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UN Watch, a Geneva-based group, was founded in 1993 to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter and promotes human rights for all. It is an accredited non-governmental organization with the UN ECOSOC and has affiliate status with the UN DPI. It has been affiliated with the American Jewish Committee since 2001. UN Watch led the largest NGO coalition at the UN Human Rights Council special session on Darfur in December 2006. [1] It has often appealed to the UN to take stronger action on Darfur. [2]
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UN Watch, a Geneva-based group, was founded in 1993 to monitor the performance of the United Nations and with a stated mission of promoting human rights, but with an prime emphasis on the coverage of Israeli violations of human rights. It is an accredited non-governmental organization with the UN ECOSOC and has affiliate status with the UN DPI.  
  
 +
It has been founded and funded by the American Jewish Committee since 2001. UN Watch led the largest NGO coalition at the UN Human Rights Council special session on Darfur in December 2006.
  
 +
==Nexus to AJC==
 +
Ian Williams, a journalist covering the UN for many years and former president of the United Nations Correspondents Association, summarizes UN Watch's role:
 +
:UN Watch is an organisation whose main purpose is to attack the United Nations in general, and its human rights council in particular, for alleged bias against Israel.<ref>Ian Williams, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/apr/04/itwasamakemydayevent Casting the first stone], Guardian, 4 April 2007.</ref>
  
==Activities==
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UN Watch has been funded by the [[American Jewish Committee]] since 2001. It claims to have 'complete independence' from the AJC.<ref>Leon Saltiel [[UN Watch email to Spinwatch on 'Inaccuracies'|Inaccuracies]] email to Spinwatch, 3 July 2006.</ref> 
  
*Monitor UN activities, resolutions, or official statements.
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However, a press release from its site notes that UN Watch is to become 'fully integrated' into the AJC.  The release concludes:
*Promote human rights.
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:Eighteen months ago, the [[American Jewish Committee]] and the [[World Jewish Congress]] reached an agreement, approved by the international board of UN Watch, to transfer full control of the organization to AJC, an agreement that went into effect on January 1, 2001.<ref>AJC Media Release, "[http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=866815 UN Watch, AJC Seal Partnership]", ''American Jewish Committee'', 4 January 2001</ref>
*Forming coalitions with non-governmental organizations to enforce human rights protection and combat anti-Semitism.
 
  
==History==
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==The main activities of UN Watch==
 +
*Monitor UN activities, resolutions, or official statements that are construed to be critical of Israel.<ref>This can be confirmed through a perusal of their [http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1316871/k.8F03/Press_Releases/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp press releases].</ref>
 +
*Lobby for the removal of UN personnel who are considered critical of Israel<ref>UN Watch has been vociferous about UN personnel like Mary Robinson, Peter Hansen, Jean Ziegler.</ref>
 +
*Forming coalitions to leverage influence at the UN.  This also entails assisting the interests of other groups to later count on their support.<ref>See for example:
 +
*Tovah Lazaroff, [http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=209294 70 rights groups call on UN to condemn Tripoli], Jerusalem Post, 22 February 2011. UN Watch organizes petitions/demand writing with dozens of signatories.  In return UN Watch signs on to petitions/demands favorable to the previous signatories. The deceptive aspect about this is that it enables UN Watch to allay the image of being a "single-issue" organization.
 +
*See this coalition UN Watch organized for a [http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=1337 censure motion].
 +
*UN Watch appears as one of the main participants in [[CONGO]], an organization that brings together disparate NGOs seeking to lobby the UN.  The premise is that the NGOs working in tandem can have greater influence and assist one another obtain their aims.</ref>
 +
*Lobby for the inclusion of AJC approved personnel; this is a standard operating procedure by the American Jewish Committee<ref>see AJC News Update Number 212, 28 June 2006.</ref>
  
