Watch what happened at the U.N. Human Rights Council when Venezuelan dissident @MariaCorinaYA exposed the crimes of Maduro, a UNHRC member.
The chair got outraged—not at the crimes, but at @MariaCorinaYA, whom he told "to deal with human rights issues with dignity and respect."
"I request all delegations to deal with human rights issues with dignity & respect and to adhere to the well-established principles of the UN. I call on all speakers to uphold UN standards when referring to countries and to refrain from using words like the words you just heard."
Meanwhile, the chair of the session doesn't seem to care about what Ms. Machado said: that the Maduro regime has committed massive crimes—all of which breach Venezuela's obligations as a UNHRC member state to "uphold the highest standards of human rights." unwatch.org/expelmaduro
UN Human Rights Council member 🇨🇺 Cuba gives speech justifying genocide by UN Human Rights Council member 🇨🇳 China. On behalf of 64 countries.
We urged 🇪🇺 European Union & member states to oppose the election of China & Cuba to the UNHRC. They did nothing. This is the result.
"Madam President, I have the honor to speak on behalf of 64 countries. [Yet provides no names...]
We maintain that all sides should promote & protect human rights through constructive dialogue & cooperation and firmly oppose politicization of human rights and double standards."
"We commend the people-center philosophy that the Chinese government pursues & achievements that have been made in its human rights cause. Xinjiang is an inseparable part of China. We urge the relevant sides to abide by the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter...
But Mr. Secretary-General @antonioguterres, you delivered blessings to the UN meeting that elected the perpetrator—Syria's Assad regime—to a top post on the UN committee fighting the "subjugation of peoples." un.org/press/en/2021/…
Also: “UN Secretary General, António Guterres affirmed strong commitment to working for the interest of the Syrian people and cooperation with the Syrian government.
“Guterres extended his warm greetings to President Bashar al-Assad.“ sana.sy/en/?p=224980
“Guterres appreciated the history and culture of the Syrian people and their generosity and hospitality that he closely touched when he was working as ex-high commissioner for refugees.
“Ambassador Sabbagh, for his part, conveyed President al-Assad’s greetings to Guterres...“
It's been 5 years since Richard Ratcliffe waved goodbye to his wife Nazanin at the departure gate at London's Gatwick Airport, worrying only about how their young daughter would cope with the long flight to Tehran. Gabriella at the time was one and three quarters years old.
It was the last time he saw his wife in person. Nazanin was arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guard as she was about to fly home. Since then, she's endured 8 months of solitary confinement, blindfolded interrogations, false promises of release & 5 years of separation from family.
New York Times' @IKershner quotes William Schabas—"a former chairman of the UN Gaza Commission"—without mentioning he was forced to resign in disgrace when it was revealed Schabas failed to disclose a conflict of interest: his paid legal work for the PLO. nytimes.com/2021/03/03/wor…
Ironically, however, that was not even the primary reason why the UNHRC's ill-fated appointment of William Schabas to head its 2014 Gaza inquiry was a travesty of justice.
I had a front-row seat in this drama, so let me share one memory:
2/ In September 2014, I was invited to meet with the inquiry's 3 commissioners—Schabas, Doudou Diène & Mary McGowan Davis—in a most magnificent room in Geneva's Palais des Nations.
They wanted to convince me (and my followers) that they would be fair. After listening patiently,
Did you ever notice how the folks now calling to sanction the Saudi regime for killing dissidents are the same ones who strenuously opposed sanctioning the Iranian regime which has killed many more dissidents.
If Saudi Arabia would only act like Iran and empower Hamas and Hezbollah, its position would align perfectly with Human Rights Watch and Ken Roth would defend them as well.
.@hrw founder Bob Bernstein exposed Ken Roth's peculiar proclivity to align with Hamas and Hezbollah: “Human Rights Watch has lost critical perspective on a conflict in which Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, organizations that... nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opi…
Haaretz's @spungin interviews ex-UN official Richard Falk at length but fails to ask him why UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned him for spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories, why UK thrice condemned him for antisemitism or why he wrote the ignominious 1979 NYT op-ed "Trusting Khomeini."
Richard Falk is knowledgeable, articulate, experienced & certifiably nuts.
His life has been marked by a peculiar attraction to anti-Western terrorists and antisemites.
Some of this was documented in our 2013 draft UN resolution calling to remove him: undocs.org/en/A/HRC/23/NG…
Haaretz's @spungin might have asked Falk about his extraordinary and unprecedented condemnation by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories as reported by...Haaretz: haaretz.com/1.5112878