It’s not crazy to expect that if a nation gains admission to an
international human rights council, that nation should actually
demonstrate a commitment to human rights, yet that’s not the case at the
United Nations.
During the past 15 years, 62% of the countries that served on the Human Rights Council were either dictatorships or authoritarian — almost two-thirds were the world’s bullies!
The membership of the countries that belong to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, looks like a rogue’s gallery of the worst human rights violators on the planet.
There’s Saudi Arabia where the deplorable treatment of women is well known (except to progressives) and Venezuela, where police and security forces arrest, detain and beat members of the public with impunity.
Reality at the U.N. is beyond parody. Inviting the most egregious regimes to be part of a council that champions the rights these member-nations deny their own citizens back home!
The list of members with atrocious human rights records is a long one – from Algeria and Nigeria to China and Russia and it’s been that way for years.
But here’s something new: your tax dollars are now being earmarked to prop up this farce.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion recently announced a $15-million contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, saying Canada wants to re-engage with the council as part of the Liberal government’s broader embrace of the U.N. Dion’s spokesman says while Canada recognizes the “shortcomings” of the council, the feeling is that the only way to improve the council is by engaging it directly.
Seriously? A Canadian presence on the council, chastising the likes of Saudi Arabia or Venezuela will bring about policy changes in those regimes?
Wouldn’t it be better for Canada to boycott this farcical human rights council rather than prop it up with millions of our tax dollars?
During the past 15 years, 62% of the countries that served on the Human Rights Council were either dictatorships or authoritarian — almost two-thirds were the world’s bullies!
The membership of the countries that belong to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, looks like a rogue’s gallery of the worst human rights violators on the planet.
There’s Saudi Arabia where the deplorable treatment of women is well known (except to progressives) and Venezuela, where police and security forces arrest, detain and beat members of the public with impunity.
Reality at the U.N. is beyond parody. Inviting the most egregious regimes to be part of a council that champions the rights these member-nations deny their own citizens back home!
The list of members with atrocious human rights records is a long one – from Algeria and Nigeria to China and Russia and it’s been that way for years.
But here’s something new: your tax dollars are now being earmarked to prop up this farce.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion recently announced a $15-million contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, saying Canada wants to re-engage with the council as part of the Liberal government’s broader embrace of the U.N. Dion’s spokesman says while Canada recognizes the “shortcomings” of the council, the feeling is that the only way to improve the council is by engaging it directly.
Seriously? A Canadian presence on the council, chastising the likes of Saudi Arabia or Venezuela will bring about policy changes in those regimes?
Wouldn’t it be better for Canada to boycott this farcical human rights council rather than prop it up with millions of our tax dollars?
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