UN rights commissioner urges international action on Iraq and Syria
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the current United Nations human rights chief who has taken office recently, gave his first speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. He called for international action to end the conflict in Syria and Iraq, The New York Times, reported.
Zeid is a Jordanian prince, but he renounced his royal title as incompatible with his new post. He is also the first Muslim to be assigned to the position of U.N. human rights chief.
In his 40-minute speech, he condemned Islamic extremism and identified the crisis in Syria and Iraq as the foremost, "immediate and urgent priority of the international community." He said that the ongoing conflict in Syria has reduced the state to a "slaughterhouse," and has created opportunities for extremist groups like the Islamic State to carry out their brutal actions, the Times said. Zeid also emphasized that IS' brutal actions, as those of Muslim extremists in the Middle East and Africa, brings "only annihilation to Muslims, Christians, Jews and others, altogether the rest of humanity, who believe differently to them." As the new human rights chief, he also addressed other ongoing humanitarian crises around the world. He urged all parties that are involved in "the deplorable conflict" in Ukraine to protect civilians. He referred to human rights abuse investigations in North Korea and Sri Lanka as "positive." He described Australia's treatment of migrants seeking to reach its shores as a "chain of human rights violations." He also expressed worries about the detention of unaccompanied child migrants by the United States, the Times reports. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Zeid expressed that he understands Israel's right to live without worrying about random rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. However, he said Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank also have the right to live "without conflict, without a blockade, indeed without the wide range of daily human rights infringements that are generated by military occupation, illegal settlement, excessive use of force, home demolitions, and the wall that continues to be constructed."
