U.S. Appalled By Venezuela’s Maduro Regime Elected To UN Human Rights Commission
Credit: Wikipedia Commons / Nicholas Maduro, President of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
By Gary Raynaldo / DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Venezuela is among 14 new Human Rights Council members that were elected on Thursday, following a secret ballot held at the United Nations world headquarters in New York. The Council, which meets throughout the year at the UN Office in Geneva, is an international body, within the UN system, made up of 47 States, and is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. It has the power to launch fact-finding missions and establish commissions of inquiry into specific situations.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo wasted no time in attacking the Venezuelan regime of President Nicholas Maduro.
“The UN High Commissioner report on Human Rights issued this past July documented egregious human rights abuses of the former Maduro regime in Venezuela. It is sadly no surprise that Maduro shamelessly sought a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in an effort to block any limit to his repressive control of the Venezuelan people. What is truly tragic, however, is that other nations voted to give Maduro’s representative for Venezuela a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. This is a harsh blow not just against the victims of the Venezuelan regime, but also against the cause of human rights around the world.”
-U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo
In July, the UN Human Rights Office of The High Commissioner published a report urging the Government of Venezuela to take immediate, concrete measures to halt and remedy the grave violations of economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights documented in the country.
The Secretary of State added: “The Human Rights Council ought to be a protector and defender of human rights of people the world over. It should be speaking out about the daily abuses of the former Maduro regime, and others like it. Instead, the Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy – with some of the world’s most serious offenders sitting on the Council itself. Its membership includes authoritarian governments with unambiguous and abhorrent human rights records, such as China, Cuba, and Venezuela. These are among the reasons why the United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council in 2018.” Pompeo characterizes the election to the Human Rights Council of Maduro’s representative as a “farce that further undermines the Council’s already frail credibility.” He said the U.S. desires to work with its allies and partners in support of Venezuelan “interim President” Juan Guaidó’s efforts to restore human rights and democracy in Venezuela, a critical objective that Pompeo said reflects the United States’ commitment to human rights and freedom.
US Ambassador to United Nations “Aggrieved” At Nations Voting In Favor Of Venezuela
Credit: US Mission To United Nations / Kelly Knight Craft, United States Ambassador to United Nations
“Today’s election of the former Maduro regime in Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council is an embarrassment to the United Nations and a tragedy for the people of Venezuela. I am personally aggrieved that 105 countries voted in favor of this affront to human life and dignity. It provides ironclad proof that the Human Rights Council is broken and reinforces why the United States withdrew. That one of the world’s worst human-rights abusers would be granted a seat on a body that is supposed to defend human rights is utterly appalling. The people of Venezuela should rest assured that Maduro cannot hide behind the cloak of an illegitimate body like the Human Rights Council.”
-Kelly Knight Craft, United States Ambassador to United Nations Statement
UN Photo/Elma Okic / The Human Rights Council, Geneva (file photo, May 2018)
Here is the how the Human Rights Council will look, as of 1 January 2020:
African States
Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Libya, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Togo
Asia-Pacific
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Marshall Islands, Republic of Korea Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar
Eastern Europe
Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine
Latin American and Caribbean States
Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
Western Europe and other States
Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain
