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The United Nations rebuked British barrister and international lawyer Natasha Hausdorff, after she called out their Human Rights Council for being a “catastrophic failure for humanity and the civilized world.”

Testimony by Natasha Hausdorff before the United Nations Human Rights Council, on behalf of UN Watch:

“Chair,

The United Nations was intended to be the chief guarantor of international law, and this Council, the principal guardian of human rights.

What a catastrophic failure for humanity and the civilized world that it has allowed itself to become the main mechanism by which terrorists, bigots, despots, and dictatorships weaponize international law.

To become a mouthpiece of internationally proscribed terrorist organizations.

To become a platform from which to propagate heinous blood libels against the only Jewish state – blood libels of occupation, ethnic cleansing, colonialism, apartheid, genocide – terms which, having been so inverted against Israel in order to demonize it, have become meaningless.

This Council has become the world’s most prolific disinformation laundering facility.

Because when so-called human rights organizations openly publish Hamas propaganda, they depend on this Council, its commissions, its rapporteurs to repeat those lies.

They depend on that disinformation being parroted by the U.N. General Assembly, the ICC, the ICJ. And once that cycle of fraud is complete, those NGOs that fabricated the lies point to the UN’s endorsement as proof of their veracity.

Future generations will observe how easily these supposedly illustrious institutions were hijacked. And they will hold you all responsible…”

Chair Interrupts: “I would like to call on everyone to adhere to language which is commensurate with the dignity inherent to the discussion on human rights issues. Everyone has the right to express his or her views, but this should remain within acceptable frameworks. With this in mind, I give the floor to the next speaker.”

The amazing Natasha Hausdorff just took the floor for us at the United Nations. They couldn't handle the truth. Stay tuned for video! pic.twitter.com/09WpYeshR3

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 1, 2025

U.N. Can't Handle the Truth: World body rebukes British barrister and international lawyer Natasha Hausdorff after she calls their Human Rights Council for being a “catastrophic failure for humanity and the civilised world.” Must-see video: @HausdorffMedia pic.twitter.com/ynNwgfJhlD

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) October 1, 2025

The post U.N. Can’t Handle the Truth From Natasha Hausdorff appeared first on UN Watch.

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Pakistan called an urgent debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council over Israel’s strike on Hamas terror chiefs in Qatar. On cue, brutal regimes such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, Russia and China lined up to bash the Jewish state. Then UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer took the floor to tell the truth about Qatar.

Highlights from the U.N. Human Rights Council debate:

Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The Secretary-General has pointed out that Israel’s action was a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”

Qatar: “This attack represents a violent, flagrant violation of international humanitarian law by targeting a purely civilian area, amounting to state terrorism.”

Islamic Republic of Iran: “An evil entity has been allowed to destroy global security and order.”

Venezuela: “This aggression is an act of state terrorism.”

Russia: “The Israeli Air Force carried out an attack on a residential district. The grave violation of the sovereignty of state and the serious threat to innocent citizens can have no justification.”

China: “China strongly calls upon Israel to earnestly observe the international human rights law.”

UNHRC Chair: “Thank you. I call upon United Nations Watch.”

Hillel Neuer, UN Watch: “The High Commissioner quoted the Secretary-General. But what changed since 2011?

When the U.S. killed Bin Laden, who was living in a million-dollar compound close to Pakistan’s top military academy, the UN chief at the time celebrated that, quote: ‘Justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism.’

Why has the UN now changed its position?

To understand this double standard we need only recall what Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir said long before today’s debate, in 2018. Quote: ‘The Qataris since the mid-1990s have been sponsoring radicals. They’ve been inciting people. They’ve become a base for the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood which begot us Tafkir wal-Hijra, which begot al-Qaeda.’

‘The Qataris allow their senior religious clerics to go on TV and justify suicide bombings. The Qataris harbor and shelter terrorists. The head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula entered Saudi Arabia on a Qatari passport. We captured al-Qaeda types coming with Qatari passports. The Qataris know this. The Americans know this. The world knows this.’

Quote: ‘The Qataris pay ransom to terrorist groups including $500 million to Hezbollah in Iraq, $50 million to Qassem Soleimani.’

‘The Qataris use their media platforms to spread hate. The Qataris send weapons to al-Qaeda militias in Libya. There’s a list of terror financiers that the UN puts out and a number of them are living openly in Qatar raising money and giving it to bad people. Why do the Qataris get away with it?’

All of this from the Saudi Foreign Minister.

Mr. President, is not the accuser here the true enabler of terrorism?”

Pakistan called an urgent U.N. debate over Israel’s strike on Hamas terror chiefs in Qatar.

On cue, brutal regimes such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, Russia & China lined up to bash the Jewish state.

Then Hillel Neuer took the floor to tell the truth about Qatar: pic.twitter.com/925mxEeGOK

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) September 22, 2025

The post Hillel Neuer Exposes the Truth About Qatar at the U.N. Human Rights Council appeared first on UN Watch.

She even deleted her Twitter account with its tens of thousands of followers, after her tweets cursing Jews, gays and Westerners were exposed by UN Watch.

Qataris are outraged at UN Watch’s campaign, as reported by Al Jazeera. Activists launched a social media campaign in support of Hend Al-Muftah, who defended her tweets to the Qatari public.

