"to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war;
reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights;
(support) equal rights of men and women....of
nations large and small;
establish conditions under which justice....can
be maintained;
promote social progress;
practice tolerance and live in peace; and
(promote) economic and social advancement of
all peoples."
It failed on all counts. It's largely a US imperial tool. It's been
so from inception.
With few exceptions, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) marches in
lockstep with Washington. It does so shamelessly. Poland's Remigiusz Henczel
serves as president.
America's waging hot war on Syria. It does so politically, economically
and other ways against Iran.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon aides and abets Washington's agenda.
So does the Human Rights Council.
Former Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Shaheed, serves
as Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran. He does so dishonorably.
He takes State Department blood money.
Tehran's High Council for Human Rights Secretary-General, Mohammad
Javad Larijani, said:
"The money the special rapporteur has received from the US State
Department has led to a situation that he cannot write about anything
except their anti-Iran desires."
He "has no right to take a stance against the country he is assigned
to. (He) repeats (anti-Iranian) words of the US and Israel."
Iran provided UN officials with damning evidence. Shaheed's a serial
violator. He issued four anti-Iranian reports.
Tehran categorically denies all charges. They're based on unreliable
information. They reflect Western propaganda. They belie reality.
On February 28, HRC published his "Report of the Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Baseless human rights violations were charged. They include "widespread
and systemic" torture, as well as harassment, arrests and attacks on human
rights defenders, lawyers and journalists.
According to Shaheed:
"The prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant
serious concern, and will require a wide range of solutions that are both
respectful of cultural perspectives and mindful of the universality of
fundamental human rights promulgated by the treaties to which Iran is
a party."
Shaheed tried having things both ways. On the one hand, he said
Tehran made "noteworthy" women's rights "advances."
On the other, he claimed "recent policies prohibit women’s access
to a number of fields of study, further restrict women’s freedom of movement,
and current polices that continue to impede women’s ability to hold certain
decision-making positions in Government remain problematic."
He claims "unimpeachable evidence." Pro-Western and internal dissident
sources supplied it. It's biased and unreliable.
It discusses free and fair elections, freedom of expression, association
and assembly, human rights defenders, torture, executions, women's rights,
ethnic minorities, religious minorities, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
community, and socioeconomic rights.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay long ago fell
from grace. Her mandate is suppressing truth. She ignores Western human
rights abuses. America's are the world's worst.
She turns a blind eye on Israel. She ignores its worst crimes. She,
Shaheed, and likeminded sources lack credibility. They're imperial tools.
They're in lockstep with Washington. Their job is advancing its agenda.
On March 11, HRC headlined "Oral Update of the Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic."
It followed previous duplicitous reports. They're pre-scripted.
They're predictable. They're one-sided. They lack credibility. They turn
truth on its head.
They report what Washington wants to hear. They point fingers the
wrong way. They blame Assad for Western crimes. They ignore credible eye-witness
testimonies. They use spurious ones. They do so repeatedly.
They claim Syria's war is "civil." There's nothing civil about it.
imported proxies are used. They're invaders. They're heavily armed, funded,
trained and directed. They've been so from inception.
Most Syrians deplore violence. They oppose internal and external
groups committing it.
Syria is Washington's war. Obama bears full responsibility. He's
guilty of crimes of war and against humanity.
He prioritizes war. He spurns peace. He's an unindicted war criminal.
In 2011, he destroyed Libya. He's ravaging Syria now. HRC blames Assad
for his crimes.
Its report includes baseless accusations. They charge Assad with
forced displacements, razing neighborhoods, looting homes, torture, rapes,
denying medical care, targeting doctors and other hospital personnel,
persecuting anti-government opponents, and continuing hostilities across
Syria.
"Government forces continue to focus their military operations on
securing major towns and cities, intensifying shelling and airstrikes
on anti-Government armed groups' strongholds," it says.
Omitted was saying it's done defensively. Assad's obligated to do
so. Syria was invaded. Other leaders would respond the same way. Failure
would be grossly irresponsible.
HRC claimed bombing, shelling, and missile attacks "caused widespread
damage to residential neighborhoods." It blamed Assad for deaths caused
by insurgents.
They're Western-recruited death squads. Their mandate is kill, kill,
kill. They commit gruesome atrocities. Eye-witness survivors confirm it.
HRC won't cite them.
It didn't explain. It glossed over insurgent crimes. They're too
grave to ignore. It did so anyway.
Targeting Assad is prioritized. He's blamed for "extrajudicial killings,
beatings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests," and other high
crimes.
Uncorroborated reports claim his forces "steal from civilian houses
while conducting ground searches."
In mid-January, HRC said government forces removed dozens of women
traveling to work or school.
Doing so, it said, "was to coerce (their) family members, some of
whom were ostensibly fighting with anti-Government armed groups, to surrender."
"Multiple accounts alleged that the detained women were sexually
abused."
"Other interviewees (alleged) torture in" Damascus detention centers.
No evidence whatever corroborates HRC claims. It largely whitewashes
anti-government forces' crimes. It did so in previous reports. They point
fingers the wrong way. It's done to please Washington.
Assad's wrongfully blamed for death squad massacres and other atrocities.
Spurious accusations include the following:
"The brutality of the civil war in Syria has been amplified by the
perpetration of massacres."
"According to 'corroborated' reports, Government forces executed
between 52 and 90 prisoners, detained due to their affiliation to the
opposition, in a makeshift prison in a former cultural center in Maarat
Al Numan, Idlib, in October 2012."
"The mass killing of detainees took place in the context of an assault
by Free Syrian Army fighters on Maarat Al Numan."
As they approached the checkpoint, "they heard heavy gunfire."
"(T)hey discovered multiple bodies of detainees who had been shot
at close range. Survivors of the murder (said) Government soldiers killed
the detainees in anticipation of the attack by the FSA to prevent their
release."
Other accusations were similar. Assad's accused of "indiscriminate
use of all available fire power assets, including artillery, air force
assets and most recently, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against
insurgent held areas."
HRC points fingers the wrong way. It does so shamelessly and consistently.
Its Syrian and Iranian reports lack credibility. They support Washington's
agenda. They lie for power.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War
on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays
at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
http://www.dailycensored.com/un-human-rights-council-americas-imperial-tool/
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