After
#HRC34, ICP Asks UK
Of Its Position
on Agenda Item 7, That UN Not
Show Undue Bias
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
March 24 – As the UN Human
Rights Council ended its 34th
session on March 24, the UK's
Ambassador to the UN in Geneva
Julian
Braithwaite said, "If things
do not change, in the future
we will adopt a policy of
voting against all resolutions
concerning Israel’s conduct in
the Occupied Syrian and
Palestinian Territories."
Later on March 24 in New York
Inner City Press asked UK
Ambassador Matthew Rycroft
about it. From the UK
transcript:
Inner City Press:
I wanted to ask you about the
UK’s position on Palestine. I
think earlier today Julian
Braithwaite, the Ambassador in
Geneva, said that the UK seems
to be calling into question
whether it should be a agenda
item 7, which is generally
about Israel Palestine. Is
that the UK’s position, and is
it a changed position, does
that indicate any change in
your position here at the
Security Council on things
like the resolution on
settlements?
Amb Rycroft: "The UK position
on the substance of peace in
the Middle East remains
unchanged. We continue to
support the two-state
solution, as the only viable,
long-term solution there. And
that means two states, Israel
and Palestine, living
side-by-side in peace and
security. The issue about
Geneva is that we have to ask
ourselves whether different
parts of the UN family here in
New York or in Geneva are
doing everything they possibly
could to bring peace in the
Middle East closer, or whether
actually they are becoming
part of an obstacle to peace
in the Middle East.
"And so, I think what he was
saying was that we need to
make sure that the Human
Rights Council, for instance,
does not show any undue bias,
and that the Human Rights
Council focuses as best it can
on helping to bring peace in
the Middle East closer. In the
Security Council, I don’t
think we have quite the same
dynamic, but we will continue
to use our position here to
press for all obstacles to
peace in the Middle East to be
removed."
Before HRC34
ended, on the Syria resolution
Ecuador and Egypt abstained,
while Kyrgyzstan voted no. The
final vote was 27 yes, 7 no,
13 abstentions. Egypt noted
that it did not join the consensus
on North Korea, but said it
reserves the right to "intervene"
on the issue of the Japanese abductees.
Video
here, from Minute 2:40.
The US representative called
for a vote on each resolution
under Agenda Item 7, see above.
Meanwhile the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights
has not spoken on the Internet
cut-off in Cameroon; its
spokesman Rupert Colville has
not even responded to Inner
City Press questions including
on that topic, and Prince
Zeid's retaliation against
whistleblowers. Maybe budget
cuts or withdrawal would lead
to reform: nothing else has.
Earlier in
the session, UN official Oscar
Fernandez-Taranco offered
unalloyed praise of UN support
to Sri Lanka. As Inner City
Press has reported, just
earlier this month, UN system
support
has included to Sri Lanka's
National Authority for
Protection of Victims of Crime
and Witnesses which includes,
among others, a person accused
by the UN's own Special
Rapporteur of torture. Inner
City Press has asked
the UN Spokespeople,
three weeks ago, without
answer.
Now on
March 15, the US State
Department says: "On Monday,
March 13 at the UN Human
Rights Council the United
States and other members of
the Friends of Sri Lanka Core
Group tabled a draft
resolution on promoting
reconciliation,
accountability, and human
rights in Sri Lanka that
reflects our enduring
commitment to lasting peace
and justice for all the people
of Sri Lanka.
The United States worked in
close consultation with the
United Kingdom, Montenegro,
and Macedonia, and in
partnership with the
Government of Sri Lanka, to
draft the resolution. We
look forward to the adoption
of the text, which will
support reconciliation and
justice in Sri Lanka, help
ensure a non-recurrence of
conflict, and strengthen
democratic governance and
freedoms for all Sri Lankans.
The United States is pleased
that Sri Lanka has agreed once
again to co-sponsor the
resolution, and invites
like-minded UN members to
demonstrate support for
reconciliation and peace in
Sri Lanka by adding their
names to the list of
cosponsors. The United
States applauds the
administration of President
Sirisena for its continuing
efforts to promote
reconciliation." We'll have
more on this.
Meanwhile UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Prince Zeid
hearkened back to the League
of Nations, whose dissolution
he blamed on, among other
things, "the absence of the
United States." These days,
Zeid has retaliated
against at least three
whistleblowers (Anders
Kompass, Miranda Brown and now
Emma Reilly, who has been
banned from speaking even as
Zeid's spokesperson Rupert
Colville trashes her (and
Inner City Press and GAP) in a
press release. Nor has
Colville answered simple
written questions from
Inner City Press. Arrogance,
too, can undermine an
organization. We'll have more
on this.
As to Sri Lanka,
the wider UN, which
half-admitted systemic failure
under Ban Ki-moon while tens
of thousands of Tamils were
killed, has been supporting
something called the National
Authority for Protection of
Victims of Crime and
Witnesses.
But now
that the body has been shown
to include, among others, a
person accused by the UN's own
Special Rapporteur of torture,
what does the UN do? Nothing,
it seems.
The issue
was raised again on February
20 in the 66th Session of
Committee on Elimination of
Discrimination against Women.
Video
here. This came, as it
happens, hours after the son
in law of just-left UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,
Siddharth Chatterjee, dodged
again on his connection to
alleged war crimes in Sri
Lanka. He wrote: "The fact is
that I arrived in Sri Lanka
having cut short a specialized
combat under water diving
course with the Indian Navy on
October 16, 1987. The raid at
Jaffna University took place
on 12 October 1987." But it
was after the failed October
12 raid - and after
Chatterjee's now specified
October 16 arrival - that the
alleged reprisals took place.
We'll have more on this,
including in light of the new
human rights self-attestation
promulgated in the UN.
On February
14, Inner City Press asked UN
deputy spokesman Farhan Haq
about it. He had no answer,
and later in the briefing,
regarding Ban Ki-moon who has
had two relatives indicted for
real estate fraud involving
the UN, called Inner City
Press "obsessive"
then an a*hole.
(This same Haq in
2016 cut off Press questions
about a protest in Jaffna of
Ban Ki-moon's unilateral
eviction from the UN of Inner
City Press, where it remains
restricted as
"non-resident correspondent.")
Here's
from the February 14 UN
transcript, on Sri
Lanka:
Inner City Press:
I want to ask you about Sri
Lanka, and I'll say why.
There's a report
out by the International Truth
and Justice Project run by
Yasmin Sooka, who was one of
the named panellists.
And they've basically said
that there's a Sri Lankan body
called the National Authority
for Victim and Witness
Protection, and they've named
a member of the body, put on
by the Government, who's named
in a UN report as having been
accused of torture by a
Special Rapporteur on
Torture. And the reason
I'm asking is the UN is
apparently providing financial
support to this National
Authority for Victim and
Witness Protection.
There's a… a… they've… they've
hired a management
consultant. And I wanted
to know, is the UN, given its
previous role in Sri Lanka,
aware that it's financially
supporting a body that has, in
fact, torturers on it?
And, if so, what happens to
the financial support?
Deputy Spokesman: We'd
have to check and see what
sort of financial support is
being provided. I'm not
aware of what support is given
to this group and whether that
would need to be conditioned
on any particular set of
circumstances.
Haq, after
calling
Inner City Press an obsessive
a*hole, left his office hours
later having provided no
answer. Here
is the report, and here
a sample
UN system recruitment,
showing support.
40,000 dead
Tamils, UN failure? Get over
it.
***
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