Experiment with the United Nations Human Rights Council

The Obama Administration is conducting an experiment by joining the Human Rights Council. A senior official of the State Department said that the administration hopes to engage the other nations in a dialogue on universal values.

The Human Rights Council was ignored for the most part by the last administration. The first test is likely to be an analysis of a report of the recent conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The Associated Press reports that the Bush Administration would not join the body because of its criticism of Israel. It is true that the Council has adopted more resolutions and decisions condemning Israel then all the other nations of the UN combined. It is not true that the Bush Administration refused to join because of that. The General Assembly refused to pass a resolution that member states would be forced to respect human rights which is why such states as China have had membership. That is why the Bush Administration refused to let taxpayer money fund such a group.

The Obama Administration wishes to have a dialogue on universal values. The Human Rights Council is explicitly against that. An investigator created by the Council charged with reporting on respect for “cultural sensitivity.” So presumably it would be wrong to condemn an Islamic state for ordering the death penalty for an apostate or calling Jews “the descendent of apes and pigs” since those are parts of Islamic culture.

Victims of human right abuses will be sorry about this experiment. President Obama should be too.