Funds blocked for human rights body 

June 24, 2007
Gulf Times
Original Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=156898&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19

WASHINGTON: US lower-house lawmakers have voted to cut off funding for the UN Human Rights Council, which Washington has condemned for its focus on criticising Israel. 
The action in the House of Representatives came just days after the US criticised the Geneva-based human rights panel for ending probes into Cuba and Belarus while singling out the Palestinian territories for permanent inquiry. 

The decisions by the main UN human rights body came at the end of its first annual session on Tuesday on what the US State Department called an irregular vote. 
Democrats and Republicans broadly supported the House measure, which was added to the 2008 State Department budget that passed on Friday by a vote of 241-178. The budget now goes to the Senate. 

The cutoff amendment would forbid the US from using any of its regular UN budget dues to fund the Human Rights Council. 

The US is the biggest single contributor to the overall UN budget, paying 22%. 

The US, which has no seat on the panel, accuses it of obsessing about Israel while failing to address human rights breaches in some other countries. 

Created as part of UN reform efforts, the council replaced an earlier UN human rights body that was widely viewed as politicised and discredited. But the new version has run into perhaps even harsher criticism from Washington. —DPA