UNITED NATIONS, May 3 — For the first time since Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the opening session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1947, the United States on Thursday failed to win re-election to the body. The United States said it was disappointed with the result, which observers attributed to resentment over several foreign policy initiatives taken by the Bush administration, including opposition to the Kyoto climate change treaty and its pursuit of a missile defense shield.
IN THURSDAY’S VOTE, France, Austria and Sweden finished ahead of the United States in winning the three seats allocated to Western countries.
The 53-member commission, which usually meets in Geneva, conducts studies and makes recommendations for the protection and promotion of human rights, either on its own initiative or at the request of the General Assembly or the Security Council.
“Understandably, we are very disappointed,” acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations James Cunningham said. “It was an election between a number of solid candidates,” he said.
Asked whether it was awkward for the United States to have lost when Sudan had been chosen for a commission seat, Cunningham would only say, “We very much wanted to serve on the commission. I’ll leave it at that for the time being.”
Singapore Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani called the vote “a stunning development. ... When I heard it, I couldn’t believe it.”
U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson expressed hope that the United States “will return speedily as a member of the commission,” spokesman Jose Luis Diaz said in a statement released in Geneva.
“The United States of America has made a historic contribution to the Commission on Human Rights,” the statement said. “The first chairperson of the commission was Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt who helped shape the commission and its vision of an International Bill of Human Rights.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was an early supporter of the United Nations.
GRUDGES AGAINST THE U.S.
Some diplomats said the Bush administration’s opposition to the Kyoto climate change treaty, as well as its insistence on a missile defense shield, contributed to the loss of its seat.
But Joanna Weschler, the U.N. representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said both Western and developing countries bore grudges against the United States.
“Washington should have seen it coming because there has been a growing resentment toward the United States and votes on key human rights standards, including opposition to a treaty to abolish landmines and to the International Criminal Court and making AIDS drugs available to everyone,” she said.
Nations such as China and Cuba resent U.S. actions on the committee and “made their feelings well known in their speeches,” she said in an interview.
NBC’s Mary Murray reported from Havana that the Cuban government was taking credit for the defeat of the United States. The government has waged a vociferous campaign of criticism against nations that voted to censure Cuba over its human rights record at the U.N. body last month.
Congresswoman Rita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said the defeat was an embarrassment. “The U.S. commitment to human rights has fallen victim to the administration’s laissez-faire attitude toward diplomacy and foreign policy,” she said in a statement.
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/568412.asp
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"I can't believe this. I got a midterm tomorrow, and I'm being chased by Guido the killer pimp."
IN THURSDAY’S VOTE, France, Austria and Sweden finished ahead of the United States in winning the three seats allocated to Western countries.
The 53-member commission, which usually meets in Geneva, conducts studies and makes recommendations for the protection and promotion of human rights, either on its own initiative or at the request of the General Assembly or the Security Council.
“Understandably, we are very disappointed,” acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations James Cunningham said. “It was an election between a number of solid candidates,” he said.
Asked whether it was awkward for the United States to have lost when Sudan had been chosen for a commission seat, Cunningham would only say, “We very much wanted to serve on the commission. I’ll leave it at that for the time being.”
Singapore Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani called the vote “a stunning development. ... When I heard it, I couldn’t believe it.”
U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson expressed hope that the United States “will return speedily as a member of the commission,” spokesman Jose Luis Diaz said in a statement released in Geneva.
“The United States of America has made a historic contribution to the Commission on Human Rights,” the statement said. “The first chairperson of the commission was Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt who helped shape the commission and its vision of an International Bill of Human Rights.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was an early supporter of the United Nations.
GRUDGES AGAINST THE U.S.
Some diplomats said the Bush administration’s opposition to the Kyoto climate change treaty, as well as its insistence on a missile defense shield, contributed to the loss of its seat.
But Joanna Weschler, the U.N. representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said both Western and developing countries bore grudges against the United States.
“Washington should have seen it coming because there has been a growing resentment toward the United States and votes on key human rights standards, including opposition to a treaty to abolish landmines and to the International Criminal Court and making AIDS drugs available to everyone,” she said.
Nations such as China and Cuba resent U.S. actions on the committee and “made their feelings well known in their speeches,” she said in an interview.
NBC’s Mary Murray reported from Havana that the Cuban government was taking credit for the defeat of the United States. The government has waged a vociferous campaign of criticism against nations that voted to censure Cuba over its human rights record at the U.N. body last month.
Congresswoman Rita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said the defeat was an embarrassment. “The U.S. commitment to human rights has fallen victim to the administration’s laissez-faire attitude toward diplomacy and foreign policy,” she said in a statement.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/568412.asp
------------------
"I can't believe this. I got a midterm tomorrow, and I'm being chased by Guido the killer pimp."