What? Now U.N. demands Trump reject racism
August 28,2017
WASHINGTON – It’s been six days since a United Nations committee called on President Trump, in an unprecedented affront, to unequivocally and unconditionally reject and condemn racist hate speech and crimes in Charlottesville, Virginia, and around the country without evoking so much as a tweet from the White House.
Maybe that’s because Trump has repeatedly rejected and condemned racism in Charlottesville and throughout the country – both unconditionally and unequivocally – in case the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, or CERD, hadn’t noticed.
In fact, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley hasn’t even tweeted or said a word about the slight.
“We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred,” said Anastasia Crickley, chairwoman of CERD, in a news release Aug. 23.
In a decision issued under its “early warning and urgent action” procedure, the committee, which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, stated “there should be no place in the world for racist white supremacist ideas or any similar ideologies that reject the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality.”
The United States ratified the convention in 1994.In addition to the criminal investigation of the individual who plowed his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors killing a woman, the U.N. busybodies demanded U.S. authorities to undertake concrete measures “to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations.”
“We call on the U.S. government to investigate thoroughly the phenomenon of racial discrimination targeting, in particular, people of African descent, ethnic or ethno-religious minorities, and migrants,” added Crickley.
CERD also called on Trump to curb freedom of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly that involves “destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others, and also asked it to provide the necessary guarantees so that such rights are not misused to promote racist hate speech and racist crimes.”
Crickley herself made sure to point out the committee was making the demands specifically on Trump.
“In the statement, we say ‘high-level politicians,'” she said. “But I have no hesitation in saying that yes, we do indeed think it is important for the leader, for the president, of any country – including in this instance the United States where these things happened – that they take the leadership role of unequivocally condemning them.”
Trump has condemned racism, white supremacy, the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville. He also condemned the counter-protesters who were responsible for provocation and acts of violence during the demonstration by the racist who had a lawful local permit to congregate in Charlottesville.
The U.N. committee acted under procedures that have only been invoked 20 times since 2003 against Iraq, Burundi, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and, of course, Israel – the Jewish state condemned more than all other nations in the world combined. The U.S. was previously called to respond in 2006 over treatment of a group of native Americans, the Shoshone.The U.N. says such procedures are directed at “preventing existing problems from escalating into conflicts.”
Crickley acknowledged the committee was not a “court of justice” and
had little authority to compel the United States to respond, but said
the panel believed its decisions had “moral authority.” The U.S. has
ratified a convention that underpins the committee, and in theory is
required to respond as part of its own commitments.
In Charlottesville, Heather Heyer was killed when a car rammed into a
group of people protesting against the white nationalist rally.
“We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred,” said Crickley. She also urged the U.S. authorities “to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations.”
Crickley is from Ireland. The other members of the U.N. committee come from the following countries, including several that are characterized by the most vicious and insidious forms of racism and anti-Semitism: Algeria, Russia, Belgium, Guatemala, Ireland, Burkino Faso, Togo, Pakistan, Lebanon, Turley, Brazil. Spain, the U.S., Mauritania, Colombia, Jamaica, China and Mauritius. It is not known how these members voted – except for Crickley who made it clear.