United States walks out as Sudan elected to UN rights body
UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Reuters) – Sudan won an uncontested election on Tuesday to the United Nations’ main human rights watchdog, prompting the United States to walk out because of alleged ethnic cleansing in the country’s Darfur region.
Sudan’s envoy immediately shot back that the U.S. delegation was “shedding crocodile tears” and turning a blind eye to atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq against civilians as well as against prisoners.
Fourteen vacant seats were filled on Tuesday for the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission based in Geneva. Many were decided by regional groups before Tuesday’s voting in the Economic and Social Council in New York.
In the African regional group, Sudan, Guinea, Togo and Kenya, filled seats for three-year terms on the commission, beginning in January.
Sichan Siv, the U.S. delegate to the council, accused Sudan of having no right to sit on the rights commission because of ethnic cleansing in Darfur where the government is accused of backing Arab militia in pillaging black Africa villages, raping and killing.
“The United States will not participate in this absurdity,” Siv said. “Our delegation will absent itself from the meeting rather than lend support to Sudan’s candidacy,” he said before briefly walking out of council chambers.
He had done the same a year ago when Cuba won a seat on the commission.
But the U.S. protest could not have come at a worse time because of allegations on abuses in Iraq.
Sudan’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Omar Bashir Mohamed Manis, said the United States had no right to accuse anyone of human rights violations, after allegations of abuses in Iraq including mistreatment of Iraqis held in U.S.-run prisons
Images of the Iraqi prisoners “are fresh in the minds of all justice-loving people around the world,” he said.
((Reporting by Evelyn Leopold; Reuters messaging: [email protected]; 1-212-355-7424)
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By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Reuters) – Sudan won an uncontested election on Tuesday to the United Nations’ main human rights watchdog, prompting the United States to walk out because of alleged ethnic cleansing in the country’s Darfur region.
Sudan’s envoy immediately shot back that the U.S. delegation was “shedding crocodile tears,” and he accused the United States of turning a blind eye as Iraqi prisoners were mistreated and civilians were harmed in battle.
Fourteen vacant seats were filled on Tuesday for the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission based in Geneva. Many were decided by regional groups before Tuesday’s voting in the Economic and Social Council in New York.
In the African regional group, Sudan, Guinea, Togo and Kenya, filled seats for three-year terms on the commission, beginning in January.
Sichan Siv, the U.S. delegate to the council, accused Sudan of having no right to sit on the rights commission because of ethnic cleansing in Darfur where the government is accused of backing Arab militia in pillaging black Africa villages, raping and killing.
“The United States will not participate in this absurdity,” Siv said. “Our delegation will absent itself from the meeting rather than lend support to Sudan’s candidacy,” he said before briefly walking out of council chambers.
He had done the same a year ago when Cuba won a seat on the commission.
Sudan’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Omar Bashir Mohamed Manis, said the United States had no right to accuse anyone of human rights violations, after allegations of abuses in Iraq including mistreatment of Iraqis held in U.S.-run prisons
Images of the Iraqi prisoners “are fresh in the minds of all justice-loving people around the world,” he said.
The U.S. military is conducting an investigation into the prisoner abuse scandal after news reports and photos broadcast by CBS last week showed Iraqis stripped naked and tormented by U.S. captors.
Manis also referred to Iraqi civilian casualties during a recent siege in Falluja. “This (U.S.) delegation is turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the American forces against the innocent civilian population in Iraq, including women and children,” he said,
Filling other seats on the commission, Canada, Finland and France were elected from the Western group. Spain, another candidate, was defeated. In the Asian group, Malaysia, South Korea and Pakistan won seats with another candidate, Vietnam, defeated.
Mexico and Ecuador faced no opposition among the Latin American group. Armenia and Romania were elected to assured seats among Eastern Europeans.
((Reporting by Evelyn Leopold; Editing by Randall Mikkelsen))