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UN Human Rights Council member Cuba guilty of violations of fundamental human rights

The UN 's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, has no conditions for membership - so human rights violators are keen to run and are elected to direct "human rights" attention away from themselves. The NGO Freedom House carefully ranks countries free, partly free and not free using a detailed analysis of political and civil liberties. Currently there are 11 countries with the worst possible rating of "not free" that are members of the Council. One of them is Cuba.

Cuba was elected to serve a 3-year term on November 12, 2013 when 148 UN member states, out of 193 UN General Assembly members, voted in favor of Cuba's candidacy. In fact, this is Cuba's third term on the UN Council since its establishment in 2006, amounting to 6 years serving as a UN human rights authority, to date.

This is just some of what the most recent State Department report says about human rights in Cuba:

"The principal human rights abuses were abridgement of the right of citizens to change the government and the use of government threats, extrajudicial physical violence, intimidation, mobs, harassment, and detentions to prevent free expression and peaceful assembly. The following additional abuses continued: harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrest, selective prosecution, and denial of fair trial. Authorities interfered with privacy, engaging in pervasive monitoring of private communications. The government did not respect freedom of speech and press, severely restricted internet access and maintained a monopoly on media outlets, circumscribed academic freedom, and maintained significant restrictions on the ability of religious groups to meet and worship. The government refused to recognize independent human rights groups or permit them to function legally. In addition, the government continued to prevent workers from forming independent unions and otherwise exercising their labor rights. Most human rights abuses were official acts committed at the direction of the government. Impunity for the perpetrators remained widespread."

UN Human Rights Council member Cuba guilty of violations of fundamental human rights Development

Rape is commonplace in the Congo, a member of the UN's top rights body

The UN 's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, has no conditions for membership - so human rights violators are keen to run and are elected to direct "human rights" attention away from themselves. The NGO Freedom House carefully ranks countries free, partly free and not free using a detailed analysis of political and civil liberties. Currently there are 11 countries with the worst possible rating of "not free" that are members of the Council. One of them is the Congo.

The Congo was elected to serve a 3-year term on May 20, 2011 when 176 UN member states, out of 193 UN General Assembly members, voted in favor of the Congo's candidacy. This is the Congo's first term on the UN Council since its establishment in 2006.

This is just some of what the most recent State Department report says about human rights in the Congo:

"Major human rights problems included beatings and torture of detainees by security forces, poor prison conditions, and lengthy pretrial detention. Other human rights abuses included: lack of due judicial process; arbitrary arrest; political prisoners; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association; refugee abuse; restrictions on the right of citizens to change their government peacefully; restrictions on the activities of opposition political groups; official corruption and lack of transparency...
[T]he government did not effectively enforce the law [against rape]...Rape was common... Domestic violence against women, including rape and beatings, was widespread but rarely reported. There were no specific provisions in the law outlawing spousal battery... Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)... still occurred."

Rape is commonplace in the Congo, a member of the UN's top rights body Development

"A Saudi court Sunday jailed an Islamist for eight years on charges of inciting protests, mocking the monarch and criticising the security services on Twitter, official news agency SPA reported. The defendant, who was not identified, had been convicted of inciting 'families of those arrested for security reasons to protest by publishing Tweets and videos on YouTube,' justice ministry spokesman Fahd al-Bakran was quoted by SPA as saying. Prosecutors also found the defendant guilty of 'mocking' King Abdullah, Saudi scholars and the judiciary, as well as criticising security services for arresting 'promoters of extremist ideology.' In addition to the jail sentence, the court banned the defendant from travelling for eight years and posting on social media."

Saudi Arabia Jails Islamist for 8 Years for Twitter Protest Call Document

Despite Gross Human Rights Violations, China Is a Member of UN Human Rights Council

The UN 's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, has no conditions for membership - so human rights violators are keen to run and are elected to direct "human rights" attention away from themselves. The NGO Freedom House carefully ranks countries free, partly free and not free using a detailed analysis of political and civil liberties. Currently there are 11 countries with the worst possible rating of "not free" that are members of the Council. One of them is China.

China was elected to serve a 3-year term on November 12, 2013 when 176 UN member states, out of 193 UN General Assembly members, voted in favor of China's candidacy. In fact, this is China's third term on the UN Council since its establishment in 2006, amounting to 6 years serving as a UN human rights authority, to date.

