45 NGOs urge UN Human Rights Council’s Jean Ziegler to resign for founding “Gaddafi Human Rights Prize”
GENEVA, Oct. 20 – UN Watch today welcomed the end of the Gaddafi regime, one of the world’s most brutal violators of human rights, and called on UN chief Ban Ki-moon and human rights commissioner Navi Pillay to acknowledge the UN was wrong to support Gaddafi by granting him key posts on its most influential bodies.
- Gaddafi apologist Najat al-Hajjaji represented Libya as chair of UN Human Rights Commission and Durban Review Conference on racism.
“It’s time for the UN to formally apologize for having legitimized Gaddafi’s regime by electing Libya to its Human Rights Council last year, to the Security Council in 2008-2009, and as General Assembly president in 2009,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based watchdog organization.
“The UN should also apologize for choosing Gaddafi’s regime to head the planning of its 2009 world conference on racism, and for designating Col. Gaddafi’s daughter Ayesha a UN Goodwill Ambassador.”
Continue reading ‘UN Should Apologize For “Legitimizing” Gaddafi with Key Posts’
he UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the Goldstone resolution this morning, with 29 in favor, 6 against and 11 abstentions. Click here for the full voting chart. The resolution, “Follow-up to the report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict,” (click here for final draft as orally amended) was submitted by Sudan on behalf of the Arab Group, Pakistan on behalf of the OIC and Palestine. The countries voting against the resolution were the Netherlands, the United States, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy and the Ukraine. Among the abstentions were the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. Continue reading ‘Israel Condemned by Human Rights Council in Goldstone Vote’
The upcoming publication of the UN’s Goldstone “fact-finding” mission on Gaza calls to mind events that occurred at the headquarters of the Human Rights Council during the January war.
Certain members of the UN staff union in Geneva were so worked up by Israel’s military operation that they flouted UN rules by organizing their own demonstration, and issued a statement supporting the biased Human Rights Council resolution that was opposed by the European Union, Canada and other democracies. Click for flyer
No such efforts were ever made by the union during the previous 8 years when Hamas fired thousands of rocket against Israeli civilians. Nor have they ever done such a demonstration for anyone else in the world.
It’s just a reminder that whenever things heat up in the Middle East, the UN explodes in efforts to condemn Israel. Even after dozens of UN institutions, agencies and officials with some ostensibly relevant mandate issue their condemnations, dozens more emerge that have no relevant mandate, or which are expressly barred from making political statements.
It’s what happened in 2006 during the Lebanon war, when the now-defunct sub-commission on human rights censured Israel — even while admitting that they were prevented by their rules from criticizing any countries — for its “massive denial and violation of human rights in Lebanon.” Not only did the statement pointedly ignore Hizbollah’s role in attacking Israel and violating the human rights of Israeli civilians, but it blatantly violated the sub-commission’s legal mandate.
The sub-commission has today been replaced by the Advisory Committee, whose chair is Halima Warzazi, and vice-chair Jean Ziegler. The former was an apologist for Saddam’s gassing of Kurds, the latter for Qaddafi’s attack on Lockerbie.
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