Written by: Beck

The now disbanded U.N. Commission on Human Rights was once exhibit 'A' for those seeking to highlight the flaws of the United Nations system. The fact that the very organization tasked with identifying & condemning human rights abuses internationally was composed of a long list of the world's worst human rights abusers provoked cries of outrage and demands for reform.

One of the eventual "reforms" to actually take place was the reinvention of the Commission into the Human Rights Council. Evidently when it comes to reform, the best the UN can muster is to swap one C-word for another & rearrange the order. Now, nations who are marginally less coddled than before are seeking to slash what little symbolic power remains to the UNHRC.

Cuba is leading a bid by a number of countries to strip the Human Rights Council of its power to investigate and condemn violations, a move some activists warn could jeopardize the whole U.N.'s credibility.

The 47 member states of the new U.N. watchdog, set up last year to replace its largely-discredited predecessor, are quietly negotiating a package of measures which will define its role.

At stake is the fate of "special procedures" -- independent investigators appointed to report on countries where abuses are suspected. The former Secretary-General Kofi Annan described these rapporteurs as the "crown jewels" of the U.N. human rights machinery.

Crown jewels, family jewels, take your pick. The United Nations' never ending descents into farce never fail to amaze and amuse.

My advice to the United States on how to react? We should back Cuba. Back Cuba, and at the same time, expand their efforts. If the United Nations can't be abolished, at least we can limit it to the few things it actually does well, namely keeping unelected bureaucrats comfortable and well fed so that they can go about condemning the United States for the crime of being more successful than anyone else.