Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Human Rights Monitoring Group Sharply Criticizes UN Chief

   Carolyn Weaver | New York City  24 January 2011

   Human  Rights  Watch  harshly  criticized  U.N.  Secretary General Ban
   Ki-moonās  "quiet  diplomacy"  approach  to human rights issues in its
   annual  report  released  on  Monday.Ā   Officials of the human rights
   monitoring group say the U.N. leader should not necessarily be elected
   to a second term later this year. Ā
   The  Human  Rights  Watch  report  says  Mr.  Ban  has  been  "notably
   reluctant" to pressure major human rights abusers in public.Ā  It says
   the  secretary-general  has  sometimes gone "out of his way to portray
   oppressive governments in a positive way," and placed "undue faith" in
   his  ability  to use private persuasion in dealing with the leaders of
   Sudan, Burma and Sri Lanka.
   At  a  press  conference  at  the  U.N.,  Human  Rights Watch official
   Philippe  Bolopion  said the group believes Mr. Ban at this point does
   not  deserve  a  second term as U.N. chief. "From our point of view to
   deserve  a  second  term,  he  would have to have a much more forceful
   approach,  a  much  more  consistent  approach  when  it  comes to the
   critical human rights issues heās being faced with," he said.
   Bolopion  noted that when Mr. Ban met with Chinaās President Hu Jintao
   in  November,  he  did  not discuss human rights.Ā  When Chinese human
   rights activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize, Bolopion
   said  the  U.N. chief did not commend Liu or call for his release, but
   rather  praised  Chinaās  economic  progress  and  adherence  to human
   rights.
   Bolopion  said  that  Human  Rights  Watch  believes that Mr. Ban uses
   "private diplomacy" as a faƧade for inaction. "Itās a way to publicly
   say  that  you  are  doing  something  about  human rights violations,
   without  having  to  incur  any cost for this. The problem is often it
   doesnāt  work; it works with regimes that are really willing to change
   and  need  some  help.Ā  It doesnāt work with serial abusers that just
   use  cooperation as a way to pretend they address these issues when in
   fact they donāt," he said.
   United  Nations  spokesman  Farhan  Haq rejected the criticism, saying
   that  Ban  Ki-moon  uses  all  of the means at his disposal, including
   public pressure, to promote human rights.
   "In  each  particular  case, the secretary-general makes his strategic
   decision  on the most effective way to secure respect for human rights
   and   accountability.Ā    Heās  applied  public  pressure  where  heās
   considered  it  the  most  likely  means to achieve results.Ā  And the
   record  shows  that  the  secretary-general  has achieved results both
   through quiet diplomacy, as well as through public pressure," he said.
   Haq  pointed  to speeches made by Mr. Ban in Burma and China, in which
   he    championed    human   rights.Ā    He   also   pointed   to   the
   secretary-general's  work  in  Sudan  and noted that he had interceded
   privately  to  defend a gay couple in Malawi.Ā  The Human Rights Watch
   report  notes  that  Mr. Ban has spoken out publicly against abuses in
   Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

.