United Nations Human Rights Council

In a vote likely to complicate U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a report calling on Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations of alleged war crimes by their forces or face further international inquiries and possible prosecutions. The action in Geneva by the 47-nation council was a sharp setback for Israel, which had labored to discredit the month-old U.N. report. The council's vote could force Israel to defend itself for months or perhaps years -- in diplomatic forums, if not criminal tribunals -- as U.N. bodies grapple with highly charged fallout from last winter's conflict in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

In a vote likely to complicate U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a report calling on Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations of alleged war crimes by their forces or face further international inquiries and possible prosecutions. The action in Geneva by the 47-nation council was a sharp setback for Israel, which had labored to discredit the month-old U.N. report. The council's vote could force Israel to defend itself for months or perhaps years -- in diplomatic forums, if not criminal tribunals -- as U.N. bodies grapple with highly charged fallout from last winter's conflict in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The United States will not seek a seat on the new U.N. Human Rights Council this year, the State Department said Thursday, a decision that underscores its disappointment with the framework of the panel but also eliminates an opportunity to help shape it in its crucial first year. The Bush administration's decision marks the first time that the U.S. has not sought a seat on the U.N.'s premier human rights body since the world organization was formed after World War II.

The United States won election to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday for the first time, joining 17 other nations picked for the body, after the Obama administration ended a U.S. policy of boycotting it. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington still believed the body was flawed, but added, "We are looking forward to working from within with a broad cross-section of member states to strengthen and reform the Human Rights Council."

The United States won election to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday for the first time, joining 17 other nations picked for the body, after the Obama administration ended a U.S. policy of boycotting it. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington still believed the body was flawed, but added, "We are looking forward to working from within with a broad cross-section of member states to strengthen and reform the Human Rights Council."

U.N. members elected 47 countries to a new Human Rights Council on Tuesday, choosing several that have been criticized for their poor records but keeping off others that rights groups said were the worst offenders. Cuba, China, Russia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were among countries winning seats that human rights advocates say do not merit places on the council.

At least 127 democracy activists have died or disappeared in the custody of Myanmar's ruling junta or shortly after being released, most after torture and ill treatment, an opposition group's report says. The Thailand-based Assistance Assn. for Political Prisoners-Burma said it was submitting the report as a test case to the newly established United Nations Human Rights Council, set to hold its first meeting June 19 in Geneva. Myanmar is also known as Burma.

I am a writer. But no matter what my profession happened to be, I trust that I would still be moved to applaud Tim Rutten's thoughts on Salman Rushdie and those calling for violence against him. ("Where Is the West's Outcry?" June 23.) It is the person who threatens the right of free speech who is society's enemy, not the woman or man who would exercise that right. To remain silent in the face of such patent barbarism is shameful indeed. PERRIN MUIR Silver Lake THE United Nations Human Rights Council condones "state punishment of speech that governments deem as insulting to religion," British public schools decide not to mention the Holocaust in their textbooks and classrooms for fear of offending their Muslim students, and the mainstream American media once again abdicate their duty to protect the right of free speech under any and all circumstances when they fail to register the reissuing of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

Re "Obama's diplomacy test," editorial, March 9 The Bush administration gave up on the Durban II conference process entirely. President Obama sent a salvage operation team that quickly revealed that the opportunity already had been lost. There weren't any willing partners to refocus the conference on fighting racism, xenophobia and intolerance. And so the president made the hard but right choice: The U.S. should not associate itself with this effort to vilify Israel and to undermine human rights standards.

Something odd happened Friday in Geneva: The United Nations Human Rights Council, derided by conservatives and liberal human rights advocates alike as a toothless and sometimes hypocritical organ, actually did the right thing. For the first time ever, it voted to expel one of its members for committing atrocities. That member was Libya, whose tyrannical leader, Moammar Kadafi, has reportedly ordered soldiers and armed mercenaries to slaughter those protesting his regime. The decision on Libya's suspension now goes to the General Assembly.

U.N. members elected 47 countries to a new Human Rights Council on Tuesday, choosing several that have been criticized for their poor records but keeping off others that rights groups said were the worst offenders. Cuba, China, Russia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were among countries winning seats that human rights advocates say do not merit places on the council.

The United States will not seek a seat on the new U.N. Human Rights Council this year, the State Department said Thursday, a decision that underscores its disappointment with the framework of the panel but also eliminates an opportunity to help shape it in its crucial first year. The Bush administration's decision marks the first time that the U.S. has not sought a seat on the U.N.'s premier human rights body since the world organization was formed after World War II.

The Obama administration says it is committed to protecting human rights and supporting multilateral institutions, and the decision to seek a place on the United Nations Human Rights Council was a step in that direction. We are pleased that the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to seat the United States on the council for the first time since its creation in 2006. The council was set up to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was ineffective.

SCORE ONE FOR the torturers, ethnic cleansers and despots. The new and improved United Nations Human Rights Council, which was created to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission, has after a year in existence proved to be nearly as worthless as its predecessor. The council met this week in Geneva to draft rules on how to conduct its work.