United Nations

[Tigermike 3,427]

Where is the moral outrage toward the United Nations apparently wanting Sudan

to be a member of the Commission on Human Rights? That would be like letting

the wolves guard the sheep wouldn't it?

May 5, 2004

Dulles, Virginia – Ambassador Sichan Siv, U.S. Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council, walked out during a UN meeting regarding the candidacy of Sudan for the Commission on Human Rights. He then issued a statement which said, “The United States is perplexed and dismayed by the decision to put forward Sudan – a country that massacres its own African citizens – for election to the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR). This will mark the third consecutive term that the African Group has presented Sudan as a CHR candidate in a clean slate. This year, above all previous years, my delegation believes that this candidature is entirely inappropriate.”

Fred Gedrich, Senior UN Policy Analyst at Freedom Alliance says, “The UN, who shamefully stood by as hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were slaughtered and who botched the largest humanitarian program ever by allowing Saddam Hussein to steal billions of dollars earmarked for the poor, condemned the United States this week for its treatment of prisoners in Iraq. The UN’s nomination of Sudan for a third consecutive term on the UN Human Rights Commission today should dispel any notion that the UN is capable of acting rationally. It is widely believed that Sudan's rulers have murdered 2 million of its citizens. And most respected human rights watchdog groups are appalled at the decision of the African Group to once again place Sudan on the Human Rights Commission where it will sit in judgment of others.”

“Worse yet,” Gedrich says, “nearly half of the Commission’s 53 members are human rights abusers – theoretically charged with protecting the rights of the world's 2 billion oppressed people. Let's face reality. The UN is a deeply flawed institution utterly incapable of keeping the peace, protecting human rights, or delivering humanitarian aid to people in need. The United States took a big step in the right direction by walking out in protest of the UN's decision to put Sudan back on the Human Rights Commission. And if the UN continues to disregard its founding principles, the United States should consider walking out of the UN completely, thereby saving U.S. taxpayers several billions of dollars a year.”

http://freedomalliance.org/view_article.php?a_id=368