New members on U.N. council

The United Nations Human Rights Council, which has yet to prove its worth in fighting violations, has new members.The U.N. Commission on Human Rights had taken a bad rap for its membership and was abolished for that reason in 2006. In its wake, the Human Rights Council was established-and the U.N. held an election this week to appoint new members to the Council. The General Assembly filled 17 seats out of 47, and in that process rejected Sri Lanka while approving Pakistan. Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs believes the Human Rights Council could still suffer some of the old problems."Now, with this election, some of that old criticism could still be brought to bear," he suggests."Some countries were left off the list because of perceived human-rights abuses; but still, a country like Pakistan-which doesn't have the best human-rights record, particularly as it relates to our Christian brothers and sisters-was elected to the Council," Nettleton explains. He also questions whether the Council will be effective and wonders about the selection process. "It's a little bit of a balancing act and I think, you know, in the case of Sri Lanka, obviously a place where there have been human-rights problems, there have been religious freedom issues. But then you look at a country like Pakistan where there have been some of the same issues and you wonder how one gets left off the Council and the other one gets put on," Nettleton points out. According to Nettleton, this Council will be closely watched by the media to determine whether they can turn their talk into action.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=123340

As in the days of Noah...