Nominee Didn’t Report Human Rights Abuses

I was galled to see Jeane Kirkpatrick concurring with Rep. Henry Hyde’s claim that the expulsion of the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Commission was retribution for our “insistence that the commission tell the truth about human rights abuses wherever they occur” (Commentary, May 9). Indeed.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration has nominated John Negroponte for U.N. ambassador, a man who not only failed to report human rights abuses in Honduras when he served as ambassador there, but whose involvement in the funding and training of the groups responsible for these abuses itself merits investigation. His nomination sends a strong message about the Bush administration’s attitude toward human rights, and it appears that message was not lost on the other U.N. member nations.

Nathan Britton

Los Angeles

As the brother of Father James Carney (Padre Guadalupe), who was captured and killed in Honduras in 1983, I want to express my appreciation for the May 7 article and May 8 editorial regarding the nomination of Negroponte as U.N. ambassador. In the weeks following my brother’s disappearance, I and members of the family met with Negroponte on three different occasions. I found him to be generous with his time but smooth, cold and calculating. He never once expressed empathy for the family or interest in helping us obtain information. His answer to our persistent questions was, “According to the information given me ....” On our second and third visits, we felt that he learned more from our investigations than we learned from him. The family was not easily discouraged, and we are continuing to try to find my brother’s body and the persons responsible for his death.

Since people in foreign countries are well aware of the human rights violations committed by the United States in the name of promoting democracy, I think Negroponte’s appointment as U.N. ambassador would have a further negative effect on our nation’s credibility as a promoter of human rights.

J. Patrick Carney

Northridge