New York, NY – U.S. Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
released the following statement today in response to Libya’s request for the
United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session on the anti-Israel
biased Goldstone report:
“The Security Council should not bow to Libyan demands over a flawed
report, but rather focus on key challenges facing the world stage, such as
Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. The UN Human Rights Council
already decided to delay this report, which was the right thing to do given the
misleading nature of the report’s findings.
“The Libyan government’s sponsorship of a ‘Welcome Home’ ceremony for a
convicted terrorist was a low point for that country’s global standing and
calls into question its standing on human rights issues.”
The 15 members of the UN Security Council will meet today to discuss Libya’s
request. The Human Rights Council, a separate UN body, will consider the
Goldstone report in its March meeting.
Senator
Gillibrand recently led a bi-partisan Senate coalition urging the United States
to block the Goldstone report from reaching the UN Security Council. In a
letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Senators also urged the Obama
administration to denounce any punishment against Israel as a result of the
report’s flawed findings, which included failure to recognize Israel’s right to
defend itself against terrorism.