It’s what it says. Center for Inquiry representative Josephine Macintosh tried to read a statement about Raif Badawi and Saudi violations of human rights at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council and the Saudi representative keeps interrupting to try to make her stop.
In the headline it should be UNHRC. It wouldn’t matter except that UNHCR is also a thing.
Shut …..because that’s why!
Wow, SA doesn’t even really pretend to have a good reason. They just want them to shut up.
Not that this will make any difference, the US will maintain them as an ally, and we will keep buying their oil.
160 votes for Saudi Arabia to be part of the UN Human Rights Council. Is reality just too déclassé for the UN bureaucracy?
Oops. I fixed the initials.
Atheism is terrorism!?
How can Saudi Arabia be on a UN human rights council?
“How can Saudi Arabia be on a UN human rights council?”
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/Membership.aspx
Membership of the Human Rights Council
The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot. The General Assembly takes into account the candidate States’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary pledges and commitments in this regard.
The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution. Seats are distributed as follows:
African States: 13 seats
Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats
Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats
Western European and other States: 7 seats
Eastern European States: 6 seats
Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
http://www.refworld.org/country,,,,sau,,5369e5bb12,0.html
Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists in the country. The government privileges its own interpretation of Sunni Islam over all other interpretations. It also has arrested individuals for dissent, apostasy, blasphemy, and sorcery. Based on these continuing violations of religious freedom, despite some areas where progress has been made, USCIRF again recommends in 2014 that Saudi Arabia be designated as a “country of particular concern” (CPC) under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/03/06/irwin-cotler-the-tragic-farce-of-the-un-human-rights-council/
Of the UN’s 193 member states, 140 supported Saudi Arabia’s candidacy.
Of the UN’s 193 member states, 140 supported Saudi Arabia’s candidacy
I guess the Saudis threw around some change. And they don’t just arrest people for ‘witchcraft’, they execute them.