Who said Congress wasn’t going after countries that torture? From Under The Same Sun blog: “Illinois Republican Henry Hyde is introducing yet another bill aimed at crippling what remains of the already severely-battered international institution that is still called ‘United’ ‘Nations,’ often against evidence.” More below:
More from Under The Same Sun blog today:
The “United Nations Reform Act of 2005” targets a panoply of issues that have troubled critics of the United Nations, particularly Republicans, for years. Among other things, it would seek to cut funding for programs seen as useless and bar human rights violators from serving on U.N. human rights bodies.
Umm, yes. That would be great, actually, Mr. Hyde. Nations that systematically practice torture, impose collective punishment, wage aggressive wars, illegitimately occupy other countries and otherwise blatantly violate a collective, global understanding of minimal standards of protection accrued to personal and psychic integrity of human beings that has become known as “human rights” during a very bloody 20th century should not sit on U.N. human rights bodies, but should have to pay proportionate dues to international organizations — because acting in a criminal fashion does not eliminate one’s responsibilities, but, on the contrary, adds to them.
This, plus the Bolton nomination, all part of the plan to crush the UN. Evil people.
Last night, as I was flipping channels, I landed on CSPAN’s coverage of the testimony of Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, before the House International Relations Committee hearing on UN reform.
He was terrific. The beginning of the press release:
Excerpts of Senator Wirth’s testimony are listed below:
“[The] history of public support for the UN, and current concerns about its effectiveness, presents a good environment for UN reform. The American public is ready for change, ready for a stronger UN, and is supportive of Administrative and Congressional efforts to help strengthen the UN.” …
Yeah I read this…
Does this mean that the US is barring itself from ever sitting on Human Rights commissions.
They were put in a very embarrssing position when the Abu Garib scandal broke as it was the very time the Human Rights Commission was meeting. The US had to hold back distributing its documents accusing lesser nations of the crimes of prisoner torture…
This would not affect the U.S. We are not human rights violators. The Attorney General has made it clear that the humans we have violated had no rights.
or those whose rights were violated by the US were
not ‘human.’
How dare they arrest people around the world,
relocate them away from their families, and
torture them to death! I can’t put that NYTimes
article behind me.