A rchive Date
[ 20-06-2020 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.N ]
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[https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-farcical-un-human-rights-council-condemns-u-s
Farcical UN Human Rights Council condemns U.S.
Lorrie Goldstein
June 19, 2020
When it comes to hypocrisy and double standards, the United Nations Human Rights Council is in a class of its own.
Its 47-member countries include some of the world’s most brutal and dictatorial regimes.
On Friday, it singled out the U.S., among all nations on earth, for police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
The UNHRC unanimously called for its high commissioner to investigate systemic racism and violations of international human rights laws by law enforcement agencies, “especially those incidents that resulted in the death of George Floyd and other Africans and of people of African descent.”
While the resolution pays lip service to examining how governments globally respond to peaceful anti-racism protests, including allegations of excessive force used against protesters, bystanders and journalists, it’s clear the resolution is aimed at the U.S.
Even that version was watered down by American allies - President Donald Trump withdrew U.S. participation in the UNHRC due to its anti-Israel bias two years ago - from an earlier one.
Given that Floyd’s younger brother, Philonise Floyd, had appealed to the UNHRC to investigate U.S. police brutality and racial discrimination, and the motion came from African countries, this might have been a legitimate inquiry if the UNHRC had any moral credibility. But it doesn’t.
As UN Watch, an independent human rights group, rightly argued, oppressive regimes intent on judging the U.S., should have withdrawn from debating and voting on the resolution.
It cited, “such council members as Mauritania, which has up to 500,000 black slaves; Libya, which has up to a million African migrants treated as virtual slaves; and Venezuela, which kills protesters and has been accused of crimes against humanity.
“Other council members with egregious records of racism or police brutality who approved today’s urgent debate include Burkina Faso (which initiated the session), Bangladesh, Cameroon, DR Congo, Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Qatar.”
“Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China are expected to be elected to the council in October. China recently chaired the UNHRC process for interviewing and recommending the UNHRC’s next expert on freedom of speech, to be appointed in July.”
In testimony before the UNHRC, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, condemned, “the shameful exhibition of brutality by police officers in the killing of George Floyd” adding UN Watch, “stands unequivocally with the struggle against racism and police brutality.”
But he also slammed the UNHRC for its shameless hypocrisy.
“Every year, we campaign against the election of racist and brutal regimes to this Council,” Neuer said. “Too often, however, because of backroom political deals, they win. The accused become the judges.”
“We ask Eritrea: given that your country has been condemned by this Council itself - for ‘systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations,’ including arbitrary detention and torture, will Eritrea recuse itself?”
“We ask Cameroon: Given that your country, systematically bans peaceful demonstrations, crushes protests by the English-speaking population and has committed atrocities, including massacring civilians, rape and burning villages, will Cameroon recuse itself?”
“We ask the Democratic Republic of Congo: aside from being the rape capital of the world, given that your police just two months ago killed 55 people in a coordinated crackdown on a religious sect, will DRC recuse itself?”
Of course, none did and that’s why the UNHRC is one of the least credible agencies on earth to address the global concerns of police brutality and racism.
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