The UN Human Rights Commission is dead - all hail the UN Human Rights Council

So, no idea whether this will be a significant change, but I'm fairly cynical. That same cynicism makes me glad, though, that the US did not get its way, which likely would have produced a much more occidental-centric and US-friendly body incapable of holding our government to account on its own atrocities. This is pretty telling, aftrer all:

Three nations abstained. Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau joined the US in voting against the plan.

Hmm. Two countries which were recently colonies of the US, plus Israel, which has its own incentives for resisting any change which might lead to a more effective human rights regime. We couldn't even get Poland? Sounds like we made a convincing argument.