Right Wing Nut House

Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe is probably enjoying this joke as much as anyone:

Zimbabwe, the human rights pariah accused of violence, intimidation and suppression of free speech against its people, has been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Commission for a three-year term over the strong protests of Australia, the US and Canada.

“How can we expect the Government of Zimbabwe to support international human rights standards at the Commission on Human Rights when it has blatantly disregarded the rights of its own people?” asked William Brencick, of the US.

Zimbabwe maintained repressive controls on political opposition and the media, and encouraged “a climate where the opposition fears for its safety”, Mr Brencick said.

President Mugabe, whose autocratic rule has been condemned around the world for its brutality, is nothing if not a wildly creative dictator. The elections last spring should be held up as an example to all would-be autocrats for the ingenious and innovative ways in which Mugabe and his thugs stole the contest:

“Thousands were turned away from the polling booths, there are serious, unexplained discrepancies between votes tallied and the official numbers later announced.

“Other abuse was rife. This included food aid being misused, ghost voters, a lack of equal access to the media, abuse of draconian security legislation and an election commission packed with Zanu-PF supporters,” he added.

He said even observers approved by Mr Mugabe had commented that at least 10% of voters were prevented from casting their vote, while independent observers put the figure closer to 30%.

Mugabe even went so far as to appear at a rally shortly after the polls closed congratulating himself on his “victory over imperialism.”

For all Mugabe’s shennanigans, the real comedy here is that the UN Human Rights Commission is slated by Kofi (”Talk to the hand. I’m not guilty”) Anan to be disbanded. The reason? Duh!

In a wide-ranging series of reforms unveiled earlier this year, Annan said he wanted to replace the rights commission with a permanent, smaller council composed of member states committed to tackle abuse throughout the world. “We have reached a point at which the commission’s declining credibility has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole,” Annan said earlier this month.

I’ll say this about the crook; he has a marvelously understated sense of irony and a keen eye for the absurd. After he’s finished at the UN - and if he’s not in jail somewhere - he may have a future as a stand-up comic or maybe a writer for “Comedy Central.”

Mark Noonan says “it’s like electing Al Capone Police Commissioner.” With past members like Cuba and Sudan, the Human Rights group may want to consider renaming itself the “UN Commission on Bovine Excrement.” That’s what they’ve been shoveling our way for years.

Cross-Posted at Blogger News Network