Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor has spoken out about Iran and Syria’s expected bid for a three-year rotating membership of the Human Rights Council, equating the prospect of the controversial regime’s joining the council to “putting the Godfather in charge of a witness protection program”. “This might be a new world record for lunacy at the United Nations,” added the Israeli envoy in response to reports by UN Watch of the expected bid at November’s forthcoming UN General Assembly for membership for the 2014-2016.
Should Iran and Syria officially submit their candidacy, they would find themselves vying for one of four open rotating seats for the Asia region, running against confirmed candidates China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Maldives and Vietnam. Elections to replace 14 of the 47 rotating seats in the council will be held at November’s UNGA, a year after the Palestinian Authority’s successful bid fir non-member observer status at the same body.
Syria had first declared its candidacy for election to the Human Rights Council in 2011, but was forced to “reschedule the timing” after the eruption of civil war, at which point it was replaced by Kuwait, with Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari making his intention clear to resubmit his country’s candidacy for the 2013 elections. The US and EU made an unprecedented pre-emptive strike against Syrian’s qualification for membership last year in a resolution calling on the council to uphold its belief the authoritarian regime “fails to meet the standards for Council membership”.
Iran was included on a list of 28 countries of concern with regard to human rights and democracy by the British foreign office earlier this year, with the quarterly report highlighting concerns about the continued use of the death penalty, as well as reports of violation of minority rights, including freedom of religion.
The report also lauded the successful bid for a resolution slamming the human rights situation in Iran at October’s UN General Assembly, a motion tabled by Canada and co-sponsored by the UK, as it concluded “the human rights situation in Iran between October and December 2012 remained extremely poor”.
UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer described the anticipated bids by Iran and Syria as “a recipe for disaster” in an official statement. “By electing massive abusers of human rights to the very body charged with protecting them, the UN is about to add more rotten ingredients into the soup. We should not be surprised by the results,” he added. The human rights group similarly raised objections to China and Saudia Arabia’s confirmed bids for membership for the Asian region, as well as Russia’s candidacy for one of two open seats for Europe, Algeria’s bid for membership of the African bloc and Cuba’s candidacy for the Latin American region.
Such states, insisted Neuer, “have one thing in common: they systematically violate the human rights of their own citizens, and they have consistently voted the wrong way on UN initiatives to protect the human rights of others.” “"It's not only that these governments are unqualified; they are the ones who should be in the dock of the accused, not sitting on high as prosecutor and judge,” he concluded.