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Supporting the UN human rights council ? Really ? Have you ever looked at who you're supporting just to get your way ? I mean, I'm all for holding those respons

by waps 12y ago

Supporting the UN human rights council ? Really ? Have you ever looked at who you're supporting just to get your way ? I mean, I'm all for holding those responsible to account, but, firstly, nothing will change unless the US itself holds those people to account. Second the UN are firmly on the side of human rights violators that make Hitler look like a beginner, and the UN itself also feels the need to commit massacres and mass-rapes on a regular basis. No one has even been held to account, not even in Northern Europe. I mean, I understand the concept of realpolitik, but this is driving things very, very far. Furthermore, there is no such thing as international jurisdiction, despite what the UN would want you to believe. It is about as legal as the US' execution of Bin Laden. If countries were to start persecuting each other's armies it would quickly end very badly, obviously. Hell, the half of the Saudi royal family would probably be sentenced to death in the US in the first month (because half of them have tortured and killed servants [8] [9] [10]). Do you think it'd be smart to do that ?. Also note that this is normal practice in Saudi Arabia [11]. Personally I find the UN's distasteful double standard an atrocious joke. Since 1994, the majority of UN member countries have constitutions in direct contradiction with human rights, the biggest one being China (well, in terms of power and population), and the biggest block being islamic nations, that disallow freedom of religion and equality of sexes (and usually equality of ethnicities as well, ie. direct legal racism, like it exists in the majority of islamic nations, as well as in China and other nations). And that's ignoring the many, many, many human rights violations perpetrated by the UN itself [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] As you can see on the Human Rights Council' wikipedia pages [6], the biggest human rights issues are : 1) Israel. Since 2006, EVERY meeting of the human rights council has over half of the time dedicated to Israel's human rights abuses. The person currently in charge of setting the agenda for this part of the meeting felt the need to publish this picture : http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AS-Cartoon.jpg http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AS-Cartoo... (note the kippah on the dog) "There has never been a single resolution about the decades-long repression of the civil and political rights of 1.3 billion people in China, or the more than a million female migrant workers in Saudi Arabia being kept as virtual slaves, or the virulent racism which has brought 600,000 people to the brink of starvation in Zimbabwe. Every year, UN bodies are required to produce at least 25 reports on alleged human rights violations by Israel, but not one on an Iranian criminal justice system which mandates punishments like crucifixion, stoning, and cross-amputation. This is not legitimate critique of states with equal or worse human rights records. It is demonization of the Jewish state." [7] 2) Defamation of religion (dozens of resolution calling for world-wide introduction of blasphemy laws) And internal politics concerning who gets a seat (and over a million bucks per year, free travel, a staff, ...) These are the guys you're asking for help. These guys should be taken out, dragged before a court, sentenced to death, and executed for their OWN crimes long before they pass judgement on anyone else. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse_by_UN_peacekeepers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse_by_UN_peacek... [2] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/un-3600-raped-drc-four-year-period-20144923542487129.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/un-3600-raped-d... [3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-accused-of-raping-children-in-Sudan.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1538476/UN-staff-a... [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre#Expulsion_of_Bosniaks_from_the_United_Nations_compound http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre#Expulsion_o... [5] http://www.projectcensored.org/12-another-massacre-in-haiti-by-un-troops/ http://www.projectcensored.org/12-another-massacre-in-haiti-... [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Cou... [7] Bayefsky, Anne. "Perspectives on Anti-Semitism Today". Lecture at conference "Confronting Anti-Semitism: Education for Tolerance and Understanding", United Nations Department of Information, New York, June 21, 2004. [8] http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2013/06/02/saudi-prince-rapes-kills-saudi-girl/ http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2013/06/02/saudi-prin... [9] http://www.smh.com.au/world/saudi-royal-beat-strangled-servant-20101006-167r2.html http://www.smh.com.au/world/saudi-royal-beat-strangled-serva... [10] http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/saudi-prince-jailed-in-britain-for-murder-flies-home/ http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/saudi-prince-jailed-in-br... [11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMcnL1OfR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMcnL1OfR0

