UN human rights chief: Trump's attacks on press 'close to incitement of violence'
Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric is “very close to
incitement to violence” that would lead to journalists
censoring themselves or being attacked, the outgoing UN human rights
commissioner has said. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein,
a Jordanian prince and diplomat, is stepping down this month as UN high
commissioner for human rights after deciding not to stand for a second
four-year term, in the face of a waning commitment among world powers to
fighting abuses.
Zeid said the Trump
administration’s lack of concern about human rights marked a distinct break
with previous administrations, and that Trump’s own rhetoric aimed at
minorities and at the press was redolent of two of the worst eras of the 20th
century, the run-up to the two world wars. In an interview with
the Guardian, he singled out the US president’s repeated designation of the
press as “the
enemy of the people”.
“We began to see a
campaign against the media … that could have potentially, and still can, set in
motion a chain of events which could quite easily lead to harm being inflicted
on journalists just going about their work and potentially some
self-censorship,” Zeid said. “And in that context, it’s getting very close to
incitement to violence.”.. read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/united-nations-human-rights-nearly-impossible-to-defend-zeid-raad-al-hussein