united nations attacks pernicious human rights violation...

so you're an isolationist, bircher, or neocon who thinks that the u.n. is a useless bureaucracy huh???

well consider the terror generated by state sanctioned, forced "disappearances"... this tactic was once in widespread use (70's and 80's) moreso in latin america than other geopolitical battlegrounds...the recent death of former chilean dictator augusto pinochet stirs memories of the caravan of death that roamed the country after the 1973 coup kidnapping and executing political prisoners and burying them in unmarked graves...

but the irony of the new terror becomes evident when the u.n. general assembly adopted a major new human rights treaty on december 21st: the international convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance..

enforced disappearances have recently emerged as an unlawful means in pursuing the so-called "war on terror"...the treaty is a response to all enforced disappearances, including those occurring in the form of renditions and holding people in secret places of detention...

which leads us to the movement to close down the torture camp that is guantanamo bay...according to amnesty international:

Despite a major international outcry and expert condemnation of US government policy, hundreds of people of around 35 different nationalities remain held in a legal black hole at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. Denied their rights under international law and held in conditions which may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the detainees face severe psychological distress. There have been numerous suicide attempts.

As more evidence surfaces that the abuse of Guantánamo detainees has been widespread, it is ever more urgent to end the plight of the detainees. US authorities must bring all detainees to trial, in full accordance with international law and standards, or else release them immediately and unconditionally.

no, of course the u.n. is no panacea for the world's disputes and ills but having a forum of dialogue where nations can come together and struggle in a place other than the battle field - traditional or otherwise - is vital to creating mechanisms for peaceful resolutions rather than, say, nuclear ones...

kudos to the u.n. general assembly for creating a much needed international human rights treaty...

peace out <3