Mediocrates
04-01-2009, 08:18 AM
WASHINGTON/GENEVA (AFP-EJP)---US President Barack Obama's administration announced Tuesday it will run in May for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, reversing the Bush Administration's decision to shun the body, prompting concern among some Jewish organizations.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the United States wanted a seat to help reform the body from within, according to the State Department.
Speaking to reporters, Rice echoed criticism from those in Congress and the administration of former president George W. Bush who said the Geneva-based body routinely demonized Israel but ignored human rights abuses in other parts of the globe.
Rice said the only way to change the body was to join its ranks.
"The decision is in keeping with the Obama Administration's 'new era of engagement' with other nations to advance American security interests and meet the global challenges of the 21st century," Gordon Duguid, a department spokesman, said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the new administration's decision.
"Full US engagement on human rights issues is an important step toward realizing the goal of an inclusive and vibrant intergovernmental process to protect human rights around the globe," Ban said in a statement.
Clinton, who is traveling in Europe, was quoted as saying "human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy" while vowing that Washington will work with others to carry out UN principles on human rights.
"We believe every nation must live by and help shape global rules that ensure people enjoy the right to live freely and participate fully in their societies," she said in a statement released by the State Department.
In a conference call with UN correspondents, Rice pledged that if elected, the United States would work to reform the body when it faces a review in 2011 of its structures and procedures.
"We're very committed to bring about the serious reform that the council needs," she said.
"The principal problem is there has been too little focus on the most egregious abuses of human rights ... and too much focus, unbalanced focus we believe, on other issues that don't merit the amount of time," she added.
"Yes, of course, we mean Israel."
The next round of elections to the Council will be held on May 15 in the UN General Assembly in New York when members will be elected to a three-year term.
The Bush administration opposed the council after it was set up in March
2006 and refused to be a member.
It said the body had lost credibility because of its repeated criticism of Israel and what it called a failure to confront major rights abusers.
Howard Berman, the most senior Jewish lawmaker in the US House of Representatives in his capacity as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, supported the decision. He said the United States could no longer afford to be on the sidelines after the body had "become increasingly dysfunctional and politicized.
"The time is ripe to take a more positive and active role in challenging the Council and in speaking out about genuine human rights atrocities," Berman said in a statement.
Jewish concern
But the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading anti-Semitism watchdog, expressed concern over the decision.
"ADL had urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek reform of the Council before deciding to join it," it said in a statement.
"There is no question that the U.S. can play a decisive role in making U.N. institutions more effective, but the Human Rights Council has deep systemic flaws," said ADL’s national director Abraham Foxman.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) wondered whether the time was ripe for joining the council. "There are so many players on the Human Rights Council that do not have our interests at heart that I think it will mobilize against the things that the United States is going to fight for," said Betty Ehrenberg, a spokeswoman for the WJC.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based ‘UN Watch,’ welcomed the US decision, "but only if it’s to vigorously push back against the world’s worst abusers."
He added: “Pathologically obsessed with scapegoating Israel -- in more than 80 percent of all country resolutions (26 out of 33) -- the Council's sessions routinely legitimize perpetrators, while turning a blind eye to millions of human rights victims around the world.”
http://ejpress.org/article/35716
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the United States wanted a seat to help reform the body from within, according to the State Department.
Speaking to reporters, Rice echoed criticism from those in Congress and the administration of former president George W. Bush who said the Geneva-based body routinely demonized Israel but ignored human rights abuses in other parts of the globe.
Rice said the only way to change the body was to join its ranks.
"The decision is in keeping with the Obama Administration's 'new era of engagement' with other nations to advance American security interests and meet the global challenges of the 21st century," Gordon Duguid, a department spokesman, said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the new administration's decision.
"Full US engagement on human rights issues is an important step toward realizing the goal of an inclusive and vibrant intergovernmental process to protect human rights around the globe," Ban said in a statement.
Clinton, who is traveling in Europe, was quoted as saying "human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy" while vowing that Washington will work with others to carry out UN principles on human rights.
"We believe every nation must live by and help shape global rules that ensure people enjoy the right to live freely and participate fully in their societies," she said in a statement released by the State Department.
In a conference call with UN correspondents, Rice pledged that if elected, the United States would work to reform the body when it faces a review in 2011 of its structures and procedures.
"We're very committed to bring about the serious reform that the council needs," she said.
"The principal problem is there has been too little focus on the most egregious abuses of human rights ... and too much focus, unbalanced focus we believe, on other issues that don't merit the amount of time," she added.
"Yes, of course, we mean Israel."
The next round of elections to the Council will be held on May 15 in the UN General Assembly in New York when members will be elected to a three-year term.
The Bush administration opposed the council after it was set up in March
2006 and refused to be a member.
It said the body had lost credibility because of its repeated criticism of Israel and what it called a failure to confront major rights abusers.
Howard Berman, the most senior Jewish lawmaker in the US House of Representatives in his capacity as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, supported the decision. He said the United States could no longer afford to be on the sidelines after the body had "become increasingly dysfunctional and politicized.
"The time is ripe to take a more positive and active role in challenging the Council and in speaking out about genuine human rights atrocities," Berman said in a statement.
Jewish concern
But the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading anti-Semitism watchdog, expressed concern over the decision.
"ADL had urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek reform of the Council before deciding to join it," it said in a statement.
"There is no question that the U.S. can play a decisive role in making U.N. institutions more effective, but the Human Rights Council has deep systemic flaws," said ADL’s national director Abraham Foxman.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) wondered whether the time was ripe for joining the council. "There are so many players on the Human Rights Council that do not have our interests at heart that I think it will mobilize against the things that the United States is going to fight for," said Betty Ehrenberg, a spokeswoman for the WJC.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based ‘UN Watch,’ welcomed the US decision, "but only if it’s to vigorously push back against the world’s worst abusers."
He added: “Pathologically obsessed with scapegoating Israel -- in more than 80 percent of all country resolutions (26 out of 33) -- the Council's sessions routinely legitimize perpetrators, while turning a blind eye to millions of human rights victims around the world.”
http://ejpress.org/article/35716