UN Human Rights Council: Americas Imperial ToolStephen Lendman It failed on all counts. Its largely a US imperial tool. Its been so from inception. With few exceptions, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) marches in lockstep with Washington. It does so shamelessly. Polands Remigiusz Henczel serves as president. Americas waging hot war on Syria. It does so politically, economically and other ways against Iran. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon aides and abets Washingtons agenda. So does the Human Rights Council. Former Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Shaheed, serves as Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran. He does so dishonorably. He takes State Department blood money. The money the special rapporteur has received from the US State Department has led to a situation that he cannot write about anything except their anti-Iran desires. (He) has no right to take a stance against the country he is assigned to. (He) repeats (anti-Iranian) words of the US and Israel. Iran provided UN officials with damning evidence. Shaheeds a serial violator. He issued four anti-Iranian reports. Tehran categorically denies all charges. Theyre based on unreliable information. They reflect Western propaganda. They belie reality. On February 28, HRC published his Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Baseless human rights violations were charged. They include widespread and systemic torture, as well as harassment, arrests and attacks on human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists. According to Shaheed: The prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant serious concern, and will require a wide range of solutions that are both respectful of cultural perspectives and mindful of the universality of fundamental human rights promulgated by the treaties to which Iran is a party. Shaheed tried having things both ways. On the one hand, he said Tehran made noteworthy womens rights advances. On the other, he claimed recent policies prohibit womens access to a number of fields of study, further restrict womens freedom of movement, and current polices that continue to impede womens ability to hold certain decision-making positions in Government remain problematic. He claims unimpeachable evidence. Pro-Western and internal dissident sources supplied it. Its biased and unreliable. It discusses free and fair elections, freedom of expression, association and assembly, human rights defenders, torture, executions, womens rights, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, and socioeconomic rights. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay long ago fell from grace. Her mandate is suppressing truth. She ignores Western human rights abuses. Americas are the worlds worst. She turns a blind eye on Israel. She ignores its worst crimes. She, Shaheed, and like-minded sources lack credibility. Theyre imperial tools. Theyre in lockstep with Washington. Their job is advancing its agenda. On March 11, HRC headlined Oral Update of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. It followed previous duplicitous reports. Theyre pre-scripted. Theyre predictable. Theyre one-sided. They lack credibility. They turn truth on its head. They report what Washington wants to hear. They point fingers the wrong way. They blame Assad for Western crimes. They ignore credible eye-witness testimonies. They use spurious ones. They do so repeatedly. They claim Syrias war is civil. Theres nothing civil about it. Imported proxies are used. Theyre invaders. Theyre heavily armed, funded, trained and directed. Theyve been so from inception. Most Syrians deplore violence. They oppose internal and external groups committing it. Syria is Washingtons war. Obama bears full responsibility. Hes guilty of crimes of war and against humanity. He prioritizes war. He spurns peace. Hes an unindicted war criminal. In 2011, he destroyed Libya. Hes ravaging Syria now. HRC blames Assad for his crimes. Its report includes baseless accusations. They charge Assad with forced displacements, razing neighborhoods, looting homes, torture, rapes, denying medical care, targeting doctors and other hospital personnel, persecuting anti-government opponents, and continuing hostilities across Syria. Government forces continue to focus their military operations on securing major towns and cities, intensifying shelling and airstrikes on anti-Government armed groups strongholds, it says. Omitted was saying its done defensively. Assads obligated to do so. Syria was invaded. Other leaders would respond the same way. Failure would be grossly irresponsible. HRC claimed bombing, shelling, and missile attacks caused widespread damage to residential neighborhoods. It blamed Assad for deaths caused by insurgents. Theyre Western-recruited death squads. Their mandate is kill, kill, kill. They commit gruesome atrocities. Eyewitness survivors confirm it. HRC wont cite them. It didnt explain. It glossed over insurgent crimes. Theyre too grave to ignore. It did so anyway. Targeting Assad is prioritized. Hes blamed for extrajudicial killings, beatings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and other high crimes. Uncorroborated reports claim his forces steal from civilian houses while conducting ground searches. In mid-January, HRC said government forces removed dozens of women traveling to work or school. Doing so, it said, was to coerce (their) family members, some of whom were ostensibly fighting with anti-Government armed groups, to surrender. Multiple accounts alleged that the detained women were sexually abused. Other interviewees (alleged) torture in Damascus detention centers. No evidence whatever corroborates HRC claims. It largely whitewashes anti-government forces crimes. It did so in previous reports. They point fingers the wrong way. Its done to please Washington. Assads wrongfully blamed for death squad massacres and other atrocities. Spurious accusations include the following: Other accusations were similar. Assads accused of indiscriminate use of all available firepower assets, including artillery, air force assets and most recently, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against insurgent held areas. HRC points fingers the wrong way. It does so shamelessly and consistently. Its Syrian and Iranian reports lack credibility. They support Washingtons agenda. They lie for power. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War.Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ 