http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/top-un-rights-official-denounces-growing-efforts-to-block-his-monitoring.html 2016-09-13 19:22:48 Top U.N. Rights Official Denounces Growing Efforts to Block His Monitoring The high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said many nations have sought to evade scrutiny since his agency was created a decade ago. === GENEVA — The top human rights official at the In a scathing appraisal, Mr. al-Hussein said these states often invoke what he described as spurious arguments that human rights inquiries violate national sovereignty. The trend to obstruction, he said, has been accompanied by efforts to discredit global institutions like the United Nations and repudiate human rights protections that grew out of the two world wars. Those who have provoked these efforts, he said, include jihadist militant groups and “dangerous xenophobes and bigots running for office” in well-established democracies. Mr. al-Hussein’s comments, He identified the American Republican presidential candidate, Mr. al-Hussein reserved his harshest comments on Tuesday for President He also rebuked Mr. al-Hussein urged India to accept his request to let an international team look into the long-running violence in He also criticized global powers for blocking his agency’s access. “Efforts to duck or refuse legitimate scrutiny raise an obvious question: what, precisely, are you hiding from us?,” Mr. al-Hussein said. “States may shut my office out, but they will not shut us up, neither will they blind us.” None of the requests for a country visit made by his office in recent months had been accepted, he said in remarks outside the council. By speaking out on the issue, “you want to show member states there is a price to be paid if you deny us access.” Mr. al-Hussein’s remarks commenced a session in which the council’s credibility will be tested by member responses to his request for an independent international inquiry into alleged war crimes and other abuses in A report that Mr. al-Hussein will present to the council later this month cited credible accounts that all parties in the Yemen conflict have committed abuses, but that Saudi-led airstrikes have inflicted most of the civilian casualties.