Trending UN Watch tweets from April: Elon Musk buys Twitter; Saudi Arabia elected to the UN Women’s Rights Commission; Abuser states elected to UN NGO Commission; Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy gives voice to human rights defenders; Russia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council following UN Watch campaign, runs for ECOSOC positions.
I fear Elon Musk could undermine the ideological diversity, equity and inclusion at Twitter which currently maintains a careful balance of 98.7% for one side. pic.twitter.com/I6JeTuTx9k
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 25, 2022
.@elonmusk Can you buy the UN Human Rights Council & fire its board?
🇨🇳 China—1M muslims in camps
🇨🇺 Cuba—tyranny
🇪🇷 Eritrea—slave labor
🇱🇾 Libya—tortures migrants
🇲🇷 Mauritania—slavery
🇵🇰 Pakistan—hosts terrorists
🇸🇴 Somalia—female genital mutilation
🇻🇪 Venezuela—state collapse— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 28, 2022
Saudi Arabia Elected to the UN Women’s Rights Commission
BREAKING: 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia was just elected to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.
The Saudi regime has one of the world’s most horrific records on women’s rights, and on all human rights. #LiftRaifTravelBan
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 13, 2022
Abuser States Elected to UN NGO Commission
BREAKING: The United Nations just elected 10 regimes that repress human rights activists to its 19-nation Committee on NGOs that oversees the work of human rights groups:
1. China
2. Cuba
3. Turkey
4. Zimbabwe
5. Nicaragua
6. Eritrea
7. Pakistan
8. Algeria
9. Bahrain
10. Cameroon— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 13, 2022
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy Gives Voice to Human Rights Defenders
What if the United Nations Human Rights Council here in Geneva were actually composed not of dictatorships but of the human rights heroes who defy them? Today we dared to imagine. pic.twitter.com/2rOHBfFVig
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 6, 2022
Russia Runs for ECOSOC Positions
Tomorrow (no joke):
• Russia is running for a board seat on UNICEF which protects children. Russia just displaced 2/3 of Ukraine's children.
• Russia is running for a seat on the UN Committee overseeing human rights NGOs. Russia just arrested human rights activist @vkaramurza.— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 12, 2022
Russia Suspended from the UN Human Rights Council
Good news: the 🇨🇿 Czech Republic will replace Russia on the U.N. Human Rights Council after Putin's regime was ousted over its gross and systematic abuses.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 23, 2022
BREAKING: U.N. expels Russia from Human Rights Council. Vote was overwhelming and exactly as we predicted: 93 Yes to 24 No. We only needed double No votes to Yes votes for required 2/3 majority. The 58 abstentions don't count. Backstory of our campaign: https://t.co/ubbex260oz https://t.co/v9jGJyganC pic.twitter.com/8C9522K7B7
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 7, 2022
For God's sake, Russia cannot remain on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 2, 2022
BREAKING: Russia to be ousted from U.N. Human Rights Council. @USAmbUN will lead the push with Ukraine & European states. It's guaranteed to pass because only a handful will vote No & abstentions won't count for required 2/3 majority. More on our campaign: https://t.co/EFuGuGSuZJ https://t.co/7CTMy8PZSN
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 4, 2022
“Mr. President, we hereby request that this Council adopt a resolution, under par. 8 of resolution 60/251, calling on the General Assembly to remove Russia as a member this Council. Our proposed text which we have circulated to delegates can be found at: https://t.co/SaWv9D17bq.” pic.twitter.com/Z4OdjFq8wP
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 3, 2022
We have circulated this draft resolution calling for Russia to be removed from the U.N. Human Rights Council: https://t.co/SaWv9D17bq
Next step is for a U.N. member state to formally introduce it at the General Assembly.
I presented this request in testimony before the UNHRC.🔽 pic.twitter.com/Gy2KDDJkc3
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 3, 2022
Liking, retweeting, following: UN Watch tweets were liked and shared by thousands around the world, including by opinion leaders and celebrities such as:
- Former UN Security Council President Diego Arria
- Former Bulgarian foreign minister & OSCE chair Solomon Passy
- Russian opposition politician Leonid Volkov, Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad, Cuban human rights activist Rosa María Payá, Saudi dissident Raif Badawi, Pakistani human rights activist Gulalai Ismail, Ugandan opposition politician, singer and actor Bobi Wine, Zimbabwean activists Hopewell Chin’ono and Pastor Evan Mawarire, Turkish fashion designer & activist Barbaros Sansal, Chinese human rights activist Teng Biao & cyber-dissident Wu Lebao, Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China coordinator Luke de Pulford, Uyghur American activist Rushan Abbas, World Uyghur Congress
- U.S. Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Senator Jim Risch, Congressmen Adam Kinzinger & Warren Davidson
- Former Canadian ambassador to the UN Louise Blais, senator Leo Housakos, former immigration minister Chris Alexander,
- Member of UK House of Lords Sarah Ludford
- Dutch MEP Peter van Dalen,
- Foundation for Defense of Democracies president Clifford May, CEO Mark Dubowitz, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies executive director Kyle Matthews
- Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, author and entrepreneur Tim Fargo, Rasmussen Reports
- U.S. actor Joshua Malina, U.S. actress Jeri Ryan, Miss Iraq Sarah Idan, former professional baseball player & journalist Adam Housely, U.S. singer David Draiman, UK historian and writer William Dalrymple
Many journalists also liked or shared UN Watch’s tweets, including:
- CNN senior political analyst and anchor John Avlon & reporter Melissa Mahtani, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, Daily Wire commentator Ben Shapiro, Commentary executive editor Abe Greenwald, Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer, New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz, former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles, Fox News host Will Cain and senior political analyst Brit Hume, journalist Melissa Chan, New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune
- Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi
