Maidhc O Cathail: Who Will Watch the Watchdog?

On December 2, the Geneva-based UN Watch welcomed that day's "strong condemnation" of Syria by a UN Human Rights Council emergency session, and its establishment of a special rapporteur to monitor the situation there, following what it called "a global campaign to create the post by a coalition of prominent democracy dissidents and human rights groups" led by UN Watch itself. The non-governmental organization, whose self-appointed mandate is "to monitor the perform -ance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter," expressed regret, however, that the UNHRC resolution "paid special deference" to Syria's "territorial integrity" and "political independence,"decrying the provision as "a clear jab at NATO's intervention in Libya, and a pre-emtive strike against the principle of the international community's responsibility to protect civilians under assault." On the same day, UN Watch delivered a speech to the Human Rights Council's "shocking silence on Syria's atrocities," calling on it to take "urgent action to protect the civilian population before thousands more are beaten, tortured and killed." It also urged UNESCO to reverse its recent decision to elect Syria to two human rights committees.