Who'se a Hypocrite?
Imagine a panel of objective adjudicators judging the credibility of individuals appearing before them for the purpose of persuading the panel that their informants' conclusions that all is not entirely well with their countries' observations of human rights hearing statements such as these:
But this is a new group, named the Human Rights Council. And on this council sit countries like Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia to name but a few of the member-states of the 47-member council. Canada included. What glorious company Canada has on this illustrious human-rights-defending council. And what demonstrates most clearly the sterling work done by this council?
The Human Rights Council established an ad hoc committee to look into the situation in Darfur; the report they produced placed blame squarely on the Arab-led government of Khartoum as being deliberately behind most of the violence during which tens of thousands of black Darfurians have been murdered, women and children raped, and several million people displaced. The Khartoum government, with its proxy janjaweed militia are continuing their genocidal persecution, unperturbed by world opinion.
Why should they care? They've been able to refuse the United Nations' continued requests to allow a UN peacekeeping group to monitor the situation and bring the assaults to a halt, something the ill-equipped and inadequately-trained African Union troops have been unable to do, standing by helplessly as the attacks continue. And the Human Rights Council will not itself endorse the accusation of government-sponsored genocide on the part of Khartoum. They are merely 'deeply disappointed'.
As indeed, are we all. Last month, the Geneva-based UN Watch issued a report card hitting pretty close to home, charging Canada, a member of the Human Rights Council, of rarely taking the opportunity to speak out against injustice visited upon innocent people by the world's global bullies. Canada joined other member states on the Council, in supporting the tepid disappointment evidenced in the face of Khartoum's continued murderous rampage on its civilians.
But Hillel Neuer, head of the UN Watch monitoring group made no secret of the fact that the reincarnation of the discredited Human Rights Commission is as critically infiltrated by human-rights-abusing countries as its failed predecessor. Their resolutions are invariably engineered o excuse the worst human-rights excesses, for it simply makes sense that those who practise such abuse cannot afford to point a finger of accusation at others whose abuses may simply be slightly more egregious than their own.
The Human Rights Council will permit some criticism of its members and their findings; witness the examples above. But it will not countenance criticism that places the onus of responsibility upon it to produce resolutions that are meaningful, when their constant critiques against one country and one country alone are juxtaposed with their track record. It's perfectly all right in their considered group opinion to denounce perceived human rights violations focused on Israel, and this it regularly engages in.
Mr. Neuer hit a sore nerve in the collective sensibilities when he used forbidden terms such as "Middle East dictators", the "racist murderers and rapists of Darfur women", the "occupiers of Tibet", and the "butchers of Muslims in Chechnya". Hits too close to home for comfort.
- The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations addresses a letter to the panel terming the Holocaust a "historical claim", disputing the "number of perished".
- The Nigerian ambassador to the UN speaks of attacks on homosexuals as having a certain air of legitimacy, for "Death penalty by stoning for unnatural sexual acts should not be equated with extrajudicial killings".
- A Sudanese official in support of his country's actions against its black population claiming that "Incidents of violence against women have been exaggerated".
- The Cuban ambassador to the UN derides a UN expert's report on human-rights abuses in Cuba as "libellous", informing her that "there is a significant contribution you can make, and that would be by quitting."
- The delegate from Zimbabwe hails his Finnish counterpart as "ignorant", accusing him of "astonishing and astounding hypocrisy".
But this is a new group, named the Human Rights Council. And on this council sit countries like Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia to name but a few of the member-states of the 47-member council. Canada included. What glorious company Canada has on this illustrious human-rights-defending council. And what demonstrates most clearly the sterling work done by this council?
The Human Rights Council established an ad hoc committee to look into the situation in Darfur; the report they produced placed blame squarely on the Arab-led government of Khartoum as being deliberately behind most of the violence during which tens of thousands of black Darfurians have been murdered, women and children raped, and several million people displaced. The Khartoum government, with its proxy janjaweed militia are continuing their genocidal persecution, unperturbed by world opinion.
Why should they care? They've been able to refuse the United Nations' continued requests to allow a UN peacekeeping group to monitor the situation and bring the assaults to a halt, something the ill-equipped and inadequately-trained African Union troops have been unable to do, standing by helplessly as the attacks continue. And the Human Rights Council will not itself endorse the accusation of government-sponsored genocide on the part of Khartoum. They are merely 'deeply disappointed'.
As indeed, are we all. Last month, the Geneva-based UN Watch issued a report card hitting pretty close to home, charging Canada, a member of the Human Rights Council, of rarely taking the opportunity to speak out against injustice visited upon innocent people by the world's global bullies. Canada joined other member states on the Council, in supporting the tepid disappointment evidenced in the face of Khartoum's continued murderous rampage on its civilians.
But Hillel Neuer, head of the UN Watch monitoring group made no secret of the fact that the reincarnation of the discredited Human Rights Commission is as critically infiltrated by human-rights-abusing countries as its failed predecessor. Their resolutions are invariably engineered o excuse the worst human-rights excesses, for it simply makes sense that those who practise such abuse cannot afford to point a finger of accusation at others whose abuses may simply be slightly more egregious than their own.
The Human Rights Council will permit some criticism of its members and their findings; witness the examples above. But it will not countenance criticism that places the onus of responsibility upon it to produce resolutions that are meaningful, when their constant critiques against one country and one country alone are juxtaposed with their track record. It's perfectly all right in their considered group opinion to denounce perceived human rights violations focused on Israel, and this it regularly engages in.
Mr. Neuer hit a sore nerve in the collective sensibilities when he used forbidden terms such as "Middle East dictators", the "racist murderers and rapists of Darfur women", the "occupiers of Tibet", and the "butchers of Muslims in Chechnya". Hits too close to home for comfort.
Labels: Politics of Convenience
posted by Pieface | 5:02 PM
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