The United Nations is showing its true color by appointing Saudi Arabia as the head of the UN Human Rights Council.
As disgusting as it is, the beacon of freedom and democracy United States has congratulated the House of Saud for the prestigious appointment.

Now, we should stop wondering why there are far more wars and conflicts after the establishment of that august body as the United Nations in 1945.

Saudi Arabia Elected Chair of UN Human Rights Council Panel « View from Geneva

GENEVA, September 20, 2015 – U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini should condemn and work to reverse the appointment of Saudi Arabia as head of a key UN Human Rights Council panel that selects top officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide, said UN Watch, a non-governmental watchdog organization based in Geneva.
“It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer. “Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights.”
“Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi,” Neuer added.
“This UN appointment is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief, and underscores the credibility deficit of a human rights council that already counts Russia, Cuba, China, Qatar and Venezuela among its elected members.”


Above: Ensaf Haidar, the wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi,
today criticized the election of Saudi Arabia as Chairperson of
the UN Human Right Council panel, saying the decision
is “like a green light to start flogging Raif Badawi again!”
According to UNHRC documents obtained by UN Watch, Saudi Arabia was chosen to head a 5-member group of ambassadors, known as the Consultative Group, which has the power to select applicants from around the world for more than 77 positions dealing with country-specific and thematic human rights mandates.
“The UN often describes these experts as the ‘crown jewels’ of its Human Rights Council, yet the world body only undermines their legitimacy by picking a fundamentalist theocracy that oppresses women and minorities to preside over the experts’ appointment.”
Saudi Arabia Re-elected to Key Panel
A UN report dated September 17th reports that Faisal Trad, Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the UNHRC, was selected to chair the panel for appointments to be made in the current 30th session of the council, which opened on Monday and will last for another two weeks. The Saudi ambassador was first elected to the post ahead of the recent June 2015 session, yet Geneva diplomats chose to keep silent and that initial election went unreported until now.

Raif Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar receiving the 2015 Geneva Summit
Courage Award on behalf of her husband, a political prisoner in
Saudi Arabia, delivered to her home in Sherbrooke, Quebec,
by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, on July 6, 2015.
Deal for Dropping Saudi Presidency Bid?
Neuer expressed concern that the Saudis may have been handed the position in a backroom deal, in exchange for dropping the regime’s controversial bid to become president of the entire 47-nation council. “I urge Ambassador Power and High Commissioner Mogherini to confirm that this is not the case,” he said.
Riyadh pulled out from seeking the council presidency in June following UN Watch’s protest campaign, covered in newspapers worldwide.
U.S. & EU Were Silent When Saudi Arabia Was Elected to UNHRC in 2013
“We cannot forget that the U.S. and the EU refused to utter a word of protest when we urged them, together with Saudi dissidents, to oppose the monarchy’s election in 2013. It’s a sad comment on our world that oil continues to trump basic human rights principles.”
“It’s bad enough that Saudi Arabia is a member of the council, but for the UN to go and name the regime as chair of a key panel only pours salt in the wounds for dissidents languishing in Saudi prisons, like human rights activist Raif Badawi.”
blog.unwatch.org

Game of Thrones a-la-Gulf: Saudi royal said to be calling to family members to replace king

A letter has been allegedly circulating among members of the Saudi royal family, with warnings that the House of Saud may be losing its grip on power. The letter containing a number of political accusations is said to be penned by an unnamed royal himself.

“We [have] got closer and closer to the fall of the state and the loss of power,” online news portal Middle East Eye cited the letter on Tuesday. Signed by “a descendant of the King Abdulaziz of the House of Saud,” the letter is said to have been written by the late king’s grandson, who confirmed to MEE he was the author, but asked not to be named “for fear of negative repercussions.”
https://youtu.be/JenKeuoWqcw

“We appeal to all the sons of King Abdulaziz… to summon an emergency meeting with all the family to discuss the situation and do everything that is need[ed] to save the country,” the four-page document reportedly says, with a senior Saudi prince calling for the current “incapable” Saudi King Salman and his son Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be replaced.
READ MORE: Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen led by financier prince with an eye on the throne
The 79-year-old Saudi king in the spotlight of the backstairs intrigue has ruled the country since the death of his brother Abdullah in January. Apart from him and his son, the letter also mentions his nephew Mohammad bin Al-Nayef, calling the latter “extravagant and vain.” Both younger royals hold high positions in the Saudi government, and are responsible for decisions which saw oil prices fall steeply, as well as the war in Yemen.
The letter claims the recent military decisions, including the campaigns in Yemen, Syria and Iraq are “totally miscalculated,” having “weakened the trust of our people and [incited] other peoples against us.”
The document, which is said to be circulating among the princes by secure means of mobile communication, also reportedly touches upon financial challenges faced by the Gulf kingdom. While oil revenues make the overwhelming part of the state income, it has now found itself in a situation when oil prices plummeted down more than by half over the year.
READ MORE: ISIS, low oil prices, poor health: New Saudi king’s challenges
Yet, the Saudi royal family continues to wow the world with its luxurious lifestyle, with King Salman closing a whole French Riviera beach for exclusive use or booking out an entire luxury hotel while in Washington. The net worth of the royal family is estimated at around 1.4 trillion dollars – a  but the alleged author of the letter suggests some certain royal family members have been “devastating for the state.” The author went as far as to call the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a “rotten thief.”

“We will not be able to stop the draining of money, the political adolescence, and the military risks unless we change the methods of decision making, even if that implied changing the king himself,” MEE cited the letter as saying.
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