United In Dysfunction
Reason and rationality were left by the wayside when the United Nations decided that it had an obligation to uphold human rights and to inspire all its members to recognize what constitutes the parameters of the most basic and fundamental of human freedoms, so that all nations should aspire to offer them to their populations. For that purpose it decided to launch a committee that would sit in sober judgement, bringing to light instances of discriminatory practises, human rights abuses and nations' failure to protect their populations from institutionalized oppression.Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle. Epictetus: Discourses
In theory, as it was visualized by high-minded people of principle, such a committee would serve to illustrate the wrongs that are imposed upon minorities within majority settings, upon religious convictions in countries that would not recognize minority religion-rights, upon ethnic groups, minorities in majority-ethnic countries, and bring to the fore the sufferings of the oppressed. In this way a majority opinion denouncing the abuses foisted upon a population by countries not complicit with the United Nations human rights code, would submit to the need for change.
But some odd perversion of purpose happened on the way to assembling the major participants in the Human Rights Council, and it became transformed into a venue whereby the very worst proponents of racism, ideological, political and religious oppression, social disharmony and oppressive lack of human rights became the arbiters of those very issues. They were enabled to sit in judgement on those countries of the world with exemplary human rights records.
In so doing they have been successful in ensuring that the most egregious human-rights-destructive countries of the world would never be answerable to the committee for their ongoing infringements of basic human liberties. The countries that oppress and destroy their populations' futures, that prey on the defenceless and the vulnerable, who take funding from first-world countries and humanitarian groups to line their own pockets are given free reign to charge the liberal democracies of the world with historical shortcomings.
China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia, all infamous for their traditional authoritarian, totalitarian ideological or religious transgressions upon their populations' freedoms, are certain to be re-elected to another three-year term on the United Nations Human Rights council. Proud of their contribution to upholding human rights standards, within the United Nations. They have, alas, been slurred collectively, by the advocacy director of Freedom House.
"They should be targets of Human Rights Council resolutions and special (investigatory) sessions, not running for election", according to Paula Schriefer of Washington-based Freedom House. And according to Geneva-based UN Watch, these three are among 17 countries the Worst of the Worst 2009 report just released identifies as representing the most oppressive countries in terms of denying political rights and civil liberties.
This is the United Nations's human rights-defence body, one that replaced the former Human Rights Commission that was disbanded as a result of having been dominated, purpose subverted, by abuser states. The moral and ethical rot that burdened the United Nations with the reputation of aiding and abetting the abusive agendas of human-rights-abusing states has simply re-surfaced under the new nomenclature, to benefit those countries in need of censure.
Even the United States, for the first time prepared to take up a three-year term with the sadly dysfunctional and utterly degraded body of moral bigots, incompetents and hypocrites, will likely pull its punches when it comes to identifying and criticizing those countries of the world that have proven to be useful to it politically. While at the same time it struggles to fulfill its obligation as a liberal-democracy and world power, to uphold the original vision that led to the formation of the Council.
The report identifies additional candidates, those which are considered to be 'not qualified'; including Azerbaijan, Russia, Cameroon and Djibouti, while the 'questionable' candidates for position are Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Senegal. Regressive regimes like Belarus, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan have been protected from investigation by Council machinations.
With Cuba's support Islamic states were successful in re-writing rules for a freedom of expression monitor, to completely contravene the purpose, in yet another reflection of the self-serving purpose of the Council members. This perversion of purpose is antithetical to the meaning and value of the Council and the larger body which it is meant to serve. The entire farcical theatre has an unbearable stench of corruption.
The truly sad and miserable part of all of this is that the United Nations appears to have failed in all the parameters of its purpose; as a unifying human edifice whose moral 'suasion would be used to prevent strife, preserve peace, battle injustice, and help bring educational opportunities, improved health facilities, political stability, along with economic prosperity to a balanced world of inter-related sympathies.
Failure writ large. Truth is, it is not merely the institution of the United Nations that has failed, but the human population of the world at large. We are simply too flawed to care deeply enough about one another, too wedded to our own comforts and entitlements, too willing to remain a mediocre presence on this planet we are slowly destroying through eroded trust in one another, and wilful destruction of the very place that succours us.
Bleak, bleak. But smile, tomorrow is another day. And we never know what the next day will bring, do we?
Labels: Human Fallibility, United Nations
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, May 07, 2009
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