Every Day Is Backwards Day At The UN
Libya, yes, Libya, was complimented by the UN Human Rights Council. Peter Goodspeed writes for Canada's NatPo:
You would think the very day Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi made a show of ordering his security police to release 20 illegally detained journalists, the rest of the world might take note of a UN human rights report that slams Libya for arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, torture and prison conditions that don't meet international standards.You'd be wrong. Instead, many of the 47 nations, which last May elected Libya to serve on the UN Human Rights Council, lined up on Tuesday to compliment the north African state for its "significant progress in the promotion and protection of human rights."
That is almost as bizarre as a vote expected today in the UN General Assembly that will place Saudi Arabia and Iran on the board that runs a new UN Women agency, a decision branded a "joke" by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.
Iran stones women to death for adultery and values a woman's testimony at half that of a man. In Saudi Arabia, women are forbidden to drive and cannot take major decisions without the permission of a male relative.
...Not so the United States, which just four days ago had its turn at a similar UN human rights review and was lambasted by friend and foe alike.
Meanwhile, as the UN is glad-handing Libya, a Christian woman has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for "blasphemy." Rob Crilly in Islamabad and Aoun Sahi in Lahore write:
Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother-of-five, denies blasphemy and told investigators that she was being persecuted for her faith in a country where Christians face routine harassment and discrimination....The court heard she had been working as a farmhand in fields with other women, when she was asked to fetch drinking water.
Some of the other women - all Muslims - refused to drink the water as it had been brought by a Christian and was therefore "unclean", according to Mrs Bibi's evidence, sparking a row.
The incident was forgotten until a few days later when Mrs Bibi said she was set upon by a mob.
The police were called and took her to a police station for her own safety.
Shahzad Kamran, of the Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, said: "The police were under pressure from this Muslim mob, including clerics, asking for Asia to be killed because she had spoken ill of the Prophet Mohammed."So after the police saved her life they then registered a blasphemy case against her." He added that she had been held in isolation for more than a year before being sentenced to death on Monday.
Barbarians.
I think it's past time that we tell the U.N. that they need to find somewhere else to play, and that we won't be the major donor any more. And then, when they kick up a fuss, tow every single car, of a U.N. diplomat to an area where the car will be stripped in a minute flat, if they don't pay all of the parking tickets. We can use that building for low rent housing.
Steve at November 10, 2010 4:56 AM
FUCK MOHAMMED...FUCK ALLAH. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
MOHAMMED IS A PEDOPHILE...
ALLAH IS A FALSE GOD.
Dragonslayer666 at November 10, 2010 6:08 AM
I AM SO SICK OF THIS MUSLIM CRAP. What do muslim countries contribute to this world? NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF VALUE!
dragonslayer666 at November 10, 2010 6:11 AM
I come here for the insightful dialog.
Thomas Fullery at November 10, 2010 1:37 PM
I'm going to ignore the DS comments.
I wonder how long the U.N. would last if we said we are not going to give them a dime and to go to the alternate headquarters, permanently.
I'm not a faithful follower of Brother John Birch -- but I won't necessarily say they are wrong.
Jim P. at November 10, 2010 8:09 PM
Tell those middleeastern and asian barbarians to sort out their own internal petty problems that was related to their various irrational religious obsession and various religious factions conflict in their own nations.
Yes, I agree U.N. is a useless organisation and that it is better to use that building for low rent accommodation or to accomadate people who are really homeless.
WLIL at November 10, 2010 8:51 PM
Honestly I wonder why doesn't the US just one day walk out and kick the UN out of New York. With the US out the UN it would have the relevance of the Women temperance league. God the US could start it own group.
It is amazing that something once so noble has become a joke, that either bashes on the US, Israel, or rich western countries. Is now filled with graft and ineptitude. It has become ineffective to handling conflict by simple vote. Ooo North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon we need to punish them - oops Sorry China says no with a simple vote. We want to embargo Iran sorry China again or Russia because it makes too much money for them.
The other half of the time it so split by liberal poltics it becomes a joke. Lets quibble about the rights of the child to have sex and even better gay sex or forbid them from working when worry about the thousands of them that die a day due to disease and hunger. Get the fuck back on topic. Or take the concept of free speech we have to make sure that all free speech is allowed for everyone- Gaqys can be loud and proud. Chinese disidents can call for freedon BUT except for disparaging Allah or Islam nope got to make sure that is not allowed. Yet you can still rag on the Jews or Israel they do not deserve that kind of specialness.
50 years - Africa is still mostly a poor hell hole. War is still happening, I thought the UN would be able to help stop most war.
AAAAH. Shake head! Walk Away!.
John Paulson at November 11, 2010 3:51 AM
I'm with John... seriously, what good is the UN doing at this point? Does it do anything at all that's useful? When was the last time it intervened usefully in a war? When was the last time it deposed a tyrant? Relieved a famine? Rescued people from a natural disaster? Found the cure to a deadly disease? What good did the U.N. do in Somolia? Darfor? Rwanda? Or, for that matter, Cambodia or Uganda? What specifically are all these wonderful things that the UN does? I'm drawing a blank.
The last remotely useful thing that the UN did, that I'm aware of, was run the International Telecommunications Union, which among other things coordinates radio frequency allocation by the different nations. But the ITU pretty much operates independently now and has been for the past 15 years or so.
Cousin Dave at November 11, 2010 3:41 PM
Does anyone remember the Land Mine Ban Treaty?
The US, Russia, China and several other countries wouldn't sign it. The US and South Korea wanted an exemption for the use of command detonated -- i.e. for the DMZ between North and South Korea that they could turn them on as needed -- but weren't given the exemptions. Look at the list of non-signatories -- it gives an interesting geo-political politics.
The really interesting thing is that no land mines are being used in Iran or Afghanistan, supposedly. They are "Improvised Explosive Devices". I have a question on that -- what is the differenc between a landmine and an IED?
Jim P. at November 11, 2010 10:02 PM
Jim,
Technically, nothing. But the argument will likely be made, that landmines are massed produced, and IED's are slapped together with household products (and this is very easy to do with just 3 or 4 things you can find in just about every household).
Not to mention, that it all depends on who is making the device, to those who want to impose their definition on everyone.
Steve at November 12, 2010 5:05 AM
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