By Steven Edwards
The United Nations human-rights office on Friday banned for a month an accredited human-rights activist who was at the centre of a recent controversy involving Canada's top diplomat in Geneva.
David Littman of the World Union for Progressive Judaism said he is convinced his protest over the incident involving Canada's Ambassador Marius Grinius provided impetus for the UN to move against him.
In a March 6 debate in the UN Human Rights Council, Grinius used his position as chair to prevent Littman from completing a statement describing bias in Islamic books against Israel and Jews. The office of Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Grinius had acted on advice from the UN secretariat, but added the ambassador had been wrong to cut Littman short.
Insiders said a number of UN officials were embarrassed over the matter, which contrasted the relatively limited criticism in the Council of controversial Islamic practices compared to the number of harangues against Israel by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) states.
A letter informing Littman of the suspension lists several rules governing activist participation in council debates, but says the sanction against him is based on an "understanding" reached at a meeting April 30 to which senior UN officials had summoned him. Read more ...
The United Nations human-rights office on Friday banned for a month an accredited human-rights activist who was at the centre of a recent controversy involving Canada's top diplomat in Geneva.
David Littman of the World Union for Progressive Judaism said he is convinced his protest over the incident involving Canada's Ambassador Marius Grinius provided impetus for the UN to move against him.
In a March 6 debate in the UN Human Rights Council, Grinius used his position as chair to prevent Littman from completing a statement describing bias in Islamic books against Israel and Jews. The office of Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Grinius had acted on advice from the UN secretariat, but added the ambassador had been wrong to cut Littman short.
Insiders said a number of UN officials were embarrassed over the matter, which contrasted the relatively limited criticism in the Council of controversial Islamic practices compared to the number of harangues against Israel by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) states.
A letter informing Littman of the suspension lists several rules governing activist participation in council debates, but says the sanction against him is based on an "understanding" reached at a meeting April 30 to which senior UN officials had summoned him. Read more ...
Source: Canwest News Service
H/T: Jihad Watch
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