A Second Hand Conjecture

Posted first on Registan.net

No matter what a certain director at a certain think tank-slash-NGO may think, it appears I am not the only one who thought Louise Arbour was a particularly incompetent advocate for human rights:

On her watch, the UN has ended human rights monitoring in Cuba and Belarus and has failed to hold the Chinese regime accountable for its gross human rights violations. In fact, in January of this year, Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted her as lauding Beijing’s commitment to human rights.

Ms. Arbour drew criticism again this month when, in the wake of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s resignation, she chose to praise the regime for demonstrating “unprecedented positive engagement with the U.N. human rights system,” rather than using the occasion to blast the communist regime for its violations of fundamental freedoms and liberties and its cruel, inhumane treatment of prisoners of conscience.

Not to mention her office’s curious silence over Darfur. At least she’s gone now. Even so: what a hollow victory. Naïve it may be, but I pray the next OHCHR can achieve some lasting good in the hellholes of this earth, and not just the usual old Jew-baiting and utterly meaningless gesticulations of hope in the face of rampant brutality.

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