News Media

Al-Jazeera

Al-Jazeera ran a story on “Qatari solidarity with Hend Al-Muftah against an Israeli NGO” as part of its ‘Networks‘ program on September 27, 2022:

“The NGO UN Watch submitted a report to the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council demanding that its [Qatar’s Ambassador] candidacy be lifted in connection with the series of old tweets, describing them as hate speech.”

Al-Hura

Al-Hura featured the result our successful campaign, “After her tweets on Jews and homosexuals, Qatar’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva deletes her Twitter account“, on September 28, 2022:

“The Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Hend Al-Muftah, deleted her Twitter account, after she was severely criticized by human rights activists for a series of old tweets that were described as antisemitic and homophobic.

[…] It is noteworthy that the human rights NGO rushed to write to the United Nations to
criticize Al-Muftah’s nomination to the position of Chair of the United Nations Forum for Human Rights, democracy and rule of law, accusing her of antisemitism and bigotry against the LGBT community, citing her tweets.

In a statement published on September 12, the NGO UN Watch wrote that Qatar’s permanent representative  to the United Nations in Geneva has a long record of publishing racist and antisemitic tweets about Jews, making bigoted attacks on homosexuals, as well as spreading fake news and conspiracy theories about Western and liberal societies.

According to Canadian human rights activist Hillel Neuer, Al-Muftah published these tweets from 2011 to 2022.

In his Twitter thread on the story, Neuer described Al-Muftah as “Qatar’s ambassador of hate.“

Al-Sharq

Al-Sharq first featured the story on September 26, 2022, under the headline “The decision not to appoint Hend Al-Muftah to an international organization because of her stance against the occupation raises anger“:

“Al-Sharq website examined the grounds for this unfair decision, which was taken on the basis of previous tweets by Dr. Hend al-Muftah, which she wrote years ago, including her condemnation of the practices of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, as well as her criticism of practices that violate Islamic law and contradict human values ​​and common sense…

On September 12, a non-governmental organization called UN Watch published a report on the aforementioned tweets by Dr. Al-Muftah. About a week later, on September 12, the same organization published an article in which it indicated that Al-Muftah had been denied appointment as president of the United Nations Human Rights Forum, based on the report they had published, and based on a letter sent by the NGO to Federico Villegas, President of the United Nations Human Rights Council.”

Al-Sharq

Al-Sharq then quoted Qatar’s Ambassador’s reaction to our campaign “Dr. Hend Al-Muftah: Some parties took advantage of my old tweets to hurt Qatar in a systematic campaign” on September 30, 2022:

“Dr. Hend Al-Muftah explained — in a statement posted on her official Twitter account — that ‘during the past period, some parties have exploited my old tweets, some of which date back more than a decade, and used them in contexts other than the ones in which they were written, and used them with the aim to attack Qatar in a clear and systematic campaign’.”

Social Media

Qatari Shariah scholar Amaal Raeed:

خسرت رئاسة منتدى حقوق الانسان في الأمم المتحدة بسبب تغريداتها ضد الشذوذ والسامية ووصفها للاسرائيلين بـ”أعداؤنا” ولكن نالت كل الحب والتقدير وأصبحت خير مثال للمرأة القطرية وقدوة لكل مسلم ومسلمة.#كفو_هند_المفتاح pic.twitter.com/faRxzxWX3f

— آمال رائد 🇶🇦 ✪ (@Amaalraeed) September 25, 2022

She lost the presidency of the Human Rights Forum at the United Nations because of her tweets against homosexuality and the Semites and her description of the Israelis as “our enemies”, but she won all the love and appreciation and became the best example for Qatari women and a role model for every Muslim man and woman. #كفو_هند_المفتاح

Nasser Ibn Hassan, member of Qatar’s Shura Council (Consultative Assembly):

إذا صح مانشرته جريدة الاحتلال عن عدم تكليف الأخت #هند_المفتاح سفيرة #قطر لدى #الأمم_المتحدة في جنيف، برئاسة منتدى حقوق الإنسان بسبب تغريداتها ضد الانحلال الأخلاقي وضد جرائم الاحتلال فهذا شرف لها ولنا.
الحر لا يُساوَم على أخلاقه ودينه.#كفو_هند_المفتاح

— ناصر بن حسن دندون الكبيسي (@_NasserHassan) September 25, 2022

If what the occupation newspaper published about not assigning sister #هند_المفتاح as Ambassador #قطر to #الأمم_المتحدة in Geneva is correct, to head the Human Rights Forum because of her tweets against moral decay and against the crimes of the occupation, then this is an honor for her and for us. The free man does not compromise his morals and his religion. #كفو_هند_المفتاح

Mubaraka al-Marri, Qatari entrepreneur:

هذه التغريدة كتبها المحامي الدولي الكندي Hillel وهو عضو في UNWatch مرفق معها ملف كامل عن تغريدات الدكتوره هند المفتاح التي قدموها كحجة لاسقاط قطر من الفوز برئاسة منتدى حقوق الإنسان،لاحظوا الحرب يخاطب المركز البريطاني بقطر واللي عملوا اقتباس منشنوا حتى الاسرة البريطانية حرب خبيثة https://t.co/F3EYrWgMK4

