« C-141 "Hanoi Taxi" Landed on Friday May 5th, 2006 | Main | Mounted Gunners Seeing Clearer Thanks To New Turrets »
May 11, 2006
Cuba, Saudis, China on Rights Council
Cuba, Saudis, China on Rights Council
AP) Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia won seats on the new U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday despite their poor human rights records, but two rights abusers _ Iran and Venezuela _ were defeated.
Human rights groups said they were generally pleased with the 47 members elected to the council, which will replace the highly politicized Human Rights Commission. It was discredited in recent years because some countries with terrible rights records used their membership to protect one another from condemnation.
"The spoiler governments, the governments that have a history of trying to undermine the protection of human rights through their membership on the old commission are now a significantly reduced minority when it comes to the council," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "That doesn't guarantee that the council will be a success, but it is a step in the right direction."
Yvonne Terlingen, U.N. representative for Amnesty International, said it was "fairly pleased" that the countries elected would provide a good basis for a new "strong and effective human rights body."
"Some countries have been elected with weak human rights records, but they also are now committed to uphold the highest human rights standards," she said.
The United States opposed the establishment of the council, saying it did not go far enough to prevent rights abusers from winning seats, and the U.S. decided against being a candidate.
But U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg said "on the whole, we think it is an improvement over the commission."
"We are committed to engaging actively in the coming weeks with all of the elected members ... to make sure that this body is effective," she said. "We think think that the real test of this council will be whether it can take effective action in serious cases of human rights abuse like Darfur, ... Burma, North Korea and other places."
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., a critic of the U.N., said Cuba's election showed the new council suffers from the same weakness as the commission and "is the perfect example of the U.N.'s failure to reform."
Russia was a candidate in the most hotly contested regional group _ Eastern Europe _ which fielded 13 candidates for six seats. It was the only group where a second round of voting was needed. The other winners were Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.
The 13 African winners were Algeria, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia.
The 13 Asians elected to the council were Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. The defeat of Iran in that category "just shows their lack of standing in the international community," said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
In Latin American and the Caribbean, the eight seats went to Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
The seven countries elected from the Western bloc were Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Wild Thing's comment.......
Unbelievable. That's like having Charles Manson as a male nurse.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 11, 2006 12:55 AM
Comments
It's worse than Ol Charlie on the loose. The UN has had a dismal track record, they're best at partitioning countries and creating famines. I think they should change their title from the United Nations to the Communist Ogre Of Death and Destruction or the shorter United Islamic Nations to truly reflect their function.
Posted by: Jack at May 11, 2006 10:42 AM
The UN building in New York would make a fairly decent VA hospital. Just thinking ahead if we ever elect a President who says, "The US is now out of the UN, and the UN is getting out of the US today".
It is amazing the even that goofy bunch of socialists would turn down a Council Seat to any third(turd) world country as being too abusive.
Posted by: TomR at May 11, 2006 01:58 PM
Jack those are much better names for the UN then the UN. Excellent!
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 11, 2006 04:23 PM
Tom the UN is an awesome building. I went on a tour there long ago when I was in N.Y. and it would make a huge VA hospital. In the one big room where they have all the countries sitting they could use it to put on movie for the Vets that have to live at the VA hospital and don't get to go home. Grea idea Tom.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 11, 2006 04:24 PM
