(Washington, DC) - (Washington, D.C.) – Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.) today condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council for ignoring the world's most serious human rights abuses while unfairly targeting Israel.  Ackerman joined his colleagues in a letter encouraging the international body to bring objectivity and legitimacy back into its mission.

“With so many countries around the world – such as the Sudan -- committing serious violations of international human rights standards, it is obscene that Israel remains the sole country to be designated as a human rights violator. It is time for the U.N. to end the double standard,” said Ackerman. 

The Human Rights Council replaced the previous UN Commission on Human Rights, which was discredited by its extreme anti-Israel bias and by granting membership to flagrant human rights abusers, even elevating some to leadership positions on the Commission.  The Council was established to promote “universal respect for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all” and to “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations.”

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