From Eleanor Roosevelt to Qaddafi: An Insider's Account of Human Rights at the UN

Don’t miss an insider’s glimpse into the backroom politics of the UN and international human rights.

What is the role of the human rights movement, and why does it now welcome China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia as members? Examine the history of the UN Human Rights Commission, from 1946 founding chair Eleanor Roosevelt, to 2003, when it included a representative of Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi.

Hillel C. Neuer is the executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Neuer appears regularly before the United Nations Human Rights Council, intervening for the victims of Darfur, the rights of women, political prisoners in Cuba, Russia and Zimbabwe and the cause of Middle East peace.

Bari Weiss is the news and politics editor at Tablet Magazine, the daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas and culture. Before joining Tablet, Bari was an opinion editor at The Wall Street Journal. In addition to her editing work at the Journal, she wrote op-eds and editorials about human rights and foreign policy. Bari has also written for Haaretz, the New York Sun and the Forward and sits on the board of the Civic Education Initiative.