— مـبـاركـه المـري | Mubaraka Al-Marri (@MBM68_) October 8, 2022

This tweet was written by the Canadian international lawyer Hillel, who is a member of UN Watch, attached with a complete file of Dr. Hend Al-Muftah’s tweets, which they presented as an excuse to drop Qatar from winning the presidency of the Human Rights Forum. Notice that the campaign addresses the British Center in Qatar and those who started it even launched a vicious war against the British family

إغلاق د.هند المفتاح لحسابها تصرف جيد، حتى توقف اختراق تغريداتها الشخصية وتوظيفها للهجوم عليها بصفتها ممثله لدولة قطر، الهدف ليس الدكتورة الهدف هو #قطر ،بعد الاطلاع على ما يطرح في الصحف العالمية مثل @guardian وتقرير الامم المتحده @UNWatch وتوثيقات المحامي الدولي @HillelNeuer pic.twitter.com/0pn1MaENDO

— مـبـاركـه المـري | Mubaraka Al-Marri (@MBM68_) September 30, 2022

Dr. Hend Al-Muftah closing her account is a good behavior, until she stopped hacking her personal tweets and using her to attack her as a representative of the State of Qatar. The target is not the doctor. The target is #Qatar, after reviewing what is being presented in international newspapers such as @guardian and the United Nations report @UNWatch and documentation international lawyer @HillelNeuer

 

Emirati activist reports Twitter deleted Qatar Ambassador’s account:

بناء على خطاب من مجلس حقوق الانسان بالأمم المتحدة .. ادارة تويتر تغلق حساب السفيرة القطرية د.هند المفتاح بعد طردها من رئاسة منتدى حقوق الانسان بـ الامم المتحدة عقب ان كذبت عليهم بشأن حقوق الانسان في قطر وتضليلها للمنتدى حول الاوضاع الانسانية في قطر.#كفو_هند_المفتاح https://t.co/ZK2Nmvwh6J pic.twitter.com/LQSDGGvFZ9

— محمد الكواري (@kuwarimud) September 26, 2022

Based on a letter from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Twitter administration closed the account of the Qatari Ambassador, Dr. Hend Al-Muftah, after she was lost the presidency of the Human Rights Forum at the United Nations, after lying to them about human rights in Qatar and misleading the forum about the humanitarian situation in Qatar. #كفو_هند_المفتاح

The post Qatari Outrage After UN Watch Blocks ‘Ambassador of Hate’ From Top UN Rights Post appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, December 30, 2021 — An international coalition of 70 lawmakers, human rights activists and representatives of UN-accredited non-governmental organizations today urged the chair of the UN’s top human rights body to convene a special session on “the grave and deteriorating situation of human rights in Hong Kong,” in wake of the latest arrests of independent journalists. (See full text of appeal below.)

The appeal called on Nazhat Shameem Khan, president of the 47-nation United Nations Human Rights Council,  “to condemn the government of China for the relentless persecution of journalists, human rights activists and dissenting voices in Hong Kong,” and to convene an urgent session on human rights in Hong Kong.

Under UN procedures, Khan, the ambassador of Fiji, would only need to obtain support from 15 additional council members to convene a session in Geneva tomorrow, on Friday, December 31, 2021.

“I know it’s the holidays, but when one Hong Kong journalist after another is being taken away, arrested, charged and imprisoned, democracy as we know it is under threat, and I expect delegates to put their duties and human rights commitments first,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental Geneva-based human rights group, and one of the signatories.

The appeal to UNHRC president Khan also urges her “to ensure adequate protection from intimidation or reprisals for all individuals from Hong Kong or mainland China who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights.”

The global coalition supporting today’s appeal for UN action includes U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, Co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and several members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China including New Zealand MP Louisa Wall, Canada’s Senator Leo Housakos, MP Garnett Genuis and former justice minister Irwin Cotler, as well as human rights activists, dissidents, former political prisoners and humanitarian organizations from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. (See list below)

This is the face of freedom dying in Hong Kong. Stand News editor Patrick Lam taken away yesterday by Hong Kong police after they raided his office.

Today Lam and fellow editor Chung Pui-kuen were denied bail.

We urge UNHRC's @nazhatskhan to act now:https://t.co/ckqHk8Cos4

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 30, 2021

_________

JOINT APPEAL FOR SPECIAL SESSION ON THE GRAVE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HONG KONG

Nazhat Shameem Khan
President, Human Rights Council
Palais Wilson
52 Rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva
Switzerland

30 December 2021

Dear President Khan,

We, an international coalition of lawmakers, human rights activists, former political prisoners and representatives of UN-accredited non-governmental organizations, urge you as President of the United Nations Human Rights Council to call for an urgent Special Session into the grave and deteriorating situation of human rights in Hong Kong.

Yesterday, Hong Kong human rights activist Denise Ho and six other individuals associated with the pro-democracy media outlet Stand News were arrested by the city’s national security police for “conspiracy to publish seditious material.”

Some 200 police officers raided the Stand News offices and seized journalistic materials, raising further concerns about diminishing press freedoms following the imposition of a sweeping National Security Law on the city in 2020. As a result, Stand News has dismissed all its staff and shut down its operations.

As you may know, Denise Ho is a pop star who became an international face of Hong Hong’s pro-democracy movement when she famously addressed the Human Rights Council in July 2019. In her UN testimony, covered live worldwide, she urged your agency to “protect the people of Hong Kong” and remove China from the council. She argued that China had reneged on the commitments it made when it took control of Hong Kong in 1997, echoing the concerns of millions of Hong Kongers protesting at the time.

