UN Human Rights Council Wrap-Up

Filed under: Human Rights, United Nations — Marc Schulman on September 29, 2007 @ 11:39 pm CEST

This year’s exercise in hypocrisy by the UNHRC is over. Anne Bayefsky has provided an excellent summary of its decisions and indecisions.

Thankfully, the UNHRC’s actions and inactions haven’t gone without notice in the halls of Congress:

Alongside what passes at the U.N. for “human rights” protection, stands the eminently reasonable legislation that has come from both the House and the Senate calling for an end to American funding for the Human Rights Council. The House passed their version of the Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act on June 22 and included by unanimous agreement an amendment introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to refuse any funding for the Council. In the Senate version, proposed by Senator Norm Coleman and adopted unanimously on September 6, an exemption law was inserted by Senators Richard Lugar and Joe Biden. It would refuse funding for the fiscal year 2008 unless the President certifies either that providing the funds to the Council is in the national interest of the United States, or the U.S. is a member of the Council. Conference negotiations are underway, but some form of the restriction is expected to survive.

“As well it should” says Bayefsky. Ditto for me.

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1 Comment »

  1. 1 Noga

    September 30, 2007 @ 12:55 am CEST

    I came across this little covered story:

    “The United Nations Human Rights Council has not managed to deal fairly with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the council’s president Doru-Romulus Costea told a Spanish newspaper on Saturday, according to Israel Radio.

    Is the UN Human Rights Council going to change its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

    Doru admitted that he was dissatisfied with the fact the council had overly focused on the degree of human rights violations by Israel.

    “The body which I head must examine the actions of both sides equally, and we have not done that,” said Costea. “Clearly, from now on things need to change.”

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1189411508040

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