Laugh at the U.N., Not With It The world body’s record on human rights is a cruel joke. 3 Comments By Elliot Kaufman
https://www.wsj.com/articles/laugh-at-the-u-n-not-with-it-1538002997
Oh, how they laughed.
When President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday that “in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” the delegates of the world couldn’t contain themselves. “I didn’t expect that reaction,” Mr. Trump responded to the laughter ringing through the hall, “but that’s OK.”
Mr. Trump’s boast merited an eye roll, but I’d laugh right back at the U.N. It deserves it.
Who but the U.N. would elect some of the world’s leading human-rights abusers—Saudi Arabia, China, Venezuela, Pakistan and others—to run a Human Rights Council and lecture the rest of us? In 2016 many of these members even tried to silence Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, in midsentence as he exposed their hypocrisy.
Who but the U.N. would elect the Islamic Republic of Iran to the executive board of its agency “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women”? The World Economic Forum ranks Iran 140th out of 144 nations in parity between the sexes for a reason. Its regime arrests and beats women who peacefully protest for their rights. It imprisons and tortures women for removing their headscarves. Discrimination is written into every area of Iran’s civil code, from marriage and divorce to employment.
Who but the U.N. would hold a World Conference Against Racism, only to have supporters of Israel harassed, intimidated and booed off the stage with chants of “Jew! Jew! Jew!”? In 2001 the conference was “overflowing with copies of ‘The Protocols of The Elders of Zion’ and pamphlets featuring pictures of Jews with long hooked noses and evil smiles, their serpent fangs soaked in blood and their military uniforms decorated with swastikas,” according to a correspondent for the New Republic. As of June 2016, the Human Rights Council had condemned Israel more than every other nation combined. It has since passed 10 more anti-Israel resolutions, for a total of 78.
Who but the U.N. would elect Syria to a leadership post in the Special Committee on Decolonization, which fights “subjugation, domination and exploitation,” as the regime was slaughtering its own people with chemical weapons? Instead of correcting its mistake, the U.N. then re-elected Syria in 2016 and again in 2018.
Who but the U.N. would hold an official minute of silence in recognition of the death of Fidel Castro, Cuba’s murderer, torturer and jailer in chief? In fact, one wasn’t enough. The U.N. gave Castro two separate minutes of silence and then a third tribute. Under Castro, Cuba sometimes served on the Human Rights Council but never allowed inspectors into the country—except once. U.N. official Jean Ziegler, a Castro admirer and the cofounder of the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights, visited Cuba in 2007. He liked what he saw.
The U.N. laughs. If it had any shame, it would cry.
Mr. Kaufman is the Journal’s Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow.
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