Louise Arbour to leave UN Human Rights Post

It saddens me to read that Louise Arbour, U.N. Human Rights Chief, to leave her post in June after only one term. (Arbour was a former Canadian Supreme Court Judge, and before that she was the U.N. chief war crimes prosecutor who secured the indictment of the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic). Here is an excerpt from Washington Post (emphasis added),

Arbour, a former U.N. war crimes prosecutor who secured the indictment of the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, said that bedrock principles once taken for granted -- including the prohibition against torture -- have been eroded, and that what she considers Washington's excesses have undercut her efforts to crusade for human rights, particularly in places where political repression is greatest.

Human rights advocates largely praised Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice, as a tough, principled lawyer who has offered the United Nations' most forceful critique of the United States' use of harsh interrogation techniques and the transfer of suspects to countries where they stand a chance of being tortured. They note that she has done more to expand the presence of U.N. rights monitors around the world, making reports on abuses from Baghdad to Katmandu routine.

But she has also been a lightning rod for American conservatives, including the former U.S. envoy to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, who scolded her in 2005 for using Human Rights Day to criticize U.S. anti-terrorism tactics instead of highlighting rights abuses by countries such as Burma, Cuba and Zimbabwe. [K: The US gov should know better and should have set *good* examples for others to follow.] Even supporters say she has trod lightly over abuses by some of the most powerful U.N. members, including China and Russia, [K: very sad but I trust she must have her reason and feel that quiet diplomacy works better in her judgment. And to me, she has earned the right to make these kinds of calls.] leaving the United Nations increasingly silent on some of the world's most pressing human rights issues.

More reports here, here, and here.