Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday the United NationsÂ’ new human rights body risked becoming deadlocked by the same political manoeuvring that sunk its discredited predecessor. Silly me. I thought it was already there.
In a statement to the third session of the Human Rights Council, Annan urged member countries that are “truly determined to uphold human rights” to stand out against violations wherever they occur even if they risked angering regional allies. “Only by showing such courage and rigour can you avoid disappointing the many people around the world who look to the UN for support in their struggle for human rights,” Annan said.
I'm trying to think when was the last time the UN showed courage... It'll come to me, I'm sure.
He mentioned no countries, but he noted that in its first five months the Council had focused heavily on the Arab-Israeli conflict, holding three special sessions to approve resolutions condemning alleged violations by the Jewish state.
One-sided resolutions do even less than even-handed resolutions, I think.
But there were other situations in the world, particularly the crisis in the Sudan region of Darfur, which were equally or even more needing of attention, Annan said.
"Not that it's genocide or anything like that..."
“There are surely other situations, besides the one in the Middle East, which would merit scrutiny at a special session... I would suggest that Darfur is a glaring case in point,” he said. On Tuesday, for the first time, the 47-state Council passed a mildly worded resolution sponsored by African states expressing concern at human rights violations in Sudan, but it avoided placing any blame on the Khartoum government.
Remarkable. You'd almost get the impression he's counting the days, too.