International

U.N. Human Rights Council Resumes With ‘Urgent Debate’ On Alleged U.S. ‘Systemic Racism’

Published

3 years ago

June 15, 2020

The United Nations Human Rights Council is meeting Monday in Geneva for the first time in three months after COVID-19 lockdowns. The global body has prioritized the issue of alleged “systemic racism” and police brutality in the U.S. as one of their first orders of business to tackle on their first day back in session.

The decision to discuss the topic was motivated by a letter sent by a number of African leaders, including Burkina Faso diplomat Dieudonne Desire Sougouri, coordinator of the African Group, who formally requested a debate on the subject Monday, according to reports.

“The death of George Floyd is unfortunately not an isolated incident,” Dieudonne Desire Sougouri wrote in his letter to the Council, adding that “The numbers of previous cases of unarmed people of African descent who met the same fate because of uncontrolled police violence are legion.”

The U.S. left the Human Rights Council in 2018. At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained the Trump administration’s justification for the move, describing that the countries on the Council “say one thing and do another.”

“In some cases, states that seek to subvert this institution’s noble aims have hijacked the very systems that are supposed to advance them,” President Trump said during his 2017 address before the U.N. General Assembly. “For example, it is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council.”

Trump added, “The United States is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more. In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes. The United States bears an unfair cost burden, but, to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.”

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China

North Korea tests missiles in simulated Nuclear counterattack

Published

1 week ago

March 20, 2023

Alexander Carter

Kim Jong Un has accused the U.S. and South Korea of carrying out nuclear military drills. In response to the claim, Un conducted a test Sunday simulating a nuclear counter attack on the U.S. and South Korea.

These aren’t the first accusations made by Un. On Sunday, tensions escalated after Un launched short range ballistic missiles from North Korea as part of ongoing tests, he said. Those missiles traveled approximately 500 miles, according to reports from South Korea and Japan. Un then went one KCNA, the North Korean State media, telling reporters that the threat of a Nuclear attack on the U.S. and South Korea was likely.

Furthermore, Un claims that testing his short range ballistic missile, helped to improve North Korea’s military capability if there was a need for a counter-offensive in a time of war. He stated that he needed to guarantee the country’s readiness for any “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack.”

Un also claimed that countries such as the U.S. and South Korea “are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against” his country, according to reports from Fox News. Un said that it is of urgent matter that North Korea needs strengthen its nuclear arsenal in the wake of aggression towards his country.

“The nuclear force of the DPRK will strongly deter, control and manage the enemy’s reckless moves and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any unwanted situation,” Kim was quoted as saying.

The Associated Press reported that Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said it’s clear North Korea with its ramped-up testing activity is making “considerable progress” in nuclear weapons technology. According to reports Gyu did not detail any findings on North Korea’s claim about the successful warhead detonation.

Annual exercises have been carried out for week by the U.S. and South Korea which involve, U.S. B-1B strategic bombers. The B-1B bomber is capable of carrying up to 24 nuclear bombs and can travel at a speed of mach 0.9 while dropping bombs from 200ft above the ground. North Korea claims that these exercises are a very real threat to the country and that is is merely a rehearsal for what they believe to be a full on attack of their country.