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Last update - 06:59 08/03/2008 UN human rights chief, Israel critic, to step down after one term By The Associated Press Tags: Israel, UN, Louise Arbour  The United Nations' top human rights official, who has criticized many countries and been attacked by them in response, said Friday that she is quitting after only one term. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour announced that she has told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that she will be unavailable for a second term in the job, which is a magnet for criticism from a broad range of countries. Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Levanon last year rejected Arbour's criticism of Israeli military action against Palestinians. Advertisement "The misguided and deeply disturbing statement by the high commissioner blatantly disregards events on the ground," Levanon said. A recent mistake by her office inflamed anger among pro-Israel groups. While the office later clarified that Arbour did not endorse a provision in an Arab human rights charter equating Zionism with racism, her original support for the document led to a fury of reaction among pro-Israel websites, with some blog entries calling for her death. The 61-year-old former Canadian supreme court justice disclosed her decision in a speech to the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council. "This will be my last annual report as I have informed the secretary-general that I will not seek a second term when my mandate expires at the end of June 2008," Arbour said. She did not tell the council why she is stepping down, but she told a small group of reporters that she wanted to spend time with her family after four years of constant travel and long hours. She acknowledged that she found much of the criticism hurtful, but she said, "I am not quitting because of this pressure. On the contrary, I have to resist the temptation to stay to confront it. "If I have a reaction it is more to say, 'Wait a minute. You can't get rid of me like that.' I have well resisted that temptation." Zimbabwe Justice Minister Patrick Anthony Chinamasa told the council on Monday that his country "joins others in voicing its discontent with the office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights for repeated dereliction of duty." Last year Arbour denounced as "shocking" police violence against opposition party members in Zimbabwe. She has criticized China's use of the death penalty and said the so-called U.S. war on terror was eroding the worldwide ban on torture, noting reports of secret U.S. detention centers. John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the UN at the time, said it was "inappropriate and illegitimate for an international civil servant to second-guess the conduct that we're engaged in the war on terror, with nothing more as evidence than what she reads in the newspapers." At the end of a 2006 trip to Russia that included a visit to Chechnya, Arbour expressed serious concern about reports that Chechen security forces use torture. "I have no doubt that these phenomena are more than mere allegations, and have a considerable basis in reality," Arbour said. Arbour, however, has been well-regarded by human rights organizations. "The criticism she receives is a tribute to the good work that she's been doing," said Amnesty International spokesman Peter Splinter. "The criticism she receives is directly proportional to the work she does." Splinter said Amnesty regretted that she is leaving. "She's done a very good job. She's brought direction to the office. She's brought resources. She's been outspoken. She's been unflinching in challenging human rights violations in big and powerful countries as well as in countries not so big and not so powerful. It's going to be a real challenge for the secretary-general to replace her." The high commissioner is appointed by the UN secretary-general and confirmed by the UN General Assembly. Her announcement came a day after UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno of France disclosed he would step down this summer, ending eight years on the job. Arbour said she will continue to serve until the end of her current four-year term on June 30, and will return to Canada on July 1. "People always say for personal reasons," Arbour said. "It is for personal reasons. I'm not prepared to make a commitment for another four years of this work. I have family. I have found myself working essentially all the time here, traveling, and very far from them. So I know I can't make the same kind of commitment for another four years. I'm going home, basically. It's pretty simple. Bookmark to del.icio.us   From Pyongyan with Love N. Korea's leader expresses hope for stronger ties with Syria Peres in Paris Pres. tells <i>Le Figaro</i> Israel won't act alone to halt Iran nuke program.   1.   She can`t distinguish between Mass Murder and Self Defense 22:26  |  Efox 07/03/08   2.   Good News! 22:51  |  Avram 07/03/08   3.   people who h.little to say almost always 23:16  |  bozhidar balkas 07/03/08   4.   Arbour 01:12  |  Real Swiss 08/03/08   5.   She Should Be Fired For Cause 02:16  |  Brad 08/03/08   6.   dont get domfy 02:57  |  vik 08/03/08   7.   Good-bye and don`t come back 03:05  |  Aussie Michael 08/03/08   8.   She will easily find a new job with Hamas, Hizbullah, Al Qaida 04:11  |  Genuine Tosefta 08/03/08   9.   High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour 06:43  |  Calyxcrater 08/03/08   10.   Arbour 07:28  |  Louis Fried 08/03/08   11.   Shamed and ashamed, tail between her legs 09:37  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 08/03/08   12.   Human Rights should have a bias to humanity. 09:38  |  theolive-branch.org 08/03/08   13.   The proof Arbour did a good job... 09:44  |  Mikey 08/03/08   14.   13#mickey oh mickey 11:21  |  funkyyaya 08/03/08   15.   Of course human rights violators don`t like her 11:49  |  Tarik 08/03/08   16.   The problem was not whom she criticized but whom she didn`t 12:26  |  AA 08/03/08   17.   Mikey, I agree 12:48  |  christa 08/03/08   18.   louise 13:56  |  philadelphia freedom 08/03/08   19.   Mikey 14:35  |  Green 08/03/08   20.   She was disliked for speaking truth 04:25  |  Shiva 09/03/08

Today Online Bradley Burston: To the Westerner who 'understands' terrorist Responses: 569 A. Issacharoff: Gazans see yeshiva attack as unusual achievement Responses: 278 U.S.: Peace talks must go on despite Jerusalem massacre Responses: 322 Yossi Sarid: Yasser Arafat is dead, but his curse lives on Responses: 77 Rosner's Domain Whose Jerusalem Is It, anyway? Poll: Should Abbas and Olmert continue their talks? An Israeli and a crocodile (WTR) The Israel Factor: What's wrong with Obama? Rosner's Mailbox: Stop focusing on Israel's favorability polls More Headlines 03:15 Palestinian sources say Hamas, Hezbollah helped in J'lem terror attack 00:14 'His face would glow with joy,' say friends of yeshiva attack victim 00:08 Olmert vows deterrence will be achieved against terror groups 02:59 ANALYSIS / J'lem attack doesn't signal start of third intifada 04:35 For stricken yeshiva, trauma of terror attack likely to linger 02:38 Jewish Agency to start anti-terror drive after J'lem attack 18:00 Report: Peres says Israel will not act alone to halt Iran nuke program 02:25 Saudi's top cleric warns against giving to al-Qaida linked charities 03:29 4 killed in weekend road accidents, including mother, daughter 04:40 Peretz wants Ayalon to join him in Labor Party challenge to Barak Previous Editions Select Day 07 mar 06 mar 05 mar 04 mar 03 mar 02 mar 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb

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