mercurial 12y ago
You are quite right in saying that the UN Human Rights committee is a farce. However, find me a nation-state with no double standards. The behaviour of the US, as self-proclaimed champion of freedom and democracy, is especially egregious. It imposes an embargo on Cuba while shaking hands with the Saudis and thinks Israel can do no wrong. Not to mention its longstanding record of supporting human rights in some parts of the world while installing pet thugs in other parts of the world. In this light, a lecture on the UN's hypocrisy is laughable.
- waps 12y ago
  I will go so far as to say that the US is better than the UN Human Rights Committee. Why ? I have walked around in the US, in Europe, in Israel (and the West Bank, not Gaza though), and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India. The US, on the street and for it's residents, is 99.99% a free country that respects human rights (presumably at least in part because it's population constantly throws up stinks like this one). Walking around the US, well, I don't need to tell you what you see. I feel a lot safer on the streets of the US just talking to people and saying whatever my political opinion is than even compared to the Netherlands (it sometimes seems like 50% of the population there believes in a Jewish or US or "Capitalist" or sometimes communist conspiracy and they will shout at you, or worse if you try to reason with people about it). Saudi Arabia is a country of thugs where everybody in the streets is afraid of everybody else, and your sex and skin color, and to a lesser extent your dress, determine your worth (and if you're able to enter malls, bars and shops). Pakistan is 80% Saudi Arabia and 20% free. I'm not saying the US beats other countries in everything, far from it, but in freedom and "not getting your head bashed in/arrested/fired/... because you like political party X", it is by far the best country I've ever seen. The most aggressive response I've ever seen in the US to a political opinion is laughter. And I have never, ever, seen anyone in the US refuse someone access to a bar, shopping mall, store, or ... based on skin color, sex or religion. I have seen it often in Europe (bars only), and in the middle east it's considered normal to have ethnic, sex and religious restrictions on half the buildings in a city. And frankly, the fact that the US Congress even looks at allegations of torture by a state agent, shows it's moral superiority over the UN. The fact that people can and do write about what the CIA did without losing their jobs, disappearing, getting shot or beat up, and worse, is a situation superior to what is found in the vast majority of UN member nations. Again, this, in my mind, proves the moral superiority of the US. Hell, even compared to Russia, which is definitely a first world country. Do you think Russia doesn't torture people ? When are you expecting the 2 first pages of the Moscow times to get dedicated to a 2 day session in the Duma about the Russian army's use of torture ? Hell, according to amnesty international, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands' governments have committed torture in 2014 [1](and some/most of them assisted the currently being discussed CIA program as well) [1]. I seem to be unable to find any discussion in their parliaments of that. They mostly seem to be talking about austerity measures, leaving/joining Europe, that sort of thing. Here's a paragraph on Russia, from amnesty international : "Torture methods documented by Amnesty International range from beatings, suspension from ceiling hooks, asphyxiation with plastic bags, to electrocution, inserting needles under finger or toenails, dousing with freezing water and even rape." About EU countries : "The denial of police abuses is still the default reaction across the EU and the Balkans, where the institutional response and thoroughness of investigations are frequently inadequate." Again this is much better than their reports on the middle east and Asia (even the complaints about Russia and Turkey, at least in Russia and Turkey it seems to be easy to avoid state-sponsored brutality, which is not true at all in the middle east and a lot of Asia) The UN has never even looked into allegations of it's own wrongdoing. And what half of UN member nations do comes dangerously close to "state-sponsored genocide" in many cases. The US has moral imperfections. And yes, there's assholes that are employed by the US government in positions of power. This is no different from any other nation. They are bad, and must be dealt with, I fully agree there. The UN, however, is a collection of thugs, massacrers, racists and worse. The argument you're making "the US and UN are both imperfect" is of course true, it is also completely useless. There is no hair on my head that doubts that the US has a massive moral advantage over the UN. I feel that at the very least we owe it to Congress to let it figure out what to do. I'd be amazed if they didn't at least pass a law that this can never happen again. [1] http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/activist/Report-_Torture_in_2014_30_Years_of_Broken_Promises.pdf http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/activist/Report-_Torture...

