S. Korea abstains from U.N. resolution on Israel

Posted on : 2009-01-16 11:23 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Resolution lacked balance in its arguments against Israel and Palestine, government says
 2009. The UN on Thursday suspended some of its operations in Gaza after Israeli shells smashed into its compound
2009. The UN on Thursday suspended some of its operations in Gaza after Israeli shells smashed into its compound

The South Korean administration of President Lee Myung-bak is drawing criticism for having abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution condemning Israel’s brutal military operation in Gaza. Last year, the administration joined other nations in voting for a U.N. resolution on human rights violations in North Korea, citing “the universal value of human rights.”

The U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution, proposed by Egypt, Pakistan and Cuba, condemning Israel’s military operations in Gaza in a Special Session on “the grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent aggression of the occupied Gaza Strip” on Monday.

Thirty-three nations, including China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines, voted in favor of the resolution, while 13 nations, including Germany, Britain, France and other European Union members, as well as Japan and South Korea abstained. Canada was the only country to oppose the resolution. The United States, which is not a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, did not participate in the voting.

With regard to the South Korean government’s decision to abstain from voting, Moon Tae-young, a spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Thursday that the government “supported some elements of the resolution, including respect for international laws on human rights,” but added that the resolution lacked balance in its arguments against Israel and Palestine. He also said that “It was taken into consideration that a significant number of nations, including the European Union and Japan, expressed (critical) opinions” about the resolution.

This is somewhat different from the government’s comments about its decision to support a U.N. resolution on human rights in North Korea in November. The government said at the time that because human rights are a universal value, the human rights issue should be separated from other issues.

Regarding the abstentions by Western countries on the U.N. resolution against Israel, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy’s Center for Peace and Disarmament said that the abstentions demonstrated that “although they outwardly support the universality of human rights, many countries, including South Korea, have used double and triple standards, depending on their individual interests and political relations among the nations,” when dealing with human rights. The center also said that the decision to abstain from voting reflected the political nature of decisions about human rights, which has been a serious problem for discussions about human rights at the United Nations.

Richard Falk, the United Nations’ special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Territories, told The Guardian newspaper that, “There is a well-grounded view that both the initial attacks on Gaza and the tactics being used by Israel are serious violations of the U.N. charter, the Geneva Conventions, international law and international humanitarian law.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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