Geneva, Oct. 1, 2007 — An international coalition of non-governmental organizations today published a protest against a U.N. speech by Pakistan that accused Holocaust survivors of “campaigning against Muslim symbols in the Western world” and that called hatred of Muslims “a cruel form of Anti-Semitism.” The letter was sent to Masood Khan, Pakistan’s UN envoy in Geneva, who made the comments on Tuesday before the UN Human Rights Council, speaking on behalf of the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference. (Watch video at http://blog.unwatch.org/ – eller her)
The letter was signed by a coalition of ten human rights and non-governmental organizations from Switzerland, the U.S., Russia, and Pakistan itself, including diverse groups such as UN Watch, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the World Union of Progressive Judaism and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation’s German Forum Human Rights.
The U.N. human rights commission was founded in 1946 upon the ashes of the Nazi atrocities, and so it is tragic that some are now perverting its principles and denying its history.
The Islamic group holds signficant influence at the UN’s highest human rights body, which last week continued its practice of debating reports on the alleged “defamation of Islam” in Western countries. The council has adopted 13 Islamic-sponsored resolutions against Israel since its inauguration in June 2006, but none against any other state. Darfur has been addressed, but only with soft, non-condemnatory resolutions, some of which have actually praised the Sudanese government for “cooperation” or expressed concerns for its particular “needs.”
On Friday, the council wrapped up a three-week session that failed to take action against any of the world’s worst abuses. UN Watch board member Anne Bayefsky offers a round-up of the disappointing session here. However, in a rare but welcome move, Western states on the council have convened an emergency session for this Tuesday to address the crisis in Burma.
Det er hårdt for en som mig, som er opvokset i 50′erne og 60′erne at se, hvad FN efterhånden er degenereret til – en samling af forbryderstater og bananrepublikker anført af “gode mennesker” som ignorerer folkedrab, dyb social uretfærdighed, terrorisme og kvindeundertrykkelse. Da Trygve Lie var formand for FN, var det en organisation, man kunne se op til, men i dag ser jeg det helst forsvinde hen hvor kaffen gror.
