Aznar: ‘Nuclear bomb in hands of ayatollahs poses threat to stability of whole world’
Dr. Massouda Jalal: ‘Women’s rights key to fighting extremism and militarization’
Spanish ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar (left) receiving UN Watch’s 2010 Guardian of Freedom Award from Executive Director Hillel Neuer (right). UN Watch annual gala, Geneva, May 27, 2010. Photo: Oliver O’Hanlon.
GENEVA, May 31, 2010 - Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Afghan women’s rights advocate and former minister Dr. Massouda Jalal were awarded human rights prizes by UN Watch on Thursday night, at the non-governmental group’s annual gala in Geneva, in the presence of more than 150 ambassadors, U.N. officials, human rights activists and community leaders. Continue reading ‘Spanish Ex-PM Aznar and Afghan women’s equality advocate win UN Watch human rights awards’
The shock of Libya’s election to the UN Human Rights Council last Thursday continues to reverberate around the globe.
In Europe, today the France 24 news channel reported that the UN’s elevation of the Qaddafi regime “has been met with outrage the world over and is echoed on the web.” Berlin’s Morgen Post, Germany’s second most-read daily newspaper, called it a “success for Muammar Qaddafi,” and reported that “human rights groups are appalled.” Switzerland’s 20 Minuten, the country’s most widely read daily, noted that Libya continues to hold Swiss hostage Max Göldi, and that some consider the UN council “a cartel of perpetrators” that makes sure nothing that could potentially harm their power is even discussed much less decided.” Continue reading ‘Global Outrage Mounts over Election of Libya to UN Human Rights Council’
Despite the determined efforts of UN Watch and its supporters, Libya won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council today in uncontested elections held at the General Assembly in New York, as did other rights abusing countries including Angola, Malaysia, and Qatar. UN Watch headed a global coalition of 37 human rights groups that fought to defeat the Qaddafi regime’s candidacy, with appeals urging the US and the EU to lead an opposition campaign. Continue reading ‘Libya Wins Seat on UN Rights Council; UN Watch Reaction Quoted in Media Worldwide’
Full results of today’s election of 14 countries as members of the UN Human Rights Council, as officially released by the UN:
Continue reading ‘Libya wins 80% support of UN for new seat on Human Rights Council; full results of elections’
‘Elections without competition don’t make sense’
Geneva, May 12, 20010 – Human rights groups are calling on the General Assembly to reject seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council for Libya, Angola, Mauritania, Qatar and Malaysia because of their poor rights records.
The world body’s 192 states are scheduled to elect 14 new members to the 47-nation council on Thursday. But with regional groups tailoring their amount of candidates to match the amount of available seats, human groups are crying foul.
“Elections without competition don’t make sense,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, whose group heads a coalition of 37 human rights organizations that campaigned for the U.S. and the E.U. to defeat Libya’s candidacy. Click here for joint NGO appeal.
“By electing serial human rights violators, the UN violates its own criteria as well as common sense,” said Neuer. “Choosing Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi to judge others on human rights is a joke. He’ll use the position not to promote human rights but to shield his record of abuse, and those of his allies. This turns the entire U.N. Human Rights Council into a joke.” Continue reading ‘Human rights groups oppose U.N. Human Rights Council seats for Qaddafi’s Libya, Angola, Mauritania, Qatar, Malaysia’
The UN Human Rights Council, dominated by dictatorships like China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia, concluded its last session by once again turning a blind eye to millions of victims of human rights violations in 187 countries, including of the well-documented repression and killings this year in Iran, China, and Nigeria.
The 47-nation council instead devoted an inordinate amount of its limited time and diplomatic resources to resolutions targeting Israel, texts that effectively legitimized Hamas terrorism. In particular, the council adopted a new resolution to perpetuate the Goldstone Report — a deeply flawed and one-sided text that rejected any Israeli self-defence as an act of “futility” – by creating a new UN committee of so-called legal experts that will keep the Hamas-supported accusations alive in future reports; requiring the UN rights chief to raise the report in future sessions; and establishing a new escrow fund for Palestinian victims of last year’s Israel-Hamas war, but not for any Israeli victims — not the dead and wounded from more than 10,000 rocket attacks, and not for the hundreds of thousands of traumatized citizens. Continue reading ‘Goldstone Altered UN Letterhead to Hide Report’s Tainted Origins’
E-Campaign to Stop Qaddafi: Click Here to Take Action
Left to right: UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer; Mohammed Eljahmi, brother of courageous Libyan dissident Fathi Eljahmi who was jailed, tortured and killed by Qaddafi regime; Freedom House Deputy Director Tom Melia. UN Watch and Freedom House organized a special UN briefing for diplomats and the press corps, urging all countries to vote against Libya in next week’s elections for the UN Human Rights Council. UN Headquarters, New York, May 4, 2010. Click here for more photos.
Continue reading ‘UN Watch Fights Libyan Bid for Seat on UN Human Rights Council’
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