During Ms. Ho’s UN address, Chinese diplomats repeatedly interrupted, accusing her of violating the UN constitution and of “baselessly” attacking Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” model of governance.

According to news reports, Hong Kong national security police spent more than two hours at Ms. Ho’s home during their raid yesterday in which they seized phones and computers, as well as Ms. Ho’s identification card and passport. She was arrested and taken to a police station. Today, Ms. Ho was released on police bail pending further investigations.

There are grounds to believe that the arrest of Ms. Ho by Beijing-controlled Hong Kong authorities constitutes a form of illegal reprisal for her United Nations testimony and other human rights advocacy.

Also released today on police bail pending further investigations were former democratic legislator and barrister Margaret Ng, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang. However, a Hong Kong court denied bail applications for former Stand News chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and acting chief editor Patrick Lam. In addition, Chung’s wife, Chan Pui-man, formerly a senior editor with the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was re-arrested in prison, where she is already being held on different charges.

Excellency, we urge you to condemn the government of China for the relentless persecution of journalists, human rights activists and dissenting voices in Hong Kong, and to call for the convening of a Special Session to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the grave and deteriorating situation of human rights in Hong Kong.

We further urge you to ensure adequate protection from intimidation or reprisals for all individuals from Hong Kong or mainland China who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights.

Sincerely,

Leo Housakos, Member of the Senate, Canada

Garnett Genuis, Member of Parliament, Canada

Christopher H. Smith, Member of Congress, United States

Louisa Wall, Member of Parliament, New Zealand

Thanh Hai Ngo, Member of the Senate, Canada

Hon. Irwin Cotler, Chair Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, former Minister of Justice & Attorney General, Canada

Ambassador Diego Arria, former President of the United Nations Security Council, Venezuela

Dr. Yang Jianli, former political prisoner in China & President of Initiatives for China, United States

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, former political prisoner in Iran, Australia

Glacier Kwong, human rights activist, Hong Kong

Jewher Ilham, Uyghur activist, United States

Kaveh Shahrooz, human rights activist, Canada

Duy Hoang, Viet Tan spokesperson, Vietnam

Jihyun Park, North Korean human rights activist, United Kingdom

Berta Valle, activist & wife of imprisoned activist Félix Maradiaga, Nicaragua

Benedict Rogers, CEO of Hong Kong Watch, United Kingdom

Finn Lau, Founder of Stand with Hong Kong, United Kingdom

Carmen Lau, human rights activist, Hong Kong

Ray Wong, human rights activist, Hong Kong

Joey Siu, human rights activist, Hong Kong

Greg Scarlatoiu, human rights activist, United States

Nathan Law, human rights activist, Hong Kong

Hillel Neuer, United Nations Watch, Switzerland

Tsuneko Kakiuchi, Japanese Association for the Right to Freedom of Speech, Japan

Thierry Valle, Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience, France

Heidi Basch-Harod, Women’s Voices Now, United States

Lucica Humenuc, Romanian Independent Society for Human Rights, Romania

Sadikh Niass, La Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, Senegal

Yves Laurin, Comité Français pour l’Afrique du Sud, France

Anye Hillary Fru, Tort for Torture Victims Centre, Cameroon

Oluronke Olohigbe Ikoroh, Society to Heighten Awareness of Women and Children Abuse, Nigeria

Zia Ur Rehman, Awaz Centre for Development Sciences, Pakistan

Mohammad Safi Ul Aalm, Youth Foundation of Bangladesh, Bangladesh

Kelechukwu Okezie, Neighbourhood Environment Watch Foundation, Nigeria

Sethi Bnasal, The Council of Technical Education & Training, India

Mahendranath Busgopaul, Halley Movement for Social and Community Development, Mauritius

Olatunji Abayomi Tunji, Entrepreneurship Development and Support Initiative, Nigeria

Ngan Tonye François Simon Pierre, Association des Ressortissants et Amis d’Eseka, Cameroon

Didier Kiyanga, Coup de Pouce, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Brunhilde Schram, CSR Dialogforums, Austria

Sajad Ahmed, Society for Human Advancement and Disadvantaged Empowerment, Pakistan

Richard Ntakirutimana, African Initiative for Mankind Progress Organization, Rwanda

Rudi Bester, Memory Trees Corporation, United States

Guy Aurelien Biantsissila, Genesis Congo, Congo

Allan Kalish, Global Distribution Advocates, United States

Neil Belanger, British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, Canada

Jideofor Umeh, Ugonma Foundation, Nigeria

Souad Talsi, Al-Hasaniya Moroccan Women’s Centre, United Kingdom

Morenike Omaiboje, Women’s Consortium of Nigeria, Nigeria

Jane E. Durgom-Powers, Families of the Missing, United States

Alison Judd, World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, United Kingdom

