UN High Commissioner, surprises with position, Obama, Clinton lost in failed foreign policy and pro-democracy contradictions – Clinton do the right thing RESIGN!
Human rights: Washington is unsure but UN shows gumption
by BRIJ KHINDARIA, The Moderate – 21 DEcember, 2011
Bahrain, the close American ally with one of the worst recent records of violence against pro-democracy protestors, received a formal a warning on Wednesday from the UN Human Rights chief.
A team from the High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Bahrain from 13 to 17 December and concluded that the repression was unacceptable. It insisted the government should immediately and unconditionally release protestors convicted by military tribunals or still awaiting trial. Failing action, the Human Rights body may try to drum up support for more diplomatic pressure.
The warning is significant because the king in Bahrain is propped up by Salafi Islamic hardliners in Saudi Arabia who fear its Shiite Muslim majority. The Pentagon supports the royal family with huge amounts of military hardware and a large US Navy base.
The situation in Bahrain symbolizes the ambivalence in Washington about the so-called Arab Spring, despite its rhetorical support of freedom and democracy. Heading into 2012, optimism is waning as tensions grow almost unmanageable in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen among right wing militarists, Islamic forces and the mostly young pro-democracy liberals who have energized the people’s rebellions since January 2011.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonz says that the region is at an inflection point in history. All is changing. The old rules are breaking down and the emerging new order is unknown.
Social media-savvy young people seeking dignity and jobs in Tunisia and Egypt were the unexpected pioneers of rebellions. They did not gain much despite unprecedented democratic elections in their countries but they triggered a wider global phenomenon. Articulate middle class people have risen up in non-violent protest movements against unequal societies and corruption from rich countries like Switzerland and the US through Russia, Brazil and China to poorer ones like India and Kenya. …more
