UN Watch calls for termination of mandate of Special Rapporteur Richard Falk- HRC 23rd session – NGO statement (United Nations Watch)

Written statement* submitted by United Nations Watch, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement, which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.

[10 May 2013]

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* This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting non-governmental organization(s).

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Implementing the conclusions of the Secretary-General and Member States concerning Special Rapporteur Richard Falk Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant instruments,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on the institution-building of the Council, and 5/2, on the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders of the Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that mandate holders are to discharge their duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

Reaffirming the Council’s power to create and terminate special procedure mandates, and to appoint and remove mandate-holders,

Recalling that the Council and its predecessor have previously terminated mandates on Belarus, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Liberia, and other countries,

Expressing grave concern at the conduct of Mr. Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, which harms the credibility of the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, and its independent experts,

Condemning the outrageous comments by Mr. Falk that sought to blame the 15 April 2013 Boston terrorist attack, which left 4 dead and 300 wounded, on “the American global domination project” and “Tel Aviv,”

Reaffirming the 24 April 2013 rejection of Mr. Falk’s comments by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and his caution that such comments “undermine the credibility and the work of the United Nations,”

Reaffirming also the 23 April 2013 condemnation of Mr. Falk expressed by U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who said that “someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the UN,” and noted the “absurdity” of Mr. Falk’s continued service,

Endorsing the 24 April 2013 statement by the British Mission to the United Nations condemning Mr. Falk’s “antisemitic” remarks, and highlighting it was the third time they had to do so,

Expressing its appreciation for the 24 April 2013 statement by Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird that condemned Mr. Falk’s “mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric,” and noted that “the United Nations should be ashamed to even be associated with such an individual,”

Reaffirming the additional April 2013 condemnations of Mr. Falk by numerous members of the U.S. Congress, Democrats and Republicans, including Rep. Mike Kelly, Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Rep. Eliot Engel and Rep. Trent Franks,

Congratulating the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch for expelling Mr. Falk in December 2012, following the United Nations Watch complaint about his ethical breaches,

Recalling that Mr. Falk is so extreme in his support for the Hamas terrorist organization that even the Palestinian Authority has sought to remove him, on grounds that he is a “partisan of Hamas,”

Recalling also that Falk recently published an article seeking to downplay, reinterpret and justify the latest call by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to destroy Israel, a Member State of the United Nations,

Condemning Mr. Falk for publishing on his website a cartoon showing a dog wearing a Jewish head covering, and with “USA” written on its body, urinating on a depiction of justice and devouring a bloody skeleton, for which he was condemned by British Prime Minister David Cameron and other public figures,

Deploring Mr. Falk’s cover endorsement of a virulently antisemitic book entitled “The Wandering Who,” an act condemned by the British Foreign Office,

Deeply disturbed that Mr. Falk has falsely and absurdly accused Israel of planning a “Palestinian Holocaust,”

Seriously concerned that Mr. Falk has become one of the world’s most high-profile supporters of 9/11 conspiracy theorists, lending his name to those who accuse the U.S. government of orchestrating the destruction of the Twin Towers as a pretext to launch wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,

Noting that he promotes the writings of David Ray Griffin, a disciple and close friend of Mr. Falk who has produced 12 books describing the World Trade Center attack as “an inside job,”

Noting further that Falk contributed the Foreword to Griffin’s 2004 book The New Pearl Harbor, where he praised the author’s “patience,” “fortitude,” “courage,” and “intelligence,” and that in turn Griffin credits Falk for getting the book published,

Recalling that Falk has repeatedly appeared on the “TruthJihad.com” show of Kevin Barrett, a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and Holocaust skeptic who rails against the “ethnic Jews” who he says run Washington and the media, a show on which Falk has endorsed Barrett’s “good work” while also praising Iranian tyrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

Recalling also that in 2011 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took the floor of the Human Rights Council to issue an unprecedented condemnation of Mr. Falk’s 9/11 remarks, saying they were “preposterous” and “an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack,”

Strongly supporting the statements of U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice that denounced Mr. Falk’s 9/11 remarks as “despicable and deeply offensive,” condemned his “one-sided and politicized approach,” deplored his comments for being “so noxious that it should finally be plain to all that he should no longer continue in his position,” and noted that “the cause of human rights will be better advanced without Mr. Falk and the distasteful sideshow he has chosen to create,”

Expressing appreciation for all non-governmental organizations that have brought the abuses of Mr. Falk to the attention of the United Nations, this Council, and the world,

The Council should:

1. Find that Mr. Falk has committed gross and systematic violations of his duties as a Council expert, including his obligation to uphold the highest standards of competence, integrity, probity, impartiality, equity, honesty and good faith;

2. Deeply regret that Mr. Falk has failed to heed calls for his resignation as expressed by Palestinian, American and other delegates to the United Nations, thereby obliging the Council to exercise its responsibility and protect the credibility and integrity of its procedures;

3. Decide to terminate the mandate of Mr. Richard Falk, effective immediately.

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