Yoro Sow, Association Malienne de Savoir Construire, France

Aisha Ahmed, Murna Foundation, Nigeria

Brian Bond, Edmund Rice International, Switzerland

Ashok Yende, Global Vision India Foundation, India

Aminu Zakari, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Study, Nigeria

Starry Krueger, Rural Development Leadership Network, United States

Momo Allison Bianda, National Old Folks of Liberia, Liberia

René Lachapelle, Groupe d’Économie Solidaire du Québec, Canada

Uwem Robert Otu, African Youth Movement, Nigeria

Esther Omam, Reach Out, Cameroon

Doua Guehi Michel, SOS Éducation, Côte d’Ivoire

Shahzada Ibrahim, Northern Citizen Community Board, Pakistan

A A Mustafa, Barzani Charity Foundation, Iraq

Augustine Onwuamaegbu, Persons with Disability Initiative, Nigeria

Robert Kibaya, Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization, Uganda

Ilunga Wa Ilunga Alain, Bureau Pour la Croissance Intégrale et la Dignité de l’Enfant, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Samson Adefioye, National Council of Child Rights Advocates, Nigeria

Radjou Georges, Business Innovation Research Development, France

Walid Maalouf, The Lebanese American Resistance Partnership, United States

J. Kofa Torbor, Liberians United to Expose Hidden Weapons, Liberia

Anandaraj Karunakaran, Child Care Consortium, India

Artemis Westenberg, Netherlands Association of Women’s Interests, Women’s Work and Equal Citizenship, Netherlands

Grace Dafiel, Touch a Heart Social and Economic Rights Initiative, Nigeria

Jean Kabongo K., Solidarité Agissante pour le Développement Familial, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Emmanuel Saint Louis, Concile Mondial de Congres Diplomatiques des Aumoniers pour la Paix Universelle des Droits Humains et Juridiques, France

Tom Wilkens, The World Habitat Foundation, United States

TaeHoon Kim and Bada Nam, People for Successful Corean Reunification, Republic of Korea

Yogesh Sharma, Human Rights Sanrakshan Sansthaa, India

Mourad Lafkihen, Forum Mediteraneen pour la Promotion des Droit du Citoyen, Morocco

Tiekam Djisakou Pierre, Human Rights National Circle, Cameroon

Abul Kashem Sheikh, Kathak Academy, Bangladesh

Hassan Mashori, Fundamental Human Rights & Rural Development Association, Pakistan

Arnold Groh, Structural Analysis of Cultural Systems, Germany

Télesphore Balonga, Le Centre d’Accueil et de Volontariat pour Orphelins Abandonnés et Handicapés, Cameroon

Samson Ning Kumetah, Buddies Association of Volunteers for Orphans, Disabled and Abandoned Children, Cameroon

Jean Paul Ngoma, Ngoma Club, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Richa Tiku, Kalyani, India

Yvonne Singleton Davis, Sister to Sister One in the Spirit, United States

George Abang Tawoh, Association for the Protection of Women’s and Children’s Rights, United States

BRR Davy Koller, Österreichischer Bundesverband – Österreichische Lebens – und Rettungs – Gesellschaft, Austria

The post Lawmakers & rights activists urge UNHRC’s Nazhat Khan to call urgent session on Hong Kong appeared first on UN Watch.

Testimony before the UN Human Rights Council’s 47th Session delivered by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, July 2021.

UNHRC CHAIR: We shall now begin the quadrennial panel discussion on “Promoting human rights through sports and the Olympic ideal.”

CHINA: The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics are great events of the international community. The Olympic spirit transcends national boundaries and is deeply rooted in peoples’ hearts. It will promote countries to strengthen solidarity and meet global challenges together.

VENEZUELA: We appreciate China’s efforts to host the Olympics in Beijing.

RUSSIA: Unfortunately, recently there have been more and more attempts to instrumentalize sport to bring pressure in international politics. On the bassis of alleged human rights violations, certain countries are calling for boycotts of international sporting forums, using the fight against corruption and doping for their own geopolitical ends. We once more emphasize the unacceptability of politicizing sport and interfering in the activities of international sporting organizations.

UN WATCH’S HILLEL NEUER: Madam President, we welcome this panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal.

In Resolution 43/18, this Council reaffirmed the potential of leveraging sport and the Olympic ideal for promoting human rights for young people.

The resolution recalled the possibilities of using sport and the Olympic ideal to promote human rights for all.

The resolution encouraged States and national, regional and international sports organizations

to enhance human rights awareness and education.

Madam President, as you know, many human rights groups are seriously concerned about how all of these goals can be achieved at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Human rights activists are protesting China’s hosting of the games. They have urged a diplomatic or straight-up boycott to call attention to Chinese abuses against Uighurs, Tibetans and residents of Hong Kong, including abuses against children.

Will heads of state to go to China, in light of a genocide that is ongoing against the Uighurs, while they’re sitting there in their seats? What moral authority do they have to speak about human rights any place in the world, clapping for the Chinese government as they commit genocide?

Many today in corporate America have declared themselves as supporters of human rights. Yet Bridgestone, Intel, Visa, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota will all be represented in Beijing as “Olympic Partners,” the highest level of sponsorship available. Mars-Wrigley will be there, too, handing out Snickers, “the official chocolate of the 2022 Winter Olympics.”

Will corporate sponsors of the games look the other way on China’s gross abuses out of concern for their bottom line?

I thank you.

The post China’s Abuses & the Beijing 2022 Olympics Corporate Sponsors appeared first on UN Watch.

In a press briefing yesterday (see below), UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric claimed accusations that the UN human rights office handed names to China “are not true,” that “at no time has any activist been placed at risk,” and that “from 2015, the office ceased providing confirmation that individuals were accredited to attend sessions.”

