AJC Calls Libya's Election to UN Human Rights Council 'A Travesty'

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May 13, 2010, 06:13 ET

NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC called today's election of Libya to the UN Human Rights Council "a travesty for the protection of human rights."

"Libya should be the subject of a UN Human Rights Council investigation, not an active member," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Libya's uncontested election demonstrates yet again the current Council's blithe disregard for consistently upholding the human rights clauses of the UN Charter."

Libya has a long record of violating the most basic human rights of its own citizens, incarcerating those who oppose the government and banning a free press. The tragic imprisonment and death last year of Fathi Eljahmi, a prominent Libyan dissident and democratic activist, is one example of Libya's disgraceful behavior.

"Tragically, several of the Council's members are notorious human rights violators, the last in the world to be counted on to fulfill the UN Human Rights Council mission, so Libya is in good company," said Harris. "With Libya voting, it is all the more likely that the Council's track record of largely ignoring egregious human rights violations, while obsessively focusing on Israel, will be continued."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee