La ONU y los derechos humanos. Andrés Oppenheimer

Here in English.

Entre los ejemplos más disparatados de decisiones recientes de la ONU que citaban los patrocinadores del proyecto se contaban:

• A principios de este año, Corea del Norte, que viola sistemáticamente las resoluciones del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU sobre armas nucleares, fue electa presidente de la Conferencia Sobre el Desarme de la ONU.

• En noviembre del 2010, Arabia Saudita, un pais que prohibe a las mujeres conducir automóviles, fue elegida miembro del consejo directivo de ONU Mujeres, la agencia de la ONU a cargo de acabar con la discriminación contra las mujeres.

• En junio del 2010, Cuba, donde no hay elecciones libres y opositores pacíficos han sido encarcelados por distribuir la Declaracion de Derechos Humanos de la ONU, fue designada vicepresidente del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU.

• En abril del 2010, Irán, donde las mujeres —pero no los hombres— que cometen adulterio son sentenciadas a morir lapidadas, fue designado miembro de la Comisión sobre el Estatus de las Mujeres de la ONU.

•  El año pasado, casi la mitad de las resoluciones del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU fueron condenas a Israel por violaciones de derechos humanos, pero no hubo ninguna condena similar a los cientos de actos terroristas de los palestinos que lanzaron cohetes contra objetivos civiles y provocaron las represalias israelíes.

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Syrian insurrection set to gather momentum. UN failure to pass sanctions resolution against Assad's regime has convinced some that diplomacy cannot protect them

An armed insurrection inside Syria looks set to gather momentum after the failure to pass a UN resolution against president Bashar al-Assad's regime, according to dissidents in two key Syrian cities.

Activists from Homs and Hama, where mostly peaceful protests over the past six months have lately become more aggressive and armed, say the failure of the US effort to threaten sanctions against Syria has convinced some that diplomacy cannot protect them.

"There's no way out of this except to fight," said an activist from Homs. "For the people of Homs the international community are not with us and we know that for sure. Russia and China will continue to protect Assad and as long as that happens, he will hunt us down."

Britain, France and the US are expected to seek a fresh resolution on Syria before the UN Security Council after Russia and China on Tuesday night vetoed a draft that threatened sanctions, a security council source said.

The veto by Russia, supported by China, provoked the biggest verbal explosion from the US at the UN for years, with its ambassador Susan Rice expressing "outrage" over the Moscow and Beijing move.

Rice also walked out of the security council, the first such demonstration in recent years. While walk-outs are common at the UN general assembly, they are rare in the security council.

"It will not go away," the source said. "It will not be next week. We don't have a date. But there are a number of ways the security council can get back to this."

The vote was 9-2 in favour, with four abstentions: South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon.

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