(“Confirmation” is the UN’s misleading euphemism for its practice of informing China which human rights defenders were registered to attend upcoming UN sessions; Beijing otherwise didn’t know who was attending, so the UN was not “confirming” anything, they were handing over names.)

Emma Reilly, a human rights lawyer at the UN Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) — who was punished for trying to stop the practice of putting Chinese dissidents at risk, and who eventually went public about it — issued a statement today rejecting the UN denial. See below.

Statement by UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric
UN Daily Press Briefing, March 4, 2021

Journalist Célhia de Lavarène: Stéphane, a woman named Emma Reilly, who works for the Office the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and is a human rights lawyer, has repeatedly alleged that the human rights office in Geneva shared the name of Chinese opponents with the Government… China’s Government, and she said that this is the only exception that the UN has made.  Is that true?

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric: No. We don’t agree with her description of our policies. Contrary to her claims, at no time has any activist been placed at risk by the human rights office’s practices of responding to inquiries from Member States requesting for confirmation of the names of activists accredited to attend the Human Rights Council sessions.

Since the start of the Human Rights Council in 2006, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stopped providing lists of those accredited to attend.

Instead, in response to specific inquiries from Member States regarding names of individuals, the Office confirmed the names of well‑known people for whom confirmation of their names presented no additional risk, given that they were already in the public domain.

From 2015, given the limited nature of the practice, the Office ceased providing confirmation to Member States that individuals were accredited to attend sessions.

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Statement by Whistleblower Emma Reilly
March 5, 2021

This response is laughable. The UN spokesperson is lying. Last week, he said the UN human rights office (OHCHR) “never” handed any names to the Chinese government. I posted proof online, so now he admits it.

If, as he now claims, this stopped in 2015, why did OHCHR say it was ongoing in a 2017 press release and in 2019 court hearings?

Why has the UN refused to allow any investigation since I first reported it in 2013?

Why did the UN remove the judge who heard my cases without any notice before he could publish his judgement? These are not the actions of an organization with nothing to hide.

The spokesperson rehashes old lies even the UN’s lawyers were forced to abandon in court.

First, this is an exceptional policy, only for China. And the Chinese government asked precisely because it did not know who was coming.

The activists provided witness testimony against the UN. Dolkun Isa contradicted these lies, confirming “our NGO did not release the names of individuals who would be attending the 2013 Human Rights Council ahead of the event… At no point… were we informed by OHCHR that the Chinese Government had been informed that we would be attending the Council session.”

How can the spokesperson claim a press release that does not contain any names somehow put them in the “public domain”?

The written evidence is clear. OHCHR decided to give names to China to avoid exacerbating “Chinese mistrust.”

The UN argument was and remains that a list that is never published is somehow public weeks in advance, so all requested names had to be handed over. This argument was repeated in court.

Emails reveal the real security risk that was evaluated: the alleged risk posed by the activists, not the real risk posed by the Chinese government.

But the cover-up is really about the fact that the UN human rights office deliberately placed dissidents and their families at risk, and OHCHR knows it.

Instead of correcting complicity in human rights violations, OHCHR has doubled down and retaliated against me for telling the truth. The stories I have heard are heartbreaking. It is long past time for member states to investigate.

Contact Emma Reilly

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“UN Watch was founded by U.S. Ambassador Morris Abram, a human rights champion at the United Nations who drafted the convention against racism, and we have always believed in the essential role of U.S. leadership at the world body to counter the influence of dictatorships such China, Russia and Cuba.”

“The cost of the U.S. rejoining is that it lends legitimacy to a council where tyrannies and other non-democracies now comprise 60% of the membership, including serial abusers of human rights like China, Russia, Cuba, and Pakistan, all of whom have escaped any censure in the form of a council resolution, inquiry or urgent session,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.

“In exchange, the U.S. at a minimum must demand serious reform, removing despots from the council such as Venezuela’s Maduro regime, holding dictators to account for their oppression, and ending the notorious agenda item that targets Israel alone in each session.”

“Engagement has to be principled. Too often, the Obama Administration acted like a cheerleader for the council, praising sessions that included the adoption of numerous anti-Western resolutions sponsored by the Cuban regime.”

“Instead, the Biden Administration should be candid in calling out the council’s abuses, and holding their feet to the fire.”

“For example, the U.S. should demand the termination of the council’s mandate on ‘unilateral coercive measures’, a Cuban-backed post currently held by UN special rapporteur Alena Douhan, to oppose Western sanctions on dictatorships. Douhan is now visiting Venezuela on a propaganda visit to portray the Maduro regime as a victim of U.S. sanctions. America needs to demand an end to the UNHRC’s subversion of human rights.”

For more information, see 7 Key Facts on the UNHRC.

UNHRC Condemnations, 2006-2021:
🇰🇵 North Korea 13
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 0
🇻🇪 Venezuela 2
🇵🇰 Pakistan 0
🇸🇴 Somalia 0
🇧🇾 Belarus 11
🇪🇷 Eritrea 10
🇮🇱 Israel 90
🇹🇷 Turkey 0
🇷🇺 Russia 0
🇸🇩 Sudan 0
🇸🇾 Syria 35
🇨🇳 China 0
🇸🇦 Saudi 0
🇶🇦 Qatar 0
🇮🇷 Iran 10
🇮🇶 Iraq 0

Source: https://t.co/O1gUSYcHml https://t.co/rDAKitjK1y

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) February 8, 2021

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CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT (PDF)

AGENDA ITEM 7: COUNTRY CLAIMS & UN WATCH RESPONSES

An examination of country statements delivered at the United Nations Human Rights Council under the agenda item concerning Israel.

