US disengages from UN Human Rights Council

The former UN Commission on Human Rights was a sick joke which comprised some of the worst human rights offenders in the world. Hence the UN Secretary-General proposed it be replaced by a smaller Human Rights Council with not just fewer members, but an election method which would keep out the worst states.

Sadly the reforms got watered down, so that almost the only thing which changed was the title. The new Human Rights Council has been hiring defenders of dictators for its work, and instead of trying to promote free speech, is trying to close it down by pushing for religious criticism defamation to be banned.

They have terminated scrutiny of Cuba and Belarus and basically do nothing at all except spend all their time condemning Israel. Not even the genocide in Darfur gets criticism to the same degree as Israel. And these criticisms of the Council come from Kofi Annan, not the US or Israel.

The US has announced it is minimising its participation, due to the above concerns. NZ should be doing the same. The UN does good in several areas, but its Human Rights Council is a sick joke.