UN Watch

“I deeply appreciate the valuable work performed by UN Watch. Informed and independent evaluation of the United Nations’ activities will prove a vital source as we seek to adapt the Organization to the needs of a changing world.” — Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General

AGAIN: U.N. Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur Ben Saul declares Somalia a world leader on human rights — as he addresses a UN event sponsored by the Somali regime. Reminder: Ben Saul thought it was normal to take a $150,000 donation from China. x.com/HillelNeuer/st…

UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul spoke for a propaganda event organized by the Somali regime at the UN Human Rights Council, chaired by its “Minister for Human Rights” Khadija Mohamed Al-Makhzoumi.

UN's @profbensaul: “Somalia is strengthening, not sacrificing, human rights. A lesson for other countries who often curtail human rights when it's not justified. Somalia stands as a real example for how countries ought to combat terrorism while still upholding human rights.”

List Keeps Growing: 🇷🇸 Serbia condemns Francesca Albanese: "We consider the statements made by Mrs. Albanese to be unbalanced and activist in nature, and as such inappropriate to the mandate she holds... Serbia remains open to cooperation with the United Nations—on whose behalf Mrs. Albanese clearly does not speak...”

Speaking above was Surya Deva, the UN Special Rapporteur on “the right to development,” in his capacity as Chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures. This is a committee composed of six of Albanese's own peers, fellow UN rapporteurs, and their main activity is “advocating for the concerns” of the rapporteurs — the opposite of trying to investigate wrongdoing. It's a kind of union that circles the wagons to shield the rapporteurs. It is not at all designed as a disciplinary tribunal. There is a marginal reference on their website to an "internal advisory procedure" which nowhere speaks of "reviewing complaints" but rather which speaks of reviewing best practices, and which insists: “The powers of the Committee are limited by its mandate to enhance and facilitate the work of mandate-holders.” We know of not a single occasion where the committee issued a ruling against one of their fellow rapporteurs and finding a violation of the Code of Conduct. They have to date absolved Francesca Albanese of wrongdoing, completely ignoring the detailed evidence of her gross violations of the Code of Conduct, as documented here: 1: unwatch.org/wp-content/upl… 2: unwatch.org/un-watch-files… 3: unwatch.org/condemnations-… In addition, this committee of Albanese's peers has a pattern and practice of automatically issuing statements in her support. Their past Chair, Tlaleng Mofokeng, was a nutcase who was fined and rebuked by the South African health authorities. x.com/HillelNeuer/st…

Chair of UN oversight body says: (a) They're doing an excellent job regulating the work of the UN Special Rapporteurs, and... (b) Criticism of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, the Hamas terrorism supporter condemned by 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇺🇸🇨🇦🇳🇱🇱🇻🇪🇪🇭🇺🇦🇷🇬🇧 , are wrongful “attacks.”

Serbian University Drops Francesca Albanese: “It was planned for Francesca Albanese to appear at a state university in Serbia — but that was canceled.” “Numerous countries condemned her, including France, Germany, UK, Canada and Netherlands.” republika.rs/vesti/politika… @telegrafrs

NYT's @NickKristof & BBC's @JohnSimpsonNews said they knew Larijani. Simpson said he seemed “clever and reasonable,” “the kind of person to negotiate a peace deal with.” Kristof called him a “strong and pragmatic leader” who “might hammer out a peace deal.” Shame on you both.

Iranian missile strikes hair salon near Hebron, killing three Palestinian women, injuring 13. Watch: all the U.N. officials who pretend to care about Palestinians will be silent — because condemning the Islamic regime in Iran doesn't suit their narrative. reuters.com/world/middle-e…

CHINA TELLS U.N.: Hong Kong political prisoner Jimmy Lai “received a fair trial for his offenses endangering national security.” FORGOT TO MENTION: Jimmy Lai's only crime was running a pro-democracy newspaper that dared to criticize Beijing.

“Are we to trust the U.N.'s own vetting procedures given what happened with UNRWA — and the mass infiltration of U.N. staff who also are Hamas affiliates, or who participated in the October 7th terrorist attacks?” — Adam Kaplan, USAID Deputy Inspector General @AidOversight

“The world has a responsibility to protect Iranians from their terrorist regime. When criminal regimes commit crimes against humanity and leave their populations pleading for protection, inaction is not neutrality, it's complicity.” @CotlerWunsh @becca_w13 nationalpost.com/opinion/the-wo…

Next year I will visit Tehran, Caracas, and Havana, hosted by my friends who once were the political prisoners.

BBC's John Simpson has now deleted his grotesque and delusional “nice regime insider” tweet, but the internet is forever: archive.ph/6nvyB

No, Mr. Kristof, Larijani was a key architect behind the massacre of more than 32,000 unarmed Iranians. “When someone responsible for that level of brutality is removed, it is not a tragedy, it is a sign of justice for defenseless victims.” — Iranian activist Masih Alinejad

Russian dissident addresses United Nations: “Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Vladimir Kara-Murza, and I am honoured to speak before this council. I am also very happy to be here — and this is not a figure of speech. Twenty months ago, I was sitting in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison in Siberia, one of hundreds of my fellow Russian citizens imprisoned for opposing Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine. I am here today because in August 2024, five democratic countries — the United States, Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia — organised an international prisoner exchange that freed 16 people from Russia’s modern-day Gulag. Our exchange showed that democracies, when they stand on values and work together, are stronger than any despot can ever hope to be. In recent weeks, this very city, Geneva, has hosted talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost as a result of this unprovoked, illegal aggression. No one can bring them back. But countries in this room still can save thousands of captives of this war. Ukrainian civilian hostages held in Russian custody. Ukrainian children abducted into Russia. Russian political prisoners jailed because of their opposition to the war. Their release must be an essential part of any ceasefire agreement. We often hear about discussions over territories, sanctions, frozen assets, rare earth minerals. When the talks resume, isn’t it time to put people first? I thank you very much and I yield back.” @vkaramurza

“When the U.S. and Israel target IRGC bases, missile launchers or nuclear infrastructure that pose a grave threat to all humanity, they are acting within a well-established legal framework of self-defense.” — Hillel Neuer in @JNS_org jns.org/un-watch-strik…

U.N. Special Rapporteur Ben Saul: “I have of course condemned sanctions on Cuba.” Also Ben Saul: “Sanctions would be an appropriate response on Israel.”

“What we’re seeing now from the U.N. isn’t impartiality. Shockingly, we are seeing complicity in shielding tyrants while undermining efforts to liberate the Iranian people.” — Hillel Neuer in @JNS_org jns.org/un-watch-strik…