INTRODUCTION

Every session of the UN Human Rights Council devotes a special agenda item to the “Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories,” which is defined by UNHRC Resolution 5/1 as covering “Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.” The other nine items on the Council’s permanent agenda are all generic, and do not refer to any particular country or situation. There is no special agenda item on Iran, Syria, North Korea, or any other country. Only Israel.

Under the debate that takes place three times a year pursuant to Agenda Item 7, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, North Korea and dozens of other council members and observers routinely accuse Israel of numerous crimes and human rights violations, while making no mention of Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Palestinian Authority.

The debate is entirely one-sided. Israel, the United States and most other democracies no longer participate in the proceedings of Agenda Item 7, in protest against its selectivity. As a result, many claims enter the record at the United Nations despite having no basis in fact.

The purpose of this report is to remedy that situation by providing the first-ever examination of claims made under Item 7, and to provide a detailed analysis, citing to sources of fact and international law. The period covered in this report is the six UNHRC sessions held in 2019 and 2020.

Background on Item 7

When the creation of the new Human Rights Council was being debated in 2006, the UN’s Department of Public Information distributed a chart promising that, in its words, the “agenda item targeting Israel” of the old Commission on Human Rights, Item 8, would be replaced at the new council by a “clean slate.” Although this course correction never came to fruition, it is important to note that a key UN document acknowledged the true nature of the agenda item: to target Israel.

Despite the promise of reform, the new Human Rights Council that was established in June 2006 revived the infamous agenda item, which became Item 7. No other country in the world is subjected to a stand-alone focus that is engraved on the body’s permanent agenda, ensuring its prominence, and the notoriety of its target, at every council meeting.

The Council’s credibility and legitimacy remain compromised so long as one country is singled out while serial human rights abusers escape scrutiny. Item 7 negates the Council’s own founding principles of non-selectivity and impartiality.

Indeed, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized this act of selectivity a day after it was instituted. On June 20, 2007, Mr. Ban “voiced disappointment at the council decision to single out Israel as the only specific regional item on its agenda, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world.”

In addition, Western democracies have on numerous occasions stated their opposition to Item 7. In statements delivered before and after its adoption, traditional supporters of human rights opposed the agenda item as biased. The UK said that “the practice of ‘singling out one’ risked undermining the Human Rights Council’s own principles.” France “regretted that the agenda was imbalanced by the singling out of Palestine, which was contrary to non-selectivity.”

Australia and the Netherlands expressed similar objections, describing the agenda item as “unhelpful.” Canada said the Council breached its own principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity. Targeting any UN member state, said Canada, was “politicized, selective, partial, and subjective.” The US has also been a forceful opponent of Item 7.

Importantly, as a general rule today, the US, the EU and other democracies no longer speak under Item 7. Rather, they voice any of their criticisms of Israel and the Palestinian Authority during the general debate on all country human rights situations, which is Item 4.

It is our hope that the Council will uphold the UN Charter promise of equal treatment for all nations by removing Agenda Item 7. Until that happens, we are prepared to correct the record, by publishing reports such as this.

CLAIMS EXAMINED IN THE REPORT

Claim 1: “Israel has occupied Palestinian territory for 70 years”

Claim 2: “Israel is responsible for the impasse in peace talks”

Claim 3: “Israel commits apartheid against the Palestinians”

Claim 4: “Israel commits ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians”

Claim 5: “Palestinian refugees have a right of return”

Claim 6: “Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal”

Claim 7: “The protesters at the Gaza border were peaceful”

Claim 8: “The Gaza protesters were civilians”

Claim 9: “Israel used excessive force against Gaza protesters”

Claim 10: “Israel commits extrajudicial killings”

Claim 11: “Israel arbitrarily detains Palestinian children”

Claim 12: “Israel arbitrarily withholds bodies of Palestinian ‘martyrs’”

Claim 13: “Israel withholds Palestinian funds under false pretext”

Claim 14: “Israel restricts the movement of Palestinians”

Claim 15: “Israel harasses Palestinian human rights defenders”

Claim 16: “Israel targets Palestinian media workers”

Claim 17: “Israel suppresses Palestinian freedoms”

Claim 18: “Israel violates human rights in the Golan Heights”

Claim 19: “Israel harasses Palestinian patients during hospital stays”

Claim 20: “Israel hinders the Palestinian fight against COVID-19”

Claim 21: “Israel steals Palestinian natural resources”

Claim 22: “Israel damages Palestinian holy sites”

Claim 23: “Israel engages in military aggression against Syria and Lebanon”

Agenda Item 7: Country Clai… by UN Watch

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While the UN procedure known as Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is meant to scrutinize governments and thereby strengthen the basic rights and freedoms of their citizens, according to a UN Watch count, 83 out of 98 countries that spoke today at the UNHRC—85 percent—praised Mauritania for its human rights achievements.

This includes 48 countries that glowingly praised the abusive Mauritanian regime for their human rights record, and another 35 that expressed some praise for the country’s alleged achievements.

