Are the United Nations good for anything?
Nov. 19th, 2010 06:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaI've actually not been following up on the News as much these days as I did. More to do with laziness than anything else, because I figure, most of the News is Olds any way.
Actual real News would be one hell of a surprise.
But sometimes Olds just have to be talked about and need to be discussed and I wonder if the UN is good for anything.
It's a long standing tradition for Israelis (and very likely Palestinians, but for different reasons) to consider the UN useless and quite possibly evil.
I've always been on the side of "Yeah, they're useless" and haven't thought much of them, really.
As we say או"ם שמום, roughly translated as UN Shmu-N.
Hence why I'm only commenting on their fuckery two days later!
I can't believe this even came up for debate. No, wait, of course I can. I'm not a naive little ingénue, I know human lives are the last thing on the minds of the UN Ambassadors - their looking out for the interest of their country, not their people!
Wait. What?
Yeah, wrap your head around that one.
In case anyone is still confused, on November 16th 2010, three days ago (it was a Tuesday) the United Nations General Assembly removed a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions - yeah, Queers aren't protected from persecution and arbitrary murder.
Shocking.
Truly, utterly, devastatingly... not surprising all things considered.
God, I'm bitter. It really does feel like it's one step forward, two steps back. Or maybe it's just plodding along wearing concrete shoes and begging for water while we try and shove our basic humans rights up a hill.
Yeah, that metaphor ran away there, but it's a really "funny" thing is that this is carte blanche against queers, an already extremely disenfranchised group everywhere when it comes to being victimised by violence against our bodies even if we have many formal rights in place (like in my locale, which really isn't perfect, but so much better than other countries in the area and far flung from here).
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sparkindarkness has a gruesome and probably not even close to comprehensive round up of News links that show that formal rights and the fact that we're coming out earlier (at least in Western Nations) just do not protect us from the real, that which makes us bleed and die, violence.
In case you're not going to press the link above, these are the countries that would like to see Queers murdered:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brunei Dar-Sala, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
South Africa is in there and this surprises me, immensely, not only for being the land from which my parents immigrated and the fact that I have citizenship there (Christ) but for the fact that, dude, they have same sex marriage. WTF.
The countries that consider us to be human enough to live:
Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Micronesia (FS), Monaco, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Those who abstained and/or didn't bother attending the vote:
Abstained:
Antigua-Barbuda, Barbados, Belarus, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Fiji, Mauritius, Mongolia, Papau New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
Simply not there:
Albania, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Chad, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Marshall Island, Mauritania, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Sao Tome Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Togo, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan
Actual real News would be one hell of a surprise.
But sometimes Olds just have to be talked about and need to be discussed and I wonder if the UN is good for anything.
It's a long standing tradition for Israelis (and very likely Palestinians, but for different reasons) to consider the UN useless and quite possibly evil.
I've always been on the side of "Yeah, they're useless" and haven't thought much of them, really.
As we say או"ם שמום, roughly translated as UN Shmu-N.
Hence why I'm only commenting on their fuckery two days later!
I can't believe this even came up for debate. No, wait, of course I can. I'm not a naive little ingénue, I know human lives are the last thing on the minds of the UN Ambassadors - their looking out for the interest of their country, not their people!
Wait. What?
Yeah, wrap your head around that one.
In case anyone is still confused, on November 16th 2010, three days ago (it was a Tuesday) the United Nations General Assembly removed a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions - yeah, Queers aren't protected from persecution and arbitrary murder.
Shocking.
Truly, utterly, devastatingly... not surprising all things considered.
The removed reference was originally contained in a non-exhaustive list in the resolution highlighting the many groups of people that are particularly targeted by killings - including persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, persons acting as human rights defenders (such as lawyers, journalists or demonstrators) as well as street children and members of indigenous communities. Mentioning sexual orientation as a basis on which people are targeted for killing highlights a situation in which particular vigilance is required in order for all people to be afforded equal protection.
The amendment removing the reference to sexual orientation was sponsored by Benin on behalf of the African Group in the UN General Assembly and was adopted with 79 votes in favor, 70 against, 17 abstentions and 26 absent.
“This vote is a dangerous and disturbing development,” said Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of IGLHRC. “It essentially removes the important recognition of the particular vulnerability faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - a recognition that is crucial at a time when 76 countries around the world criminalize homosexuality, five consider it a capital crime, and countries like Uganda are considering adding the death penalty to their laws criminalizing homosexuality.”
God, I'm bitter. It really does feel like it's one step forward, two steps back. Or maybe it's just plodding along wearing concrete shoes and begging for water while we try and shove our basic humans rights up a hill.
Yeah, that metaphor ran away there, but it's a really "funny" thing is that this is carte blanche against queers, an already extremely disenfranchised group everywhere when it comes to being victimised by violence against our bodies even if we have many formal rights in place (like in my locale, which really isn't perfect, but so much better than other countries in the area and far flung from here).
sparkindarkness has a gruesome and probably not even close to comprehensive round up of News links that show that formal rights and the fact that we're coming out earlier (at least in Western Nations) just do not protect us from the real, that which makes us bleed and die, violence.In case you're not going to press the link above, these are the countries that would like to see Queers murdered:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brunei Dar-Sala, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
South Africa is in there and this surprises me, immensely, not only for being the land from which my parents immigrated and the fact that I have citizenship there (Christ) but for the fact that, dude, they have same sex marriage. WTF.
The countries that consider us to be human enough to live:
Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Micronesia (FS), Monaco, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Those who abstained and/or didn't bother attending the vote:
Abstained:
Antigua-Barbuda, Barbados, Belarus, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Fiji, Mauritius, Mongolia, Papau New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
Simply not there:
Albania, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Chad, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Marshall Island, Mauritania, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Sao Tome Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Togo, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan
