unwatch | U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and EU
foreign minister Federica Mogherini should condemn and work to
reverse the appointment of Saudi Arabia as head of a key UN Human Rights
Council panel that selects top officials who shape international human
rights standards and report on violations worldwide, said UN Watch, a
non-governmental watchdog organization based in Geneva.
“It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more
people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel,”
said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. “Petro-dollars and
politics have trumped human rights.”
“Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it
comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison
the innocent blogger Raif Badawi,” Neuer added.
“This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire
chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council
that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members.”
