth Flip-Flop: HRW Promised ICC Wouldn’t Target Israel, Yet Now Lobbies for It

(Note: See Nov. 30 update below.)

Will the International Criminal Court be used as a political weapon against Israel? Should it?

In 2001, when trying to convince Americans to buy into the ICC, Human Rights Watch promised one thing; now it actively lobbies for the opposite.

Today, Human Rights Watch director Ken Roth criticized a New York Times editorial that he says “ignores key effect of Palestine observer state: possibility of joining [the] ICC and deterring both sides’ war crimes.”

This is hardly the first time that Human Rights Watch has justified and supported the Palestinian attempt to use the International Criminal Court in The Hague to pursue politically motivated cases against Israel: Continue reading ‘Ken Roth Flip-Flop: HRW Promised ICC Wouldn’t Target Israel, Yet Now Lobbies for It’