U.N. Human Rights Chief to Leave, Citing ‘Appalling’ Climate for Advocacy
That is quite a gesture. People tend to cling to posts in high offices but this prince does not want to bend the knee and see his job marginalised. The High Commisioner for Human Rights is by the way the crown prince of Iraq.
The United Nations’ top human rights advocate told his staff that he will not seek a second term, citing concern that his voice would be silenced in an age when the United States and other world powers are retreating from their historical commitment to human rights.
Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, a Jordanian prince and former ambassador who served as a U.N. political officer during the Bosnian war, announced his plan in an end-of-year email to employees of the Geneva-based human rights agency. His term ends in the summer of 2018.
“Next year will be the last of my mandate,” Zeid wrote Wednesday in the email, which was obtained by Foreign Policy. “After reflection, I have decided not to seek a second four-year term. To do so, in the current geopolitical context, might involve bending a knee in supplication; muting a statement of advocacy; lessening the independence and integrity of my voice — which is your voice.”
Zeid’s letter raised questions about the ability of the United Nations to play a role as a champion of human rights. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has displayed a reluctance to speak out on human rights abuses by powerful governments, preferring to work behind the scenes with the United States and other key powers to defuse conflicts, such as the nuclear standoff in North Korea, that could lead to conflict and large scale violence. And Guterres has previously urged Zeid to tone down his critics of Trump, fearing it could risk losing U.S. support for the United Nations, according to diplomatic sources.
Guterres’s chief spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told FP that “the High Commissioner has always enjoyed the support of the Secretary-General.” He said Zeid informed Guterres “last week of his intention not to seek another term.”
The letter presented a gloomy assessment of the state of human rights one year after U.S. President Donald Trump came to power on a platform that downgraded the importance of human rights in American foreign policy, and promoted the virtues of reintroducing torture as a tool to extract information from suspected terrorists and their families. Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, has argued that the promotion of values, like human rights, can sometimes be an “obstacle” to the pursuit of core economic and security interests.
Meanwhile, advocates see human rights in retreat from China to Europe, where European governments have reacted to fears of terrorism by imposed increasingly tough restrictions on migrants.
Read the full article here:
https://foreignpolicy-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/20/u-n-human-rights-chief-to-leave-citing-appalling-climate-for-advocacy/amp/
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Zeid Ra’ad Hussein worries the global retreat from human rights makes his job untenable.
Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, a Jordanian prince and former ambassador who served as a U.N. political officer during the Bosnian war, announced his plan in an end-of-year email to employees of the Geneva-based human rights agency. His term ends in the summer of 2018.
“Next year will be the last of my mandate,” Zeid wrote Wednesday in the email, which was obtained by Foreign Policy. “After reflection, I have decided not to seek a second four-year term. To do so, in the current geopolitical context, might involve bending a knee in supplication; muting a statement of advocacy; lessening the independence and integrity of my voice — which is your voice.”
Zeid’s letter raised questions about the ability of the United Nations to play a role as a champion of human rights. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has displayed a reluctance to speak out on human rights abuses by powerful governments, preferring to work behind the scenes with the United States and other key powers to defuse conflicts, such as the nuclear standoff in North Korea, that could lead to conflict and large scale violence. And Guterres has previously urged Zeid to tone down his critics of Trump, fearing it could risk losing U.S. support for the United Nations, according to diplomatic sources.
Guterres’s chief spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told FP that “the High Commissioner has always enjoyed the support of the Secretary-General.” He said Zeid informed Guterres “last week of his intention not to seek another term.”
The letter presented a gloomy assessment of the state of human rights one year after U.S. President Donald Trump came to power on a platform that downgraded the importance of human rights in American foreign policy, and promoted the virtues of reintroducing torture as a tool to extract information from suspected terrorists and their families. Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, has argued that the promotion of values, like human rights, can sometimes be an “obstacle” to the pursuit of core economic and security interests.
Meanwhile, advocates see human rights in retreat from China to Europe, where European governments have reacted to fears of terrorism by imposed increasingly tough restrictions on migrants.
Read the full article here:
https://foreignpolicy-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/20/u-n-human-rights-chief-to-leave-citing-appalling-climate-for-advocacy/amp/
Interessant artikel? Deel het eens met uw netwerk en help mee met het verspreiden van de bekendheid van dit blog. Er staan wellicht nog meer artikelen op dit weblog die u zullen boeien. Kijk gerust eens rond. Zelf graag wat willen plaatsen? Mail dan webmaster@vreemdelingenrecht.com In verband met geldwolven die denken geld te kunnen claimen op krantenartikelen die op een blog als deze worden geplaatst maar na meestal een dag voor de krantenlezers aan leeswaardigheid hebben ingeboet terwijl wij vreemdelingenrecht specialisten ze soms wel nog jaren gebruiken om er een kopie van te maken voor een zaak ga ik over tot het plaatsen van alleen het eerste stukje. Ja ik weet het: de kans dat u doorklikt is geringer dan wanneer het hele artikel hier staat en een kopie van het orgineel maken handig kan zijn voor uw zaak. Wilt u zelf wat overnemen van dit weblog. Dat mag. Zet er alleen even een link bij naar het desbetreffende artikel zodat mensen niet alleen dat wat u knipt en plakt kunnen lezen maar dat ook kunnen doen in de context. Subscribe to Vreemdelingenrecht.com blog by Email
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