Controversial rights expert named adviser to UN rights council
Provocative human rights expert Jean Ziegler will become an adviser to a key United Nations council. The Swiss professor is one of 18 rights experts appointed to the Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee.
He has angered Israel by claiming its security measures had reduced Palestinians to begging, and has upset Cuban Americans by praising Cuba as a world model for feeding its population. A Cuban-American member of the US House of Representatives, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, had opposed the appointment because of what she called anti-Semitic statements and support for dictators. (AP)