Assad Out

Syria is no longer in the running to join its fellow hypocrites:

A coalition of 25 human rights groups headed by the Geneva-based UN Watch cheered today’s withdrawal by Syria of its candidacy for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The Asian group is instead endorsing Kuwait, which will still need a minimum 97 votes in the UN’s May 20 election.

“The defeat and shaming of Syria’s murderous regime in the court of world opinion should be a morale boost for the courageous citizens of that country who continue to brave bullets and beatings to speak out for their universal human rights,” said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director.

“It says a lot when Syria’s actions are deemed so reprehensible by the international community as to cause its rejection by a club whose members already include Bahrain, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and other notorious human rights violators,” said Neuer.

“President Bashar Assad’s cynical bid to be named a global judge of human rights only underscores the hypocrisy and politicization that too often hobbles the work of the UN’s highest human rights body.”

One thugocracy down, several more to go...