The leftist Inter Press Service lets us know what's roiling the waters with: Group Faults Libya's Nomination to Head U.N. Commission:
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 8 (IPS) - A leading human rights organization has appealed to African nations to reverse their decision to nominate Libya as the next chairman of the Geneva-based U.N. Commission on Human Rights.Wow! What an endorsement! Actually, if the UN had strict standards, not many of the members could be on any committee.
"Countries with dreadful rights records should never be in charge of chairing the Commission on Human Rights," Rory Mungoven, global advocacy director for New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said Thursday.
"Libya's long record of human rights abuses clearly does not merit such a reward," he added.
But a spokesman for the Libyan Mission to the United Nations refuted the charges made by HRW. "They are entitled to their opinion," he told IPS.
"Ours is an open society. We have nothing to hide and we are not in violation of human rights," he added.
Moreover, he said, Libya's nomination had been endorsed at the highest levels of government - at a summit meeting of more than 50 African leaders in Durban, South Africa last month.