UN Watch was established in 1993 under the chairmanship of [[Morris Abram]], a pioneer leader in the civil rights movement with [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], president of the [[United Negro College Fund]], and Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. Its board includes leading [[human rights]] scholars and statesmen.
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==Principals==
 +
*[[Morris B. Abram]] &ndash; Founder (died 2000)
 +
*[[Alfred H. Moses]] &ndash; Chairman
 +
*[[Hillel Neuer]] &ndash; Executive Director
 +
*[[Elizabeth Cassidy]] &ndash; Assistant Executive Director
 +
===Board of Directors===
 +
*[[David A. Harris]] (Co-Chair)<ref name=board></ref>
 +
*[[Per Ahlmark]] (European Co-Chair)<ref name=board>UN Watch: [http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1313591/k.954F/Mission__History.htm History]: Board Members (Accessed: 14 January 2012)</ref>
 +
*[[Irwin Cotler]]<ref name=board></ref>
 +
*[[Max Jakobson]] <ref name=board></ref>
 +
*[[Ruth Wedgwood]]<ref name=board></ref>
 +
*[[Jeane Kirkpatrick]] (deceased) former US Permanent Representative to the UN in New York
  
:UN Watch is an accredited non-governmental organization that monitors the performance of the United Nations according to the yardstick of its own Charter. Areas of concern include strengthening the role of democracies within the UN and ensuring the equal treatment by the UN of its member states. At the United Nations, UN Watch has been at the forefront in the fight against anti-Semitism and against the UN’s discriminatory treatment of Israel.[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jsn99/message/448]
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===Staff===
 +
*[[Eve Gani]]<ref name=salt>ibid.</ref>
 +
*[[Michael Inlander]]<ref>ibid.</ref>
 +
*[[Jonas Waechter]]<ref>ibid.</ref>
 +
*[[Natasha Sarraf]]<ref>ibid.</ref>
 +
===Former Staff===
 +
*[[Pablo Kapusta]] &ndash; Media Relations<ref>Wilmer Hale: [http://www.wilmerhale.com/pablo_kapusta/ profile] (Accessed: 18 December 2011.)</ref>
 +
*[[Leon Saltiel]]<ref name=salt>[http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1330819&ct=1760293 Source]</ref>
 +
*[[Jardena Lande]]<ref>ibid.</ref>
  
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==Affiliations==
 +
*[[American Jewish Committee]] (parent organization)
 +
*[[World Jewish Congress]] (jointly controlled the organization with [[AJC]] until 2001)
 +
*[[Transatlantic Institute]] (another AJC operation)
 +
*[[Friedrich Naumann Stiftung]] &ndash; co-sponsors events with UN Watch
  
== UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and UN Watch ==
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==Geneva Summit Award Winners==
 
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===2015===
UN Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]] said the following about UN Watch:
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[[Masih Alinejad]] (Iran)
 
"I deeply appreciate the valuable work performed by UN Watch. I believe that informed and independent evaluation of the United Nations' activities will prove a vital source as we seek to adapt the Organization to the needs of a changing world. I can promise you that I will pay close attention to your observations and view in the years ahead."
 
  
[[Image:NeuerAnnan_low_res.JPG|right|thumb|Neuer and Kofi Annan]]
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===2016===
 +
[[Antonio Ledezma]] (Venezuela)
  
==UN Watch campaigns==
 
  
UN Watch cooperates with non-governmental organizations around the world in order to protect and promote the principles of the UN Charter. In 2004 UN Watch intervened on behalf of victims of torture and censorship in [[Cote d'Ivoire]], [[Zimbabwe]], [[Cuba]], [[Nepal]], [[Myanmar]], and [[Pakistan]]. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=1748035] UN Watch also spoke out for the [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] victims of [[Syria]]n political assassinations. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=1715217]
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==Geneva Summit Particiapants==
 +
[[Darya Safai]] (Iran)
  
===Darfur===
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==Similar Organizations==
UN Watch is among the leading advocates at the United Nations for human rights victims in Darfur. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=2607541&ct=4318441][http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=2607541&ct=3963169] UN Watch chaired the NGO Activist Summit For Darfur in 2007.  [http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1286087/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id={53BA537F-51B9-4A28-A0E8-EFD638A9B470}&notoc=1] UN Watch challenged [[Sudan]] in 2007 for its rejection of human rights experts in Darfur. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=3677507] UN Watch justice for child victims in Darfur in 2005. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=1748005]
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*[[Eye on the UN]]
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*[[NGO Monitor]]
  
