U.S. says won't seek seat on U.N. rights council (Reuters)

[Eugene]

U.S. says won't seek seat on U.N. rights council

42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it would not seek a seat on the
new U.N. Human Rights Council, saying it was not a "credible" body.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States would retain its observer
status on the 47-member council, created last year over objections from the United States
that rules were not strong enough to prevent rights violators from getting a seat.

"We believe that the Human Rights Council has thus far not proved itself to be a credible
body in the mission that it has been charged with," McCormack told reporters. "Our decision
is that we do not plan to run (for a seat)."

The announcement came on the day that the State Department issued its 2006 report on human
rights worldwide.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070306/pl_nm/un_rights_usa_dc

[ck4829]

1. Is the Rights Council more or less credible than WHIG or the Office of Special Plans?

[SteppingRazor]

2. Well, the gov't does have a point here...

the UN Civil Rights council is often full of countries with horrific human rights records, who get on the council specifically to make sure it doesn't investigate human rights abuses ... of course, when you put it that way, I can't help but wonder why we haven't joined :evilgrin: