|
Rare Victory: U.N. Nominee Jean Ziegler Disowned by Swiss Parliament, Lashes Out at UN Watch
Battle won, but war goes on: UN Watch urging Swiss FM to cancel absurd sponsorship of Qaddafi confidante’s U.N. bid
Great news: the Swiss Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has just passed a Non-Confidence Motion against Jean Ziegler, rebuking their own government’s “inappropriate” nominee for the U.N. Human Rights Council.
In a country known for diplomacy, it’s an unprecedented public embarrassment for Ziegler, who as a UNHRC official from 2000 to 2012 was the most rabid supporter of tyrants, terrorists and anti-Semites in U.N. history.
Ziegler praised Hezbollah for kidnapping Israeli soldiers -- and called Israelis “concentration camp guards.”
Ziegler hailed the Castro regime as “an explosion of light,” Mugabe for having “history and morality with him,” and Qaddafi for his “full process of democratization.”
After a decade using his U.N. post as a propaganda tool for dictators, Ziegler was forced out last year. Now he’s trying to come back, to regain influence -- and diplomatic immunity, so he can say nonsense without being sued.
Thanks to UN Watch, the Swiss government’s latest nomination of Ziegler—designed to win U.N. favors from Third World dictators—was exposed to the world, and he was quickly shamed.
Tomorrow’s Le Temps, Geneva’s leading newspaper, has a major editorial (already online) saying “Jean Ziegler’s place is in the dock of the accused.”
Ziegler is outraged—and he’s lashing out at UN Watch, using innuendo and coded appeals to prejudice in falsely accusing the Geneva human rights group of being “co-financed by the Americans and the Israeli Right.”
Also, Le Courrier reported that “Jean Ziegler sees the hand of the organization UN Watch behind the slings against him.”
On that, however, he’s not entirely wrong. As the leading human rights group at the U.N. giving a platform to the victims of Qadaffi, Mugabe, Castro and other tyrants whom Ziegler supports, it is our duty to oppose his record of abuse.
And we did so:
* UN Watch’s anti-Ziegler campaign sparked articles worldwide, in The Washington Times, the Jerusalem Post, Germany’s Der Spiegel — and became the top story in Swiss newspapers and radio. The Wall Street Journal has just endorsed UN Watch’s battle, in a major editorial.
* UN Watch protest emails, tweets and Facebook messages were posted by thousands around the globe, including from Cuban dissidents.
* UN Watch’s direct appeal to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power succeeded — she publicly denounced Ziegler as “unfit.”
* The firestorm from UN Watch’s campaign reached the leadership of the Swiss Parliament, who took action to rebuke Ziegler -- an unprecedented move.
A key battle was won—but the war is not over: Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter alone has the power to cancel the bid, and his diplomats, leftist politicians and many in the media are pressing him to support Ziegler.
That is why UN Watch is working full force and around the clock to pressure Minister Burkhalter to respect the Parliament’s will—and that of the civilized world.
UN Watch will be releasing new and damning evidence of Ziegler’s key role in creating, managing -- and, in 2002, winning -- the “Moammar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize.”
Over the past two weeks, in one interview after another, Ziegler has denied any ties whatsoever to the Qaddafi Prize, instead accusing UN Watch of "defamation."
When confronted by the Washington Free Beacon about numerous 1989 news articles in which he boasted about creating the Qaddafi Prize, and asked why Time Magazine, UPI, The Independent, Journal de Geneve, and l'Hebdo would all make this up, Ziegler said he did not know. “I mean, you must ask the journalists. There is a lot of wrong information going around,” he said.
UN Watch will demonstrate that Switzerland's U.N. nominee is shamelessly lying, and engaging in a massive cover-up.
|
