On March 29, the Chinese edition of Voice of America (VOA) reported that the U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. Nikki Haley delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Ambassador Haley discussed the United States’ goals for its term in April as president of the UN Security Council. She outlined her plans to highlight human rights.
VOA quoted Haley as saying, “In case after case, human rights abuses are not the byproduct of conflict; they are the cause of conflict or they are the fuel that feeds the conflict.” “It might surprise many Americans to learn that human rights violations have not been considered an appropriate subject for discussion in the Security Council.” Haley observed, “Human rights are at the heart of the mission of the United Nations.”
Ambassador Haley mentioned the North Korean regime, which forces political prisoners to work themselves to death in coal mines to finance its nuclear program, and Syrian intelligence, which uses torture, including the deliberate systemic torture of children, to identify and silence opponents.
VOA noted that Ambassador Haley did not name China, where human rights lawyers and activists face large-scale suppression. However, the Telegraph reported on April 3 that “Russia and China are yet to approve Ms. Haley’s schedule, and as a result she has not been able to (get agreement to) a timetable for the events she wants to hold.”
“The United States is the moral conscience of the world,” said Haley, “We will not walk away from this role but we will insist that our participation in the U.N. honor and reflect this role.”
Sources:
VOA Chinese, March 29, 2017
http://www.voachinese.com/a/nikki-haley-20170329/3787255.html
Telegraph, April 4, 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/04/nikki-haley-battles-get-human-rights-un-security-council-agenda/