Human Rights and Wrongs at the UN

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Human Rights and Wrongs at the UN

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Ambassador Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi and Navanethem Pillay

The United Nations spent 2008 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of its proudest achievements.

The president of the Human Rights Council, Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi addressed the UN general assembly in New York and all sounded well with the United Nations main human rights body.

However, away from the assembly floor the organisation is under attack from outside observers and more importantly, from within.

In Zimbabwe, people have fled the country for a life in exile in the UK after suffering from one of the biggest humanitarian crisis' in Africa.

The list of NGO's, politicians and diplomats who have called for action over human rights abuses in Zimbabwe is getting longer every day. But the Human Rights Council appears to be doing very little to address these issues.

Simon Cox investigates the world of the Human Rights Council and discovers whether it is indeed a global promoter of Human rights or as critics claim, a cabal of nations protecting their own backs.

First broadcast on 21 January 2009

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