Washington Excluded from OAS Human Rights Commission Santiago de Chile, June 12 (Radio Havana Cuba)-- For the first time in the history of the Organization of American States (OAS), the United States has been left out of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which recently ended its 23rd General Assembly in Santiago de Chile. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, the U.S. administration of George W. Bush unsuccessfully promoted Cuban-American Rafael Martínez, the brother of U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martínez, for a position at that agency. However, Washington's nominee only received 15 out of 33 possible votes. According to the IACHR, this marks the first time that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has operated without a U.S. representative. The 33 participating countries elected lawyers from Brazil, El Salvador, Paraguay and Venezuela. Guatemalan Marta Altolaguirre, who has presided over the panel to date, was not re-elected, nor was Argentinean lawyer Juan Méndez. Both attorneys have traditionally received Washington's strong --but now, apparently, not so strong -- support. +++++++++++++++++++ United States and Europe on Another Collision Course Over International Criminal Court United Nations, June 11 (RHC) - The United States and several European countries are once again on a collision course at the United Nations, as Washington maneuvers to renew controversial provisions that shield its troops and officials from prosecution for war crimes. The Security Council is set to vote as early as Thursday on a US-drafted resolution that will extend for another 12 months a one-year exemption for American soldiers serving as UN peace-keepers. Observers predict, however, that the text is likely to be adopted despite extensive grumbling. Tensions over the issue have been escalating sharply. Last week, Washington accused the Europeans of undermining its efforts to negotiate bilateral agreements with foreign governments, under which those governments would individually undertake not to use the new court to prosecute US soldiers. In a formal diplomatic letter, Washington said that EU lobbying of states not to accept its appeals for bilateral agreements will undercut efforts to repair and rebuild the transatlantic relationship - in reference to the rift over the Iraq war. But the resolution is expected to pass precisely because of a desire not to reopen wounds inflicted over the Iraq controversy. France and Germany, strong supporters of the tribunal, may nevertheless register their disapproval by abstaining. Some UN members not represented on the Security Council, including Canada, were pressing for a special open meeting of the Council at which any UN ambassador could speak - arguing that special treatment for the US would weaken the war crimes court. Last year's vote in favor of the US exemption resolution was 15-0 after Washington threatened to veto UN peacekeeping missions, one by one. There are reports that the George Bush administration has been threatening some Balkan countries with a withdrawal of aid if they do not sign bilateral deals. Last month Albania became the third European country, after Romania and Georgia, to sign such a deal. Now Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro have been told to follow suit or lose US aid and support. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix Lashes Out at "Bastards" in Washington and Baghdad Who Tried to Undermine Him United Nations, June 11 (RHC) - Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix has lashed out at what he called the "bastards" who have tried to undermine him throughout the three years he has held his high-profile post. In what is being called an extraordinary departure from the diplomatic language with which he has come to be associated, Blix assailed his critics in both Washington and Baghdad. Speaking exclusively to the British news daily The Guardian from his 31st floor office at the UN in New York, Blix accused the Bush administration of leaning on him to produce more damning language in his reports on Iraq's alleged banned weapons - and of launching a smear campaign when he refused. He said Washington regarded the UN as an "alien power" which they hoped would sink into the East river. Before he had even flown to Iraq to relaunch the sensitive weapons inspections after a four-year absence last November, senior US Defense Department officials were calling Blix the worst possible choice for the post. By autumn he was being branded in Baghdad as a "homosexual who went to Washington every two weeks to pick up instructions". Staff attached to the UN monitoring and inspection commission, headed by the Swede for the past three years, openly say there is no love lost between hawks in the Bush administration and their mission. Last week Blix sharply criticized the quality of the US and UK intelligence given to him on alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as he pronounced an open verdict in his last report to the Security Council. He said Saddam Hussein's regime might have hidden weapons, or it might have destroyed them.