Concerted U.N. speeches slam Chavez bid for rights council seat; dictatorships urged “striking NGO statement from the record”

Venezuelan banker & ex-political prisoner Eligio Cedeno challenges his oppressor; Chavez rep calls him a “terrorist” & “criminal,” UN Watch is “U.S. lackey”  

GENEVA, June 28 – The United Nations stopped all debate today at its top human rights body while the U.S. squared off against heated interruptions by a fist-banging Cuban delegate, supported by China, Russia and Pakistan, who were outraged over activists’ criticism of both their ally Hugo Chavez’s bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council and of the council membership of other “authoritarian” governments. (See video at mark 27:20.)

UN Watch, the Geneva-based human rights group that heads an international campaign of parliamentarians and human rights groups opposed to Venezuela’s candidacy, organized a high-profile council appearance today by Eligio Cedeno, Venezuela’s most-wanted man.

The banker and former political prisoner, who escaped the clutches of Hugo Chavez for asylum in the U.S., confronted his oppressor in a powerful plenary statement.

Exercising its right of reply, Venezuela’s representative called Cedeno a “terrorist and criminal who fled justice.” The Chavez diplomat falsely accused the U.S. of having invited Cedeno to the council, which he said was “to smear the reputation of my country.” He also accused UN Watch of being a U.S. “lackey.“ (See video at mark 1:55:30)

And in a concerted effort with UN Watch, Thor Halvorssen, the Venezuelan-born head of the Human Rights Foundation — whose mother was shot by Chavez forces — also took the floor to challenge Venezuela’s credentials, as well as those of existing members Cuba, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Shouting repeatedly for the U.N. chair to stop the speech, the Cuban delegate flew into a range, his fists banging on the table, and knocking over his own chair.

Cuba said that non-governmental activists taking the floor at the U.N. “cannot question the hopes and aspirations of states to become members of the Human Rights Council, or their right to be members. You cannot say that my country does not have a right to be a member of this council.” Havana’s delegate demanded that Halvorssen’s statement be “struck from the record.”

Russia and Pakistan similarly claimed that Halvorssen spoke out of turn. China said that activists at the U.N. “are not entitled to challenge the right of a country to become a member of the council.”

However, UN Watch director Hillel Neuer said that a quick intervention by the U.S. apparently convinced the chair to let the statement stand.

“Today was a rare moment at the U.N.,” said Neuer. “We succededed in putting Chavez — who throws inpendent judges in jail and persecutes student activists — on the defensive.”

When Halvorssen referred to “authoritarian” regimes, Cuba interrupted again, calling it a “disrespectful term,” and asked the chair to prohibit him from speaking. China also objected, saying no one at the U.N. human rights council has a right “to label a sovereign state, to point a finger at a country that is a member, or which wishes to become a member.”

The post Clash at U.N.: U.S. defends rights group from fist-banging Cuba, China, Russia & Pakistan, after calls to expel abusers from U.N. rights council appeared first on UN Watch.

Geneva, April 21, 2009 — Tonight, at its annual dinner gala, in the shadow of the Durban Review Conference, the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch will give its highest honor to two true human rights heroes, who are a beacon of hope for human rights activists and victims around the world.

The Morris B. Abram Human Rights Prize, named after the late civil rights leader and founder of UN Watch, will be awarded to Ester Mujawayo, a survivor of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda who devotes her life to caring for fellow survivors — the widows, the orphans, and the sick. “She sanctifies the memory of the victims, fights hatred, intolerance, and genocide denial, to reaffirm human dignity and give hope to the generations to come,” reads the UN Watch award inscription.

“It is not enough that we pass resolutions and talk about these tragedies,” says Mujawayo, who will be addressing a UN Watch-organized human rights conference tomorrow. “The genocide in my country was preventable — and as long as the United Nations sits in this conference and does not address the real crises, history is doomed to repeat itself.”

UN Watch will then present its Human Rights Hero Award to Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a former Miss World Canada who is co-founder and President of Stop Child Executions, an organization whose aim is to try and put a permanent end to executions of minors in Iran and abroad, and which has managed to help save many lives.

UN Watch will recognize Ms. Afshin-Jam tonight “for her work in fighting cruelty, injustice and intolerance, and defending the lives of women and children. She is the voice for the voiceless and a hero for the cause of freedom, justice and peace.”
“The work these incredible women do every day means a great deal to survivors and victims in Rwanda and Iran, but are also an inspiration to activists and victims around the world,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch. “They have dedicated their lives to the defense of some of the world’s most vulnerable. These awards are a small token of our appreciation and admiration for them both.”

Both of the women being honored at tonight’s dinner are tireless fighters for the causes of justice and human rights in their home countries and throughout the world. Their families have faced horrific tragedy at the hands of the Iranian and Rwandan regimes, and have turned their tragedy to action that may prevent what they experienced.

The Morris B. Abram Human Rights Prize and the Human Rights Hero Award are the highest honors that UN Watch bestows.

The post UN Watch to Award Annual Human Rights Prizes to Rwanda Genocide Survivor and Canadian Activist for Iranian Women Facing Execution appeared first on UN Watch.

Analysis: Even recognizing the need for wide representation of the principal legal systems of the world, when the Tribunal imposes a moratorium on lawyers from particular states, it is correct for alarm bells to sound.

There are two issues at hand: the issue of court-appointed counsel, and that of their geographical distribution.

To begin, Mr. Akayesu’s complaint regarding his defense counsel should properly be dismissed. According to the statutes of the Tribunal, a defendant is entitled to counsel of his or her choosing when assuming the costs. But, when a defendant is unable to pay legal fees, the court appoints a lawyer. Mr. Akayesu, not paying his own legal fees, is demanding that a particular lawyer, not on the court’s roster of lawyers, be appointed as his defense counsel. The Tribunal is not required to meet this demand, as adequate legal counsel are already available.

In defense of the moratorium, the Tribunal Registrar denies that it was enacted in order to increase the number of African lawyers at the Tribunal, stating that since the moratorium was put in place, most of the court-appointed lawyers have been non-African. The Registrar says it is acting in consonance with the Tribunal’s directive to consider the “competence and recognized experience of counsel, geographical distribution, a balance of principle legal systems of the world.”

All the same, a geographical moratorium suggests that considerations other than those of providing the absolute best defense for the accused might be at play.

With the signing in June of the Statute to create the International Criminal Court, and what appears to be the growing trend toward the legalization of international disputes, this moratorium should serve as a stark warning that the administration of justice must always be above politicization.

In the case of the Tribunal in Rwanda, the statutory imperative of ensuring counsel for all defendants is being upheld. But, let us always stand on guard against the danger of politicizing the judicial system.

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