The ridiculous UN Human Rights Council, by Andrés Oppenheimer | OPINION

Many rightly applauded the recent vote in the United Nations who rejected Saudi Arabia’s candidacy for a position in the Human Rights Council of the HIM. But, unfortunately, the Human Rights Council of the international organization has been, and continues to be, a joke for years.

The council of 47 countries continues to have dictatorships such as Cuba, China and Sudan among its most active members. Around 60% of the member countries are dictatorships or non-democratic countries, according to the organization of human rights independent UN Watch.

The members of the council are elected by secret ballot by all member countries of the HIM under guidelines according to which member countries must “maintain the highest standards of promotion and protection of human rights”. Yes, you read correctly: Cuba, China and Sudan, among many other systematic violators of the human rights, have been chosen according to these criteria. The most recent vote for new members was held at the General Assembly of the HIM on October 9.

Among the 18 countries that were elected or re-elected for the 2025-2027 term of the council is Qatar, which commits serious violations of the human rights and has given financial aid to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations.

Qatar has justified its aid to Hamas by saying it is necessary to support Palestinian families in need. Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia were also elected to the next council term despite not being “qualified” to serve on the panel, according to a joint statement from UN Watch, the Foundation for Human Rights and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights.

Mexico and Colombia, which were also elected to the new council term, were described by the joint statement of the three organizations of human rights as “questionable” options, in part due to their votes in favor of violating countries. human rights in the HIM.

When I asked why so many dictatorships and not-quite-democratic countries have been elected to seats on the council, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer told me that “the truth is that the regimes that most violate the human rights “They seek to be chosen much more than others.” He added: “If you are Costa Rica or another country that is not a serious violator of the human rights you are not as motivated to seek a seat on the council as dictatorships that seek to protect their abuses and use their seats for propaganda purposes.”

As a result, dictatorships often offer democratic countries their votes for the economic and trade committees of the HIM in exchange for their support of their candidacies for seats on the Council of Human Rights.

The United States, whose term as a council member ends this year, did not run for re-election. It is not clear whether he did not want to remain a member of the council because he concluded that it is futile to try to reform it from within, or whether it was to avoid being the target of daily accusations for his support of Israel.

The Council of the HIM is well known for its bias against Israel. Between its creation in 2006 and mid-2023, the council issued 103 resolutions against Israel, compared with 16 against North Korea, 14 against Iran, three against Venezuela and none against China and Cuba, according to advocacy groups. human rights. Again, you read that correctly, none against China or Cuba. In short, the council is a mutual protection society in which the world’s most brutal dictatorships help each other to reject accusations of violation of the human rights and accuse his enemies.

It should be dissolved as was the case with its predecessor, the Commission of Human Rights of the HIMin 2006. Unfortunately, the Council of Human Rights of the HIM,which was created in its place that same year, has once again been hijacked by dictatorships.

It is time to shut it down, because having China, Cuba, Qatar and other abusive regimes evaluating other countries on this matter is a mockery of the cause of the human rights.

–Glossed and edited–

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