UN chief disappointed at panel's move
By CARLEY PETESCH
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS --
The U.N. secretary-general expressed disappointment Wednesday with a
decision by the U.N.'s new human rights watchdog to single out Israel
for investigation of rights violations.
The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva agreed Tuesday to continue its
scrutiny of Israel while halting investigations into Cuba and Belarus -
a move that immediately drew fire from the United States.
The council was created in March 2006 to replace the widely discredited
and highly politicized Human Rights Commission, and one aim was to keep
some of the worst human rights offenders out of its membership. But it
has been criticized in its first year for failing to change many of the
commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel
than on any other country.
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was
disappointed at the council's decision to "single out only one specific
regional item," a reference to keeping Israel under investigation.
He also emphasized the need for the council " to consider all situations
of possible human rights violations equally," she said.
In reaction to the council's decision to remove mandates on Cuba and
Belarus, the secretary-general noted that not having a U.N. special
investigator "assigned to a particular country does not absolve that
country from its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and every other human rights treaty," Montas said.
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