The misnamed U.N. “Human Rights Council” recently welcomed a bevy of new members. Among them is Libya, which will now sit in judgment of other nations’ human rights records, though its own record is horrible.
Libya — led by dictator Moammar Gadhafi — enjoyed overwhelming U.N. support in the vote on whether it would get a seat on the council. That is ironic, considering Libya’s treatment of its own citizens. As reported by human rights activist Anne Bayefsky, “Security personnel engage in routine torture and abuse of detainees and have the authority to sentence the political opposition without trial; the law sanctions amputation and flogging; President Qadhafi can interfere with judges at will; and women and girls may be detained indefinitely after having been raped for violating moral codes.”
Meanwhile, with the addition of other repressive regimes to the council, a majority of its members are now countries that have something other than free, democratic governments, Ms. Bayefsky noted in National Review.
One of the few bright spots in this charade is that Iran did not get a seat on the council. However, as Reuters news service reported, Iran “withdrew its candidacy last month in exchange for a seat on the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.”
Are you comforted by the fact that Iran’s radical Islamic regime will be helping set U.N. policies on the treatment of women? Do you consider Libya a reasonable voice on human rights?
Neither do we.
The U.N. continues to prove why it deserves no credibility, much less respect.