U.S. Statement on the Third Special Session of the Human Rights Council

Tom Casey
Deputy Spokesman                                                   
U.S. Department of State

Washington, DC                                                                 
November 15, 2006                                                             
                                                                             

The United Nations Human Rights Council convened today, for the third time in  less than six months, a special session that addresses only Israel, and  attempts to advance an imbalanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Council’s persistence in focusing on Israel, while failing to address serious human rights violations taking place in other countries and regions, including Sudan, Burma, North Korea, and Cuba, undermines its credibility and its ability to defend human rights around the world.                                      
                                                                       
The democratic states on the Council must work to redirect its course. The United States calls on the Council to focus on the most pressing human rights violations, and to approach its work with the seriousness and lack of selective bias the international community expects. Otherwise, the legitimacy of the body will be called into question.         

 

###