Mitra Ebadolahi Ebadolahi is a
third-year international development studies and history student
who believes that the forces of good will kiss evil on the lips.
She encourages comments at [email protected].
Click Here for more articles by Mitra Ebadolahi
Once in a blue moon, some strange combination of factors mix
together in just the right proportions to cause an effect so
exceptionally satisfying that one can’t help but stand by
with a huge smile and watch. Like watching your favorite basketball
player execute an immaculate fast break. Or getting an excellent
grade on a challenging paper.
Or watching the United States get kicked off the United Nations
Human Rights Commission after serving on that body for over 50
years.
Yep, it finally happened. Two weeks ago, a democratic election
placed the United States last among four candidates for the three
seats reserved for Western countries on the commission, with
positions going to France, Sweden and Austria.
In the wake of the upset, U.S. diplomats and government
officials have been scrambling to protect America’s
international image; Secretary of State Colin Powell has even gone
so far as to claim that the election results were a fluke and
simply the result of an international conspiracy to “thwart
America’s efforts.” Regardless of such absurd
statements, the U.N. vote has sent an unquestionable message to the
world: America’s game is up.
Why did this happen? Gee, where to start.
 Illustration by RACHEL REILICH/Daily Bruin First of all,
under the sublime guidance of Chief Executive Idiot George W. Bush,
recent U.S. policies have indicated a blatant disregard for
international human rights concerns. In just a few brief months,
the United States has opposed the ban on land mines, universal
access to AIDS medications and the formation of an international
criminal court designed to bring war criminals to justice.
The U.N. vote indicates that U.S. hegemony is finally unraveling
as other nations find America’s arrogant hypocrisy harder and
harder to swallow. The European Union has been especially upset as
a result of Bush’s impulsive decision to escalate armament
programs.
Now European Union officials, who represent a region with
growing power, are refusing to stand idly by and watch the United
States jeopardize the planet’s future with reckless
unilateral actions. America’s replacement by three E.U.
countries thus represents a bold political move within the
international community.
But I digress.
U.S. inaction has also proven the Bush administration’s
general indifference toward the U.N. at large. Despite the fact
that Bush has been in office for over five months, he has failed to
designate a permanent leader for the U.S. delegation to the U.N.
This paralysis has sent a clear international signal that the U.N.
is hardly America’s first priority, and indicates a sharp
discrepancy between the rhetoric and reality of U.S. foreign
policy.
To exacerbate matters, Bush has nominated John Negroponte to
serve as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. In the 1980s Negroponte
worked as an ambassador in Honduras, America’s home base for
the illegal contra wars against Nicaraguan self-determination.
During his tenure, Negroponte ignored severe human rights
violations committed by the U.S.-backed Honduran army and
deliberately misled Congress in order to allow contra operations to
continue. With such a stellar record, Negroponte serves as an
excellent indicator of America’s true commitment to human
rights.
But just because our government has refused to sign a few
treaties or promote human lives over corporate profits
doesn’t mean politicians are willing to stop declaring the
U.S. the champion of international human rights.
In fact, Congress just isn’t ready to accept this
humiliating democratic defeat sitting down. In a stunning display
of political pouting, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted
to withhold nearly $250 million in unpaid U.N. dues to pressure
U.S. restoration to the Commission on Human Rights.
Now that’s interesting. Who would have thought that U.S.
government officials, of all people, would try to overrule a
completely democratic process with the threat of money? Things just
don’t seem to be adding up: first America fails to promote
human rights, and now democracy too? It really is all about the
Benjamins!
Of course, the corporate media has had a field day with the U.N.
vote, but not for the reasons you or I might hope. Instead of
critically scrutinizing America’s role in demoting human
rights, media pundits have either ignored the story outright, or
spun the issue to focus on the “frightening and
terrible” loss of U.S. power in the international
community.
The Los Angeles Times, for example, quoted one senior government
official who adamantly claimed that the vote was the result of a
“”˜league of undemocratic U.S. states'”
determined to “silence the U.S. voice” (L.A. Times, May
5).
Reporters and diplomats alike have also evaded an analysis of
American human rights policies by demonizing other nations,
including “rogue states” like Saudi Arabia, Algeria and
Cuba. While it is true (and tragic) that many of the
commission’s members have trampled human rights, it is also a
fact that the United States itself is guilty of directly committing
or tacitly supporting human rights violations around the world.
The United States continues to bomb Iraq, killing thousands of
civilians a year. America is one of the last countries in the world
to retain the death penalty, and the recent hoopla over Timothy
McVeigh’s impending execution indicates that murder is still
viewed as a legitimate response to crime.
The U.S. Army’s School of the Americas (a.k.a. the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) is notorious for
training and funding brutal military dictatorships throughout Latin
America. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The list of
atrocities is virtually without end.
From this perspective, it is amazing that the United States
actually served on the U.N. Commission for Human Rights for five
uninterrupted decades. Indeed, the U.N. itself can and must be
criticized for failing to make a noticeable difference in
international human rights policies.
Without the methods to enforce resolutions, key documents such
as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are reduced to mere
paperwork. The fact that nearly all of the commission members,
including the United States, have at one point or another blatantly
violated human rights is another testament to the shortcomings and
contradictions of this critical body.
As for the United States, the U.N. vote delivers a powerful
lesson: actions speak louder than words. Despite America’s
international public relations campaigns and propaganda, it is an
undeniable fact that the United States of America has a long way to
go before it can truly claim to be a defender of human rights.
Congress can take a step forward in the right direction by
paying America’s dues and passing legislation to deal with
the real issues: human rights violations right here in the supposed
“land of the free.”