As
US at UN Selectively Touts Its Advocacy for Gays, Positions on
Executions Questioned
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 10, updated below -- When a reference to protect lesbians and
gays
was removed from a draft resolution against arbitrary executions in
the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, the US Mission was
constrained in fighting it, since they wouldn't
vote for the overall
resolution due to continued use of drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen
and elsewhere, according to
advocates.
But
early on
December 10, the US Mission sent some reporters a notice that
Ambassador Susan Rice would at 1:15 be announcing a US sponsored
amendment to be introduced in the full General Assembly. This early
notice did not address the US' overall position on the resolution
against arbitrary executions.
As
Ambassador Rice
walked into the Security Council at 10:30 on Friday morning for
meetings on Iran and Haiti, Inner City Press asked if the US would
vote for the resolution on executions.
Not getting an
answer, Inner
City Press put the same question to US Mission staff, along with
questioning the seemingly selective distribution of the early notice
of Rice's 1:15 appearance.
Susan Rice at beginning of December, position on execution resolution
not shown
The
response was
that the Mission would be issuing a formal notice. But what about the
US position on the resolution against executions? Watch this site.
Update
of
1:10 pm -- Susan Rice spoke to the Press, about Haiti, at 1 pm. As
Inner City Press began to ask about the above, Ambassador Rice said
she had to go make her presentation. Her spokesman stayed and said
that while the US will probably as in previous years and as in
committee abstain from the resolution against arbitrary executions --
due among other things to what he called mischaracterizations of
international humanitarian law -- the US feels it has made progress
with the sponsors and “aspires” to join consensus on the
resolution in two years' time.
Inner
City Press
asked for the US Mission's response to advocates' complaint that
because of the US not voting for the resolution, its campaign to have
LGBT language included was undermined. The response is that the US
Mission hopes that such advocates throw their support behind this new
effort to have the language put in during the process before the full
General Assembly. We'll see.
Ambassador
Rice's Haiti answers we will report this afternoon. Watch this site.
, 
