A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is pushing back against a United Nations’ committee condemnation of Florida’s recently passed anti-riot legislation.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concerns in a report against 2021’s House Bill 1, described by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the “strongest anti-riot/pro-law enforcement legislation in the country.”
The committee contends the legislation may be too strong, citing it as an example of a move to “unduly restrict the right to peaceful assembly.” But Rubio thinks the United Nations is out of bounds when it comes to weighing in on Florida legislation.
“The United Nations knowingly provides a global platform to dictators that intimidate, detain and murder dissidents. This committee is a joke and no one in Florida takes it seriously. The only question is why we keep sending taxpayer dollars to the U.N. in the first place,” Rubio contended.
The United Nations committee heard from Florida-based critics of DeSantis and the anti-riot legislation. Jacksonville activist Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition, who achieved national prominence earlier this year when he was removed from a DeSantis press conference, went to Geneva to make his case to the UN panel.
In a statement released in July from Switzerland, Frazier said DeSantis was “guilty of signing into law bills that discriminate against Black Floridians,” and that his administration was “promoting and perpetuating racial discrimination in the state of Florida.”
The UN panel agreed.
“The Committee is also concerned about allegations of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers and private security companies against members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly people of African descent during anti-racism protests and Indigenous Peoples when protesting in defence of their rights,” the report contended.
“The Committee is further concerned about allegations of harassment and surveillance by law enforcement officials, including online, against human rights defenders belonging to racial and ethnic minorities,” the indictment continues.
Recommendations include moves to develop legislation to “protect human rights defenders,” including those from historically marginalized subgroups.
Frazier addressed the Rubio comments in a Tweet Wednesday night.
“The UN is where 193 of the world’s nations gather to discuss common problems. Its leading experts on human rights have condemned Florida’s HB-1 law. The UN-CERD says HB-1 is a racially discriminatory law; a violation of human rights because it unduly restricts peaceful assembly.”
18 comments
tom palmer
August 31, 2022 at 4:10 pm
It is interesting that anything Florida’s nabobs would enact would attract the UN’s attention, but credit where credit is due.
Mike Thomas
September 1, 2022 at 8:09 am
The UN would be best serve by disbanding itself as a failed body.
Arnold Gibbs
September 2, 2022 at 12:06 pm
Amen Mike.
PeterH
August 31, 2022 at 4:13 pm
January 6th……Let’s not pretend for more than a second that Republicans are somehow pro-law enforcement and anti-riot.
odd
September 1, 2022 at 4:18 pm
Then you should agree with the law, you subhuman.
Rex
September 1, 2022 at 9:38 pm
PeterH must have been sleeping through the whole BLM murderous and firy destruction of the summer of love across the nation when a murderous cop killed a
black man. Now we know that the man was a criminal, but he did not deserve to have been murdered by no stretch of the law. But the only one murdered on Jan 6 was an unarmed woman by a cowardly cop, of whom by the way shall be prosecuted when we take back control in 2024, but I digress. If you read the constitution you will know that we have the right to peacefully protest, but we do not have the right to riot, murder and destroy property. So PeterH has petered out.
Ocean Joe
September 3, 2022 at 9:45 am
Don’t digress from Jan 6. That was the day our democracy died. You may not know that yet, but once the right wing decided to condone it, once a majority on the right decided to accept Trump’s election denial stuff, the long standing practice of majority rule tempered by the electoral college system ended.
We now have sufficient red states enacting laws that allow legislatures to override the majority will of voters.
It is over.
No joke, as Sleepy Joe likes to say. It really is over.
SteveHC
August 31, 2022 at 4:42 pm
Well of COURSE the newly-self-appointed standard tourchbearer of the dystopian fascist apocalypse Marco Rubio would have something to say about UN concerns for the state of democracy in the US and Florida in particular – the other self-appointed facists-in-chiefs, Trump, DeSantis and Scott – seem to be leaving poor poor little (and I DO mean little) Marco in the dust!
Joe Corsin
August 31, 2022 at 5:06 pm
Vote BLUE to curb the so called conservative Republican grifters and their terrorist underlings.
Frankie M.
August 31, 2022 at 7:19 pm
Maybe DeSantis can charge the U.N. with “unlawful” assembly? They’re under his jurisdiction right??
J. Lo Molds
September 1, 2022 at 6:17 am
Ummm. . .the UN? What the hell is the UN, anymore? Gawd is that old relic still around? The UN?! What are we going to start hearing about next: Studebaker Packard? What does the UN do: make Chicken a la King? Hah!
Joe Corsin
September 1, 2022 at 8:31 am
^ The nazis hate international bodies…
pizza_slice
September 1, 2022 at 4:16 pm
@Joe Corsin The UN is a pathetic organization and so are you. ISIS is also an international body, so calling them “international” is worthless. The UN also includes countries like Saudi Arabia in it.
kenneth nunley
September 1, 2022 at 9:15 pm
The UN deserves zero of my family’s dollars and to you that thing writing and looting is a good thing you are the worst part of America you are staying to us it is so unbelievable that people think that there’s a press people here that the cops are out to get them what a joke we had a black president you idiots
Mayhoff
September 2, 2022 at 1:51 am
The UN..? The U.N. is a JOKE. The U.N. answers to globalist powerbrokers. It is part of the master plan. Just like the media machine, and entertainment machine, and now education machine. ALL if it is the same entity. The Governor of Florida is simply ‘responding’ to the New World Order cabal agenda to DESTROY all traces of stability in the Western Nations. Florida is simply ‘acting’ it’s rightful authority AS a Country, which each state in the USA actually ‘is’ within the Constitution itself.
Arnold Gibbs
September 2, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Like all attempts to build World unity, this one has gone the same way. It has become a place for spewing anti Israel, anti United States and is full of people that would love to see America destroyed. We need to pull out and evict them from New York.
Jose Pimentel
September 2, 2022 at 12:53 pm
It is a contradiction that Mr.Rubio’s family left Cuba because of a authoritarian Dictatorship ! Today he supports Authoritarian leaders!
Lee Roller
September 3, 2022 at 10:14 am
Marco Rubio supports Marco Rubio. Period.
His positions aren’t so much carved in stone as they are penciled in Silly Putty. Easily stretched, twisted and eradicated to suit his personal gain.
He moves with the prevailing winds of political sentiment. Just like Lindsay Graham and so many other spineless, wind-sock politicians
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