[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25276]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL AND ITS ROGUE GALLERY OF MISFITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, for over 60 years, Israel has had to 
fight for its mere existence. No other nation has suffered more 
discrimination and outright threats from the United Nations itself. 
There have been more U.N. resolutions condemning Israel than any other 
nation, more than 20 a year.
  Approximately 80 percent of country censures issued by the United 
Nations Human Rights Council are aimed at the nation of Israel, and 
last week they did it again, issuing another report self-righteously 
condemning Israel.
  But let's just take a look at who some of the members of this so-
called ``human rights'' council are. It's really a rogue's gallery of 
dictators and tyrants.
  The Communist countries of Cuba and China have a seat at the U.N. 
human rights table. These two stellar threats to their own people are 
self-righteously condemning Israel. The whole world saw China's 
disrespect for human rights on display in Tiananmen Square. Religious 
persecutions, the one-child policy, forced abortions for people who 
already have one child, persecutions of political dissidents are 
rampant, and speech against the government is brutally suppressed. 
China is, yes, a truly shining example of human rights. Yeah, right.
  And then there is the tiny Communist country of Cuba, you know, the 
Mario brothers, Fidel and Raul. They have over 250 prisons in that 
nation. Political dissidents are beaten and tortured in this island 
paradise of persecution. Some have died in prison from this abuse. Cuba 
is a nation that denies human rights to its own people.
  And then there is Iran. Iran also sits on the United Nations Human 
Rights Council. Now, what a surprise that is. What legitimate human 
rights organization would want Iran as a member? Run by the mullahs and 
the little fella from the desert, Ahmadinejad, Iran systematically 
violates human rights. Unarmed men and women are still in jail today 
for peacefully protesting this summer's rigged presidential election. 
You know, Madam Speaker, the election where the government murdered 
unarmed students who wanted freedom. The ones who survived were beaten 
and tortured, they are denied medical care in jail, and some are 
sexually assaulted by the jailers as retribution. Some Iranian human 
rights activists simply disappear, never to be seen again.
  Amnesty International says that right now they know of eight women at 
risk of being stoned to death in Iran for adultery. Of course, if a 
woman is raped in Iran, that sometimes is considered adultery, too. And 
the male perpetrator, well, he's released.
  In 2004, a 13-year-old girl, Zhila Izadi, was sentenced to death by 
stoning for being raped and impregnated by her 15-year-old brother. One 
news report says that the international outrage forced a reduction from 
death to 55 lashes. After Zhila gave birth to the baby, the government 
stole her child.
  The people of Iran and Iranian Americans continue to cry out against 
their own government's crimes against the Iranian citizens and their 
violations of human rights.
  Iran is also sending money and equipment to worldwide terrorist 
groups. To make matters worse, the tiny tyrant of Iran, Ahmadinejad, 
says he wants to wipe all of Israel off the map. He is making nuclear 
weapons and building intercontinental ballistic missiles. Now, who do 
you think these missiles are aimed at? And Iran sits on the United 
Nations Human Rights Council. This rogue's gallery of misfits has no 
moral basis to sit in judgment of Israel or anyone else for that 
matter.
  Israel has been fighting for its existence ever since it came into 
being a nation.

                              {time}  1430

  In 1967, it was attacked by its neighbors. It gained territory in 
that defensive war, including in the West Bank, in Gaza and in the 
Sinai Peninsula. International law requires that land won in a 
defensive war must be returned when there is a negotiated peace.
  Time and again, Israel has placed itself in jeopardy, has given back 
land and has traded that land for an empty promise of peace, and Israel 
is still committed to peace.
  Israel and the Palestinians need to problem-solve their issues and 
need to establish a permanent peace for Israel and for the Palestinian 
community. There must be a mutual respect for Jews and Muslims. 
Solutions will occur when respect and honesty are present on both 
sides. What Israel asks in return is that her enemies merely stop 
trying to kill her people.
  Yet the U.N. Human Rights Council continues to bash Israel. Some 
members of the council are themselves overwhelmingly guilty of human 
rights violations and of violent crimes against their own people. These 
hypocrites have no place at the judgment seat, deciding human rights 
violations for Israel or for any other nation.
  And that's just the way it is.

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