United Nations Criticized For Choosing Saudi Arabia To Head Human Rights Panel

"Saudi Arabia? Head of the UN Human Rights Council? Surely, something is wrong somewhere?"

The United Nations' appointment of Saudi Arabia as lead of the UN Human Rights Council was met with such amazed reactions from everywhere, as the country is said to have "arguably the worst record in the world" in the freedom it gives towards women and minorities.

The decision was slammed by Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi. He has been thrown into prison and accorded 1,000 lashes for his blogs on free speech, which, according to the Arabs, was thought to be "scandalous".

Ensaf Haidar is on a global drive to get her husband freed. She posted on Facebook that the UN decision to award the role to Saudi Arabia's ambassador, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, is "a green light to start flogging [him] again," according to The Independent .

"It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel," according to Hillel Neuer, the UN Watch executive director, quoted by the UN Watch Website. "Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights."

"Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women's rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi," he cried, according to hngn.

UN Watch managed to get the UNHRC documents pointing out that Saudi Arabia will lead a group of ambassadors with five members called the Consultative Group, which will choose applicants globally to hold nominations for "thematic human rights mandates that can be country-specific", according to the Report of the Consultative Group to the President of the Human Rights Council.

The organization has added that this decision reflects how "oil continues to trump basic human rights principles."