This is just some of what the most recent State Department report says about human rights in China:

"Security forces committed human rights abuses. Repression and coercion, particularly against organizations and individuals involved in civil and political rights advocacy and public interest issues, ethnic minorities, and law firms that took on sensitive cases, were routine. Increasingly officials employed harassment, intimidation, and prosecution of family members and associates to retaliate against rights advocates and defenders. Individuals and groups seen as politically sensitive by authorities continued to face tight restrictions on their freedom to assemble, practice religion, and travel. Authorities resorted to extralegal measures such as enforced disappearance and strict house arrest, including house arrest of family members, to prevent public expression of independent opinions. Authorities implemented new measures to control and censor the internet and particularly targeted bloggers with large numbers of followers, leading some to close their online accounts. Public-interest law firms continued to face harassment, disbarment of legal staff, and closure.
As in previous years, citizens did not have the right to change their government, and citizens had limited forms of redress against official abuse. Other human rights problems during the year included extrajudicial killings, including executions without due process; enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, including prolonged illegal detentions at unofficial holding facilities known as 'black jails'; torture and coerced confessions of prisoners; detention and harassment of lawyers, journalists, writers, bloggers, dissidents, petitioners, and others who sought to exercise peacefully their rights under the law; a lack of due process in judicial proceedings; political control of courts and judges; closed trials; the use of administrative detention; restrictions on freedom to assemble, practice religion, and travel; failure to protect refugees and asylum seekers; pressure on other countries to return PRC citizens forcibly; widespread corruption; intense scrutiny of and restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); discrimination against women, minorities, and persons with disabilities; a coercive birth-limitation policy that in some cases resulted in forced abortion (sometimes at advanced stages of pregnancy) or forced sterilization."

Despite Gross Human Rights Violations, China Is a Member of UN Human Rights Council Development

Algerian women

Abuse Of Women is rampant in Algeria though country is a member of UN rights council

The UN 's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, has no conditions for membership - so human rights violators are keen to run and are elected to direct "human rights" attention away from themselves. The NGO Freedom House carefully ranks countries free, partly free and not free using a detailed analysis of political and civil liberties. Currently there are 11 countries with the worst possible rating of "not free" that are members of the Council. One of them is Algeria.

Algeria was elected to serve a 3-year term on November 12, 2013 when 164 UN member states, out of 193 UN General Assembly members, voted in favor of Algeria's candidacy. In fact, this is Algeria's second term on the UN Council since its establishment in 2006.

This is just some of what the most recent State Department report says about human rights in Algeria:

"The three most significant continuing human rights problems were restrictions on freedom of assembly and association, lack of judicial independence, and overuse of pretrial detention. Other human rights concerns were limitations on the ability of citizens to change their government, excessive use of force by police...Widespread corruption accompanied reports of limited government transparency... The law... does not address spousal rape... Claims filed by women for rape and sexual abuse continued to face judicial obstacles...Domestic violence was widespread. The penal code states that a person must be "incapacitated" for 15 days and a woman claiming domestic abuse must visit a "forensic physician" for an examination to document injuries."

Abuse Of Women is rampant in Algeria though country is a member of UN rights council Development

UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland

Islamic states try to hold up Human Rights Council appointment because of absence of known anti-Israel bias

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has objected to the top candidate proposed by a cross-regional group to replace Richard Falk as the UN special rapporteur on Israel. Pakistan, acting on behalf of the OIC, has circulated the following letter on March 6, 2014:

"Excellency,
I am writing this letter to you in my capacity as the OIC Coordinator on human rights and humanitarian issues. I would like to invite your attention towards recently recommended list of the mandate holders by the Consultative Group...
Unfortunately, the Consultative Group has recommended the name of a candidate as a Special Rapporteur on the 'situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967' who has no expertise nor relevant experience of the Middle East situation. This recommendation of the Consultative Group is a violation of the IB package. It is, therefore, unacceptable to the OIC."

Islamic states try to hold up Human Rights Council appointment because of absence of known anti-Israel bias Development

From top, left to right: Maryam Shafipour, Bahareh Hedayat, Faran Hesami, Fariba Kamal Abadi, Hakimeh Shokri, Leva Khanjani, Mahvash Shahriari, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Nooshin Khadem, Zhinoos Rahimi.

"The Iranian Judiciary should release student activists Shafipour and Bahareh Hedayat, along with the eight other women held in Tehran's Evin Prison's political prisoners' ward Nesvan, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. 'There is no justification for these young women to languish in prison for precisely the kind of positive engagement that International Women's Day is meant to promote,' said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Campaign. A student activist and member of Mehdi Karroubi's 2009 election campaign, Maryam Shafipour was arrested on July 27, 2013. On March 1, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to seven years' imprisonment and two years' ban on 'cyberspace, media, and press activities.' Hedayat, a student and women's rights activist, has been serving a nine-year prison term since December 2009... Maryam Shafipour's recent sentencing for the political charges of 'propaganda against the regime' and 'assembly and collusion against national security' included an unheard of ban on participating in cyberspace, a dangerous precedent for political activists and dissidents in Iran."

Release Shafipour, Hedayat, and All Other Women Prisoners of Conscience Document