July 2021
Lies and Denial: Letter to the Human Rights Council President
UN Watch sent a letter to the UN Human Rights Council President, seen below, asking for an explanation for the disparity on speaking slot allocations. This was sent as a result of accumulated frustration from what felt like years of increasing censorship, due to UN Watch’s critical stance on the UN body, expressed through powerful dissidents and activists.
UN Watch had applied to speak for 31 debates during the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, but astoundingly only received one speaking slot. By contrast, International Service for Human Rights received five slots (out of only eight requested); Amnesty International received six slots (out of 14 requested); and the International Commission of Jurists received eight slots (out of 17 requested). In other words, for these other groups, the ratio of speaking slots received to those requested ranged from 43% to 62%. For UN Watch, it was 3%.
UN Watch Letter to Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council
In a response letter from Eric Tistounet to UN Watch dated July 26, 2021 regarding the 47th session speaker lists, seen below, he insisted that the list of speakers was “automatically generated by the system, based on the requested priority, time of registration and the number of requests received.” At the same time, he did not contest UN Watch’s assertion that it had registered promptly, and he failed to provide any explanation whatsoever for the disparate treatment of UN Watch. According to Emma Reilly, the UN Whistleblower who has confirmed she was responsible for designing the algorithm that determines the allocation of speaking slots, the results are not possible and far off expected outcomes. Her testimonies against Tistounet reaffirms his hostile position towards the UN Watch and his deliberate tampering with their allocations.
Ms. Reilly was previously a UN human rights officer and lawyer working under Tistounet, but is also a Cambridge Graduate in Mathematics.
Response by Eric Tistounet
