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The U.N. Human Rights Council is the replacement for the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which was disbanded for including many of the world's most brutal and oppressive regimes in its voting membership.
The UN Human rights council continues to be tested to see if it is any improvement over its predecessor. Yesterday Mr. David Littman, Representative of the Association for World Education, addressed the UN Human Rights Council. Here is the text of his remarks, provided to this site by Mr. Littman.
(All boldfacing is in the original.)
WORLD UNION FOR PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM
3nd session (20 November - 8 December 2006). President: Amb. Luis Alfonso de Alba (Mexico)
[All NGO statements had to be cut from 3 to 2 minutes; reduced passages in brackets not spoken.]
Sir, two weeks ago we again briefly referred to that great tragedy in Darfur about which the High Commissioner had then issued a warning ["Action must be taken now] to stop the killings and displacements" - a warning that she has now vividly described, insisting that "the ongoing atrocities must stop." We shall reiterate the words of 43 NGOs in our May appeal [to the High Commissioner]: "We believe that the role of the new Human Rights Council will be, in part, tested by the way the Darfur conflict is faced."(1) This is still true today!
In his message to the Council this morning, the Secretary-General spoke of the glaring case of Darfur, "which would merit scrutiny at a special session."
Mr. President, we are all experiencing a historic moment in world history with the pope's official visit to Turkey, and this climacteric should inspire us to reflect. Pope Benedict was right to declare two months ago: "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul." We heard similar words in his appeal yesterday - almost identical to those we have used here for the past three and a half years, in requesting the Commission, and then the Council: "to condemn all who kill, call upon others to kill, terrorise, or use violence in the name of God or religion - of any religion!" - and we have urged the inclusion of such a firm condemnation by the Council in any future resolution on: Combating Defamation of Religions.
[Here, at the opening meeting of the Council, Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khann - speaking for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) - affirmed that: "Islam abjures, renounces and condemns violence. Islam calls for peace, not war; love not hatred; tolerance, not bigotry."]
We ask again whether there is not a grave risk that lack of a clear condemnation on this major issue might be construed by many as acquiescence in this ugly 'defamation' and might provoke more manifestations of 'Islamophobia'?
[Sir, we would remind the Council that in 1999 a Geneva Spiritual Appeal was promulgated, being signed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Gro Harlem Bruntland (General Director of the WHO), Mary Robinson (HCHR), Cornelio Sommaruga (President ICRC), and Sadako Ogata (HCR). It calls on all "Not to refer to any religious or spiritual imperative to justify any form of violence." This 'Appeal' brought Christians, Jews, and Muslims to declare in Geneva's St Peter's Cathedral in March 2003: "Together, we denounce all reference to God to justify and foster hatred."]
Mr President: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time of war, and a time of peace." [Ecclesiastes, 3: 1, 7]
Today, violence and killing in the name of a faith or God is being carried out daily on a vast scale in the Middle East. It is time to speak out here to condemn any use of violence in the name of God or religion.
May it soon be a "time of peace" and of dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis - and throughout the Middle East - and for all calls to kill in the name of religion, faith, or sectarian belief to be placed beyond the pale of civilization. Amen
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1. E/CN.4/2006/NGO/3: Urgent Appeal to stop crimes in Darfur by invoking the Genocide Convention
#1
#2That's hilarious!
#3Hilarious but very very sadly TRUE.
-OC
#4I've just quoted it in a new article.
#5hi vik
i hope you remember me. we had an interesting conversation about nepal a year ago. i was thinking of starting a topic reflecting the current situation in nepal today. by the way i was denied a visa in your free country because i had written an online article supporting the maoists in nepal..just an article..i am in no way connected to them...funny how free or how paranoid the US is..
can i start a new topic? if so, how? by the way is it not funny that you are talking about human rights? remember slavador allende? remmeber how the US was invovlved in his killing or in the removal of arbenz in gautemala? but looking back, i think the atomic bombing of japan was the worst violation of human rights, on par with the nazi human rights violation
#6Sukirti, given that you can't stand America, why do want to come here so much?
