By Savo Heleta
Saudi Arabia is a country that uses special police force, called the "Society for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice," to make sure that only "one narrow sect of Islam predominates in the kingdom."
Yet, this country will lead an upcoming discussion at the United Nations on religious tolerance.
Human rights organizations are "crying foul that Saudi Arabia is being given the platform of the United Nations to promote religious tolerance abroad while it actively combats anything similar at home."
Saudi Arabia does not allow its citizens and a large "expatriate community, including tens of thousands of Christians, from any public worship outside Islam. The more than two million Saudi Shiites face widespread discrimination in worship, education and employment."
Ali Al-Ahmed, a Shiite Muslim dissident from Saudi Arabia based in the United States said that this is like "apartheid South Africa having a conference at the UN on racial harmony."
On the other hand, the US president, George Bush, who will attend the discussion, has voiced his full support for Saudi Arabia's role.
This is not the first time that failed and repressive states lead UN discussions on development and human rights.
In May 2007, Zimbabwe, the country that cannot sustain itself and with inflation at that time of 2,200 percent (currently a few million percent), was chosen to lead the UN Commission on Sustainable Economic Development.
African leaders chose Zimbabwe as their candidate to lead perhaps the most important UN commission and help the world meet the human needs of the present and prepare for the future.
Many will blame the UN for these and other failures, forgetting that the UN is only an umbrella organization of sovereign states that decide what the UN can and cannot do. Above all, the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, United States, Britain, France, and Russia – have the veto power to overturn any decision taken by the UN General Assembly or requested by a UN member.
The permanent members found nothing wrong with Zimbabwe leading the discussion on world's sustainable economic development or Saudi Arabia preaching about religious tolerance.
What’s wrong with the world?
Saudi Arabia is a country that uses special police force, called the "Society for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice," to make sure that only "one narrow sect of Islam predominates in the kingdom."
Yet, this country will lead an upcoming discussion at the United Nations on religious tolerance.
Human rights organizations are "crying foul that Saudi Arabia is being given the platform of the United Nations to promote religious tolerance abroad while it actively combats anything similar at home."
Saudi Arabia does not allow its citizens and a large "expatriate community, including tens of thousands of Christians, from any public worship outside Islam. The more than two million Saudi Shiites face widespread discrimination in worship, education and employment."
Ali Al-Ahmed, a Shiite Muslim dissident from Saudi Arabia based in the United States said that this is like "apartheid South Africa having a conference at the UN on racial harmony."
On the other hand, the US president, George Bush, who will attend the discussion, has voiced his full support for Saudi Arabia's role.
This is not the first time that failed and repressive states lead UN discussions on development and human rights.
In May 2007, Zimbabwe, the country that cannot sustain itself and with inflation at that time of 2,200 percent (currently a few million percent), was chosen to lead the UN Commission on Sustainable Economic Development.
African leaders chose Zimbabwe as their candidate to lead perhaps the most important UN commission and help the world meet the human needs of the present and prepare for the future.
Many will blame the UN for these and other failures, forgetting that the UN is only an umbrella organization of sovereign states that decide what the UN can and cannot do. Above all, the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, United States, Britain, France, and Russia – have the veto power to overturn any decision taken by the UN General Assembly or requested by a UN member.
The permanent members found nothing wrong with Zimbabwe leading the discussion on world's sustainable economic development or Saudi Arabia preaching about religious tolerance.
What’s wrong with the world?
Source: Gather.com