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| International | |
| Al-Guardian: Anger at UN Role for Human Rights Violators | |
| 2003-04-21 | |
| Human rights organisations are protesting at the inclusion of countries with some of the worst records of abuses on a list of candidates for election to the main United Nations watchdog. It's about time, guys..... North Korea, Iran and Nigeria are likely to win membership of the UN Commission on Human Rights in an election either at the end of this month or early next. Egypt is another candidate and, even though its abuses are not on the same scale as the others, it has been conducting a vigorous campaign against homosexuals. The chair of the commission, which is holding its annual meeting in Geneva, is held at present by Libya, another member with a list of deplorable violations. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among the organisations which are complaining that the inclusion of these countries makes a mockery of the organisation, and are urging reform of the process. The New York-based Human Rights Watch described the list of candidate countries as "a Who's Who of the worst human rights abusers." Seeking re-election are other countries with poor records: Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The body has a membership of 53, each serving a two-year term. It catalogues human rights abuses, investigates claims and puts pressure on governments to change. Very successfully, too (snort) A group of countries with poor records can block or slow the work of the commission. Hmm....think that might be the point of it all? Other members seeking election this year are Eritrea, Mauritania, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Qatar, Hungary, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal. Seeking re-election are Britain, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Peru, South Africa and Thailand. Amnesty International said it would like to see a benchmark set for membership: each candidate would have to ratify guarantees of basic human rights and open its borders to investigators. Melinda Ching, a spokeswoman for Amnesty, said that without such a benchmark, the signal being sent out was that the commission "lures those countries that have been under the body's spotlight - North Korea, Iran - into gaining membership to the UN's supreme human rights body for the very purpose of deflecting criticism of each other's human rights situations". The problem for the UN is that if it was to apply such a strict benchmark, relatively few countries could stand for election. Why is this a problem? While deploring their records, the UN believes there is a better chance of changing these countries if they are included rather than excluded. Yeah, you might damage their self-esteem....can't have that. North Korea has no right of free speech or religion, and carries out public executions. It also known for extensive use of torture. Executions are commonplace in Iran, and Nigeria was in the spotlight last year over the stoning of women under sharia law for alleged infidelity. Doesn't the same kind of thing happen in Libya, the country chairing the commission? Why discriminate against these guys?
Already on the commission are Zimbabwe, whose government has been terrorising its political opponents, and Sudan, another country where human rights are regularly abused. Hey, if Bob Mugabe is good enough for Chirac, he's good enough for the commission! Michael Cashman, the British MEP, yesterday accused Egypt of seeking to block a new UN declaration against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation that is being put forward at the Geneva meeting. Mr Cashman said: "Not only does the Egyptian government openly and repeatedly violate human rights through their entrapment and torture of homosexuals, but now they are lobbying countries in the UN to allow these medieval attitudes to sexuality to continue." | |
| Posted by:Baba Yaga |
| #6 All those who come down on the side of staying with the U N despite the fact that the U N is full of thugish regimes who continuously violate human rights just dont seem to understand that with a little out of the box thinking the US could set up a new organization with like minded states who put Human Rights above all else. If this is not the central issue for Government, what is? If Human rights and government are not the central issue of each other, than the very notion of nation states is deminished to the extent that those who believe governments are not about standards of living of citizens, than those governments are nothing but power brokers for potential human suffering. In these cases, Politics is the ruling metric, politics goes hand in hand with corruption, and these are unacceptable standards by which the worlds business is conducted. Political hegemony is the root of all evil, no case lives outside this simple statement. Not one example can be made that refutes this truth. All corruption, all human rights abuses flow from the current metric where politics over rides morality and ethics. We need a New U N based on the courage of leaders willing to break with the past and move into a future where every individuals rights are as valued as every others. |
| Posted by: AnonymousLy yours 2003-04-21 17:31:48 |
| #5 Maybe we cn get John Rocker for the next "I Luv NYC" commercials. |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2003-04-21 17:07:04 |
| #4 Why did the UN let those countries in in the first place whose definition of a human rights abuse is to give any rights to the people!? |
| Posted by: KP 2003-04-21 16:40:50 |
| #3 Sounds like AI is finally getting the message. While I may not always agree with them they should finally start to show some backbone. If the organization is about human rights then they should put their money were their mouth is. |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-04-21 16:36:22 |
| #2 Well, I hope that they enjoy themselves in another useless debating society division of the UN. I would like to see a financial report of the UNCHR, if it is not "classified." I would particularly like to see if we (the US) are throwing any money down this rathole, and how much. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-04-21 16:30:33 |
| #1 excuse me but torture, imprisonment and murder of homosexuals is not a medieval attitude but a muslim attitude. Just ask Dr Mahatir - how is Anwar these days? Or next time Al-Muhajiroun rally in Trafalgar Square, ask for their pamphlet on the solution to 'homosexual perversion'. I think you'll find it involves a number of rocks being thrown at a person buried up to their neck in the ground until they are dead. |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-04-21 21:44:43 |