Ex-Colombian President's Past Haunts UN Probe of Israel

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-Colombian President's Past Haunts UN Probe of Israel
New America Media, Commentary, Kate Prengel, Posted: Jan 24, 2011

UNITED NATIONS, NY—The release Sunday of an Israeli report defending its own actions in last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla underscores the need for an objective international inquiry into the incident.

So why is former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe—who would not be called a defender of human rights even by his staunchest supporters —in the front lines of a UN investigation into the raid?

Uribe spent his eight years as president working to improve Colombia’s national security, primarily in efforts to battle the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas, an armed, leftist resistance group that opposes the current Colombian government and its alliance with the United States. In the name of national security, Uribe’s army is said to have carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings. His intelligence agency spied on journalists and political dissidents.

Given this record, it came as a shock to many when the United Nations chose Uribe to help investigate alleged human rights abuses carried out by Israel during a raid on a flotilla of ships in the Mediterranean last May. Now, as the long-delayed report nears completion, the continuing controversy threatens to undermine the panel’s findings.

More:
http://newamericamedia.org/2011/01/united-nations-nyeven-lvaro-uribes.php

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