“It is shameful that only a very small minority of 15 countries used their allotted 1 minute of speaking time to apply scrutiny to Mauritania’s human rights record,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization in Geneva.

“Shamefully, the vast majority of country speakers turned a blind eye to Mauritania’s 500,000 slaves, its arrest of anti-slavery activists like Biram Dah Abeid, use of torture to extract confessions, and its death penalty for homosexuality,” said Neuer.

Below is a selection of the praise expressed by 85% of the UNHRC delegates:

China: “We welcome [Mauritania’s] implementation of the strategy for accelerating growth and prosperity to continue to promote social and economic development, education, health, safeguarding the rights of the vulnerable, and actively fighting COVID.”

Cuba: “We acknowledge the country’s efforts to increase the quality of life of its population, and to reduce poverty, in the face of the COVID pandemic.”

North Korea: “We highly commend Mauritania for their efforts and progress in the promotion and protection of human rights by strengthening human rights institutions.”

Egypt: “We appreciate the efforts made by Mauritania to uphold human rights, notably the efforts to strengthen the legislative and institutional structure, and to ratify international conventions as well as the advancement of the status of women, and work on combating contemporary forms of slavery.”

India: “As a fellow member of the Human Rights Council, we appreciate Mauritania’s continued efforts in its commitment to promote and protect human rights through enactment of various human rights-related legislation, relevant policies and programs at national level.”

Indonesia: “Indonesia welcomes [Mauritania’s] progress in implementing accepted recommendations from the previous review cycle, particularly adoption of legislative and institutional frameworks in the area of promotion of women’s rights, efforts towards eliminating slavery, and civil and political rights.”

Iran: “We appreciate actions taken by Mauritania to combat contemporary forms of slavery and particularly the establishment of special courts and judicial assistance for victims.”

Iraq: “We welcome reforms to the institutional framework of the country, including reforms to the state with the aim of promoting civil, political and public freedoms for all.”

Jordan: “We welcome the big progress made by Mauritania in the field of human rights including the establishment of the road map to combat all forms of slavery.”

Kuwait: “The report reflects the importance given by Mauritania for the protection of human rights.”

Libya: “We commend the government for respecting its commitments in the field of human rights despite the pandemic.”

Mauritius: “We commend the progress accomplished by Mauritania such as penalizing early marriages and FGM.”

Philippines: “We commend the adoption of laws in the promotion and protection of human rights especially in health, children’s rights, and prevention of trafficking.”

Russia: “The adoption of laws on criminal liability for discrimination, on combating the smuggling of migrants and on combating trafficking in human beings, and a child protection code, deserves a positive assessment.”

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While the UN procedure known as Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is meant to scrutinize governments and thereby strengthen the basic rights and freedoms of their citizens, according to a UN Watch count, 89 out of 105 countries that spoke today at the UNHRC—85 percent—praised Lebanon for its human rights achievements.

This includes 54 countries that glowingly praised the corrupt Lebanese authorities for their human rights record, and another 35 that expressed some praise for the country’s alleged achievements.

“It is shameful that only a very small minority of 16 countries used their allotted 1 minute of speaking time to apply scrutiny to Lebanon’s human rights record,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization in Geneva.

“The vast majority—85 percent of the countries that spoke—turned a blind eye to Lebanon’s torture by security forces, restrictions on freedoms of speech and press, high-level and widespread official corruption, criminalization of LGBTI status, and the government’s ties to Hezbollah, a terrorist group that helped slaughter tens of thousands of people in Syria,” said Neuer. “All of this was ignored.”

Below is a selection of the praise expressed by 85% of the UNHRC delegates:

Bahrain: “We  commend the tireless efforts by Lebanon in all fields of human rights.”

China: “China appreciates Lebanon’s adoption of the National Strategy for the Prevention of Violent Extremism to combat terrorism and extremism, and protect people’s safety and human rights.”

Egypt: “We commend the progress achieved in the field of human rights despite economic and social difficulties, particularly in the light of COVID-19.”

India: “We commend the progress made by Lebanon since its second Universal Periodic Review, particularly its accession to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and the adoption of the National Strategy for Gender Equality.”

Iran: “Lebanon is fighting the pandemic despite all of the challenges, and this is commendable.”

Iraq: “We commend the measures taken on the legislative and political front to improve the human rights situation and welcome their efforts against extremism and terrorism.”

Jordan: “We hail Lebanon’s commitment to achieve and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Kuwait: “Lebanon is a pioneering state in the field of human rights.”

Pakistan: “Despite grappling with financial, political and security challenges, coupled with huge refugees’ influx, we appreciate Lebanon’s commitment to comply with its international human rights obligations.”

Palestine: “We have taken note of the efforts taken by the government [of Lebanon] to promote human rights, and we urge Lebanon to continue its efforts to develop practical mechanisms for the promotion of human rights.”

Russia: “Despite all the difficulties the country is facing, including an unprecedented influx of refugees and an ongoing terrorist threat, Lebanon has consistently and successfully strengthened its national human rights system.”

Turkey: “We commend that Lebanon takes on the responsibility of providing shelter for more than one million refugees. We recognize that this is a tremendous burden which should be shared by the international community.”

Venezuela: “We hail the progress of Lebanon in implementing recommendations, and we recognize the resilience of the Lebanese people in moving forward with optimism after the accident in the Beirut port.”

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