By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 -- The UN Human Rights Council first day back in session Monday ended with replies by Syria and Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Japan -- and Ethiopia to Norway.
The first two standoffs were routine, about Saudi Arabians funding terrorism and the death toll in Syria, Japan's “past crimes” and the recent North Korea or DPRK report. Ethiopia defended its law on non-governmental organizations; its reply did not mention the Zone 9 Bloggers being jailed.
Mexico praised the US FCC's Net Neutrality decision; HRC chair Joachim Rucker played time keeper at the end, telling DPRK to wrap it up, and saying only two minutes on second replies.
Saudi Arabia's statements did not mention jailed and flogged blogger Raif Badawi. Nor did Prince Zeid's opening remarks explain how his criticism of countries claiming exceptions to human rights law was consistent with his obtaining a six month deferral of the HRC report on Sri Lanka.
The UK's Joyce Anelay said the report should be published no later than September; as she spoke in Geneva, the UK delegation in New York went into the UN Security Council to meet with incoming Council president France. Why was the slaughter in Sri Lanka never put on the Security Council's agenda? What is the UN's Jeffrey Feltman saying in Sri Lanka? We'll have more on this.
