Israel Matzav

NGO's trying to block Syria's election to 'Human Rights Council'

I'm not sure why they're bothering - after all, are the Syrians really that much worse than many of its other members? - but a campaign is afoot to keep Syria from being elected to the UN 'Human Rights Council' in May.

The non-governmental organization UN Watch expects to publish an initial appeal, signed by 50 human rights groups, this week, and has planned that several human rights groups, together with Syrian dissidents and victims, will appear at UN headquarters on May 19th,the eve of the UN General Assembly election, for a press conference to lobby against Syria’s election.

Syria’s election to the UN's Human Rights Council is a virtual sure thing, unless another candidate enters the race or Syria fails to win a majority of votes in the May 20 election in the 192-member General Assembly. Diplomats are working behind the scenes to determine whether a special session of the Human Rights Council could be called for later this week to address the current crisis in Syria, in which Syrian security forces have opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters.

“Choosing Syria to be a global judge of human rights would be like appointing Bernard Madoff to defend victims of financial fraud,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based monitoring group. “It’s a moral outrage.”

Well, yeah, but is it really so much worse than China, Cuba or Saudi Arabia, all of whom have behaved in the same way as Assad in the past and would do so in the future? Is it worse than Libya, which until recently was an esteemed member of the Council? Is it worse than putting Iran in charge of the Council's commission on women's rights? Maybe we'd be better off letting the Council elect the likes of Syria to its membership. If nothing else, it would point out again the absurdity of Western nations like the United States granting the Council dignity - and funding - that it does not deserve.

Sorry Hillel. You're a good man and I usually agree with you. But in this case, I'm going to follow my mother (of blessed memory) who always told me, "you make your bed and then you have to lie in it." That fits the Council to a tee. We should not be trying to bail them out.

Labels: Syria, United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations Watch

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:49 PM