...an idea whose time has gone...
human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
chief today condemned the reported "cold-blooded" mass execution in Iraq in recent days, while Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
urged that the perpetrators of those crimes be brought to justice while also calling on Iraqi leaders to prevent sectarian reprisals.
Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that UN staff and other sources on the ground reported the executions of hundreds of Iraqis following last week"s capture of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
and other population centres by forces allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL), including disarmed soldiers as well as religious leaders and other civilians.
"Based on corroborated reports from a number of sources, it appears that hundreds of non-combatant men were summarily executed over the past five days, including surrendered or captured soldiers, military conscripts, police and others associated with the Government," said Ms. Pillay.