From Homeland Secutiry NewsWire:
The brief // by Ben Frankel
On kabuki, farces, subpoenas, and theocracy
Published 25 February 2011
The United States is trying to persuade the UN Human Rights Council to kick Libya out (yes, Libya is a member of the council) and to order an investigation of the atrocities committed by the Gaddafi regime against anti-government protesters; trouble is, members of the council include such towering paragons of human rights as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Burundi -- and the council is controlled by a bloc of Islamic and African states, backed by China and Russia; to hope this UN body will be moved by the plight of the Libyan people is to expect too much; closer to home, Darrell Issa (R-California) promised that when he assumed the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he would launch a subpoena campaign against the Obama administration; the campaign has now been launched; in Kentucky, the state's homeland security department requires the department's executive director to publicize a "dependence on Almighty God" in agency training and educational materials; atheists argue in court that this would turn Kentucky into a theocracy
Here are four quick comments on things that caught our eye this past week:
1. Moral kabuki
The United States is hoping to persuade the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to adopt a tough language condemning Libya for the violence it is using against anti-government protesters. Some analysts see the debate over Libya as a critical test for President Obama, who reversed U.S. policy in 2009 and joined this controversial UN body.
The Human Rights Council is famous — notorious would be better here — for its obsession with criticizing Israel while being mute when it comes to egregious human rights abuses by countries aligned with some of the of the 47-member council.
Libya earned a seat on the Human Rights Council in 2010. The council meets today (Friday), and U.S. diplomats will try to persuade the council to kick Libya off the council and name a special investigator to look into atrocities committed on protesters rebelling against Muammar Gaddafi.
Trouble is, the council is controlled by a bloc of Islamic and African states, backed by China, Cuba, and Russia. To hope that these states would be moved by the plight of the Libyan people is to expect too much.
2. Dependable farce
George Orwell wrote that “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” The best example of political language is the language produced by the UN Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council is to human rights what military music is to music.
Among the members sitting in judgment of the human rights record of Israel (practically the sole target of the council’s resolutions) and other Western liberal democracies — members of the council readily pass such judgments — we find such towering paragons of human rights as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Burundi, and now Libya.
We should look at the bright side: in this age of fleeting fashions and passing fads, it is good to know that some things never change. These are things you can always be sure of and by which you can orient yourself. The council’s reputation for a cavalier attitude to the truth and for moral lassitude is an example of such an immutable fact — and this reputation has emerged intact from recent episodes (Sudan’s murderous campaign in Darfur, the Chinese suppression of Tibet, Russia’s brutal war in Chechnia, Sri Lanka’s similarly brutal war against the Tamils, and more).
The brief // by Ben Frankel
On kabuki, farces, subpoenas, and theocracy
Published 25 February 2011
The United States is trying to persuade the UN Human Rights Council to kick Libya out (yes, Libya is a member of the council) and to order an investigation of the atrocities committed by the Gaddafi regime against anti-government protesters; trouble is, members of the council include such towering paragons of human rights as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Burundi -- and the council is controlled by a bloc of Islamic and African states, backed by China and Russia; to hope this UN body will be moved by the plight of the Libyan people is to expect too much; closer to home, Darrell Issa (R-California) promised that when he assumed the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he would launch a subpoena campaign against the Obama administration; the campaign has now been launched; in Kentucky, the state's homeland security department requires the department's executive director to publicize a "dependence on Almighty God" in agency training and educational materials; atheists argue in court that this would turn Kentucky into a theocracy
Here are four quick comments on things that caught our eye this past week:
1. Moral kabuki
The United States is hoping to persuade the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to adopt a tough language condemning Libya for the violence it is using against anti-government protesters. Some analysts see the debate over Libya as a critical test for President Obama, who reversed U.S. policy in 2009 and joined this controversial UN body.
The Human Rights Council is famous — notorious would be better here — for its obsession with criticizing Israel while being mute when it comes to egregious human rights abuses by countries aligned with some of the of the 47-member council.
Libya earned a seat on the Human Rights Council in 2010. The council meets today (Friday), and U.S. diplomats will try to persuade the council to kick Libya off the council and name a special investigator to look into atrocities committed on protesters rebelling against Muammar Gaddafi.
Trouble is, the council is controlled by a bloc of Islamic and African states, backed by China, Cuba, and Russia. To hope that these states would be moved by the plight of the Libyan people is to expect too much.
2. Dependable farce
George Orwell wrote that “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” The best example of political language is the language produced by the UN Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council is to human rights what military music is to music.
Among the members sitting in judgment of the human rights record of Israel (practically the sole target of the council’s resolutions) and other Western liberal democracies — members of the council readily pass such judgments — we find such towering paragons of human rights as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Burundi, and now Libya.
We should look at the bright side: in this age of fleeting fashions and passing fads, it is good to know that some things never change. These are things you can always be sure of and by which you can orient yourself. The council’s reputation for a cavalier attitude to the truth and for moral lassitude is an example of such an immutable fact — and this reputation has emerged intact from recent episodes (Sudan’s murderous campaign in Darfur, the Chinese suppression of Tibet, Russia’s brutal war in Chechnia, Sri Lanka’s similarly brutal war against the Tamils, and more).
No comments:
Post a Comment