By Moishe Smith and Daniel S. Mariaschin

The Obama administration’s decision to join the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) might be the last hope to right what has been a sinking ship.

Since the council—and, earlier, its discredited and disgraced predecessor the Commission on Human Rights—was formed in 2006, what should have been a voice to ensure universal human rights has become little more than a body devoted to incessant and obsessive attacks upon Israel. It is our hope that, with the entry of the United States to the council, the original goal of combating human rights violations will replace the current practice of targeting Israel for opprobrium.

Case in point: In January 2008, the HRC condemned Israel for “grave violations of the human and humanitarian rights or the Palestinian civilians” of Gaza. No mention was made of Israel’s U.N.-guaranteed right to self-defense from rocket attacks launched against Israeli civilians by Hamas-led terrorists groups in Gaza.

Time and time again, the HRC has cast Israel as the world’s worst human rights violator while ignoring or minimizing some of the worst examples of human rights abuse in the world. Indeed, Israel is the only country to be singled out in special HRC sessions for international scorn. Meanwhile, acknowledged human rights violators are ignored. Indeed, many of these offenders have sought to focus the work of the council on Israel as a means of deflecting and deterring criticism of their own behavior.

For example, rather than deal with the mind-boggling numbers that have been slaughtered in Darfur, the council used Sudan’s numbers to claim that only 9,000 people died, and even then adopted only a seriously watered-down resolution. The council has ignored the fact that women cannot congregate publicly in Iran and that North Koreans are allowed to starve to death at the hands of a vicious regime.

We are by no means convinced that the council can be saved. But we are hopeful that the United States can make a difference by working from within the tainted body, attacking those human rights offenders that should be the true targets of the council. The mere presence of the United States alone may not change anything in the short-term, but the presence of a world power dedicated to seeking out the true human rights abusers could help sway the HRC’s current degenerative path by bringing other nations truly committed to solving human rights issues onto the council. Until now, that burden has fallen largely upon Canada.

In order to truly make an impact in the Human Rights Council, we believe that the United States must advance and get the HRC to implement several principles:

1. Make a nation’s human-rights track record the criteria for membership, not merely its pledge to justice. Member countries must be judged by their actions, not their words. Indeed, the outline of this process currently exists under the Universal Periodic Review procedure adopted by the General Assembly when the council was created. What is needed is a determination of what standards will be used for the review and a determination to have the standards be consistent from nation to nation.

2. Broaden the membership to more fully reflect regions with strong and positive human-rights records. Most recently, western democracies lost several seats while the Non-Aligned Movement—a group known for a traditionally anti-Western agenda and virtually automatic bashing of Israel-—dominates, with 26 of the 47 members. The Organization of the Islamic Conference alone will have 15 seats—nearly one-third of the body—and is considered to carry more weight than any other regional grouping.

3. Insist that the human-rights standards in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be universally applied and adhered to rigorously.

4. Adopt uniform reporting measures for all countries. Some countries seek to eliminate such reporting and to water down any effort to adopt standardized reporting.

5. Establish and adhere to rigid standards for the selection of experts to advise on potential instances of human-rights abuse. In the past, special rapporteurs have abused their positions to advance their personal agendas. Future experts must be selected with specific criteria: expertise in their fields, independence from any governmental influence, and demonstrated impartiality and integrity.

Human rights are too important to be ignored, flaunted, or politicized. Every nation must be held to the highest standards of morality and practice. No nation should be the target nor held above criticism.

We are under no allusions that the United States can steer the Human Rights Council in the right direction immediately, but we do believe that U.S. action could be the catalyst for the international community to take back the council from those who abuse it and truly deal with genuine human rights problems around the world.