#7i was going there for a month to visit my aunt. i note if a similar thing was done in a communist nation u would have led a chorus about 'no freedom' where is the freedom of your great nation now? and i also note that you have not responded to any of my other queries
#8You say a lot of rude things about my country, and then you ask for my help. What are you thinking? Did it ever occur to you that I might not feel like helping after you insult my country? "Where is the freedom of your great nation now?" Give me a break.
#9Sukirti,
Concerning your remark about the Atomic Bomb:
It was a difficult decision for the new President Truman. Others, notably the Nazis were also trying to develop the bomb; I wonder how it would have been used by the Nazis or Imperialst Japanese, given their respective records covering such events the Holocaust and Nanking?
The fate of the 100,000 Japanese, though tragic, paled in comparison to the over 60 million dead and tens of millions adversely affected by the world war these two degenerate nations caused. Human Rights was certainly not an agenda for them.
Please also bear in mind that we had alerted both the Japanese government and population in advance of the weapon and our intention to use it, if they did not capitulate.
Perhaps it would be of service to you to be reminded of the reasons leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Your ignorance is astounding.
War Crimes Here's an Australian source:
Additionally, I am quite tired of hearing negative comments about the US when no background research has been done. We have a right to defend ourselves, and our way of life. We helped save the world from enslavement.
It is apparent that life in the United States and where democracy, respect for personal freedom, and the free market exist, life is far better for the general population. Communist, Marxist, and Maoist regimes are oppressors and are guilty of constant and consistant civil and human rights abuses as well as abject poverty for the 'masses'.
The US reserves the right, as does any nation, to refuse entry to anyone deemed to be provocative or a troubleblemaker.
I support my country's decision in your case.
#10exactly my point vik. since you support your country's decision not to allow entry of a troublemaker, though i think even by a super strtch of imagination i cant be called one, similar rights too rested with the soviet union and now cuba which guys like you routinely crticise for curtailing freedom of movement. so what are you cribbing about when you too follow the same standards? and i never did ask for your help, did i? i just pointed out to you your country's behaviour. quote,'Please also bear in mind that we had alerted both the Japanese government and population in advance of the weapon and our intention to use it, if they did not capitulate. ' like the israelis warned the palestine populace that they were going to destroy their homes? that is your idea of a just warning!
still no response to the US involvement in killing salvador allende. be that as it may, it too was a right to defense by the great US. the soviets fought alone in stalingrad and reached berlin but off course the US alone saved the world from enslavement. you in your AC rooms and silk finese can only be so because it is built on the blood of africa, latin america and asia. the great nation is also the greatest when it comes to slavery... but that too was a form of defense from unarmed african tribes. anyway i sincerely believe that i have not insulted america. i love all people including americans, its only power drunk people like you who are a cause of hindarance to world brotherhood and who feel insulted by this.
my regards to you on hugo chavez's stunning re election.
pity your rage at how a low cultured populace has again voted overwhelmingly for premier chavez.
my, my that must be quite some blow!!
#11You're just all over the place with your specious arguments!
You assert, but give no qualified facts.
It is evident that you actually despise the United States despite your meretricious disclaimer that you love all people including Americans.
Your arguments are sophist.
I will only comment on that which I am competent: WWII History and US History.
These were the warning leaflets dropped by reconnaissance planes for the Japanese population. We had already contacted the Japanese government through other channels and they were fully aware that we were working on a WMD. The Japanese government gambled with the lives of their own people - even after the first bomb was dropped! Therefore, it is the Japanese government that was greatly responsible for the death and destruction of its own people.
Where was the warning from the Japanese for their unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor? (They had diplomats in Washington in the midst of 'Peace Talks' with President Roosevelt.)
As for slavery: it was an institution that was thrust upon colonies by European and Arab powers. (The slave traders were mostly Arabs and the Dutch.) We were not the only country that held slaves, but we were one of the first to address the immorality.
Places in Africa, like the Sudan, still have slavery. Additionally, there are other forms of slavery throughout the world, particularly in Southeast Asia.
