The founding charter of the United Nations includes ‘universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all’. So the UN recently hit a new low when it announced the appointment of Faisal Bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the UN Human Rights Council, as Chair of an influential human rights panel. Trad will have the power to select applicants for scores of expert roles in countries where the UN has a mandate on human rights.
Such experts are often described as the ‘crown jewels’ of the Human Rights Council, according to UN Watch. With this latest appointment, control over the ‘crown jewels’ – at least 77 posts to deal with human rights violations and mandates – has been handed to a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world.
