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US Loses Seat on UN Human Rights Council: abcNews

Sat, 05/05/2001 - 17:25 — charlie.collins

Thats right, since 1947 (when the commission was established) the US has been on the UN Human Rights Council and on Thursday the US was booted.

This is an amazing development, and admittedly somewhat ironic (to have known abusers on the council and the US ousted.) However, it is clear that the rest of the world is a little tired of US criticism and hype (while the US has no ambassador.) Also, the worlds reactions to US policies such as the "missile defence shield" (which the rest of the world pretty much opposes vehemently, including US "allies", the US ripping up treaties to make it happen doesnt help) and the Kyoto protocol (which was blatantly thrown out by the US enraging many foreign nations) have taken a serious toll on the US international reputation.

This is an outrage, the US should be on this council, but it is comprehendable (not really understandable, the UN should make decisions on a greater level than grudges) why the US is out.

For more info see the linked abcNews.com page.   US Loses Seat on UN Human Rights Council: abcNews

Comments

Sun, 05/06/2001 - 02:46 — Jake (not verified)

Re: US Loses Seat on UN Human Rights Council: abcNews

It's about time to move US away from any human rights organisation because they are killing their own people. Using death as punishment is very barbaric behavior. And there is lots of other valid complaints about Human rights issues in US of America.

Sun, 05/06/2001 - 13:21 — atrox (not verified)

Re: US Loses Seat on UN Human Rights Council: abcNews

there are issues of poverty and hunger within the US borders, those need to be addressed, and not later NOW. as for capital punishment, that in my opinion is not a human rights abuse, death is used as a final punishment for the most henious crimes, and it is not used as a spectacle or a deterrent to others but as simply the ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime, in these cases death is justified. how many murderers whom have been put to death have killed again?

i admit that there are problems with the US justice system and that it is possible for the guilty to go free and others to be wrongly accused and or convicted, these are also problems we need to address. crime and poverty are certainly complicated and related issues (which need far more aggresive focus) but all of this is unrelated to the validity of capital punishment. regardless of the other issues, in the case of a murderer, capital punishment works!

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