DThe United Nations is nowhere near as united as its name suggests. The meetings between representatives of the 193 countries involved primarily provide a platform for arguing or grotesquely talking past each other. The meeting that took place in Geneva on Thursday made it clear that this does not only apply to the recent appearances of representatives of Russia, which has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for more than a year. The UN Human Rights Council discussed the human rights situation in Germany. 104 UN members spoke in the debate. The greatest criticism promptly came from those countries that give little space to human rights or ignore them entirely.
Iran’s representative said she was “deeply concerned” about Germany’s “unrestricted support” of Israel and called on the federal government to take action against “increasingly Islamophobic attacks across the country.” Iran had previously asked in a written statement what the federal government was doing “to respect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.” In Iran itself, of course, no one is allowed to criticize the government; Protesters are bludgeoned, tortured and executed.
Türkiye wants to review the German judiciary
Every five years, each UN member reports on how it is meeting its human rights obligations. The questions and recommendations from other member states are then addressed. After 2018, 2013 and 2008, it was now the fourth time that Germany underwent this so-called universal periodic state review in Geneva.
Many speakers praised Germany for its commitment to defending human rights. But in the contributions, each of which could last a maximum of 55 seconds, concerns about increasing anti-Semitism in the wake of the war in the Middle East were also discussed. The representatives of Arab and Islamic countries, however, sided with the Palestinians. The Qatari diplomat called on Germany to respect the right to assemble and criticized the fact that pro-Palestinian demonstrators had been sanctioned. He expressed his regret that the federal government was supporting Israel. The representative of Saudi Arabia demanded that Germany take action against racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance. Citing “Islamophobic attacks,” the diplomat from Turkey called for a comprehensive review of the German police and justice system.
The Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy, Luise Amtberg, had expected such accusations from the Islamic world. At the beginning of the meeting, she condemned the “barbaric” terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, which also had a dramatic impact on the situation in Germany. “Anti-Semitic acts have reached frightening proportions in a very short time. We cannot accept that.” There are only bans on gatherings if there is a threat of anti-Semitic incitement. Freedom of expression must not be abused to propagate crimes.
A troika made up of Luxembourg, Senegal and Qatar will now summarize the states’ numerous recommendations in a report and present it to the federal government next week. The three countries were selected by lottery. Qatar is closely linked to Hamas. However, according to Beate Rudolf, director of the German Institute for Human Rights, this should have no influence on the content of the report. The actual substantive work is done in the Secretariat of the UN Human Rights Council, said Rudolf. Despite all the grotesqueness, it doesn’t bother them that those who sit in glass houses are throwing stones: If a country that is problematic from a constitutional point of view complains about alleged human rights violations in Germany, then you have one more argument to measure it against these standards afterwards .
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