GENEVA, August 20 – UN Watch applauded the Swiss parliament today for declaring the U.N. nomination of Jean Ziegler — co-founder, co-manager, and 2002 recipient of the Muammar Gaddafi Human Rights Prize — “inappropriate.”
The parliament called on Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter to cancel the nomination.
While Ziegler last week once again denied all ties to the Gaddafi Prize, Swiss TV proved that he is lying, and vindicated all of the reports of UN Watch.
To urge the Swiss Foreign Minister to cancel the inappropriate nomination click here.
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The 79-year-old sociologist was particularly questioned for his ties to Muammar Gaddafi. [Salvatore Di Nolfi – Keystone]
Translation of Swiss news agency RTS
20.08.2013 13:17
The nomination of a 79-year-old sociologist to become an expert of the UN Human Rights Council was deemed “inappropriate” by a Swiss parliamentary commission on Tuesday.
The nomination of Jean Ziegler as a consultant to the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva is not to the parliament’s taste. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federal Parliament ruled this bid “inadequate.”
The decision was taken by a narrow majority.
The nomination was strongly criticized, especially in bourgeois circles, which pointed at past links by the 79-year-old sociologist with Muammar Gaddafi.
Several Liberal-Radicals [centrist party] felt that the appointment was a mistake. They have requested Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter to reverse the decision.
Christian Favre/cab
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La candidature de Jean Ziegler à l’ONU jugée “inadéquate”
La candidature du sociologue de 79 ans comme expert pour le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU a été jugée “inadéquate” par une Commission du National mardi. La candidature de Jean Ziegler comme consultant auprès du Comité consultatif du Conseil des Droits de l’homme de l’ONU à Genève n’est pas du goût du parlement. La Commission de politique extérieure du Conseil national a jugé lundi cette candidature “inadéquate”. La décision a été prise à une courte majorité. Cette candidature a suscité de vives critiques, notamment de milieux bourgeois, qui pointaient les liens entretenus à l’époque par le sociologue de 79 ans avec Mouammar Kadhafi. Plusieurs libéraux-radicaux ont estimé que cette nomination était une bourde. Ils ont demandé à Didier Burkhalter de revenir en arrière.