In August 2007, UN Watch director [[Hillel Neuer]] was the keynote speaker at the Save Darfur Canada rally in Montreal. [http://www.savedarfurcanada.org/speaker_bios2.html] Neuer spoke together with Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, former commander of UN peacekeepers in the Balkans; Prof. [[Payam Akhavan]], international law professor at McGill, and former senior advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of the [[International Criminal Court]]; Simon Deng, a black Christian from the south of Sudan who was sold into slavery into the Muslim north; Miss World Canada [[Nazanin Afshin-Jam]]; and [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]], author of Infidel.
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==Contact==
 
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===Address===  
===Israel's Magen David Adom service===
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:1 rue de Varembé,(PO Box 191)
AJC and UN Watch (operating in common) were among the hundreds and thousands of individuals, organizations, legislators, [[Red Cross]] federations, and others who contributed to the effort that led the International Red Cross to finally recognize the membership of [[Magen David Adom]], the Israeli emergency service, as well as the [[Palestinian]] service. The head of the Red Cross, Swiss Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey met and magician [[Uri Geller]] all supported the cause.[http://groups.google.co.uk/group/MEPForum/browse_thread/thread/823982a5ef3863cb/bff314ef26864daa?lnk=st&q=%22Leon+Saltiel%22&rnum=1&hl=en#bff314ef26864daa]
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:1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.   
 
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:Email: unwatch AT unwatch.org
===Human rights testimony===
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:Website: [http://www.unwatch.org/ www.unwatch.org]
UN Watch has represented human rights victims in regular testimony before the UN Human Rights Council.
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:Phone: +41 22 734 14 72
 
 
Its outspoken advocacy for student Jenya Taranenko preceded her release from a [[Russia]]n prison[http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=3152837]
 
 
 
UN Watch's Neuer debated Zimbabwe's UN ambassador on [[CNN]] over the Mugabe regime's dismal human rights record. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1319279&ct=1771841]
 
 
 
In 2007 UN Watch spoke out for the Arab, Kurdish, and Bahai victims of violations in [[Iran]]. [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=4471149]
 
 
 
==Monitoring UN Officials==
 
 
 
UN Watch monitors the actions of UN officials to hold them accountable to the principle of the UN Charter. Its work has praised positive actions and criticized negative ones.
 
 
 
==Praise==
 
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
 
UN Watch has praised Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for speaking out for the victims of Darfur, confronting Sri Lanka over the killings of aid workers and acting to establish the international tribunal on the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon. [25] "Quietly but firmly, Ban is helping to confirm the UN's indispensable role in the world." [26]
 
 
 
UN Watch also praised Secretary-General Ban for following in the steps of his predecessor, Kofi Annan, in denouncing Holocaust denial and confronting the global scourge of anti-Semitism. [27]
 
 
 
Secretary General Kofi Annan
 
UN Watch has often praised the actions of Mr. Kofi Annan. "On Darfur, Mr. Annan is certainly one of the most outspoken leaders on the international scene." [28] In "Time to Rally for Annan's Human Rights Reform," UN Watch praised Mr. Annan's reform efforts. [29]
 
 
 
UN Experts Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani
 
UN Watch has several times spoken out for the rights of the "hero" Asma Janhangir, and her sister Hina Jilani, both of whom are UN human rights officials who have been subjected to arrest and detention by Pakistan. [30] During a peaceful protest in support of women’s rights held in Lahore on May 14, 2005, Ms. Jahangir and Ms. Jilani were among several women who were publicly humiliated, beaten and arrested by Pakistani police. UN Watch confronted Pakistan over its actions at the June 2005 annual session of UN human rights experts in Geneva, causing Pakistan to issue its first apology for the “extremely unfortunate” incident. [31]
 
 
 
 
 
==Criticism ==
 
===Jean Ziegler===
 
 
 
Jean Ziegler is "co-founder and vice-chairman of the foundation that administers the Moammar Khaddafi Prize for Human Rights, and arranged for [[Fidel Castro]] to win the US$250,000 award in 1998."
 
[http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2007/11/15/the-post-editorial-board-the-farce-at-the-unhrc.aspx]  UN Watch has also described [[Jean Ziegler]] as "among the most vicious" of persecutors of Israel at the United Nations and a man who is obsessed with "bashing Israel." {{ref|zig}} In July 2006 UN Watch ran a campaign to 'Stop Jean Ziegler's nomination to the UN Human Rights Council' complete with proposed text of email to be sent to the Swiss Ambassador to the UN.[http://www.unwatch.org/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1289215/k.8EE6/Take_Action/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1289215&aid=5863]
 
 
 
UN Watch noted:
 
 
 
:Ziegler is popular among Europe's trendy radicals for his anti-American writings and impassioned media appearances. He is also a hero for his frequent attacks on the Jewish state, all issued with his UN imprimatur...
 
