Of all the things that hurt the United Nations' credibility, its Human Rights Council does the most damage. The council replaced the old Human Rights Commission, which had become a joke as it sought to protect the world's most egregious abusers from censure.
Apparently, the joke continues.
Recently, two watchdog groups, U.N. Watch and Freedom House, issued blistering reports that charge members of the commission with, once again, protecting themselves from criticism while making sure Israel is heavily censured.
Really, though, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who looks at the roster of states that comprise the commission. What thoughts come to mind when the names Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China are mentioned in the same breath as human rights? What about Angola and Belarus, two nations on a short list of candidates to fill vacancies on the 47-member group?
The reports say the council is dominated by nations that dislike Israel and are all too happy to protect places such as Sudan and Zimbabwe from any sort of criticism. Given the human suffering under way in the Darfur region of Sudan, that is unconscionable.
The United Nations could have tremendous power to unite the civilized world against human-rights abuses worldwide. It could come to the aid of suffering people whose own governments are the enemy. But it can do so only if it is willing to set strict standards and guidelines for membership in such organizations. Known human-rights abusers should have no seat on a human rights panel. Local police departments would never commission prison inmates to enact anti-crime strategies or bring perpetrators to justice.
Sudan isn't the only region in need of censure. Too many nations calmly look the other way when it comes to slavery rings that capture young girls and boys and force them into prostitution. Too many tyrannical governments punish people for expressing opinions or political thought.
U.N. Watch said the new council so far has issued 12 resolutions. Nine were censures against Israel, and three were of a "non-condemnatory" nature against Sudan.
Frankly, the United Nations would be better off without a human rights organization. The joke simply isn't funny.