Why UN human rights chief sees 'danger' in a Trump presidency
The United Nations' top human rights official has joined the chorus of Donald Trump critics.
UN human rights chief and Jordanian Prince Zeid Ra鈥檃d al-Hussein told reporters on Wednesday that he is very concerned about the Republican presidential candidate鈥檚 attitude towards human rights issues, particularly the use of torture.
鈥淚f Donald Trump is elected, on the basis of what he has said already and unless that changes, I think it鈥檚 without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view,鈥� said Prince Zeid, who spent many years living and studying in the United States, in .听
The prince has previously expressed concerns about Trump鈥檚 views on torture methods, particularly waterboarding, which the candidate has said he supports. In March, Mr. Trump said that the Obama administration鈥檚 decision to outlaw waterboarding in 2009 was a .听
"We have to play the game the way they're playing the game. You're not going to win if we're soft and they're, they have no rules," Trump said of US enemies, particularly the so-called Islamic State.
Last month, Zeid also criticized Trump鈥檚 reliance on divisive racial and religious rhetoric, which he said could put already vulnerable people at greater risk of losing their rights.
"We have to be on guard to see that in the end vulnerable populations, populations at risk, do not again see their rights deprived because of a view that is in the ascendancy based on false premises," he said.
The human rights chief said that while he prefers not to comment on political elections, his concern for the potential consequences of Trump鈥檚 election compelled him to speak out.
And he鈥檚 not the only one.
Many world leaders have voiced concerns about a potential Trump presidency.
The Republican candidate鈥檚 view that America should remain great in its own right, and that its involvement in international partnerships is more of a burden than a blessing, is naturally antithetical to international cooperation, 海角大神鈥檚 Jason Thomson reported in July.
After his first debate with Hillary Clinton, several US allies expressed fear of an isolationist America withdrawing from a dangerous world, putting "America first," in Trump鈥檚 words, and giving little weight to anybody else鈥檚 opinion.
As the Monitor's Peter Ford reported, Trump startled European policymakers聽by聽suggesting he might not defend NATO member Estonia 鈥� a NATO obligation 鈥� unless the small Baltic state spends more on its own defense.听
鈥淚f [Hillary] Clinton wins, people are reassured that it would be a slightly modified continuation of existing policies," says Thorsten Benner, head of the Global Public Policy Institute, a think tank in Berlin. 鈥淏ut with Trump there is just totally a randomness factor that is hard to prepare for."
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"Berlin worries a great deal about what a Trump presidency would mean for the reliability of the US as an ally and protector,鈥� says Benner.
Nevertheless, Trump has at least one champion in international affairs. Prior to Zeid鈥檚 most recent statement on Trump, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin lodged a diplomatic complaint with the UN, saying that it was not the human rights chief鈥檚 place to comment on Trump, as he had done in public speeches.
"He should ," Ambassador Churkin said, CNN reported. "He should not be criticizing foreign heads of state and governments for their policies. This is not his business. He should be more focused on his specific responsibilities."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
