Shaheed
Says UN Too
Soft in
Maldives,
"Backsliding
for Radical
Islamic
Groups"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 24 --
When Ahmed
Shaheed came
to the UN on
Wednesday it
was, at least
initially, to
speak about
his mandate of
Special
Rapporteur on
human rights
in Iran.
Inner City
Press asked
him questions
on that -- on
the effect of
sanctions and
Iran's
position atop
the
Non-Aligned
Movement --
and then asked
Shaheed what
the UN should
be doing in
his native
Maldives,
where he
previously
served as
foreign
minister.
Shaheed
said
it would not
be appropriate
to answer the
question
during his
Iran press
conference --
all of the
other
questions
seemed to come
from Iranian
journalists --
but said he'd
be happy to
answer
afterward.
Once
the press
conference
ended, Inner
City Press
asked him, as
it asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman,
what the UN
would or
should do
about for
example the
recent arrest
of the
Maldives'
former
president.
Shaheed
gave
the following
answer to
Inner City
Press: "Well,
I think the UN
should draw
certain red
lines to what
a country can
or cannot do.
We are party
to the ICCPR
[International
Covenant on
Civil and
Political
Rights] and
other
conventions we
seem to be
backsliding on
a number of
these things,
at the behest
of emerging
radical
Islamic
groups."
He continued,
"The UN should
play a far
more active
role. The UN
is very
discredited as
being too soft
on whoever is
in power. They
need to stand
up for the
principles the
UN believes
in."
This
is rare at the
UN, a
country's
former foreign
minister
saying the UN
should be more
active in his
country, which
he says is
"backsliding...
at the behest
of emerging
radical
Islamic
groups."
In
fact, other
sources say
that some such
groups may be
seeking to
undermine Mr.
Shaheed's
mandate. But
that's another
story. Watch
this site.
, 
