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发帖数: 29846 | 1 曾经有个“卡扎菲人权奖”，得奖者包括卡斯特罗、查韦斯等，帮助设立这个奖项的瑞
士人现在任职联合国人权委员会
Rights Groups Call on U.N. to Oust Swiss Official Who Allegedly Backed
Qaddafi 'Prize'
Dozens of human rights and watchdog groups are calling on the United Nations
to expel from its ranks a Swiss official who allegedly had a hand in
creating the al-Qaddafi International Prize for Human Rights more than two
decades ago.
The prize, as its title suggests, is named after Libyan strongman Muammar al
-Qaddafi, whose efforts to mow down rebels and protesters triggered an
internationally backed no-fly zone and military intervention last month.
Over the years, the award bearing his name has gone to such controversial
and dubious figures as Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Louis Farrakhan and French
Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.
The story behind the prize is a matter of dispute, but UN Watch and others
claim Jean Ziegler -- a former member of the Swiss Parliament who for the
last several years has served as an adviser to the U.N. Human Rights Council
-- played a leading role.
UN Watch, a United Nations watchdog group, was among 45 organizations that
sent an appeal to U.N. leaders this week urging them to oust Ziegler, along
with a Libyan official, from the Human Rights Council. Further, they urged
the Human Rights Council to apologize to victims of Qaddafi's regime for
electing Ziegler in the first place, and the Swiss government to do the same
for nominating him.
The appeal referred to Ziegler as "a long-time apologist and propagandist
for Col. Qaddafi and his regime."
As recently as last month, Ziegler, who serves on the Human Rights Council
Advisory Committee, has denied supporting Qaddafi and denied being behind
the Qaddafi prize. He told a Swiss television station last month that he's
never supported Libya's policies and never played a role in the human rights
prize, according to a transcript of the broadcast.
The Austrian Times also reported last week that he called Qaddafi a "
psychopath" -- however, the same report said the government of Salzburg had
just rescinded an invitation for him to speak at an upcoming festival
because of his potential ties to Qaddafi.
"If a leading music festival is ashamed and now distances itself from
Qaddafi apologists, why is the United Nations not doing the same?" UN Watch
Director Hillel Neuer said in a statement.
A UN Watch report in 2006 alleged that Ziegler played a "leading role" in
founding the prize bearing Qaddafi's name, and went on to become vice
chairman of a group that helped administer the prize.
Several news reports from 1989 -- when the first-ever Qaddafi International
Prize for Human Rights was awarded to South African leader Nelson Mandela --
cite Ziegler in connection with the award.
United Press International quoted Ziegler, as a committee member, describing
the prize as "an anti-Nobel Peace Prize award for the Third World."
Time magazine reported that Qaddafi put $10 million in trust to finance the
prize. The Time article described Ziegler as a "member of the jury that
selected Mandela" as its first recipient.
The award, said to be worth $250,000, has since gone to more controversial
figures.
The website for the prize says it was established in 1988 -- the same year
as the Libya-orchestrated Lockerbie bombing -- to recognize individuals who
"have distinctively contributed to rendering an outstanding human service
and has achieved great actions in defending human rights, protecting the
causes of freedom and supporting peace everywhere in the world."
Ziegler, as well as a representative at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, did
not return requests for comment.
A spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described Ziegler as an
"independent" expert, and said the issue would have to be resolved by the "
member states" that selected him.
UN Watch has also called for the U.N. to remove from its working group on
mercenaries Libya's Najat Al-Hajjaji, whom the organization accused of
shielding the Qaddafi regime "from any accountability whatsoever." |
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