The United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemned Israel for its „disproportionate“ use of force in Palestinian territories, but let China escape scrutiny despite a U.S. move to censure it. The 53-member state body also easily adopted resolutions condemning Iraq and Afghanistan‘s ruling Taliban. It narrowly approved a Czech resolution denouncing violations in Cuba. A resolution welcoming contacts between Myanmar‘s ruling military and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi — but expressing grave concern over „systematic persecution“ of her National League for Democracy and deploring gross violations including executions, mass arrests and forced labour — also won consensus.

It ended a marathon day-long session without debating texts on hotspots including Iran, East Timor, Chechnya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Burundi. The main U.N. rights forum is holding its annual six-week session in Geneva until April 27 to examine abuses worldwide.

Israel says resolution „not balanced“

Israel rejected as „not balanced“ a resolution brought by 11 countries and easily adopted by the U.N. rights forum. The text condemned the Jewish state for „disproportionate and indiscriminate recourse to force, which cannot but aggravate the situation and increase an already high death toll“. The United States, Israel‘s principal ally, was virtually alone in voting against three resolutions on the Middle East. A second resolution presented by the EU called on Israel to stop the building of settlements in the territories. The Commission also strongly condemned Iraq for „widespread terror“. It condemned Afghanistan‘s ruling Taliban for „mass killings and systematic human rights violations against civilians“.

Reuters