Issue 418: Rare Justice in Two U.N. Reversals: Turkey Condemned, Sudan Shamed

Rare Justice in Two U.N. Reversals: Turkey Condemned, Sudan Shamed

In the past week, thanks to UN Watch action, two wrongdoers at the U.N. suffered a reversal of fortune: World leaders denounced Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s U.N. speech calling Zionism a “crime against humanity”; and the genocidal regime of Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir was removed from a U.N. humanitarian post. Full story below.

Sudan Removed from U.N. Humanitarian Post

Following a pressure campaign led by UN Watch together with film star Mia Farrow, Western democracies finally spoke out against the ever-growing role of Sudan—whose leader is wanted by the ICC for the crime of genocide—within the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council, a top human rights body. The result: Sudan’s nomination as chair of the humanitarian affairs segment of ECOSOC has now been rejected. This was the first setback for Sudan in many months: in November it was elected a member of ECOSOC with the support of at least 10 EU states; in January it was made a vice-president.

World Leaders Censure Turkey’s Erdogan for Bigotry

After UN Watch was the first to expose and condemn Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s speech calling Zionism a “crime against humanity”—which he delivered at a U.N. “Alliance of Civilizations” summit supposedly dedicated to tolerance—leaders from around the world have now spoken out and condemned his bigotry:

Erdogan’s barbaric poison obviously passed for civilized discourse to the many U.N. functionaries there since there wasn’t a peep of protest until his speech was reported by the ever-valuable U.N. Watch, the Geneva-based human-rights monitoring group.”     —Steve Huntley, Chicago-Sun Times, March 4  The remarks received a barrage of criticism from the White House, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Israel after a video recording of the speech was published by a Geneva-based non-governmental organization, UN Watch.”  —Turkey’s TODAY’S ZAMAN, March 1  It was left to a private monitoring group, Geneva-based U.N. Watch, to blow the whistle on Erdogan’s remarks. U.N. Watch, noting that Zionism is a movement founded in 1897 for Jewish self-determination, called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other prominent participants in this U.N. Alliance to repudiate Erdogan’s slander.”    —Claudia Rosett, National Review, March 1    The Geneva-based UN Watch, which first flagged and circulated the Turkish leader’s speech, expressed shock at the comments. The group also urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – who was present on the stage when Erdogan made the remarks, and stayed silent – ‘to speak out and condemn the speech.’ It also called on Erdogan to apologize. The group said the Turkish leader had misused a global podium to ‘incite hatred” and issue ‘Ahmadinejad-style pronouncements.’”     —The Jerusalem Post, March 1

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

“This is a dark and mendacious statement the likes of which we thought had passed from the world.”

The White House

“We reject Prime Minister Erdogan’s characterization of Zionism as a crime against humanity, which is offensive and wrong… We encourage people of all faiths, cultures, and ideas to denounce hateful actions and to overcome the differences of our times.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Mr. Erdogan’s comment was“not only wrong but contradicts the very principles on which the Alliance of Civilizations is based… The Secretary-General believes is it is unfortunate that such hurtful and divisive comments were uttered at a meeting being held under the theme of responsible leadership.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry 

“We not only disagree with it. We found it objectionable.”

Senior US State Dept. Official

“This was particularly offensive, frankly, to call Zionism a crime against humanity…”The pattern of Turkish denunciations of Israel is having a “corrosive effect” on American-Turkish relations.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle

Mr. Erdogan’s remarks are “hurtful and unacceptable.”

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird

“We deplore them.”

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UN Watch continues to call on Prime Minister Erdogan to apologize. European Union leaders, including EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, must also speak. Many EU representatives were present at the Vienna speech yet stayed silent.

Also In the News

The UN Human Rights Council Honors Hugo Chavez

 

 The homage to Chavez was simply a mockery of the Council’s purposes. UN Watch has an account of the event here, calling the honor to Chavez ‘excessive, uncustomary, and disrespectful of its own experts’ findings of gross and systematic human rights abuses committed by the Caracas government, and of testimony by Venezuelan victims whom UN Watch had brought before the Council.’ It is no doubt impossible to prevent the Cuban ambassador from honoring Chavez, but here the institution honored him—putting it as UN Watch said on the side of the perpetrators instead of the victims of human rights abuses.”  —Council on Foreign Relations blog of Elliott Abrams, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, March 7, 2013.