 
 
:In the summer of 2004, after it emerged that Ziegler was using UN staff and resources to run an anti-Israel boycott campaign, UN Watch petitioned for his removal with a legal brief to the UN Commission on Human Rights...It also documented a series of actions by Ziegler that showed a pattern of selective treatment of Israel, the only country he singled out for condemnation as a Nazi-like state that commits "state terror" and "war crimes."...The charges against Ziegler received wide media coverage, particularly in [[Switzerland]] but also in Europe, the United States, and Israel...UN Watch noted that under the [[European Union]]'s definition of anti-Semitism, comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is a classic manifestation of this form of hatred...Finally, UN Watch alerted the media to the need for the UN to condemn Ziegler's demonization of Israelis...The impact was immediate. On the same day, 7 July, the UN Watch press release was cited by a reporter at the daily press conference of Annan's spokesman in New York. Consequently, the spokesman soon issued a statement denouncing Ziegler for his remarks. The next day the spokesman for Arbour did the same, followed later by an even stronger statement by Arbour herself in a letter to UN Watch. [[Canada]] then sent Ziegler a formal complaint letter. Finally, some seventy members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Annan and the Commission Chair seeking Ziegler's resignation.
 
 
 
:The story of this unprecedented condemnation was reported worldwide by ''Reuters'', the ''Associated Press'', the ''Washington Times'', China's ''Xinhua'', and the ''Jerusalem Post''. Headlines reading "Ziegler Criticized by UN" appeared in a dozen different newspapers in Switzerland, including ''Le Temps'', ''Basler Zeitung'', and ''Tages-Anzeiger''. For the first time, the UN community had condemned one of the Commission's human rights experts for anti-Semitism. Later stories about Ziegler, such as by the ''Associated Press'', have cited this condemnation, for the first time providing readers with the necessary context. {{ref|neuer}}
 
 
 
On October 27, 2005, UN Watch published a study which recommended that Kofi Annan and other UN high officials condemn Jean Ziegler for bias and that the Chairman of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, "should remove Jean Ziegler from the position of Special Rapporteur on the right to food" and "if the Chairman does not do so, the 53 State Members of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights should convene to adopt a resolution terminating Jean Ziegler’s term". Failing this, it recommended that "Ziegler should resign".{{ref|zigstudy}}
 
 
 
 
 
== History ==
 
 
UN Watch is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter. UN Watch was established in 1993 under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Morris B. Abram, the former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. UN Watch participates actively at the UN as an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).  Affiliated with the American Jewish Committee, the organization stands at the forefront at the United Nations in combating anti-Semitism and what former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described as the obsessive and one-sided condemnations of Israel that preoccupy several key UN bodies.
 
 
 
UN Watch supports the United Nations' mission on behalf of the international community to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and provide for a more just world. The Geneva-based NGO believes that even with its shortcomings, the UN remains an indispensable tool in bringing together diverse nations and cultures. UN Watch is keenly aware that member states often ask the UN to fulfill mandates and tasks that are neither feasible nor within the means provided. While it would be unrealistic to ignore the UN’s weaknesses, it advocates finding ways to build on its strengths and use its limited resources effectively.
 
 
 
UN Watch is foremost concerned with the just application of UN Charter principles. Areas of interest include: UN management reform, the UN and civil society, equality within the UN, and the equal treatment of member states. UN Watch notes that the disproportionate attention and unfair treatment applied by the UN toward Israel over the years offers an object lesson (though not the only one) in how due process, equal treatment, and other fundamental principles of the UN Charter are often ignored or selectively upheld.
 
