UN human rights report raises ire in US

Sat Nov 6, 2010

The findings of the recently released Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council have received mixed reactions from officials in Washington.

While some lawmakers welcomed the criticism leveled by the 47-member UNHRC as "constructive dialogue," a top Republican lawmaker told reporters that the US should quit the UNHRC.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who is likely to become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the UNHRC, "is dominated by rogue regimes, including Cuba, which serves as vice-chair. So long as the inmates are allowed to run the asylum, the Human Rights Council will continue to stand in the way of justice, not promote it."

Furthermore, John Bolton, the former UN envoy under President George W. Bush, said, "For the Obama administration, this is an exercise in self-flagellation, which they seem to enjoy. But it doesn't prompt equivalent candor from the real rights abusers."

The UPR, which was released on Friday, turned the spotlight for the first time on US human rights abuses and called on the White House to investigate allegations of torture.

Ambassadors of UNHRC member states urged the US to swiftly shut down Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, where allegations of torture have been raised.

The panel also called on Washington to abolish the death penalty.

The UPR reviews human rights records of all 192 UNHRC member states. Under the process, each state must declare actions that have been undertaken to improve the human rights situation in their countries.

While the Bush administration boycotted the Human Rights Council, the Obama Administration made a decision to participate.

In August, the administration handed over a 22-page report to the UNHRC, which documented abuses by federal and local police and corrections and immigration officials.

Input from minorities, including Muslims, Native-Americans, African-Americans and other minorities were also included in the report.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/149886.html.