The UN's quest to protect human rights has turned farcical: the new panel includes six nations whose human rights record is abysmal.
But how has it even come to pass? China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and so forth. The new countries' membership in the new Human Right Council were made by secret ballot.
While some say that their inclusion is a positive sign, what this also means, is that initiatives that would be voted on that could impact those six countries' own human rights record could now be stricken down due to their ability to vote against it.
More importantly, for those people whose human rights are being violated, such a decision is akin to a slap in the face.
In fact, those six countries will now be judge and jury on what will or will not be done in terms of initiatives or punitive actions against human rights violation.
To make matters worse, five of those countries with dismal records have refused now and in the past to let the very organization they have been elected to, the UN, from investigating abuses in their own countries.
China, Russia and Algeria already had more than 10 unfulfilled requests for investigations, and yet they have risen to the charge of 'judge' of human rights abuses.
Tibetan activists have already demonstrated against the inclusion of China in the panel, hanging banners that read "China fails human rights".
This new council, and its panel, were created to replace the now disgraced Human Rights Commissions, which had proven to be completely useless, and was at the end led by a ruthless dictator, Muammad Ghadafi.
What this new election of offending countries to the panel does, therefore, is to reiterate the UN's lack of commitment to be a true force in the global quest for the betterment and enforcement of Human Rights. It is nothing more than a self serving and for some of the offending countries, self-serve, banquet where potentates meet to show off and dress a cloak of righteousness to hide their misdeeds.
Source : France 24/ 11.13.13
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