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US publicly rebuked by UN Human Rights Committee
 GENEVA - The US delegation appearing before the UN Human Rights Committee was on Friday publicly rebuked for its supercilious attitude by the committees president.
Speaking to journalists during a briefing, Committee President Christine Chanet said the US delegation seemed to think that international law on matters of human rights did not apply to them beyond their territory.
However, said Chanet, the International Court of Justice and more recently the Supreme Court in the United States had clarified the applicability of international law on the United States.
| There's a faint buzzing sound in the background ... |
The Committee, responsible for examining how each of the 156 UN member states adheres to the pact signed on civil and political rights, is currently scrutinizing the United States until the end of the month.
| ... sounds like the echoes of faint, derisive laughter ... |
One of the issues being examined is the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The US delegation had first refused to answer questions put to them and had then made it difficult for the Committee by providing answers at the last minute only in English, said Chanet.
| Good job Mr. Bolton, I like your work ... |
The international jurist considered the Americans isolated in their unilateral interpretation of international treaty law.
| Because the international community so often isolates us ... |
I also told them that the Committee is not just a recording chamber, she added. It is not just there to receive a report and record it like a court stenographer.
| No, you're not a recording chamber, you're an echo chamber ... |
The Committee is due to publish a full report when the hearing ends at the end of July.
| Sure to be a best-seller at Daily Kos and the other mouth-breathers on the Left ... |
Posted by: Steve White 2006-07-22 |
