UN rights chief calls Trump a global threat

by WorldTribune Staff, October 12, 2016

Donald Trump’s promise to build a border wall to stem the tide of illegal immigrants and his vow to re-authorize the use of waterboarding are among the reasons the Republican presidential candidate is a danger to the world, the UN’s human rights chief said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein. /UN photo
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein. / UN photo

“If Donald Trump is elected on the basis of what he has said already – and unless that changes – I think it is without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein told a news briefing in Geneva on Oct. 12.

Trump has promised to build a wall at the border with Mexico to stop the massive flow of illegals into the United States.

“We have to be on guard to see that in the end vulnerable populations, populations at risk do not again see their rights deprived because of a view that is in the ascendancy based on false premises,” Zeid said.

According to a Reuters report, Trump has said he would immediately re-authorize the waterboarding of suspected militants if elected on Nov. 8, contending that “torture works”.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order after taking office in January 2009 that banned waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Such executive orders can be rescinded by a successor.

Zeid said that Trump’s comments pointed to a potential use of torture, prohibited under the Convention against Torture, a pact ratified by Washington. He also said that the GOP candidate’s alleged threat to “vulnerable groups possibly losing their basic rights,” prompted him to speak out.

“I always believe that it’s incumbent on leaders to lead and to lead in a way that is ethical and moral,” Zeid said. “The use of half-truths is a very clever political device. Because as every propagandist knows, you allow the listener to fill in the rest.”

You must be logged in to post a comment Login