Theater of the absurdUN Human Rights Council to praise Libya's human rights record
While the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Libya, the UN Human Rights Council is set to adopt a report full of praise for Libya’s human rights record; the report also contains comments on Libya by Council members: Sudan praises Libya for improving education conditions; North Korea noted Libya’s progress on economic and social rights; Saudi Arabia praised Libya for improvements in constitutional, legislative, and institutional frameworks, which “showed the importance that the country attached to human rights”; praise is also heaped on Libya by Cuba, Venezuela, Oman — and two nations whose leaders were recently ousted in the midst of Middle East unrest — Egypt and Tunisia
Emblem of the U.N. Human Rights' High Commissioner // Source: unesco.org
The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for cracking down on protesters, but another UN body, the Human Rights Council, is poised to adopt a report full of praise for Libya’s human rights record.
The review commends Libya for improving educational opportunities, for making human rights a “priority,” and for bettering its “constitutional” framework. Several countries, including Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia — but also Canada — give Libya positive marks for the legal protections afforded to its citizens — who are now revolting against the regime and facing bloody reprisal.
The U.S. mission in Geneva said it would look into the status of the document in response to a question about whether any efforts are being made to cancel or postpone consideration of the report. An agenda put out by the United Nations in January, however, said the Human Rights Council, of which Libya has been a member since last year, will “consider and adopt” the document at its session underway this month.
Fox News reports that UN Watch, a watchdog group based in Geneva, called on the council Monday to withdraw the report and launch a new review that “would tell the truth about the (Gaddafi) regime’s heinous crimes.”
UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer told FoxNews.com the review, formally known as the Universal Periodic Review, is a “complete distortion” of Libya’s rights record.
“The review is supposed to be a serious examination of a country’s human rights record to hold it accountable,” Neuer said. “All they do is give praise and give cover to Libya’s abuses.”
The report — put together after a November 2010 session, months before protesters challenged Gaddafi’s legitimacy and prompted an historic confrontation with his regime — includes dozens of recommendations for how Libya can improve human rights. It also includes pages of commentary, mostly positive, from the other forty-six delegations to the controversial Human Rights Council.
The praise comes from some unsurprising places. Sudan’s delegation praised Libya for improving education conditions. North Korea noted Libya’s progress “in the field of economic and social rights.” Saudi Arabia praised Libya for improvements in “constitutional, legislative and institutional frameworks, which showed the importance that the country attached to human rights.”
Praise also streamed in from Cuba, Venezuela, and two nations whose leaders were recently ousted in the midst of Middle East unrest — Egypt and Tunisia.
Egypt commended Libya for its development of a new criminal code
