The HRC is a joke

The charade that is the UN Human Rights Council has gone on long enough. Instead of protecting the rights of humans in Sri Lanka (yes, you guessed it – that’s where the term “human rights” comes from), the HRC in its May 27 resolution chooses to protect the rights of governments to oppress the humans who happen to live in their countries. This is the exact opposite of human rights, and the HRC should not be allowed to use the term in its “work”.

Twenty-six of the 47 HRC members represent Asian and African governments. (Remember that the UN is an assembly of governments, not of countries.) Among those who chose to applaud the Sri Lankan government were such human rights beacons as China, Egypt, Indonesia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan. It’s like asking football hooligans to decide the Fair Play Prize at the World Cup.

This has nothing to do with Sri Lanka, of course. It has everything to do with oppressive governments looking for a free card to treat their citizens any which way they like.

It is our moral obligation not to let them get away with it.