Ki-Moon Criticised Over Israel
Muslim states in the United Nations Human Rights Council have been criticised after attacking UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for sticking up for Israel.
Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the UN’s 57-strong Organization of the Islamic Conference at a UN meeting last Wednesday, attacked Ki-Moon after he said it was unfair to single out Israel for permanent review.
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But Muslim members of the Council expressed concern that he was standing up for Israel. A spokesman for the Egyptian delegation described it as a “very unfortunate development” and a Pakistan representative said it would have to “streamline its relationship” with the Secretary General.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a human rights monitoring group based in Geneva, said: “We’re witnessing a dangerous attempt to censor the highest official of the United Nations, an effort to silence anyone who exposes the council’s repeated breaches of its own principles of equality, universality, and non-selectivity.
“It is somewhat ironic for the Arab and Islamic states to object that their measures singling out Israel are themselves being ‘singled out’ for unfair treatment by the Secretary-General.”
Meanwhile, a US Senator this week suggested America cuts off funding for the Council to show its disapproval of singling out Israel.
Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman said: “You’ve got countries like North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe where you have state-sponsored brutality, and what we have is deafening silence.”
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