MORE FUN FOR ISRAEL AT THE U.N.

Human Rights Groups Oppose Controversial UN Appointment - Steven Edwards
Former political prisoners, torture victims, and human rights groups are asking Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to help prevent a UN official with a "long and notorious record of supporting dictators" from becoming an advisor to the new UN Human Rights Council. Canada condemned former Swiss politician Jean Ziegler's remarks last year when he compared Israelis to concentration camp guards, and he has also made headlines defending countries frequently cited for human rights abuses including Cuba, Libya, and Sudan.

A letter signed by UN Watch and 14 other organizations, including human rights activists from Cuba, Libya, Vietnam, African and Asian development organizations, and two U.S. women's rights groups, said: "Jean Ziegler almost never criticizes any government other than the U.S. and Israel....Hence, the Sudanese atrocities in Darfur for Ziegler are merely a 'cause for concern,' the role of the Khartoum regime in atrocities only alleged. By contrast, the United States is an 'imperialist dictatorship' responsible for all the world's misery, the U.S. is committing 'genocide' in Cuba, and Israel commits 'state terror' and 'war crimes' with the U.S.'s blessing." (National Post-Canada/UN Watch-Switzerland)