Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The UN Human Rights Council is this week debating whether to take action on the 557-page report on the Gaza conflict produced for it by South African judge Richard Goldstone and published 15 September. The report has been the subject of accusations of bias from Israel and Palestine, both of which are accused, by the report, of serious crimes. The United States jumped into the fray Tuesday 29 September with Michael Posner, US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, calling the report “deeply flawed” and saying the US disagrees “sharply with its methodology and many of its recommendations.”
Posner called for an open discussion of the report but emphasized that the imbalance the US argues it has seen in the council in the past appears to still be at work: “Since the Council was created in 2006, it has passed 20 resolutions on Israel, more than the number of resolutions for all 191 other UN members combined. The Council also has held 11 special sessions, 5 focused exclusively on Israel.”
Posner, speaking to the council Tuesday, said that for the council to work effectively it must be free to address other issues and not give unequal time to Israel.
Goldstone, for his part, addressed the council to defend his group’s work and reminded the council that one of the key problems from the outset was Israel’s refusal to cooperate with the fact-finding commission, refusing access to areas and people.
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News story, GenevaLunch, 30 September 2009.
Filed under: Politics
Tags: Gaza conflict report, Israel, Palestine, Richard Goldstone, UN Human Rights Council, US ambassador