The UN recently had a vote on the Goldstone Report, condemning Israel for ‘Human Rights Violations”.
The vote was exceptionally critical of Israel (even by UN Standards). There were 4 different responses a member of the security council could have to the vote:
- Yes
- No
- Abstain
- Absent
I thought that it would be interesting to compare the way each country voted with its Human Rights and Freedom track record.
With a simple web search I managed to find a list of Countries Ranked by Economic Freedom as well as a report by Freedom House which rates the level of freedom in all counties in the World.
What was interesting, the more free that a county was rated, the more likely it was to support Israel in the UN vote. All the countries that voted supported Israel and voted against the resolution “NO” were rated “Free”, almost all received the highest rating (1) for both "Political Rights” and “Civil Liberties”.
By contrast, the countries that voted against Israel (Yes) averaged 3.8 in both Political Rights and Civil Liberties.
Looks like you don’t have to be a non-free society to be critical of Israel at the UN, but it sure seems to help.
Here are the details, feel free to draw your own conclusion.
The following countries votes YES (Supported the bill against Israel):
| Country | Economic Freedom | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Freedom Rating |
| Argentina | 52.3 | 2 | 2 | Free |
| Bahrain | 74.8 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free |
| Bangladesh | 47.5 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Bolivia | 53.6 | 3 | 3 | Partly Free |
| Brazil | 56.7 | 2 | 2 | Free |
| Chile | 78.3 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| China | 53.2 | 7 | 6 | Not Free |
| Cuba | 27.9 | 7 | 7 | Not Free |
| Djibouti | 51.3 | 5 | 5 | Partly Free |
| Egypt | 58.0 | 6 | 5 | Not Free |
| Ghana | 58.1 | 1 | 2 | Free |
| India | 54.4 | 2 | 3 | Free |
| Indonesia | 53.4 | 2 | 3 | Free |
| Jordan | 65.4 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Mauritius | 74.3 | 1 | 2 | Free |
| Nicaragua | 59.8 | 3 | 3 | Partly Free |
| Nigeria | 55.1 | 4 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Pakistan | 57.0 | 6 | 5 | Not Free |
| Philippines | 56.8 | 3 | 3 | Partly Free |
| Qatar | 65.8 | 6 | 5 | Not Free |
| Russian Federation | 50.8 | 6 | 5 | Not Free |
| Saudi Arabia | 64.3 | 7 | 6 | Not Free |
| Senegal | 56.3 | 2 | 3 | Free |
| South Africa | 63.8 | 2 | 2 | Free |
| Zambia | 56.6 | 3 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Average: | 57.82 | 3.8 | 3.76 |
The following countries were ABSENT:
| Country | Economic Freedom | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Freedom Rating |
| Angola | 47.0 | 6 | 5 | Not Free |
| France | 63.3 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Kyrgyzstan | 61.8 | 5 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Madagascar | 62.2 | 4 | 3 | Partly Free |
| United Kingdom | 79.0 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Average: | 62.66 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
The following countries ABSTAINED:
| Country | Economic Freedom | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Freedom Rating |
| Belgium | 72.1 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 53.1 | 3 | 2 | Partly Free |
| Burkina Faso | 59.5 | 5 | 3 | Partly Free |
| Cameroon | 53.0 | 6 | 6 | Not Free |
| Gabon | 55.0 | 6 | 4 | Partly Free |
| Japan | 72.8 | 1 | 2 | Free |
| Mexico | 65.8 | 3 | 3 | Free |
| Norway | 70.2 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Republic of Korea | 68.1 | 1 | 2 | Free |
| Slovenia | 62.9 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Uruguay | 69.1 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Average: | 63.78 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
The following countries voted NO (Supported Israel):
| Country | Economic Freedom | Political Rights | Civil Liberties | Freedom Rating |
| Hungary | 66.8 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Italy | 61.4 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Netherlands | 77.0 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Slovakia | 69.4 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Ukraine | 48.8 | 3 | 2 | Free |
| United States | 80.7 | 1 | 1 | Free |
| Average: | 67.35 | 1.33 | 1.17 |
1 comment:
Wssn't Shimon Peres gushing about Brazil today?
(And they voted against us?!)
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