The annual United Nations General Assembly officially kicked off Monday in New York City and the "Human Rights Council" is proving its corruption once again.
Today, the Council is voting on a resolution praising Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. It is being sponsored by Iran and was written by...Maduro.
No joke: the U.N. Human Rights Council soon votes on a resolution on Venezuela's human rights record that was drafted by Venezuela itself—diplomat Félix Peña Ramos—and sponsored by Iran. The text praises the Maduro regime's efforts on human rights, and instead attacks the West. pic.twitter.com/NxMq2vtcSE
— Hillel Neuer - watching #UNGA #UNGA74 (@HillelNeuer) September 21, 2019
The State Department is less than impressed.
When @realDonaldTrump rightfully withdrew from the biased @UNHumanRights it was due to hypocrisy like this. Iran, the world’s top sponsor or terror, sponsoring a resolution calling for “non-interference” for human rights abuses in Venezuela, WRITTEN by the corrupt Maduro regime! https://t.co/GUbVWphwjY
— Morgan Ortagus (@statedeptspox) September 23, 2019
For the record, Maduro has been starving Venezuelans and forcing them to pledge allegiance to his regime before receiving basic humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies. He's also blocked aid from coming into the country for months. Venezuelans are eating zoo animals, cats, dogs and rifling through the trash for anything they can find.
Nicolás Maduro and his oppressive regime turn the arrival of life-saving aid for Venezuelans into a clash of violence. Read @SecPompeo's statement on letting humanitarian aid into Venezuela: https://t.co/ZmX6AmUEHc #EstamosUnidosVE pic.twitter.com/A1QQxFnFKA
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 24, 2019
By blocking aid to the Venezuelan people #Maduro is committing a crime against humanity.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 9, 2019
And military leaders in #Venezuela who carry out this order are disqualifying themselves from any sanctions relief or Post-Maduro U.S. backed guarantees. https://t.co/bGY2ozJf8r
After spending a year dedicated to reform, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially announced the United States was leaving the Human Rights Council in June 2018, citing its inability to actually condemn abuses and instead prop up the world's most brutal dictators. For example, current members include Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and others. Iran and North Korea can speak and submit resolutions as observer states.
"We have no doubt that there was once a noble vision for this council. But today, we need to be honest – the Human Rights Council is a poor defender of human rights. Worse than that, the Human Rights Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy – with many of the world’s worst human rights abuses going ignored, and some of the world’s most serious offenders sitting on the council itself," Pompeo said at the time. "The only thing worse than a council that does almost nothing to protect human rights is a council that covers for human rights abuses and is, therefore, an obstacle to progress and an impediment to change. The Human Rights Council enables abuses by absolving wrongdoers through silence and falsely condemning those who have committed no offense. A mere look around the world today demonstrates that the council has failed in its stated objectives."
The Council also has a long, harmful and unfounded agenda against Israel.
"When a so-called Human Rights Council cannot bring itself to address the massive abuses in Venezuela and Iran, and it welcomes the Democratic Republic of Congo as a new member, the council ceases to be worthy of its name. Such a council, in fact, damages the cause of human rights," Haley added. "And then, of course, there is the matter of the chronic bias against Israel. Last year, the United States made it clear that we would not accept the continued existence of agenda item seven, which singles out Israel in a way that no other country is singled out. Earlier this year, as it has in previous years, the Human Rights Council passed five resolutions against Israel – more than the number passed against North Korea, Iran, and Syria combined. This disproportionate focus and unending hostility towards Israel is clear proof that the council is motivated by political bias, not by human rights."
Editor's note: A previous version of this post listed North Korea and Iran as members of the UN Human Rights Council. They are not members but can submit resolutions.