There are posters and contributors connected with The Big Picture who are far more qualified to comment on your other assertions.
But the bottom line is that you are fueled by hate for this country and its core values, and by virtue of your defense of the Maoists in Nepal, support aggression of the power-hungry and subjugation of human rights.
#12plese read up the current situation in nepal before commenting. and yes it does seem pointless to argue with you as you yourself admit to knowing so little
#13I did.
But again, you have not offered anything concrete to support your assertions - just insults.
#14Sukirti,
Is this the article in question from Revolutionary left.com?
#15hi whittaker
no i am referring to the current situation in nepal, not my article. anyway it seems we are so different in view points it is pointless to carry on this conversation
sukirti
#16Sukirti,
I do agree that we have opposing viewpoints and I wonder how the Communists/CPN would deal with me if I lived in Nepal? Would I be executed or sent to be 're-educated'?
You were given an opportunity to enter into a dialogue giving facts and figures but because you suspect that I will not agree, you will not continue.
Yes, I'm a proud member of the Bourgeoisie. The middle class in a democractic and free market society provides more rights and freedom to the masses than any other system.
But the most disturbing part is that while you make accusations concerning US involvement in South America, your party is aggressively pursuing regime changes in Nepal (and other places) that undermine democratic/parliamentary systems.
You want a one party system with a propaganda machine broadcasting one message telling the masses how they should think. It didn't work in the former Soviet Union or the Peoples Republic of China, why would you think that this system is responsive to the so-called 'prolitariat'? Snap out of it! Communism doesn't work in the long run. It's an effete philosophy. Even Emma Goldman was disallusioned with the repression and forced labor she witnessed in the Soviet Union following the revolution she openly supported.
Are you blind to the disasterous effects Communism has had on the prolitariat in the former Soviet Union and China?
No we are not compatible. Anyone who can write and believe the following is contradictory to freedom and human rights:
(I have taken excerpts from your article concerning Nepal)
The strategy is this: the CPN (Maoist) must use the forum of parliamentary elections to destroy the same system. Political participation in the parliamentary form of government will be temporary and the most vital weapon with which to take power, non-participation will be held as a symbol of unwillingness to coexist. Only by parliamentary participation will the truth be demonstrated to the masses, that the bourgeoisie from of government will never yield to their genuine demands. We will destroy the myth of this form of government by participating in the same and exposing its hollowness...
Once this is achieved however, the party is still annihilated after the fall of the transitory government. The party will once again have to revert back to the guerilla life of the build up years. The very least aim of the party in participation in the political process should be the availability of a platform from where to convince the soldiers of the army, the industrial proletariat, some intelligentsia of the aims and conviction of the party program. This qualitative gain must be the least temptation for the party to participate in the parliamentary process. If the party can sway opinion in its favor and is still defeated post the transitory government collapse, the defeat will be temporary. In that defeat will lie the seeds of future victory...
The war will be as much determined by propaganda as by actual military conflict in this situation. Propaganda is a must in the transitory period. Daily, hourly propaganda and articulation of the party aims is mandatory.
I cannot wish you well with your aims; I pray that you will come to your senses and see the revolutionary left for what it is: A sham. A power-hungry movement by the few disenfranchised that supresses freedom, democracy, and the dignity of the common man.
#17hi whittaker
it really seems pointless now to argue. it is about too much and too many dissimilar view points. i can never expect your well wish and certainly do not need the same.
quote:Anyone who can write and believe the following is contradictory to freedom and human rights:
that certainly is your opinion of democracy and human rights and not something that is supposed to be a universal truth.
may be we will cross path again in the future.
until then
thanks and bye
sukirti
Here's the message that the sufferers of Darfur get when they call up the "esteemed" UN Human Rights Council:
"We're sorry we're not here to take your human rights violation claim, but we're too busy dealing with the number one human rights violator in the world: Israel. But, if you would like to leave a message, we'll try to get back to you after our next emergency session dealing with Israel's oppression of the Palestinians. Thank for your time. Have a lovely day."
-OC