 
 
== Members ==
 
 
Chaired by Ambassador [[Alfred H. Moses]] (Chair), former US Ambassador to [[Romania]] and Presidential Emissary for the [[Cyprus]] Conflict, UN Watch is governed by an international board whose members include: [[Per Ahlmark]] (European Co-Chair), former Deputy Prime Minister of [[Sweden]]; Professor [[Irwin Cotler]], international human rights advocate and former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada; [[David A. Harris]] (Co-Chair), AJC Executive Director; Ambassador [[Max Jakobson]], former Permanent Representative of [[Finland]] to the UN in New York; and [[Ruth Wedgwood]], professor of international law and diplomacy at Johns Hopkins University. [http://www.unwatch.org UN Watch, Geneva, Switzerland]
 
 
 
== Staff ==
 
 
 
<div
 
style="float:right;width:100px;margin:0 0 1em 1em">
 
[[Image:Neuer_pic low_res_headshot.jpg]]
 
</div>
 
 
 
'''Executive Director''': Hillel C. Neuer
 
 
 
Hillel C. Neuer is executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO in Geneva, Switzerland. Originally from Montreal, Neuer has written on law, politics and international affairs for publications such as the ''International Herald Tribune'', ''Juriste International'', ''[[Commentary Magazine|Commentary]]'', ''[[The New Republic]] Online'' and the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]''. He appears regularly before the UN Human Rights Council, intervening for a range of causes including the rape victims of Darfur, political prisoners in Cuba, and Middle East peace. He recently testified as an expert witness before a hearing of the U.S. Congress on UN reform, and is regularly quoted by major media organizations including the ''[[New York Times]]'', ''Die Welt'', ''Le Figaro'' and ''[[Reuters]]''. In the past year Neuer has debated UN human rights issues on CNN, [[Fox News]], and the [[BBC]]. Prior to joining UN Watch, Neuer practiced commercial and civil rights litigation at the international law firm of [[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison]] LLP. Active as a human rights defender, Neuer was cited by the Federal Court of New York for the high quality of his pro bono advocacy on a precedent-setting First Amendment case for prisoners’ rights and freedom of religion, as reported in ''AIDS Litigation Digest'' and the ''New York Law Journal''. Neuer served as a law clerk to the Supreme Court of Israel. He holds a BA in intellectual history and political science from Concordia University, a BCL and LLB from the McGill University Faculty of Law, and a LLM in comparative constitutional law from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Neuer is a member of the New York bar and co-author of the Annotated Copyright Act of Canada and Directors and Officers—A Canadian Legal Manual.
 
 
 
[http://www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/upcomingevents/  McGill University Law School, Human Rights Center]
 
 
 
==Principals==
 
*[[Morris B. Abram]], Founder (died 2000)
 
*[[Alfred H. Moses]], Chairman
 
*[[David A. Harris]] (Co-Chair), AJC Executive Director
 
*[[Hillel Neuer]], Executive Director
 
*[[Per Ahlmark]] (European Co-Chair), former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
 
*[[Irwin Cotler]] (co-Chair), international human rights advocate and former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada
 
*[[Max Jakobson]], former Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN in New York
 
*[[Ruth Wedgwood]], professor of international law and diplomacy at Johns Hopkins University
 
 
 
===Staff===
 
*[[Hillel Neuer]]
 
  
 
==Affiliations==
 
==Affiliations==
*[[United Nations Economic and Social Council]], (NGO special consultative status)
+
*[[CONGO]]
*[[United Nations Department of Public Information]], (NGO associate status)
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==External Resources==
*[[American Jewish Committee]] (affiliate)
+
*Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, Paul de Rooij and David Miller, [http://spinwatch.org/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/62-international-politics/4998-un-watch-front-group-for-the-american-jewish-committee UN Watch: Front Group for the American Jewish Committee], Spinwatch.org, 8 June 2008.
 
 
==Similar organizations==
 
*[[Human Rights Watch]]
 
*[[Amnesty International]]
 
 
 
==Contact information==
 
PO Box 191<br>
 
1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland<br> 
 
Phone: +41 22 734 14 72<br>
 
Fax: +41 22 734 16 13<br>
 
Web: http://www.unwatch.org
 
 
 
 
 
==Notes==
 
#{{note|neuer}} Hillel C. Neuer, [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-040-neuer.htm The Struggle against Anti-Israel Bias at the UN Commission on Human Rights], ''[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]]'', January 11, 2006
 
#{{note|ww}} [http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1314451&ct=1715013 Wednesday Watch], ''UN Watch'', January 19, 2005
 
#{{note|zigstudy}} [http://www.unwatch.org/atf/cf/%7B6DEB65DA-BE5B-4CAE-8056-8BF0BEDF4D17%7D/Jean_Zieglers_Campaign_Against_America.pdf Jean Ziegler's Campaign Against America] ''A Study by UN Watch'', October 27, 2005
 
#{{note|zig}} Lynne Cohen, [http://www.jewishtribune.ca/tribune/jt-050804-02.html Canada condemns anti-Israel remarks of UN official it helped to elect], ''Jewish Tribune'', August 4, 2005
 
  
[[Category:Human rights]]
+
==References==
 +
<references/>
 +
{{stub}}

Latest revision as of 06:33, 30 March 2017

UN Watch, a Geneva-based group, was founded in 1993 to monitor the performance of the United Nations and with a stated mission of promoting human rights, but with an prime emphasis on the coverage of Israeli violations of human rights. It is an accredited non-governmental organization with the UN ECOSOC and has affiliate status with the UN DPI.

It has been founded and funded by the American Jewish Committee since 2001. UN Watch led the largest NGO coalition at the UN Human Rights Council special session on Darfur in December 2006.

Nexus to AJC

Ian Williams, a journalist covering the UN for many years and former president of the United Nations Correspondents Association, summarizes UN Watch's role:

UN Watch is an organisation whose main purpose is to attack the United Nations in general, and its human rights council in particular, for alleged bias against Israel.[1]

UN Watch has been funded by the American Jewish Committee since 2001. It claims to have 'complete independence' from the AJC.[2]

However, a press release from its site notes that UN Watch is to become 'fully integrated' into the AJC. The release concludes:

Eighteen months ago, the American Jewish Committee and the World Jewish Congress reached an agreement, approved by the international board of UN Watch, to transfer full control of the organization to AJC, an agreement that went into effect on January 1, 2001.[3]

The main activities of UN Watch

  • Monitor UN activities, resolutions, or official statements that are construed to be critical of Israel.[4]
  • Lobby for the removal of UN personnel who are considered critical of Israel[5]
  • Forming coalitions to leverage influence at the UN. This also entails assisting the interests of other groups to later count on their support.[6]
  • Lobby for the inclusion of AJC approved personnel; this is a standard operating procedure by the American Jewish Committee[7]

Principals

Board of Directors

Staff

Former Staff

Affiliations

Geneva Summit Award Winners

2015

Masih Alinejad (Iran)

2016

Antonio Ledezma (Venezuela)


Geneva Summit Particiapants

Darya Safai (Iran)

Similar Organizations

Contact

Address

1 rue de Varembé,(PO Box 191)
1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.
Email: unwatch AT unwatch.org
Website: www.unwatch.org
Phone: +41 22 734 14 72

Affiliations

External Resources

References

  1. Ian Williams, Casting the first stone, Guardian, 4 April 2007.
  2. Leon Saltiel Inaccuracies email to Spinwatch, 3 July 2006.
  3. AJC Media Release, "UN Watch, AJC Seal Partnership", American Jewish Committee, 4 January 2001
  4. This can be confirmed through a perusal of their press releases.
  5. UN Watch has been vociferous about UN personnel like Mary Robinson, Peter Hansen, Jean Ziegler.
  6. See for example:
    • Tovah Lazaroff, 70 rights groups call on UN to condemn Tripoli, Jerusalem Post, 22 February 2011. UN Watch organizes petitions/demand writing with dozens of signatories. In return UN Watch signs on to petitions/demands favorable to the previous signatories. The deceptive aspect about this is that it enables UN Watch to allay the image of being a "single-issue" organization.
    • See this coalition UN Watch organized for a censure motion.
    • UN Watch appears as one of the main participants in CONGO, an organization that brings together disparate NGOs seeking to lobby the UN. The premise is that the NGOs working in tandem can have greater influence and assist one another obtain their aims.
  7. see AJC News Update Number 212, 28 June 2006.
  8. Jump up to: 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 UN Watch: History: Board Members (Accessed: 14 January 2012)
  9. Jump up to: 9.0 9.1 ibid. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "salt" defined multiple times with different content
  10. ibid.
  11. ibid.
  12. ibid.
  13. Wilmer Hale: profile (Accessed: 18 December 2011.)
  14. ibid.
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