Free Republic

On October 1, 2009, the Obama administration in conjunction with the Egyptian government, introduced an anti-free speech measure to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (HRC). It was adopted the next day without a vote. Earlier this year, when the United States sought a seat on the HRC, it was a controversial decision. Many who found the HRC neither credible nor useful, opposed the move. Yet, others were more optimistic that America could change the HRC from within. Perhaps the U.S. could spur debate stemming from its opposition to China, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia on critical human rights...

IF the Obama administration really wants to improve human rights, it's taking the wrong approach in seeking a seat on the seriously flawed United Nations Human Rights Council. The best thing now, ironically, would be for the HRC to show its true colors and reject Washington's application in the vote it plans for Tuesday -- although don't count on it. The administration says it's aiming to "promote universality, transparency and objectivity" in the council, but more likely its presence simply would legitimize a body hostile to democracy and human rights. The Human Rights Council was created in 2006 to supersede...

How does the United Nations investigate war crimes by Israel in the recent Gaza offensive, get the desired guilty condemnations, absolve Hamas of any wrong-doing, and be able to claim all proceedings were fair and above board, while credibly claiming to have a pro-Jewish slant to the investigations? This was the criterion facing the U.N. Human Rights Council this week as they gleefully accepted to investigate charges of abuse and human rights violations by Israel during the recent Gaza offensive called “Operation Cast Lead”. The U.N. Human Rights Council found their solution in a renowned Jewish judge from South Africa...

The Dominion of Canada. It was nice while it lasted: "Nineteen Regular Army divisions, one dozen divisions of the Army National Guard, plus the Second and Fourth Marine Divisions, rolled across the border just before dawn on 11 May, 2020. "Despite the gallant resistance put up by the main elements of the Canadian Forces, notably the Royal 22nd and Twelfth Armored, which died in defense of Quebec City, the Royal Canadian Regiment and Royal Canadian Dragoons, shattered in the forlorn defense of Ottawa, and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and Lord Strathcona's Horse, butchered in detail in a hopeless...

Recently I reported on a speech by Michael Ignatieff under the title Ignatieff in the lion’s den and also posted Ignatieff’s non-apology by my friend Rochelle Wilner. Ignatieff had come to the Jewish community to apologize for accusing Israel of war crimes. Unfortunate he kept stressing the need for Israel to abide by international human rights law and the Geneva Convention. Irwin Cotler was in the room. I wrote to Irwin subsequently to plead with him to make Israel's case vis a vis international law. Whether he was responding to me or not, a week or so later, he delivered...

GENEVA - The top U.N. rights body on Thursday passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it. The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam. The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada. EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against. Previously EU diplomats had said they wanted to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious anti-defamation...

<p>New York: Deputy Secretary-General of the U.N. was on Wednesday night accused of making ``a very, very grave mistake'' after calling the Bush administration hypocrites who were feeding a right-wing anti-U.N. frenzy in middle America.</p> <p>Washington's Ambassador to the U.N. responded with undisguised fury to a speech by Mark Malloch Brown, the Deputy Secretary-General, in which he accused Washington of using the international body ``almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool'' while failing to defend it at home.</p>

FIVE nations seen by rights groups as among the world's worst abusers have been elected along with 39 other countries to the United Nations' new Human Rights Council in a first round of voting. Russia, China, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, identified by New York-based Human Rights Watch as unworthy of membership on the new UN body, were among those winning seats. But two others on the group's list, Iran and Azerbaijan, failed to win membership on the first ballot. Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said it was inevitable some rights foes would win seats but "the important...

US might seek substitute for UN By Betsy Pisik The Washington Times Published November 15, 2005 NEW YORK -- America's representative at the United Nations said yesterday that the organization must become better at solving problems and more responsive to U.S. concerns or Washington will seek other venues for international action. During a luncheon with reporters and editors at The Washington Times, U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton said repeatedly that the Bush administration requires nothing less than "a revolution of reform" at the world body, encompassing everything from U.N. Security Council engagement to management changes to a focus on administrative...