by waps 12y ago

mercurial 12y ago

You are quite right in saying that the UN Human Rights committee is a farce. However, find me a nation-state with no double standards. The behaviour of the US, as self-proclaimed champion of freedom and democracy, is especially egregious. It imposes an embargo on Cuba while shaking hands with the Saudis and thinks Israel can do no wrong. Not to mention its longstanding record of supporting human rights in some parts of the world while installing pet thugs in other parts of the world. In this light, a lecture on the UN's hypocrisy is laughable.

waps 12y ago
I will go so far as to say that the US is better than the UN Human Rights Committee. Why ? I have walked around in the US, in Europe, in Israel (and the West Bank, not Gaza though), and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India. The US, on the street and for it's residents, is 99.99% a free country that respects human rights (presumably at least in part because it's population constantly throws up stinks like this one). Walking around the US, well, I don't need to tell you what you see. I feel a lot safer on the streets of the US just talking to people and saying whatever my political opinion is than even compared to the Netherlands (it sometimes seems like 50% of the population there believes in a Jewish or US or "Capitalist" or sometimes communist conspiracy and they will shout at you, or worse if you try to reason with people about it). Saudi Arabia is a country of thugs where everybody in the streets is afraid of everybody else, and your sex and skin color, and to a lesser extent your dress, determine your worth (and if you're able to enter malls, bars and shops). Pakistan is 80% Saudi Arabia and 20% free. I'm not saying the US beats other countries in everything, far from it, but in freedom and "not getting your head bashed in/arrested/fired/... because you like political party X", it is by far the best country I've ever seen. The most aggressive response I've ever seen in the US to a political opinion is laughter. And I have never, ever, seen anyone in the US refuse someone access to a bar, shopping mall, store, or ... based on skin color, sex or religion. I have seen it often in Europe (bars only), and in the middle east it's considered normal to have ethnic, sex and religious restrictions on half the buildings in a city. And frankly, the fact that the US Congress even looks at allegations of torture by a state agent, shows it's moral superiority over the UN. The fact that people can and do write about what the CIA did without losing their jobs, disappearing, getting shot or beat up, and worse, is a situation superior to what is found in the vast majority of UN member nations. Again, this, in my mind, proves the moral superiority of the US. Hell, even compared to Russia, which is definitely a first world country. Do you think Russia doesn't torture people ? When are you expecting the 2 first pages of the Moscow times to get dedicated to a 2 day session in the Duma about the Russian army's use of torture ? Hell, according to amnesty international, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands' governments have committed torture in 2014 [1](and some/most of them assisted the currently being discussed CIA program as well) [1]. I seem to be unable to find any discussion in their parliaments of that. They mostly seem to be talking about austerity measures, leaving/joining Europe, that sort of thing. Here's a paragraph on Russia, from amnesty international : "Torture methods documented by Amnesty International range from beatings, suspension from ceiling hooks, asphyxiation with plastic bags, to electrocution, inserting needles under finger or toenails, dousing with freezing water and even rape." About EU countries : "The denial of police abuses is still the default reaction across the EU and the Balkans, where the institutional response and thoroughness of investigations are frequently inadequate." Again this is much better than their reports on the middle east and Asia (even the complaints about Russia and Turkey, at least in Russia and Turkey it seems to be easy to avoid state-sponsored brutality, which is not true at all in the middle east and a lot of Asia) The UN has never even looked into allegations of it's own wrongdoing. And what half of UN member nations do comes dangerously close to "state-sponsored genocide" in many cases. The US has moral imperfections. And yes, there's assholes that are employed by the US government in positions of power. This is no different from any other nation. They are bad, and must be dealt with, I fully agree there. The UN, however, is a collection of thugs, massacrers, racists and worse. The argument you're making "the US and UN are both imperfect" is of course true, it is also completely useless. There is no hair on my head that doubts that the US has a massive moral advantage over the UN. I feel that at the very least we owe it to Congress to let it figure out what to do. I'd be amazed if they didn't at least pass a law that this can never happen again. [1] http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/activist/Report-_Torture_in_2014_30_Years_of_Broken_Promises.pdf http://www.amnesty.org.au/resources/activist/Report-_Torture...