While Iran’s regime bloodies its dissidents, the nuclear weapons-loving mullahs are seeking a treat for themselves at the United Nations: Iran is running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Utterly perverse though it would be, Iran might snag that prize. The 47 seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council are parceled out among regional groups of U.N. member states. This year the Asian bloc has four seats opening up. Five contenders have stepped forward: Malaysia, Maldives, Qatar, Thailand–and Iran. The winners will be chosen in May, by secret ballot of the 192-member U.N. General Assembly–a notoriously thug-friendly body, run this year by a former foreign minister of Libya.
The Human Rights Council is, in theory, the U.N.’s leading body dedicated to protecting human rights and condemning their abusers. If Iran’s government wins a seat on this council, it would send a horrifying message to Iranian dissidents. They have been enduring mass arrests, beatings and murders in their quest for genuine human rights inside Iran.
This brand of U.N. legitimacy for Iran would compound the farce of U.N. sanctions, which have so far failed to stop Iran’s nuclear ventures. It would be more evidence that President Barack Obama was mistaken when he claimed that Iran was becoming “more isolated.”
It would also deal another blow to Obama’s policy of “engagement.” The current Human Rights Council is the product of U.N. “reform” four years ago, in which… >>>
